Eskdale School

Assessment Policy
Eskdale School aims:
To develop as a vibrant, dynamic community committed to the principles of Every Child
Matters so that all of our students

are safe and healthy

enjoy and achieve
make a positive contribution
experience success so that they are equipped to make their way in the world of work.

Document Status
Date of Policy Adoption by Governing Body: January 2006
Reviewed
Next Review
Signed (Chair of
Governors)

October 2014
Accepted amendments re Y9
July 2015

Rationale
The purpose of this document is to establish clear guidelines and
recommendations for assessment within Eskdale School. It is expected that
teachers should read it and act accordingly regarding the assessment of pupil
work. Individual departmental policies should relate to assessment and reflect
the guidelines contained in this document.
Assessment is the process of obtaining, analysing and interpreting evidence for
use by both pupils and teachers to enable the review, planning and improvement
of learning. It is fully integrated with the delivery of the curriculum and is an
essential component of effective classroom practice.
Assessment in Eskdale supports each pupil in the achievement of his or her full
learning potential and fosters the development of self esteem and personal
responsibility. It takes place in a self reflective context and encourages the
involvement of all staff, pupils and parents.
Definitions
Summative assessment is Assessment OF Learning. It is used mainly to measure
performance and clearly identifies a standard of pupil attainment. It is carried
out at the end of a period of learning, eg:
External examinations
Internal school examinations
End of topic/unit tests and assessments
Summative Assessment
happens after the learning
proves learning has taken place
assists in measuring learning
is done to learners
is externally referenced
is focused on the outcome
Formative assessment is Assessment FOR Learning. It is ongoing and provides
evidence of and for progression in learning. It supports learning through
identifying difficulties, providing feedback and diagnosing future learning
priorities.
Formative Assessment
happens during the learning
helps to improve learning
assists in growing learning
is done with learners
is personally referenced
is focused on the process
Purpose of Assessment Aims and Objectives
Purposes
to encourage pupils to recognise their strengths and weaknesses

Aims

to provide feedback to students and to look for a way forward to improve

learning
to highlight achievement across the curriculum
to inform pupils, parents, staff and governors of the progress of pupils.

Assessment should help pupils to develop fully their academic abilities and
self-confidence,
to develop skills which they need for reflective and independent study and
to establish shared understanding by pupils and teachers of clear and
explicit study goals. In other words to help all pupils become more
effective learners.
Assessment, both formal and informal, should complement and reinforce
the delivery of the curriculum.

Objectives

To use suitable forms of assessment, based on expectations which are

clear, realistic, and understood by the pupils;
To ensure that all pupils experience challenge and a measure of success
To recognise the whole range of pupils experiences and achievement
To enable pupils to develop skills that are needed if they are to become
effective learners
To provide constructive feedback to pupils, discuss weaknesses in pupils
learning and offer a remedial strategy.

Assessment for Learning

Teachers should be encouraged to integrate the following Assessment for
Learning strategies into their teaching and learning.
Learning Intentions - Clearly communicated at start of lesson/task on the
board
Success Criteria - set of criteria, agreed with pupils, determining exactly
what is required for a particular task or assignment:
Effective Questioning
- More thinking time for student: eg: Think/pair/Share
- Asking questions better and asking better questions
Formative Assessment
- Set against success criteria
- self assessment/peer assessment/teacher assessment
Feedback given to pupils should be about the particular qualities of his or her
work, with advice on what he or she can do to improve, and should avoid
comparison with other pupils.
Homework policy
The purpose of homework is to extend learning beyond the classroom and to
diagnose the effectiveness of teaching and learning and to develop the skills of
pupils as independent learners;
Homework can take many different forms such as:

Continuing or completing class work,

Reviewing /learning new work done in class
Reading for specified purposes
Researching a given topic
Writing: answering questions or extended pieces of writing
Revision /preparation for tests / exams

Homework should:

be set regularly
be relevant
be clearly explained to pupils in terms of expected outcomes
always be recorded in pupils diaries;
be completed for the date set, otherwise appropriate sanctions will be
enforced
be assessed effectively, with feedback given, either verbal or written
be differentiated according to age and ability.

Marking -from Eskdale Way of Learning

Marking and assessment should be carried out on a regular basis and
measured against pupil progress points or exam grades where
appropriate.

