Assessment

Rationale

At The English School, we believe that assessment for learning (formative) and of learning (summative) are integral to the achievement of high-quality learning outcomes.
We also believe that effective teaching and learning requires that timely, comprehensive information on student achievement and progress be provided to students and parents to promote effective home/school partnerships in support of student learning so that every child performs to their full potential, in both internal and public examinations.
Assessment is the process of gathering, analysing, interpreting and acting upon quality information about student learning and should be purposeful, systematic, ongoing and appropriate to the age and development for the students. The assessment constitutes a vital tool that enables teachers to drive our students to success.
 

Objectives

The major aims of assessment are to enable all students to fulfil their potential and maximise their learning and to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning and teaching process and facilitate continuous improvement. To achieve this, assessment processes aim:

• To provide constructive feedback to students on their progress. The feedback that is clear, informative, timely and relevant to students helping them identify areas of their work  for which they need to achieve improvement
• To provide feedback to teachers and parents on pupils’ progress
• To provide data based on which termly reports can be written on student progress 
• To improve the quality of current curricular provision
• To encourage habits of effective time management, developing the independent learner
• To enable teachers to use assessment data to set targets for every student against  a baseline and use comparisons to inform intervention, when needed
• To use data to identify the individual needs of students and thus enable differentiation in teaching approaches and materials used
• To help students develop their knowledge, understanding and skills to a level that enables them to maximise their potential and achieve success
• To provide students with opportunities to practice with past papers and revise for both internal and external exams

 
Assessment is a continuous process in the classroom: students need to know where they are in their learning, to understand where they need to be and to know how to get there. Pupils use shared success criteria and guidelines for improvement to assess their own learning and understanding, this enables them to see and understand their own way forward.
 
Assessment for Learning is a crucial part of the teaching and learning process, and a key factor in raising a student’s standard of achievement. AfL ensures that students’ educational needs are met so that they are challenged to achieve their full potential. AfL strategies used include:
 

• Sharing/displaying the learning objective at the start of every lesson and review it later
• Developing and sharing success criteria, enabling students to begin the process of self-evaluation
• Using appropriate questioning to give students the opportunity to think before  answering, share their thoughts and ideas, consult in a pair/small group and  ask their own questions
• Using self-assessment and peer assessment through the use of success criteria, allowing time for reflection on own learning
• Providing effective feedback and marking to encourage learning and give specific direction

 

The English School has agreed procedures for:

• Formative and Summative assessment
• Marking and feedback

 

Formative Assessment
This is used by teachers to evaluate students’ knowledge, understanding and skills on a day-to-day basis. We believe that formative assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning and that classroom assessment can inform future teaching and learning. Formative assessment follows agreed processes that aim to address students’ individual needs and enable them to fulfil their potential. These processes include:

• Everyday use of learning objectives in all lessons to ensure that students are aware of what they are learning. All tests and assessments closely correspond to the learning objectives identified.
• Use of success and assessment criteria that will enable students to understand what they need to do in order to improve their performance.
• Oral questioning to check that students understand and can use ideas, concepts and skills being taught and that they have retained key facts. Both open and closed questions are used with emphasis placed on the former.
• The responsibility of teachers to record marks and make them available for the Head of Department by uploading them on the Assessment Manager on SIMS.
•  Use of the lesson objectives and success criteria by students to assess their own work and that of their peers.
• Use of a variety of different forms of classwork and homework tasks that will provide information to teachers about students’ progress.
• Use of differentiated tasks and processes in the classroom to address the different needs of students.
• Recall of previous learning in all lessons to establish where students are and, therefore, build a link between previous learning and the lesson.
• Use of a plenary at the end and/or in the middle of the lesson to enable students to communicate their learning and link to lesson objectives.
• Formative feedback is given to students that are constructive and positive, explaining strengths and areas in which further progress should be achieved and offering specific guidance for improvement.

Summative Assessment

(Common Assessments and internal, end-of-year and mock examinations)
 

• Years 1-3 will take a number of agreed common assessments throughout the year; the number of common assessments per subject will be decided on the number of periods allocated to each subject. Students will also sit internal, end-of-year examinations in June. Both parents and students are able to access the school website the common assessment schedule for each Year group in September of each academic year.
• Year 4 students will take five common assessments in each subject they are studying, both compulsory and optional. Year 5 students will take four common assessments in all their subjects. Parents and students will have access to the common assessment schedule for their Year group on the school website.
• Year 4 students will also sit internal, end-of-year examinations in June whilst Year 5 students will sit the external examinations at the end of the year. Year 5 students will also sit internal mock examinations in January in all subjects. Year 4 students will sit mock examinations in Greek, Turkish and Maths in February/March.
• Years 6-7 will take six common assessments per subject during the year and students will sit at the end of the year the external examinations. In Year 6, the students sit the AS examinations and in Year 7 they take the AL exams. Both Year 6 and 7 students take internal, mock examinations end of February-beginning of March, usually right after the second half-term. Students and parents will be able to access the common assessment schedule on the school website.
• Common assessments are weighed 60% of the total mark for reporting in termly progress reports.

Common assessments will identify the following:

• The topic(s) to be assessed, indicated in the title
• The week and date of the assessment
• The length and format of the test
• Clear instructions to students
• Any supporting resources or links that would help students prepare for the common assessment; teachers can upload relevant information on Teams

Missing a Common Assessment (CA)
 

1. Students who have tested positive for COVID-19
2. Students who were away on a school-approved trip
3. Students who were away for University interviews
4. Students who were required to take University Entrance Exams
5. Students who were approved to participate in Sporting or Musical events
6. Students who have not completed the minimum number of CAs as indicated below:

• For Middle and Upper School: Students must have at least two CAs in all of their subject(s) (excluding Greek and Turkish in Year 6)
• For Lower School: Students must have at least 2 CAs in (a) Core subjects, (b) Science and (c) Modern Languages and at least one CA in other subjects