Conditions for learning that support assessment for learning

Creating an ethos and environment in which children can enjoy learning, and reflect, improve and grow in confidence, is fundamental to learning.

Schools and settings will need to consider the conditions for learning they create before they focus on any specific aspect of assessment for learning.

Effective assessment for learning depends on schools and settings having established a secure rationale:

• for their ethos and attitudes to learning
• for the development of the learning environment
• for the establishing of routines and behaviours.

All of these underpin good practice in assessment for learning.

There are a number of different factors that interact to create supportive conditions for learning and which schools need to consider. These include:

• physical environment and its organisation
• resources and their organisation
• systems and structures in the learning environment
• teaching and support
• understanding the link between communication, language, literacy and learning
• personal, social and emotional development.

However, the most important factors to consider are the ethos and the values of the school. In learning environments where the ethos supports learning and is reflected in both teaching styles and lesson content:

• there is an expectation on the part of adults and children that learning is important and enjoyable, and that everyone can achieve
• teaching uses a range of approaches, and there is a culture of collaborative learning that builds on what all children, from diverse backgrounds, know and understand
• teachers and practitioners are ambitious for children, and expectations of learning are high
• children are motivated to be 'the best they can'.