An accurate understanding of a students current position is essential for

maximising progress. This can only be achieved through regular scrutiny
of a students work.
All subjects must adhere to the agreed school marking and
feedback policy including the use of GREEN INK for teacher
marking.
A copy of our current literacy improvement codes could be glued in the
back of all exercise books.
Consistent use of our literacy improvement codes is also essential. This
should include corrections of any misspelt subject specific key words
(copied five times by the student).
Verbal feedback is a powerful driver for improvement and should be
captured by students using appropriate methods e.g. verbal feedback
stickers in books etc.
Students responsibilities relating to assessment include: detailed self and
peer-assessment evaluation using success criteria; the completion of all
follow up tasks and literacy/numeracy corrections flagged by the teacher;
keeping any learning progress pages in exercise books and the student
planner up to date. RED INK should be used to identify peer and self
-assessment.

Teachers responsibilities relating to assessment include:

Regular annotated feedback of identified pieces of work at least once a

fortnight in core and in those foundation subjects taught more than two
lessons per week. Other foundation subjects should be at least once every
three weeks.

The setting and checking of appropriate follow up tasks and corrections.

The setting of clear curricular targets following all interim progress checks.
Targeted use of our literacy improvement codes.
Identification of spelling corrections for all subject specific key words (to
be written out five times by students).

Quality Assurance:

A regular book scrutiny will be carried out by SLT team to support

consistency and identify/disseminate best practice.

.
Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work,
with advice on what she or he can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons
with other pupils. (Black, P. 1998)
Effective Marking helps to:
recognise pupil achievement
monitor pupil progress
provide feedback and guidance for improvement and progression
motivate and encourage pupils
record and report pupil attainment
It is essential that work is marked:
regularly and consistently
according to agreed and shared assessment criteria /outcomes
using both quantitative and qualitative criteria
for improvement, using constructive comments
It is not a requirement to mark every piece of work. In some instances oral
feedback during a lesson or peer assessment could replace marking.
It is not usually appropriate to level every piece of work. Recent research
suggests that comment-only marking is the best way to help learners improve
and that comment only marking leads to a 30% improvement in students work.
(Research findings, Black & Wiliam,1998)
It is suggested that teachers mark after every third contact/lesson with students.
This method should allow for more worthwhile feedback and less superficial tick
marking. However, it is recognised that various subjects will have their own
requirements.
There has been a recent Government emphasis on the importance of literacy.
Eskdale is committed to improving literacy and all departments are currently
addressing this issue through consistent marking as outlined above. It is
generally agreed, across the school, that spellings should be corrected (this
could be a limited number of spellings and/or subject specific spellings). All
subjects should promote punctuation and the use of paragraphs.
In order to standardise the marking of literature, the following symbols should be
used.

From Eskdale Way of Learning

Key pieces of work must be marked using the agreed codes for consistency and
clarity.

Literacy
SP
P
//
/
C
^
T
?

Spelling error
Punctuation error
New paragraph needed
New sentence needed
Capital letter needed or missing
Something missing
The wrong tense
This doesnt make sense

A spelling mistake will be

circled
Students to make corrections
A punctuation mistakes will be
circled - Students to make
corrections

Unclear writing will be

underlined with a wavy line

*
The teacher may wish to write the correct spelling or encourage students
to find correct spellings.
GCSEs
As a Key Stage 3 school, Eskdales primary focus for assessment and progress
relies on the use of levels. However, all subject departments liaise with
Caedmon School and Whitby Community College to ensure a smooth transition
from Key Stage 3 to Key Stage 4. All subjects teach part of the relevant GCSE in
Year 9. Additionally, there are other opportunities for Year 9 students to work on
GCSEs. For example, the Maths department offer GCSE Statistics. There are also
various option choices open to Year 9 students which are timetabled throughout
the academic year.
Record Keeping and Target Setting
It is the responsibility of each teacher to keep records of students levels,
progress and targets.
The eportal system requires all teachers to record levels, application to learning
grades and a measure of whether each student is achieving targets.
Following an analysis of student progress by Learning Managers, teachers are
expected to detail interventions which will promote progress.
Reporting to Parents
There are regular measures to report to parents through Progress Reports and
Parents Evenings. A full Record of Achievement is issued at the end of Year 9.
Responsibilities
The Assessment Policy and its implementation across departments is monitored
by the Headteacher, Assistant Heads and Learning Managers. A further tool to

