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Impact

Assessment:

  • Is part of the learning process and is ipsative
  • Focuses on how students learn as individuals
  • Promotes commitment to learning intentions and assessment criteria
  • Recognises progress from a pupil’s previous best and enables next steps to be planned
  • Is supported by a range of evidence to ensure next steps are carefully planned on sound foundations
  • Includes students in a way appropriate to their levels of understanding
  • Promotes self-esteem and pupil motivation
  • Informs summative assessment

School uses a variety of assessment tools to ensure that progress is evidenced in a way most appropriate to the individual pupil. The focus is on ipsative assessment which is an assessment based on a pupil’s previous learning rather than based on performance against external criteria and standards. Learners work towards an individual personal best rather than always being compared against other students. We use B Squared Connecting Steps, MAPP2 (Mapping and Assessing Pupil Progress), Routes for Learning, Evidence for Learning.

Learning is accredited through a variety of national awarding bodies for example OCR Entry Level Computer Science, OCR Entry Level Science, OCR Entry Level History, OCR Entry Level Art and Design, OCR Entry Level English and maths Functional Skills, City and Guilds in Media Production, Arts Award and Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Evidence for Learning is used as a way to gather evidence to support the accurate assessment of what students have achieved, using photographs and film and linked closely to individual learning intentions.

Students are informally assessed throughout their teaching to ensure that they are making progress. Teachers are reflective practitioners and assess how students are responding to their teaching and curriculum diet. Teachers formally assess the students termly using B Squared Connecting Steps, MAPP and other bespoke assessments from the school assessment toolkit to ensure that progress can be seen and evidenced.

The termly pupil progress meetings identify those children making expected progress and those that are not. Those that are not making progress are investigated to establish what the reason may be. It may be attendance issues, illness or that the learning intention is providing too much challenge for the child. Equally so those children that are fulfilling learning intentions constantly may not be offered sufficient challenge and this will then be addressed to ensure that they are. Targeted interventions are then used to support students in making expected or better than expected progress, these are monitored and regularly evaluated.

Moderation

Moderation takes place internally across each key stage or curriculum teams and in addition with external fellow professionals using similar assessment tools. Teachers discuss students within their progress meetings and consider progress regularly and feedback to the Subject co-ordinator, head of department and SLT.

Formal analysis of all assessment outcomes takes place termly and discussion and consideration ensures that students are given challenging learning intentions and are given the opportunity to make progress.

Proud to part of the Bright Futures Education Trust
Melland High School
Gorton Education Village
50 Wembley Road, Gorton, Manchester, M18 7DT
Ofsted CEOP