ASSESSMENT POLICY. All pupils at Walden School, including Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, will have their work regularly assessed.

Transcription

1 ASSESSMENT POLICY All pupils at Walden School, including Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, will have their work regularly assessed. Assessment across the school takes various forms in each section. Assessment in the Senior School The Senior School has a variety of assessment practices in different curricular areas. This is appropriate given the range of different skills, understanding and competencies being assessed. Aims of Assessment To provide teachers with a range of information which will help them plan work best suited to each pupil s stage of development. To provide parents with information about their child s achievement and progress. To recognise pupil achievement and to encourage pupils in their learning through active involvement and target setting. To enable pupils to develop the skills needed to learn and achieve, including collaboration, negotiation, self assessment, critical reasoning and independent learning. To extend pupils fully by encouraging perseverance and aiming for maximum success in all things, especially public examinations, and by monitoring progress through the course. To evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programmes and inform curriculum planning and development. To provide a range of evidence to support end of year assessments. General Principles Assessment is an integral and continuous part of teaching and learning, not a bolton extra. Some assessment should take place during Schemes of Work, not just at the end. Assessment procedures should offer pupils positive opportunities to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do. Assessment should identify strengths and weaknesses and feedback for future

2 development. Assessment must be manageable, simple, informative, reliable and not unduly burdensome. Assessment should involve setting achievable targets for individual pupils, and monitoring their progress towards them. Assessment objectives should be clear to pupils. Assessment should motivate pupils by involving them through self-assessment and dialogue with their teacher. Assessment should, at appropriate times, be communicated to parents. Assessment and Recording at Departmental Level Assessment should be systematically included in all Schemes of Work. Each department will decide on the methods of assessment most appropriate to the needs of the curriculum, but the methods should include more than assessing written work. They should demonstrate progress across a range of skills and activities relevant to the subject. Pupils ought to be aware at the beginning of a module/topic/piece of work on what criteria their work will be assessed - and when. This should normally take the form of a sheet in the student s book, making it clear what marks will mean. Departments must include opportunities for self-assessment and target setting to take place. Departments must have clear records which show a pupil s achievement and targets set. They must ensure a consistent approach to assessment by having methods of moderating standards within the department. This may involve building portfolios of evidence. Assessment information must be transferable, between teachers within the school, or, if necessary, to staff at a new school if a pupil leaves. The Assessment and Recording process should be used to help both teacher and pupil produce meaningful statements about blocks of work completed, when Reports are written. Each department will need to decide: what is to be recorded what evidence should be collected how their marking/assessment scheme fits the school system (e.g. 9/10 A ) what strategy to use to ensure consistency, particularly for end of year assessments how and where evidence of pupil achievement should be stored

3 Common Notation If a department is using notations it should be either the accepted notation for external exams or a readily understood notation. If a department chooses not to use notations, comments must indicate the level of effort. In addition, achievement grades should be recorded by the teacher elsewhere in line with the standard grading system indicated below. Common notation for Effort Effort relates to the individual s level of participation and application in lessons and on homework tasks. Student effort should be reported using the numeric scale as follows: Common notation for attainment: In Years Exceptional application and working at the limit of individual potential 5 A very good level of application and extra work being undertaken 4 A good level of application 3 Working as expected 2 More application required to achieve an acceptable level of application 1 Exceptionally poor effort Student attainment is assessed on a 9 point scale 9-1. Attainment grades relate to the standard of work that we would expect in the whole year group, and reflect a consistent standard, year on year. Attainment levels Yr 7-9 are defined as: 9 Exceptional 8 Outstanding 7 Very good 6 Good 5 Above par 4 Satisfactory 3 Struggles with content 2 Weak 1 Very weak

4 In Years l0 to 11, external GCSE They indicate performance within the period reviewed rather than an examination forecast, especially in the earlier part of the course. The 9 point scale corresponds to GCSE and grades as illustrated below: In Sixth Form, A level New grade in line with Progress 8 Previous equivalent grade 9 A* 8 High A 7 Low A 6 High B 5 Low B 4 C 3 D 2 E/F 1 G New grade in line with Progress 8 Previous equivalent grade 9 A* 8 High A 7 Low A 6 High B 5 Low B 4 C 3 D 2 E 1 U Exam grade on reports: This grade refers to work that has been assessed under exam/test conditions. All communication of grades to parents should either be the accepted notation for external exams or the above school common notation. Elements of Assessment at Walden School MidYIS and YELLIS standardised tests for year 7 and year 10 respectively at the start of the autumn term these produce predicted grades which are available to staff to help inform their teaching. ALIS tests are conducted for 6i in their first term of the sixth form.

5 Half-term Interim Assessment Grades and End-of-Term Assessment Grades for all. The grades are entered into the school database. School examinations Communication with Parents It is crucial that parents are informed of their son/daughter s progress. This is achieved Interim Grades, End-of-term Assessment Grades and Examination results. Individual letters are also written home either to congratulate a pupil specifically or to raise a concern. Guidelines for Marking In order to provide a degree of consistency across departments, the following marking guidelines must be adhered to: Marking should: be clearly related to the aims of the lesson or section of coursework be meaningful for the individual child be positive and constructive, with appropriate praise given include verbal and written feedback include comments that relate to the planned learning objectives, recognition of children s achievements and indication of the next steps in their learning include time built into lessons for children to reflect on marking and respond to it. Marking Process: Marking should be undertaken as quickly as possible. Marking may sometimes be done in the classroom, so that dialogue may take place. Before a piece of work is undertaken, children should be clear what is going to be assessed when the work is marked. Teachers should refer to examples of children s work to show the standard that is expected. After a piece of work, a comment should be written. Comments should be both encouraging and personal. Comments should praise something within the piece of work. Comments should offer constructive criticism by targeting a specific area for improvement or offer guidance on how to achieve the next level. Where appropriate, teachers should indicate clearly which assessment criteria have been met. Where see me is written, teachers should tick and initial when this has taken place. Marks awarded at the end of a piece of work may be used, but with added comments. Students should be taught to reflect on and respond to teacher comments. Correcting every mistake can be demoralizing.

