DfE cite Earwig as the answer to SEND Assessment

It is rare for the DfE to be seen in any way to endorse a commercial software package for schools. So we were pleased to see Earwig specifically mentioned in the DfE Report – The 7 Aspects of Engagement Pilot as an answer to their new approach to SEND Assessment that will enable schools to better assess pupils with the most complex needs.

“Earwig is a tool to record, track and assess pupils“

This is especially interesting to specialist SEND schools who will right now be wrestling with new strategies to incorporate engagement into their assessment regimes – at least from next year. However, it must be said that this is all subject to one further ‘review’ which could possibly change everything all over again!In future emails, Peter Gelardi will be examining the various goal-post moves for SEND assessment in 2017 and 2018 and checking on what is coming down the turnpike in 2019 and 2020, based on Earwig’s experience with hundreds of schools and thousands of teachers and informed by his conversations with members of the DfE assessment team, the Parliamentary Select Committee SEND Inquiry, the Rochford panel and dozens of Heads, SENCos and Assessment Coordinators around the country.

Peter Gelardi, Earwig Academic’s CEO, said:
“The DfE’s requirements for formative assessment of children with SEND have become much more complex since 2018. Software designed ten years ago to assist teachers in grading, tracking and reporting now simply can’t provide schools with what they need.

That is why the DfE is pleased to see the arrival of new packages like Earwig, which break the mould and provide schools with a way to improve their teaching and, therefore, outcomes for pupils, without adding to staff workload.”The Department of Education says: “The statutory assessment will replace P scales 1 to 4 and will be based on the ‘7 aspects of engagement’, an assessment approach that focuses on pupils’ abilities in specific areas like awareness, curiosity and anticipation.”