Assessment
At Harris Academy Chobham we carry out two different types of assessment:
- Formative Assessment (Assessment for Learning) – this is frequently informal and provides students with strategies for improvement alongside allowing the teacher to adapt their teaching. This takes place in several ways and is continuous taking place in every lesson in one form or another. This is the checking for understanding that underpins all the work that our teachers do.
- Summative Assessment (Assessment of Learning) – this takes place more infrequently though happens on a department level, through set questions and primarily happens during our set assessment windows structured through the whole academy assessment calendar.
Academy-wide summative assessment
Key principles:
- End points are clearly defined at key stages throughout the curriculum.
- Cumulative and reliable summative assessments measure the implementation of the curriculum.
- The curriculum at Harris Academy Chobham is measured against standardised data to ensure high quality provision.
- Pupil work is routinely compared to models and other academies to assess the implementation of the curriculum.
- Middle leaders receive training in summative assessment design to evaluate the quality of the curriculum.
As an academy we have a whole academy assessment calendar which sets out when assessments are to take place; this is structured to balance them across the academy year.
- Year 7 – 9 have two formal assessment periods per academic year.
- Year 10 have three formal assessment periods per year.
- Year 11 ,12, and 13 have four formal assessment periods per year.
Some of these assessments take place in the sports hall under formal examination periods; others are carried out in lesson time; this is indicated in the assessment calendar. Teachers are given around two weeks to mark and moderate the assessments before submitting the data centrally. The results are then reported to parents shortly after.
After each assessment the following information is collected:
- Result (recorded as a percentage)
- Effort Grade (recorded A to D)
- Current Grade (for Year 7 to 11, recorded from U to 9; for Year 12 and 13 recorded as U to A*)
- Predicted Grade (for Year 10 to 13 recorded using qualification grading style).
- Formative comments (using comment banks – for one report a year only).
What is a current grade?
The current grade for student is directly linked to the evidence collected in assessments. A current grade is not simply the ‘mock grade’ or a most recent assessment grade but instead an indication of where a student currently is, based on the evidence available. The current grade will include the most recent assessment but may refer to previous evidence.
All subjects should have a tracker that accounts for all elements of the assessment criteria. Students should be awarded a current grade based on assessments that they are able to access. Students should not be assessed on content that they have not covered, and their current grade should not be disadvantaged by a deficit in their knowledge of the content due to it not have being taught yet. We do not assess students on topics they have not been taught.
Exam technique and skills will improve significantly which will account for a current grade improving throughout the year, but improved content knowledge will rarely impact current grade to the same extent. Coursework or Controlled Assessments must also be taken in to account but again students should not be penalised for not having completed the coursework if the deadline has not passed.
What is a predicted grade?
A predicted grade is a most likely professional judgement of what the student will obtain in the final GCSE or A Level.
What do grades mean?
In KS4 and Post-16 the grades equate to an external examination grade. They are a professional approximation of either a GCSE or A Level grade. However, it should be recognised that these qualifications are norm referenced so the national grade boundaries change each year and although internal assessments are designed to be at a comparable standard to the national exams there will always be some assessments that are relatively easier and some relatively harder.
At KS3 we use the same grading scale at GCSE to make it easier for students and parents to understand. The higher the grade the better the relative performance amongst the cohort and the greater the mastery of the subject. The grade will consider both recall of subject specific knowledge and subject specific skills.
A grade U would indicate no mastery or access to skills.
A grade 5 would be considered a pass and working at age related expectations for that subject (this will be different for each year group 7,9,9)
A grade 9 would put a student in the top 4-5% of the cohort.
What is an effort grade?
An effort grade is a teacher’s perception of the student’s effort in their lesson – this will incorporate class work, homework, and general participation in lessons. It is not an exact science but a best fit approach using the descriptors below:
A – Excellent Effort – always completes all tasks to the best of their ability
B – Good Effort – mostly completes tasks to the best of their ability.
C – Inconsistent Effort – completes tasks some of the time; needs prompting to complete tasks.
D – Unsatisfactory effort – fails to engage with learning.
