Assessment matters

Key stage 2

Why should I assess children's work in geography?

Children need to know how well they are doing in geography and what they can do to get better. Assessment will provide you with information to plan appropriate teaching and learning activities that help children make progress in their learning in geography.

Geography teachers and coordinators have two main assessment concerns:

• the need to support children's progress in geography
• making judgements about the standards of children's work in geography in the longer term.

What is the statutory requirement for assessment and reporting
at key stage 2?

Although schools are not required to report a level for geography at the end of key stage 2, there is a statutory requirement to report to parents once a year about the progress of their children in geography.

The level descriptions may provide a useful reference point to help make more summative judgements about children's attainment in geography. Such judgements can serve a number of purposes:

• to summarise attainment and track children's longer term progress in geography
• to summarise attainment for parents or another teacher
• to help monitor the effectiveness of a school's geography plans.

In what ways can I assess children's work in geography?

Opportunities to monitor children's learning will occur during everyday classroom situations through:

• watching children as they work in geography
• listening to children as they talk about their geographical activities and learning
• questioning children
• discussing and reviewing children's work with them
• marking children's work
• asking children to assess their work or the work of their peers.

There are also occasions, perhaps once or twice in a unit of work, when you may want to undertake a more formal assessment of each child's attainment in geography.

For ideas about assessment in geography, choose from the menu.

Further examples of assessment in geography at key stage 2 are currently being collected. If you have a good example, submit it for possible inclusion.