Alcester Academy |Assessment

Assessment

Parent Forum - Thursday 11th January 2024 - Recording of the KS3 Assessment session

Students are continuously assessed throughout their time in the academy. This involves the deployment of a range of strategies ranging from the marking of books, practical assessments, practise exams and tests. Subjects assess against the content delivered in their long term plans.

We gather data from teachers each half term and report to parents each term. This allows us to track the progress being made across the curriculum and target interventions to any students falling behind. Teachers use a data analysis package (SISRA) to track the progress of all the children they teach.

Subject Leaders and the Senior Leadership Team track the performance of subject areas and individuals. The Headteacher reports to governors on the progress the academy is making towards the ‘headline measures’. Governors have access to performance data and hold the Headteacher to account for performance at whole school level and at subject level.

What do we report?

For both key stages, parents receive 2 reports over the year that feature an ‘attitude to learning’ score (ATL), with concern codes if relevant, and ‘working at’ data. We also provide a full written report for each year group that provides specific comments on a child's progress at the time of reporting.

At key stage 4 (years 9-11), teachers report GCSE 9-1 ‘working at grades’. Students working at grades are compared to the grades individuals should be at for each assessment window if they are to realise their target grades (generated from KS2 test data). This allows us to easily identify pupils below their expected point of progress and implement intervention strategies. Pupils are also identified as ‘below’, ‘on’, or ‘above track’ in subjects to add further clarity alongside the ‘working at grade’ provided.

At key stage 3 (year 7 and 8), teachers report attainment indicators (see below). These serve as a useful transition from primary school indicators whereby a pupils’ ability is reported. Indicators are generated by considering how pupils are able to access and demonstrate learning at any given point. In each descriptor, we provide some guidance on how each indicator translates to GCSE grading which also supports choosing GCSE option subjects in year 8.

KS3 Attainment Indicators:

Below Key Stage	A pupil has difficulties with the understanding of this subject and receives support regularly during lesson time in order to demonstrate some progress being made. Your child is unable to show potential for GCSE grading at present.
Functional	A pupil has some basic understanding of the requirements of the subject, however, is yet to acquire the knowledge or develop the skills required to grasp the main ideas within that subject.Your child is showing potential that they can achieve a GCSE grade 1 or 2 in year 11.
Emerging	A pupil has emerging knowledge and has grasped the basic elements of the main ideas in a sequence of learning. Your child is showing potential that they can achieve a GCSE grade 2 or above in year 11.
Developing	A pupil has a developing understanding of the topics and is beginning to grasp some of the main ideas and skills in a sequence of learning. Your child is showing potential that they can achieve a GCSE grade 4 or above in year 11.
Confident	A pupil has a confident understanding of topics and is grasping some of the main ideas and skills in a sequence of learning. They demonstrate a sound understanding of the main ideas. Your child is showing potential that they could achieve a GCSE grade 5 or above in year 11.
Advanced	A pupil has an advanced understanding of topics and skills in a sequence of learning. They apply all the main ideas and skills and demonstrate higher order thinking. Your child is showing potential that they could achieve a GCSE grade 7 or above in year 11.
Mastery	A pupil has demonstrated extensive knowledge of the topics and skills required in a sequence of learning. They can seamlessly apply their skills and synthesise their knowledge and understanding across the subject. Your child is showing the potential that they can achieve a GCSE grade 7 or above in year 11.

Attitude to Learning scores:

	1	2	3	4
	OUTSTANDING	GOOD	IMPROVEMENT REQUIRED	UNACCEPTABLE
MOTIVATION	Exceptionally motivated	Is motivated most of the time	Lacking motivation	Serious concerns over motivation
APPLICATION	Sustains full concentration and does not become distracted	Concentration can be good, however can be inconsistent	Can be distracted leading to poor concentration	Unable to concentrate, easily distracted
INDEPENDENCE	Consistently and independently shows initiative in approach to learning, both in and outside the classroom	Often demonstrates independence and initiative with little teacher input, both in and outside the classroom	Can struggle with independence leading to an over reliance on teacher input	Is unable to work independently and needs input
CONTRIBUTION	Makes full contributions in lessons	Occasionally makes contribution in lessons	Contribution is rare in lessons	Does not contribute in lessons
BEHAVIOUR & ORGANISATION	Behaviour is impeccable; extremely well organised	Behaviour consistently in line with expectations; well organised	Behaviour and organisation is inconsistent	Disruptive behaviour; lack of organisation
HOMEWORK	Homework is often of an exceptional standard. Work and effort are above and beyond expectations	Homework is usually of a good standard. It is completed in line with expectations. There could be some areas to develop and improve	Homework is often handed in but is incomplete and lacks effort required. Improvement required in many areas	Homework is regularly not completed or is very poor in quality. Little or no effort has been put into the work. Significant improvement needed

In order to help parents understand how data is derived for each subject area at each assessment window, we have compiled a summary. The links below show examples of the kinds of assessments to expect.