Assessment in History

At Millfield we will assess pupils’ progress and attainment in history using a range of the following strategies:

Ongoing formative assessment:

Planning:

When planning a lesson within a unit of work, teachers will build assessment criteria in as they plan. Teachers will use the progression grid and scheme of work to ensure that cross year group links are made explicit to the children of their prior learning. Teachers will review during and after lessons to help inform future planning (eg re-visit aspects/address misconceptions). Teachers will use the learning objective to assess whether the children have met this by being clear about what/how they might expect the children to show this. Eg Can I give reasons whether Lord Nelson was a hero or not? Might be shown as: Children are able to provide reasons for and against Nelson being a hero. Children can justify their opinions and use historical sources to provide evidence for their views.

Teachers will annotate planning – children exceeding or not meeting learning objectives.

Quizzes: Low stake knowledge based quizzes throughout a unit (regular review – eg name Henry VIII’s wives) – test on knowledge as well as understanding of vocabulary. Before teaching a new unit – review previous learning this could be with a quick quiz.

OR: Focus on historical skills such as interpreting a historical source- eg. look at a picture from the past; record 3 things you can see, what does this tell us about the period. Possibly extend to – how does this compare to our lives today (similarities/difference).

Mind mapping: Used at the beginning and/or end of a unit – this could be completed individually, small groups or as a whole class. Vary the approach to this to avoid it becoming mundane, eg post-it notes, graffiti walls, think/share/pair etc

Summative assessment:

End of year/phase: Use of the progression document to check children are meeting age related expectations in the ‘Aspects of Achievement in History’.

An end of unit quick quiz – see criteria above.