Gregory Cumming, Principal of Saint Paul’s Primary School in Gateshead, New South Wales, shares how Essential Assessment is empowering a data-led approach to accelerate student growth.
It’s an exciting time for Saint Paul’s, which started using Essential Assessment a year ago. Even within a twelve-month period, our students have felt empowered to reach their full potential, which points to a promising future.
A year of progress
Saint Paul’s integration with Essential Assessment has made a big impact on teaching practices, and we’re delighted with the progress we’ve seen. Assessment, beyond reporting, is crucial for guiding future instruction. Saint Paul’s found Essential Assessment to be an invaluable tool in this regard.
Guiding change and direction
As the saying goes, “no matter how many times you weigh the pig, the pig doesn’t change unless you’re actually making changes.” Essential Assessment has helped guide students and teachers, pointing them in the right direction to facilitate meaningful growth.
Embracing cultures of thinking
At Saint Paul’s, we embrace a philosophy of cultures of thinking. This year, our focus has been on the role of the student, comparing it with the role of the teacher and exploring how to enhance the student’s learning experience. Essential Assessment has been instrumental in this endeavour.
Essential Assessment empowers students, especially older students, to understand their current learning status and where they need to progress. This is similar to student goal setting and has been proven to show positive results.
The data journey ahead
Saint Paul’s is enthusiastic about continuing their Essential Assessment journey and learning more. For those just starting, it’s an exciting path to embark on. Saint Paul’s is now transitioning into using Essential Assessment as their primary means of data. Having experimented with various data walls, they found that Essential Assessment is incredibly effective. It’s instant, user-friendly and allows for productive discussions about every student’s future. Here’s to that.
