Year 9 Curriculum Guide - South Bromsgrove High School ...

Year Nine Curriculum Guide 2013-14
Marking and Assessment in different subjects
What is the school’s approach to Marking and Assessment?
The school’s Marking and Assessment policy has three strands.
1. Key Assessments. These take place every half term, usually towards the end. They are
referenced to appropriate National Curriculum levels, or GCSE, BTEC or A level grades. These
assessments feed into the report grades that students receive three times per year.
2. Feed Forward Assessments. These are interim assessments and will take place once per half
term.
3. Checking. Frequent checking of students’ work allows teachers to be sure that classwork and
homework is being completed to the required standard.
What does a Key Assessment (KA) look like?
Key Assessments are often tests, essays, practical projects, coursework, etc. KAs look different in
different subjects because they reflect the style of external assessment used. For example, many
courses are assessed by exams, so the KAs are likely to be tests. Practical subjects are more likely to
use a performance or piece of extended project work as a KA. After a Key Assessment, the result is
given as a GCSE grade, National Curriculum Level, etc. as appropriate to the course, and then
recorded on the Key Assessment Record (see below). Targets for improvement are then set by
students with support from teachers. Students are expected to demonstrate to their teachers that
they have acted on these targets in their future work.
What does a Feed Forward Assessment look like?
Feed Forward Assessments (FFA) will look different from one subject to the next, and often from one
teacher to the next. They are usually a piece of work that allows students and teachers to agree a set
of targets for improvement before the next Key Assessment. In some subjects, a FFA will be a section
of an essay, an extended piece of homework, or a mini test. In other subjects, the FFA will be a
practical piece of work and the feedback given verbally to the student. In all instances, the targets
for improvement should be recorded in the student’s KAR. A FFA does not necessarily generate a
grade or level because research into assessment suggests that this can sometimes distract students
from focusing on how to improve.
What is the KAR?
The Key Assessment Record is a sheet that you should find in the front of every exercise book, folder
or portfolio. It is where students record the grades from their Key Assessments, along with their
strategies for improvement that were identified by the Key Assessments and Feed Forward
Assessment.
What about subjects that don’t use exercise books?
In some subjects that are taught using Moodle (our Virtual Learning Environment), the KAR is used
electronically and can be accessed easily by students at home or at school. Feedback is provided to
students verbally in many subjects and different teachers are exploring ways for their students to
record this.
25