Assessment Policy  

Aim  

The aim of this policy is to ensure a consistency of approach to assessment within LEICAD. This  document will offer guidelines and procedures to ensure that Assessment for Learning is at the  heart of all that we do. By maximising the rate of learning in our classrooms we will in turn  maximise the life chances of all of our students. 

Definition of terms 

Assessment  

In this policy, the term ‘Assessment’ is based on the Black & William definition: “Assessment  refers to all those activities undertaken by teachers and by their students in assessing themselves  which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities  in which they are engaged.” Black & William, Inside the Black Box, 1998  

Assessment of Learning (AoL) -Summative assessment 

AoL is any assessment which summarises where learners are at a given point in time – it provides  a snapshot of what has been learned (both in terms of attainment and achievement).  

Assessment for Learning (AfL) - Formative assessment ‘ 

Assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners  and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and  how best to get there.’ 

There are five key strategies of AfL at LEICAD:  

∙ Clarifying, understanding, and sharing learning intentions  

⮚ Learning outcomes and success criteria  

∙ Engineering effective classroom discussions, tasks and activities that elicit evidence of  learning.  

⮚ Interactive whole-class teaching and questioning  

∙ Providing feedback that moves learners forward  

⮚ Verbal and written feedback  

∙ Activating students as learning resources for one another  

⮚ collaborative learning, reciprocal teaching, peer-assessment  

∙ Activating students as owners of their own learning  

⮚ Metacognition, motivation, attribution, self-assessment ….and one big idea:  To use evidence about learning to adapt teaching and learning to meet the students’ needs. Purpose of Assessment

Short cycle – Day to day/within and between lessons  

∙ To allow teachers to systematically and effectively check students’ understanding  throughout lessons  

∙ To use this evidence about learning to adapt teaching and learning to meet the students’  needs  

∙ To enhance and increase the rate of students’ engagement and achievement.  ∙ To raise students’ self-esteem and motivation  

∙ To involve students in their own learning and assessment and to help them to know what  the next steps are  

Medium Cycle – One to four weeks/within and between teaching units  

∙ To allow teachers and students to evaluate the current level of attainment (where they  are at) and plan next steps for learning – at an individual, group, department and whole  school level (this includes assessing students’ readiness for future learning and identifying  the particular help that individuals and groups of students need)  

∙ To assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of teaching and learning styles  Long Cycle – Four weeks to a year/across units/terms  

∙ To provide a record of attainment in order to track student progress  

∙ To provide a statement of current attainment for student, teacher, parent, Board and  outside agencies  

∙ To provide information for individual, group, department and whole school targets  ∙ To fulfil statutory requirements  

∙ To contribute to the evaluation of the curriculum 

Key Processes of Formative Assessment  

∙ Establishing where the learners are in their learning  

∙ Establishing where they are going  

∙ Working out how they get there Participants  

∙ Teachers  

∙ Peers  

∙ Learners Interaction between processes and participants

Assessment in Practice  

a) Planning, teaching, feedback and marking  

b) Monitoring and supporting progress  

c) Communicating with parents and others (reporting)  

d) Managing assessment  

e) Monitoring, evaluating and reviewing this policy  

a) Planning, teaching, feedback and marking  

Planning  

∙ It is a requirement that schemes of learning be planned for all subjects and written  to take into account the most recent subject specifications, Key Stage 4/5 grade  criteria and assessment objectives (AO’s)  

∙ Schemes of learning should be treated as live documents and time should be given  to review what went well and to update on a regular basis.  

∙ All Schemes of learning should contain a variety of assessment opportunities that  are linked to a specific learning outcome or an assessment objective.  

∙ Medium-term planning and day-to-day-planning should be guided by the key  questions:  

⮚ What do I want students to learn by the end of the unit/lesson?  

⮚ How do I (and the students) know if they’ve learned it?  

∙ Lesson planning should be led by learning outcomes rather than activities.  ∙ Learning outcomes should be derived from the specification’s assessment objectives to  ensure all higher order skills are delivered.  

∙ The Learning Ladders and Bloom’s Taxonomy are useful tools to explain assessment  objectives. (see appendix A)  

Teaching  

Teachers have high expectations of all learners and teaching is supported by clear outcomes,  success criteria, and by methods that involve students actively and give them some  responsibility for how they learn. 

∙ Learning outcomes are clearly stated during each lesson (Where appropriate, they  should be written and displayed to students, they may be written down by students  to provide a learning log or may be used as the title for written work).  

∙ Learning outcomes are written in terms of what students will be able to do by the end  of the lesson as a result of the learning that has taken place 

∙ Learning outcomes are linked to explicit success criteria and should form the basis of  marking, student feedback and review sessions (Inc. plenaries).  

∙ Learning outcomes are located in ‘The Big Picture’ – i.e. how the lesson links to wider  skills’ development, where the lesson fits into a whole unit of work, how the lesson  contributes to overall progress.  

∙ Students sometimes choose how they are assessed – this encourages student  responsibility for managing their own learning and makes assessment visible to them  as an integral part of the learning process.  

∙ A wide range of formative assessment techniques is used during the lesson to ensure  evaluation of learning and adaptation of teaching to meet the students’ needs.  ∙ Levels of attainment, assessment objectives, grade criteria and exam specifications  are explained to students.  

∙ Effective use is made of exam specifications and assessment objectives to  demonstrate to students what they need to do to progress in their learning and attain  higher standards of achievement. This can be linked to a general Learning Ladder, but  is more effective if the Ladder is adapted to suit individual subject assessment objectives. (see appendix A) 

∙ Exemplar material is used with students to highlight the exam grade standards for  which they are aiming.  

