Uplands Secondary Assessment Policy

Putting feedback at the heart of learning

Aim:

The aim of this document is to outline the School’s expectations in terms of assessment, laying out a set of principles to guide teaching practice and to communicate to parents and students what they can expect of their teachers. Assessment, done properly, has been shown to be the single most effective means of improving students’ learning, which in practice means:

  • Giving specific feedback to students about where they areand how to improve
  • Gaining feedback from students about how effectively we have taught and how we can improve

Types of assessment:

Broadly speaking, there are two types of assessment:

  • Summative –tells students (and their teachers) what their current level of understanding is.
  • Formative –tells students (and their teachers) how to improve

Units of learningshould contain a mixture of both formative and summative assessment and it should be clear to students at the start of a unit how they will be assessed.

Summative assessments will often take the form of written tests but can and should include (where appropriate) presentations, portfolios, essays, investigations, research projects, posters, role-plays, practical activities, web-sites, video clips, podcasts, field work, experimental work and more.

What do we assess learning against?

All assessment should be criterion referenced – i.e. learning should be measured against a clearly defined and well communicated set of standards such that it is always clear to students what they need to do to succeed. This moves the emphasis on learning away from ‘chasing As’ – which limits the most able students and disadvantages the least – towards a focus on making progress and each student knowing how to take the next step. It is strongly recommended that each subject distributes ‘level ladders’ to students at the beginning of each unit; these rank learning objectives by grade/level and help students to monitor their learning and set targets.

Who should do the assessing?

Whilst the class teacher, as the expert in the field, will conduct the majority of the assessment, it is important that opportunities are given to students to assess each other (peer assessment) and themselves (self-assessment) as this help students to deepen their understanding of the subject matter and develop the ability to monitor their own learning.

How much assessment should there be?

Formative assessment is a continuous process and as such there should be an element of assessment in every lesson. At its simplest level this means it should be always be clear what students need to do to succeed in a lesson and whether or not they have met that. Students should expect a minimum of one summative assessment per unit of learning. It is important that teachers allow time after assessments to give students feedback on their learning and the opportunity to make any necessary corrections or to re-teach areas of common difficulty.

What can students expect from assessment?

Students should be able to expect:

  • Clearly communicated (i.e. in student-friendly language) success criteria for each unit of learning
  • Clearly communicated schemes of assessment – i.e. how will they be assessed and what will the relative importance(where appropriate) of each assessment be?
  • Clearly targeted assessments – it must be clear what is being assessed
  • Clear marking of assessed work that communicates the grade/level and how to improve (as appropriate)
  • Prompt return of assessed work – the greater the time between work and assessment, the lower the impact on improving learning

Communicating with home:

Attainment:
  • Years 7-9 – UK National Curriculum Levels 1-EP
  • Years 10-11 – IGCSE/ GCSE A*-U grades
  • Years 12-13 – IB levels 1-7 or A-Level grades A*-U
/ Effort:
  • 1 – Excellent – given to the outstanding student who tries their utmost and ‘goes the extra mile’
  • 2 – Good - for students who consistently try hard to complete all work set to a high standard
  • 3 – Satisfactory – for the student who behaves appropriately and does what is asked (completes classwork and homework) but no more than that.
  • 4 – Unsatisfactory – for students who fail to meet expectations in terms of effort or behaviour

Each year students will receive two full written reports and one grade summary report,the exception being Years 11 and 13 where there is a grade summary report mid-way through Term 1and a full written report given after the January mock examinations. The reports will report:

Written Report:

This should summarise a student’s performance and give clear guidance as to how to improve.

Parent Teacher Consultation Evenings:

In addition to the reporting process, there are two parent-teacher consultation evenings per year where students, teachers and parents can discuss progress and agree strategies for improvement. However, where assessment raises serious concerns about a student these should be communicated through the school’s pastoral structure (homework diary, tutor, head of year) without waiting for the next report or consultation evening.