ASSESSMENT, RECORDING AND REPORTING (ARR) GUIDELINES

Transcription

1 Assessment, Recording and Reporting Guideline Dated May 2015 Review Period 3 Years Curriculum Author DS CHRISTLETON HIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENT, RECORDING AND REPORTING (ARR) GUIDELINES 1 Introduction 1.1 Every school is required to meet legal requirements for Assessment, Recording and Reporting. The aim is to ensure that teachers and others have access to up-to-date information about the progress individual students are making and to ensure all students can progress at an appropriate pace in all subjects. 1.2 Assessment, Recording and Reporting plays an invaluable part in raising standards in school. This policy seeks to clarify, rationalise and define the purpose, principles and procedures to implement Assessment, Recording and Reporting effectively throughout the whole school. 1.3 Christleton High School s Assessment, Recording and Reporting policy should lead to improvement in learning and teaching and attainment. An understanding of the three components is essential and the relationship between them clear to all. 2 Definitions a. Assessment is the process of gathering data, analysis, interpretation and judgement. b. Recording is the way the data is managed and shared. c. Reporting is a matter of communication. 2.1 Assessment, Recording and Reporting should be based on the fundamental principles of: a. Offering all students an opportunity to show what they know, understand and can do in a variety of ways. b. Helping students to understand what they can do and what they need to develop to make progress. c. Relating to shared learning objectives. d. Advancing the learning process. e. Helping parents to become involved in their children s progress. f. Providing the school with information to evaluate their work.

2 3 General Principles 3.1 Through the process of Assessment Recording and Reporting the school will actively promote the achievement made by all students regardless of ability, to ensure they meet their full potential. 3.2 Assessment is underpinned by department schemes of work in which assessment criteria are clearly laid out and progression is clear. Record keeping systems should enable teachers to report to students and parents on progress made and act as a diagnostic tool for planning future work. 3.3 Assessment should be interpreted in the broadest sense giving students the opportunity to demonstrate what they know and what they can do. It should encompass class work, homework, end of unit tests and examination results. 3.4 Marking should be diagnostic, sharing with students what they have achieved and what they need to do next, ensuring students play an active role. Standardisation is important within a department and should be occurring across subject areas in order to ensure fairness and pupil understanding. 3.5 At Christleton High School the aim for the overall coursework grade at Key Stage 4 and in the Sixth Form should be at or above the target grade set for the GCSE/AS/A2. Subject teachers should inform the Senior Teacher of the provisional results of each piece of coursework to allow for effective monitoring. 3.6 Christleton High School recognises the importance of using National Curriculum level descriptors and GCSE grade descriptors. All departments will use them in Assessment, Recording and Reporting. 3.7 Peer and /or self assessment should be used as part of on-going learning and teaching practice. The aim of self assessment is to enable students to be actively involved in the assessment process and give them ownership and responsibility for their own work. 4 Assessment 4.1 Departmental schemes of work will contain assessment criteria. 4.2 Assessment will be a continuous process, integral to learning and teaching and to the curriculum. Everyday contact between teachers and students such as observation, discussion and oral feedback about work, will provide many opportunities for assessment. 4.3 Students will be provided with opportunities to encourage them to assess themselves and to review their own learning whenever possible and help set their own learning targets. 4.4 Assessment will emphasise achievement rather than failure. Assessment at Christleton High School will point the way to further improvement.

3 5 Formative Assessments 5.1 The aim of formative assessment is to give students ongoing, clear guidance about how to improve their work and to give them an idea of the standard of the work. For formative assessment to be effective students should be told how and for what purpose the work is going to be assessed. 5.2 All work that is formally assessed must receive formative comments back. These may be given verbally by the teacher. 5.3 Opportunities should be given for students to consider and develop targets further. This could be done through class or homework, for example: a. A starter or plenary activity b. Discussion with a student c. A peer assessment activity d. Re drafting a piece of work. 5.4 A formative comment should: a. be related to the purpose of the task. b. be concise and accessible for students. c. highlight achievement. d. be diagnostic. e. indicate how improvement can be achieved usually through a target. f. encourage the student and allow them to take ownership of their learning. 6 Cross Year Assessment 6.1 At Key Stage 3 every subject area should assess the students at least once per term in order to support a teacher assessment level against National Curriculum levels. Levels will be used on interim and summative reports at Key Stage 3 as indicated in the school calendar. Levels will be split into the three tiers a, b or c. If a student is awarded a 5a this means they are in the top third of a Level Each department must have a clear rationale regarding the award of grades within each subject area across the entire Year group. 6.3 At Key Stage 4 subjects should be assessed at least once per term against grade criteria in order to monitor student progress. They should be awarded a grade that they are currently working at, based on A-G grades. 6.4 In the Sixth Form every subject should assess students at least once per term using grade criteria. They should be awarded a grade that they are currently working at, based on A E grades. Any student not achieving at least a Grade E, should be referred to subject teachers.

