Effective assessment of pupils’ work is central to good teaching and learning because it enables teachers and pupils to quickly identify gaps in pupil knowledge and understanding, and therefore plan the next steps in pupils’ learning, helping ensure they make good progress. Assessment is used by staff within departments to identify what has or has not been learned, and this will then help in planning the next steps in learning for our students
Formative assessment establishes how pupils are progressing and provides pupils with the support they need to make progress. Assessment becomes formative when evidence is used to adapt teaching and when pupils respond to feedback- the aim is to form a follow up action. Summative assessment aims to help judge what pupils have learned and provides a measure of attainment, usually in the form of grades or marks; it is used to summarise learning in a way that provides a shared meaning that can be easily recorded.
Assessment Strategies
Departments will use a range of assessment strategies to establish what pupils have and have not learned within their subject areas.. In order to ensure assessment is useful, teachers should aim to create assessments that enable robust data to be obtained and relate to the expectations of what students are expected to be able to demonstrate. For KS3 assessments, departments will have created a set of PT descriptors for each year group, detailing their expectations of what pupils should be able to demonstrate in order to achieve each PT grade at the end of each year. These will in turn be used to create assessments which will allow students to demonstrate the expected knowledge and skills in order to achieve each PT grade, supporting them to transition more smoothly to KS4.
KS4 assessments will closely reflect the specifications and requirements of the relevant exam boards to ensure they accurately prepare students for final examinations. It is expected that assessments are designed with similar structure, content coverage, and level of challenge, using mark schemes and grading approaches that align with those of the actual GCSEs. This consistency supports reliable tracking of student progress, targeted intervention, and builds familiarity with the demands of the qualification, helping to secure better outcomes.
Frequency
Through using a range of assessment tools, teachers will assess pupils regularly. Informal, mainly formative assessment will happen in every lesson, through classroom dialogue, observing pupils at work, checking pupils’ written work and quick quizzes. Formal, summative assessment will take place less frequently, usually at the end of a unit of work, or period of time. The precise timings and frequency of assessments taken in class will be decided by each subject team so that they fit in with the curriculum. However, for core subjects, summative assessment will take place at least once per half term and for other subjects, once per term is expected. This will then allow subjects to accurately report attainment and to track progress so that timely interventions are put into place.
In Year 7, pupils will take part in standardised CATS tests in order to gather further data soon after they enter the school.
Recording and reporting
Staff are required to keep up-to-date, accurate and easily accessible records of summative data for the purpose of tracking pupil attainment and progress. The data will be used to inform decisions about the next steps in pupils’ learning at classroom, department and whole school level. Summative data will be recorded centrally using mark sheets set up at the department Typically, day-to-day formative assessment will be shown in pupils’ work or collected by staff for use by the pupil and teacher.
Assessment outcomes will be shared with pupils to ensure they understand their own performance and what they need to do to improve. For KS3 students, data informing them if they are working towards, on track to achieve or working above their target grade will be shared. For KS4 students, the individual grade they have achieved in assessments will be shared in order to inform students of their progress.
