Assessment

Assessment Policy.pdf

Assessment at St Aldhelm’s Academy

Assessment is at the heart of effective teaching and learning at St Aldhelm’s Academy. It allows us to understand what pupils know, remember, and can do, helping teachers to plan lessons that build on prior learning and close any gaps in understanding. Through a range of formative and summative assessments — including classroom activities, coursework, and formal exams — we track progress, celebrate success, and ensure every pupil is supported and challenged appropriately. Assessment also enables us to communicate clearly with parents and carers about their child’s progress and next steps, ensuring that every learner is on the path to achieving their full potential

Outcomes of successful assessment and feedback

All forms of assessment and feedback should aim to:

• Support and motivate students so as to have a positive impact on their learning
• Provide students a clear idea of how they are doing and what they need to do to improve, within a

lesson, topic area or towards their target grade

• Empower staff with important information on the progress of the student

The purpose of effective assessment is to:

Measure Student Learning: To evaluate how well students are understanding and retaining the material from the planned curriculum.

Identify Strengths and Weaknesses: To pinpoint areas where students are excelling and where they require more support.

Inform Instruction: To help practitioners to tailor their teaching strategies to meet the needs of all their students.

Track Progress: To monitor student progress over time and ensure they are on the right track.

Raise accountability: To hold schools and teachers accountable for student performance.

Guide Curriculum Development: To provide data that can be used to improve and adapt the curriculum.

Motivate Students: To encourage students to study and perform well.

Provide Feedback: To give students and parents feedback on academic performance.

How do we assess?

We use formative assessment to check that the curriculum content is remembered long term and what has been forgotten. At both KS3 and KS4 formative assessment should be used through each lesson so that real time teacher adaptations can be made.

We recognise that assessment can be used in a number of ways:

Assessment of learning: summative assessments in order to monitor students’ progress through national standardised tests.

Assessment for learning: through questioning, MWB, examining students’ work to provide analysis of student progress and allow real time adjustments in lessons.

Assessment as learning: through routine quizzes and tests to build memory automaticity in students. These low stakes assessments are part of the learning process.

Assessment points:

Throughout the academic year three modules of learning are delivered. These comprise of a mid-point and end-point assessment. At all three end point assessments of progress will be collected and reported to parents. These will occur  at Christmas, Easter and summer.