4 7 External Tests and Examinations 7.1 All students will be assessed at the end of the Key Stages to support the attainment level in each subject area. 7.2 Students will be entered for GCSE examinations in which they have completed the course. The exact number will be decided upon after consideration of how each student is coping with the work load. 7.3 The entry tier for NCTs and GCSE examinations will be decided on the basis of teacher assessment made in line with department criteria. Students will be notified of the tier of entry by the teacher responsible for that subject. 7.4 In the Sixth Form, students will be entered for AS/A-level examinations for the courses they have followed, provided they have followed the course satisfactorily. 7.5 Examination fees will be paid by the school on the first occasion unless a student fails to sit the examination, fails to complete the necessary coursework or is resitting. 8 Standardisation of Work 8.1 Each department will have a strategy to: a. ensure a teacher attends moderation meetings by the exam boards. Information from such meetings must be relayed to other teachers in departmental meetings. b. develop and maintain among all its teachers, a common understanding of the meaning of statements of attainment and of levels. c. ensure accuracy and fairness of teacher assessment by defining what is sufficient evidence for an attainment grade to be secure. d. use the twilight sessions efficiently and effectively to standardise coursework. e. regularly include scrutiny of students work in departmental meetings. f. develop staff expertise in delivering coursework 8.2 The Deputy Headteacher will receive moderators reports for external coursework and speak to Heads of Department/Subject about the comments contained. 9 Marking 9.1 Students will be encouraged to look critically at their own work, be involved in the marking process and to discuss it with their teachers, parents and peers. 9.2 Where appropriate, written work will be corrected and /or commented upon by the teacher against reference criteria.

5 9.3 Marks will give students an impression of their overall quality of work to which an accompanied comment on strengths and weaknesses may be given on how to improve. 9.4 All marks will be recorded and dated in the teacher s mark book which clearly shows the task or activity. 9.5 If departments use a central data base, then marks should be imputed using an administrative assistant. 9.6 All subjects should follow the school s Literacy policy when marking. 9.7 All teachers of a particular subject will use the same system of grading which will be linked to clear criteria known to the student. 9.8 Not all of the work of a student is expected to be marked. 9.9 Each department is expected to have their own marking policy. As subjects are different, it is recognised by the school that no one grading criteria will suit every department for giving feedback and grades for both class work and homework. Students need to be aware of the meaning of the grades given in their books. 10 Teachers Records 10.1 Teachers will be expected to have in their mark books: a. Prior achievement data / Fisher Family Trust data. b. Targets that have been set. c. Dated records of assessment or attainment. d. SEN / Gifted and Talented information Teachers personal records of student progress will not be disclosed to parents. 11 Reporting 11.1 Reports will reflect ongoing assessment work and teaching records Parents will receive two interim assessments and one full report on their child s progress The interim assessment will inform parents on attainment, attitude and study skills (effort). The attainment grade is based on either National Curriculum levels, GCSE or AS/A2 grades. Attitude and study skills are based on Grades 1 to 4. Target grades for each Key Stage will be included The meaning of these grades is explained in the report Parents also receive a full report. This, in addition to the above, will include, where appropriate, examination marks and a teacher comment.

6 11.6 In the Sixth Form, students are issued with two Interim Reports in Year 12 which give feedback on attendance, deadlines, effort and preparation and homework, as well as referring to the target grade set. In Year 13 a further Interim Report is issued, along with a detailed full report which comments on positive achievement and strategies for improvement. 12 Procedures 12.1 The teacher i/c reporting (Mr Francis) will issue a timetable for reporting and deadlines. Mr Francis co-ordinates the reporting process The teacher i/c of reporting will work with the Data Administrator and Office Manager to ensure formats and data are available for teachers. Heads of Department will direct their teams to the relevant classes for report writing Completed reports will be given out for distribution at the appropriate time The Leadership Group will monitor assessment recording and reporting on a regular basis during Leadership Group meetings. 13 References Tracking for Success Secondary National Strategy Dfes Ref FLR-EN. Assessment for Learning Dfes Ref G. Pupil Centred Learning Using Data to improve performance Specialist Schools Trust Middle Leaders Self Evaluation Guide Dfes Ref CL-EN. Approved by the governing body on 25 November Reviewed by DS November Re-Approved by the Governing Body on 23 June 2015