Rationale
At The English School, we believe that assessment, both formative (for learning) and summative (of learning), is essential to high-quality learning outcomes. Effective assessment provides timely, comprehensive information on student achievement to both students and parents, supporting strong home/school partnerships. This enables every child to reach their full potential in both internal and external examinations.
Assessment involves gathering, analyzing, interpreting, and acting on information about student learning. It is purposeful, systematic, ongoing, and age-appropriate, providing teachers with tools to guide students toward success.
Objectives of Assessment
The primary aims of assessment are to help students maximize their potential, evaluate the effectiveness of teaching, and continuously improve learning. To achieve these goals, assessments aim to:
- Provide constructive, timely, and clear feedback to students on their progress.
- Inform teachers and parents of students' development.
- Supply data for termly progress reports on student performance.
- Enhance curricular quality.
- Encourage effective time management, fostering independent learning.
- Use assessment data to set individualized student targets and inform interventions.
- Identify individual student needs to support differentiated teaching.
- Develop knowledge, understanding, and skills for academic success.
- Offer practice with past papers for internal and external exams.
Our Approach to Assessment
Assessment is continuous in the classroom: students need to know where they are in their learning, understand their goals, and plan how to achieve them. Success criteria and improvement guidelines are shared with students, empowering them to track and understand their own progress.
Assessment for Learning (AfL)
AfL is a key part of the learning process, essential for raising student achievement. AfL strategies include:
- Sharing and reviewing learning objectives at each lesson’s start.
- Developing and sharing success criteria for self-evaluation.
- Using questioning to encourage student reflection and discussion.
- Implementing self- and peer-assessment for self-reflection.
- Providing effective feedback to guide student learning.
Assessment Procedures
The English School has established procedures for formative and summative assessments, as well as marking and feedback.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessments are ongoing evaluations of student knowledge, skills, and understanding. This daily classroom assessment informs future instruction and addresses individual learning needs. Formative assessment includes:
- Clearly defined learning objectives and corresponding assessments.
- Success criteria for students to understand improvement needs.
- Oral questioning to ensure concept retention and application.
- Recording and sharing marks via the Assessment Manager on SIMS.
- Classwork, homework, and differentiated tasks to monitor progress.
- Linking previous learning with current lessons.
- Using plenaries to consolidate learning and review objectives.
- Constructive feedback identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessments, including common assessments, end-of-year exams, and mocks, provide a comprehensive measure of student learning.
- Years 1-3: Multiple common assessments per subject and end-of-year exams in June.
- Year 4: Five common assessments per subject; end-of-year exams and Greek, Turkish, and Maths mock exams in February/March.
- Year 5: Four common assessments per subject, external exams at year-end, and January mock exams.
- Years 6-7: Six common assessments per subject; AS exams in Year 6, A-level exams in Year 7, and internal mocks in February/March.
Summative assessments contribute 60% of the total term grade for progress reports.
Each common assessment includes:
- The topic(s) to be assessed.
- Scheduled week and date.
- Test length and format.
- Clear instructions and resources for preparation, available on Teams.
Guidelines for Missing a Common Assessment (CA)
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