evaluate assessment processes is through Performance Management and the

judgements made by Team Leaders.
Subject Teachers
It is the responsibility of Subject Teachers to implement departmental/whole
School policies on assessment, to mark in accordance with departmental policy
in a positive, accurate, meaningful and formative manner, to compile and
maintain individual pupil records, report to pupils, parents and staff on pupil
progress and liaise with the relevant Learning Manager, regarding individual
pupil concerns or support.
Learning Managers
It is the responsibility of the Learning Managers to collate assessment
information, analyse the data and encourage good practice across the school.
Pupils
Pupils should be encouraged to participate in a process of self assessment in an
attempt to reflect upon their own learning with the objective of improving their
own learning. Pupil self assessment involves:
Taking responsibility for the organisation of their work
Keeping records of activities and achievements
Setting attainable targets and implementing strategies to meet these
targets
Parents /Guardians
Parents/guardians should be encouraged to support their children as much as
possible, in particular ensuring that appropriate time is dedicated to study at
home, whether in preparation for examinations or for the completion of
homework.
Additional Information regarding levelling under the new National
Curriculum Guidelines
Rationale.
At Eskdale School we are ambitious for all our pupils to make progress whatever
their starting points. The new KS3 National Curriculum indicates the knowledge,
skills and understanding that should be acquired over time.
Currently we are continuing to report levels for Y8 and Y9 this is due to our
position of being a KS3 school and also expecting a OFSTED inspection within the
next 12-18 months, so we need to be able to robustly evidence our progress with
these year groups.
However in Y7 we are now working on the new curriculum, being mindful that the
subject content that has moved to KS2 will still need to be taught for the next
two years at least.

The first point was for staff to decide the skills knowledge and understanding
that a typical Y7 should acquire. This would be the minimum for the majority
of our Y7 pupils. (60 % arrive at L4, around 20% are below L4 and 20% above
L4).
According to the 2013 matrices for pupils achieving L4b at KS2 their progress
was as follows:
Maths
78% grade C or higher (57% =C, 18%=B, 3% =A)
English
73% achieved grade C or higher (50%=C, 20%=B, 3%=A)
To ensure that there was realistic challenge for those arriving below and above
L4 we have also provided a support and challenge curriculum within lessons via
systems such as Learning Journeys.

The following table shows a potential flight path for pupils arriving at different
KS2 levels.
Assumptions:
Pupils make linear progress
However - Pupils would be able to move up to the next level at any point. We
expect some of those arriving below L4 will catch up due to interventions and
move accordingly to the next level.

KS2
Level on
Entry

By End of
Y7

By End of
Y8

By End of
Y9

By end of
Y10

By End of
Y11

Grade
A*/A/B
New 7,8,9

L5/L6

X Grade
B/C
New 4,5,6

Grade
D/E/F
New 1,2,3

L4
Below L4

The new grades for GCSE have been inserted.

Accelerated
x
Secure
Developing
Pupils will be given a target level and a level that they can aspire to. Currently
several subject areas are trialling the following:
OK at Amber this covers the work that they should be familiar with and all
their work should reflect the skills in this section,
Going for Green the target for the end of the year or topic,
Pushing for Purple the higher level challenges that we encourage all pupils
to aim for.
Amber, Green and Purple levels are personalised to the pupil or group if setted.
There is currently some reference to levels but this will be phased out as staff
and pupils become more familiar with our new system.
Parents. We will report three times a year to parents. They will receive
information about the band their child is currently in and whether their child is on
track to make the required progress. We will also report their childs application
to Learning (A2L) this ensures that pupils are challenged and also that pupils who
have SEN are also seen to make progress.
Parents will also have access to information on our website showing the typical
progress for Y7 pupils. There will be two parents evenings that will focus on what
the child can do and what their next steps are to make the progress expected or
exceed it where appropriate.
This rationale will be explained to parents at our You Say meeting in October
2014 and adjusted as necessary.
All staff will report in autumn about the Application to Learning level, Maths
English and Science will also submit a tracking level after October half term.
There will be 4 further data harvests and staff will be accountable for the
progress in their groups and this will be discussed at meetings after the data
submission.
Interventions will focus on those pupils not on track to make progress at their
level.

We will also measure reading age and spelling age on entry and will retest to
monitor progress. We will introduce a baseline in maths next year. Some areas
such as Art, ICT, and PE currently baseline Y7 on entry.