6 Spelling and Grammar: In a piece of English work, a limited number of key words should be identified for correction by being underlined and written out in the margin by the teacher, or by being circled, if it is intended that the child will self-correct. In subjects other than English, spellings related to that subject area should be corrected. The correcting of spellings in subjects other than English should be a minor component of teacher marking but not ignored. Sometimes pieces of work can be marked with no reference to spellings: the focus can be on something else. Children should not be restricted by the need to spell all words correctly at the drafting stage of a piece of writing, which inhibits the creative process. Prep School Assessment is a judgement teachers make about a pupil s attainment based on knowledge gained through techniques such as observation, questioning, marking and testing. Assessment is about finding out what a child can or cannot do and what they know or do not know. It is an integral part of teaching and learning through which their effectiveness can be monitored and improved. Types of Assessment Diagnostic- learning needs can be identified so that appropriate action can be taken and support given Formative assessment that is made during the teaching and learning process and is continual Summative assessment that is made at the end of the lesson, course, term, year or key stage. Why Assess Identifies the strengths and weaknesses of children Informs planning so that adaptation of teaching and learning strategies can take place and targets can be set for individual pupils Provides regular feedback to pupils and parents Informs parent s teachers and pupils as to their progress and level of achievement. Assessment at the Prep School is: Reflected in teachers planning An essential part of the teaching and learning process

7 Carried out using a variety of different techniques (marking work, observing children systematically, intuitive, tests, tasks) Consistent- using generally agreed methods within the school and within the subject areas. Equal Opportunities and Special Needs Assessment at the Prep School provides all children with the opportunity to demonstrate progress and achievement irrespective of ability, gender, race or background. Responding to pupils work Pupils need regular, genuine feedback about the success or otherwise of their learning. Children should not only be clear as to what they have to do but also receive information about the purpose of their learning and how well they are doing. At the Prep School children are encouraged to be aware of their progress and expect high standards of themselves and others. A marking policy is in place for Mathematics and English. The latter is used across the curriculum. Recording Why do we record? At the Prep School, we record the outcomes of assessment to inform subsequent teaching and learning. This enables us to: Track the progress of individual pupils or groups of pupils. Set individual or group targets Discuss progress with parents and other teachers Who needs this information and why? Parents want to know: If their child is making appropriate progress What they can do to help Teachers need to know: Whether each pupil has learnt what has been taught Whether they need to refine any aspects of their teaching Which pupils need support or extension work How to gauge progress Head and relevant Key Stage Co-ordinator need to know Whether groups within the school are making sufficient progress How pupil attainment in the school compares to National statistics and other comparable schools

8 What is recorded and when? Recording takes place on several levels. Teachers own records day to day assessment and recording takes place all the time and can take many forms. It is not the concern of this document to be prescriptive at this level but a system of recording marks, grades and comments needs to be in place, as this should inform the next stage. Time Assessment Recording Reporting Day/Week Feedback from work completed. Marking, discussing, questioning, observing and testing, Daily records / mark books/ notebooks Discuss with parents as and when necessary on informal basis. Teachers also keep a pupil file in their classroom in which examples of work, reports, and other relevant information is kept. A spreadsheet is also kept for each class recording each pupil s scores in spelling, reading age, NFER results and National curriculum test results. Reporting Reports are written for parents in a clear, straightforward manner and inform parents as to: How their child is performing Their child s strengths, weaknesses and particular achievements Areas for development and improvement How they can help Whether their child is happy, settled and behaving well The reports should concentrate on what the pupil has or has not learnt rather than what has been taught. They should indicate what standards the child has achieved and what these are being compared against. This could be a national figure for baseline assessment, National Curriculum levels or the school grading system. Highlighting their strengths and recognising achievement across the whole range of school activities motivate pupils at Friends Junior School. Areas that require attention should be clearly identified and suggestions for improvement outlined. Low and under achievement should also be identified clearly. Honesty tempered with sensitivity should always be employed.

9 Schedule of Assessment, Recording and Reporting Term/ Year Key Stage Reception: Baseline assessment PIPS system starting 2001 Year 1 PIPS 2002 Year 3 6 Spelling and Reading ages NFER English and Maths NC practice tests at Year 3, 4 and 5 Key Stage 1 externally moderated tests in English and Maths and teacher assessment. Key Stage 2 externally marked tests in English, maths and Science and teacher assessment File held in classroom containing Baselin3 assessments, reports, reading and spelling ages, portrait and sample of written work/ handwriting, also relevant external assessments. Results kept on computer file on staff computer Results kept on individual files and on copies of reports Results also kept on computer file on staff computer Baseline assessment reports to parents National Curriculum, NFER and other test results influence levels and grades on reports which take place twice a year at the end of Autumn and Summer Terms Results at each key Stage reported to parents with National comparisons This policy will be ratified on And will be reviewed in November 2015 Signed by the Head:. Clerk of Governors:... Designated Person:..