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Assessment, Recording and Reporting Policy - Secondary

SECONDARY ASSESSMENT, RECORDING AND REPORTING POLICY

SCHOOL AIMS:

To promote a culture of excellence in teaching and learning.
To encourage internationalism, providing students with the skills, dispositions, and knowledge to participate in an increasingly interconnected world.
To use innovative pedagogy and technology to enrich learning.
To foster a learning community where every student, teacher, staff member, parent and DBIS alumni has an ongoing passion for learning.

RATIONALE:

The primary purpose of assessment should be to promote student learning. We aim for high quality teaching and learning, and the heart of this is effective assessment, underpinned by our growth mindset belief that all students can succeed.

Our assessments focus on the educational outcomes that matter most, not just on those things that are easiest to test and quantify, and provides information to improve the quality of teaching and learning and support improved outcomes for student learning.

Further to this, we systematically collect summative assessment data to build a greater understanding of the students individual needs. This informs strategic interventions that ensure all stakeholders can work collaboratively for the benefit of the students. We provide parents with regular reports, both written and verbal, about their child’s current levels of attainment and progress to help ensure teachers, students and parents continue working together to raise standards for all of the students in our care.

ASSESSMENT:

Assessment is the ongoing process of collecting, analysing and evaluating evidence of progress for all students in order to inform future learning.

A variety of assessment tools are used in order to monitor learning and to plan for future development. In addition to summative assessments in each subject to ascertain the level a student has achieved, regular formative assessments take place to gather information on what an individual or group of students understand or do not understand and how future teaching will be adapted to account for this.

Assessments are planned in advance and where appropriate students are given notice of tests to ensure effective preparation can occur. Assessment tasks must be reliable, differentiated where appropriate and reflect key learning statements from the planned curriculum.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Any activity that is used to assess progress before or during the learning process.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Evaluates what the students know or have learned at the end of the teaching cycle.

FEEDBACK

Feedback on assessments is recognised as critical to student development and is provided on all forms of assessment. The essential components of feedback should consider the student’s goals, current performance and how further progress towards the goals can be made. Cross marking of assessment is encouraged, where possible, to ensure validity of results and consistency of feedback.

BASELINE ASSESSMENT

Baseline student information is gathered in order to identify underlying strengths and weaknesses, attainment targets and students’ attitudes to school and learning. In the Secondary School all students sit two key baseline assessments, one through the Centre for Evaluating and Monitoring (University of Cambridge) and the other through GL Assessment

CENTRE FOR EVALUATING AND MONITORING

MidYIS is a baseline assessment for secondary school for students aged 11-14, designed to measure student aptitude for, and attitude to, learning. It is designed to monitor student progress throughout Years 7-9 and facilitate transition to Year 10 with value-added progress measures and target-setting information for external examinations.

Yellis is a secondary baseline assessment for students aged 14-16, specifically designed to measure student performance, potential and attitudes in Year 10 and 11.

Alis is a post-16 monitoring system designed to provide an individualised learner profile and is used by school to provide baseline measures and predictive information to ensure learners maximise their potential.

GL ASSESSMENT

The Pupil Attitudes to Self and School (PASS) survey is a short self-evaluation survey that you can use to gain insight into attitudes that could be hindering achievement. The PASS all-age attitudinal survey helps to detect possible barriers to learning, including issues around confidence, resilience, motivation, concentration, disaffection and alienation.

ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS

Teachers should plan in advance in order to ensure all assessments are the best reflection of a student’s abilities. For some students, this will include the provision of special access arrangements outlined by the Learning Enhancement Department, and available in the school’s Special Educational Needs Policy and Dyslexia Friendly Policy.

For external examinations, access arrangements guidelines are established by the UK Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). Procedures for access and provision of these accommodations are stated within the school’s Examination Access Arrangements Policy.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

Some students have special conditions for assessments and arrangements will be made to ensure these conditions are met.

In examination years, testing will tend towards the style of assessment as set out by the exam board. This will ensure that students are well prepared for their formal examinations.

RECORDING:

Staff maintain accurate records of assessment in order to monitor student progress over time and plan for future academic development. The results of significant assessments are recorded in faculty mark books, while teachers will also record the results of smaller assessments. Report data is also copied into the faculty mark book for ease of use.

Data from baseline testing and past reports is recorded and stored in iSams and is available for all staff to use.

REPORTING:

Formal reports are sent home at least three times each year.

Years 7, 10 and 12 will all receive a transition report within the first two months of the new academic year. The transition report contains every subject showing an effort and collaboration grade.

Short Reports for Years 7 – 9 contains every subject showing an attainment grade (referenced as tracking grade) followed by an effort and collaboration grade

Short Reports for Years 10 – 13 contains every examined subject showing an aspirational grade; attainment grade (referenced as tracking grade) followed by an effort and collaboration grade

A tracking grade should be a professional judgement on the holistic progress the student has made up to that point in time. The grade should account for all of the work covered so far against the final assessment criteria. The grade should not be generated solely from the most recent piece of assessed work.

(Definition established by DBIS HoD 2020)

Grading Structure

Years 7-9 has the following attainment grading structure which aligns directly with the respective End of Year expectations:

• Working significantly above age expected

• Working above age expected

• Working at age expected

• Working towards age expected

• Working below age expected

Year 10-11. IGCSE subjects which follow either the A* - G grading system or the newer 9-1 grading system.

Year 12-13. A level subjects which follow the A* - E grading system.

PARENT/TEACHER/STUDENT CONFERENCES:

Parent, Teacher, Student conferences are held once per year for each year group and are an opportunity to meet face to face and discuss the learning progress and future plans for each student.

Created: 1.10.17

Last Reviewed: 13.06.22

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