The way in which St Edmund’s School Canterbury assesses its youngest pupils has been highlighted as an example to other schools and rated ‘outstanding’.

A Local Education Authority assessor visited the Wrens, the school’s Reception class, which takes children aged four and five years old, and said that the teachers’ tracking and knowledge of each child’s abilities was exemplary.

“We are delighted to achieve this accolade from an independent assessor,” said Janet Frampton-Fell, head of pre-prep at St Edmund’s. “The grade is not a reflection of how many bright children we have, but is actually about how we record and track children of all abilities. It shows how well we as teachers are doing in Reception, which in turn has important implications for the learning and progress of the children at this vitally important stage of their education.”

Annual inspection by Local Education Authorities monitor the way Reception classes in all schools are assessed by their teachers. This year for the first time the authorities decided to grade the teacher’s performance using the Ofsted grading system. Children are assessed on the six areas of learning on a 1 to 9 point scale, and evidence has to be provided in the form of observations, photographs, and pieces of work to justify each point.

During her visit to the Wrens, the assessor read each child’s individual profile, spoke to the children and talked to staff.

“She felt that the way we had organised our assessment of pupils was extremely good and could be used to benefit other schools, and that all our judgments were spot on,” added Mrs Frampton-Fell.