Feedback and Marking  

∙ Each department should agree and publish a comprehensive assessment schedule for  each year group which identifies key assessments, both formative and summative,  and includes homework opportunities.  

∙ Students will receive regular What Went Well (WWW) and Even Better If (EBI)  feedback. This is to be linked specifically to the success criteria, learning outcome and  what is required in exams whether being assessed by the student, peer-partner or  teacher. This feedback will enable students to recognise their next steps in learning  and how to take them.  

∙ Marking should always refer back to learning outcomes and to the related key  assessment or success criteria and the students will be made aware of the success  criteria before the assessment is completed.  

∙ Students will be given time for My Response Is (MRI) and they will respond to the  teacher’s feedback. 

∙ Students will be supported by the effective use of language for feedback so they can  respond.  

∙ Students will be given opportunities for peer and self-assessment in each subject and  will need training, by teachers, in how to self and peer assess 

To ensure consistency, teachers will give feedback in red pen and students will peer/selfassess in  green pen.  

Quality and consistency of marking is monitored within departments, by Heads of Department  and Subject Leaders, with Heads of Department conducting a scrutiny of work across all year  groups at least twice a Year. These outcomes will be shared with the Senior Leadership Team  (SLT) and all staff SLT will conduct a cross-curricular scrutiny of work across all year groups at  least once a year. Findings and points for action should be discussed at SLT and with Heads of  Departments and outcomes shared with all staff. 

b. Monitoring and Supporting Progress 

∙ SLT are responsible for monitoring assessment practices and the use of data across the  school. Heads of Department are scheduled to regularly reflect on the progress students  make in their subject area. Individual teachers are responsible for reflecting on the data  available and are set challenging targets for themselves and all of their students.  

∙ The Centre Coordinator – Data, assessment and exams is responsible for ensuring that all  relevant data is available to staff and administrative support will be provided to help  collect and produce this data.  

∙ The Data and Exams Manager is responsible for analysing data and reporting back to the  Centre Coordinator.  

∙ The Centre Coordinator will report back to whole-staff, SLT, board, parents and individual  members of staff after every assessment cycle.  

∙ Heads of Department are responsible for devising an assessment schedule pertinent to  their own curriculum area based on this document. The assessment schedule should  ensure that assessment activities covering different learning styles and abilities are  included in that schedule. It should also ensure that appropriate levels of challenge are planned in for all students.  

∙ Heads of Department and Senior Links are responsible for monitoring the implementation  and review of the assessment policy and procedures within their own curriculum area.  ∙ Heads of Department and subject leaders are responsible for analysing the data provided  to them and implementing interventions that ensure all students’ needs are met.  ∙ Heads of Year will guide form tutors in using assessment data to review student  performance across subjects during registration. This should be designed to be diagnostic.  It should ensure that students who need support are identified and that intervention  programmes are designed to meet their individual needs. Increasingly, students should  be involved in the review process and should reflect on the data with their teachers.

c. Communicating with parents/others (reporting)  

A strong partnership with parents and carers, based on frequent, regular, personalised and  pertinent communication, helps the students to achieve their best. Below is a summary of interim  and end of year reports that are sent home. Progress Review Evenings (PRE) are also included. 

Predicted Grade – This is the grade that the subject teacher thinks a student will achieve at the  end of the course given their current effort and progress. This grade is based on work completed  this academic year to date including formative and summative assessments, class work,  coursework, homework, and practical projects which have been graded according to the Key  Stage 4/5 criteria. Statutory reporting information is provided to parents:  

Managing Assessment  

Assessment is the key to improving the curriculum, learning, and teaching and should be  inclusive.  

∙ Assessment is the joint responsibility of all students, all individual teachers, year teams,  Heads of Department and SLT.  

∙ Communication and sharing good practice between staff is vital to developing assessment  for learning across the school and ensuring consistency of approach.  

∙ It is the responsibility of all teachers to ensure that assessment is an integral part of the  teaching and learning experience at all levels – from planning through to delivery and  evaluation. They should use the information and data available to them to inform student  learning. They should keep abreast of the latest developments in assessment and follow  the guidelines set out in the academy assessment policy. Where identified, either at a  personal level as part of performance management or at a whole-school level, training  will be provided in order to ensure good assessment practice and uniformity across the  school.  

∙ Each subject teacher is responsible for accessing, using, monitoring and updating  assessment data for their teaching groups.  

∙ Each subject teacher is responsible for ensuring that all lessons deliver the agreed  schemes of learning and that the most relevant assessments identified in that scheme of  learning are completed. 

∙ Records of individual student progress should be simple, relevant and useful, providing  information for future planning. They should be available to support judgments made – particularly when reporting to parents.  

∙ All reports and comments about student attainment should be supported by evidence  and should not be a surprise to students.  

∙ Assessment practices should be communicated and shared with students – displays,  reference materials, checklists etc. should be used to support students in becoming  competent at assessing their own and others’ performance and level of attainment. e)  Monitoring and Evaluating Monitoring and evaluating the Assessment Policy will be  carried out at several levels.  

∙ Senior Leadership Team  

∙ Heads of Department & subject leaders  

∙ Governing Board. 

Implementation and Review 

This policy will be circulated to all Institute staff and published on the Institute websites for  parent/carer information. The policy will be reviewed two yearly. 

Appendix A – General Learning Ladder 

 The Learning Ladder 

These are the skills that you will need to develop in your lessons in order to achieve

Appendix B – interim report