I know a big worry for schools trying to get to grips with APP is that it will turn into a huge paper chase, and not actually be of any real use.  Primary schools are now starting to think about how to adopt science APP and I get different messages from different schools and different local authorities about how they are going about this.

Just to add some more fuel to this fire, National Strategies have released some resources to support the use of APP for assessment for learning (AfL) across primary and secondary phases.

National strategies say the purpose of these materials is to:

• define what is meant by Learning targets
• explain the principles of setting Learning targets
• outline the process of setting Learning targets and how this can be linked explicitly to opportunities for periodic assessment through Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP)
• identify strategies which enable pupils to take responsibility for their own progress and become more independent learners.

As with all National Strategy materials you have to read through it and take the bits out to use that are useful and manageable (whilst National Strategy material is well intentioned, I don’t think they have any appreciation of the workload of the average teacher and if you followed their advice to the letter you’d never have time to teach anything!).  

What this document is useful for is looking at how you can construct some meaningful targets for students to improve from APP materials. It is downloadable from the National Strategies site and is worth a flick through, providing you remember that you won’t be able to follow their advice to the letter.

Remember that Ofsted under the current inspection framework are looking for progress.  I attended a briefing this week at which an experienced Ofsted inspector was talking about the importance of linking targets to grades/levels (in secondary schools).  APP provides a quick and easy way to do this in your lessons, and to build in some meaningful assessment for learning which is one of the cornerstones of good (science) teaching.