Assessment and Reporting

Assessment framework intent:
The intent of the AGFS assessment framework is to enact the school’s mission by:
- Promoting ambition – collecting data to ascertain whether scholars are on track to gain access to a Russell Group university.
- Developing growth – giving scholars the opportunity to experience ‘controlled failure’ and develop resilience and independence.
- Encouraging fellowship – measuring scholars’ ability to think critically about the world and acknowledge different perspectives.
- Cultivating scholarship – quantifying scholars’ level of mastery in each academic discipline.
This mission permeates all aspects of the school’s life.
Additional aims of the AGFS assessment framework are to:
- Support teachers in regularly identifying gaps in scholars’ knowledge to enable effective planning.
- Measure the impact of our intended curriculum, identifying areas for development.
- Quantify scholars’ attainment at times when inferences will be valid and useful.
- Prepare scholars for end of phase external examinations.
Aims 1) and 2) are mostly met using formative assessment throughout each academic year, supporting improvements in teaching and learning as each cohort progresses through the curriculum.
Aims 3) and 4) are mostly met through summative assessment points across each academic year.
Approach to Assessment
In recent years, we have reduced the number of summative assessment points from three to two whilst improving the use of regular formative assessment.
Both forms of assessment are important parts of our curriculum and assessment strategy and are incorporated into our approach to improvement at a classroom, school, and network level. All aspects of our approach are rooted in research around effective assessment techniques.
Formative Assessment
There are many forms of formative assessments, all are in service of the curriculum and designed to support teachers and leaders in understanding which elements of our curriculum are strong and which need revisiting. The key purpose of all formative assessment is to evaluate and adapt our curriculum whether that is at a classroom level leading to changes in the next lesson being taught or feeding into changes in the curriculum programme as a whole. Some of these assessments are used continually, throughout every lesson whilst others are used less often such as at the end of a unit of work or over a longer period. The type and regularity of these will vary slightly from subject to subjects. The table below sets out all the formative assessments that we believe create a robust assessment strategy throughout the academic year with indications of their regularity.
Summative Assessment
The table below sets out the summative assesment points at AGFS.
Type |
Formative |
Summative |
Year Group |
Purpose |
Timing |
Format |
Data collection |
Who uses the data |
NGRT |
7-11 |
· Identify students who are reading below their chronological age · Plan intervention groups |
Termly |
Only - GL |
Whole-school Trust |
Teachers Students SLT |
||
Baseline Assessment (Maths and English) |
7 |
· Identify students who are not secondary ready · Plan intervention groups |
Termly |
Maths - fundamental skills tests English - NMM |
Whole-school Trust |
Teachers Students SLT |
||
Knowledge checks |
7-11 |
· Establish whether students have the prior knowledge needed to access the upcoming unit. · Support planning to address any gaps and misconceptions before building new knowledge · Data is reviewed as a part of the character programme - supports with weekly target setting. |
Beginning of each term |
25 written short answer questions |
Whole-school - percentages only Trust (Maths only) |
Departments Tutors Students Parents SLT Network (Maths only) National Comparison (English only) |
||
In-lesson checking for understanding activities |
7-11 |
· Check understanding of key concepts throughout the lesson. · Check if ready to move on to a task or the next section of learning. |
Throughout every lesson, timings decided at a teacher-level |
Varied, decided at department/ teacher-level |
N/A |
Teachers Students |
||
Learning Checkpoints |
7-11 |
· Section A: Checks the mastery of core knowledge. · Section B: Checks what students have and have not understood from recent teaching. · Supports planning of re-teach to address gaps and misconceptions immediately. · Identify areas of the curriculum programme that need to be strengthened. · Identify teachers with strong practise. · Data is reviewed weekly as a part of the character programme - supports with weekly target setting. |
Every 5-6 lessons |
Written performance element |
Whole-school - percentages only |
Departments Tutors Parents Students SLT |
||
End of Unit assessments |
7-11 |
· Check what students have and have not understood from the Module. · Supports planning of re-teach to address gaps and misconceptions immediately. · Identify students who are cause for concern |
Decided at departmental-level |
Varied, decided at department-level |
Departmental mark-books |
Departments Students |
||
Full mock exams |
11 |
· Identify students who need additional support to meet their potential · Inform interventions |
x2
Autumn 2 Spring 1 |
Written - past GCSE exam papers |
Whole-school (CIE/Prediction) Trust |
Departments Parents Students SLT |
||
Prelims/ Finals |
7-10 |
· Understand the attainment and progress of students · Compare attainment between subjects · Check that attainment and group gaps are closing · Understand student’s ability to remember, apply and pull together content from across the curriculum |
Start of Spring 1
End of Summer 2 |
Written exam papers |
Whole-school (CIE/Prediction) Trust - Finals only |
Departments Parents Students SLT |
||
GL progress tests |
7-10 (10% sample) |
- To understand the performance of our school in the context of the national picture |
Summer 2 |
Written EN/MA/SC only for selected students |
Trust |
SLT Network |
Research underpinning the AGFS approach to the assessment:
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