Assessments

Assessments

Supporting Your Learning

Assessment is a way of supporting the learning of our students. Teachers, students, parents, and others can use this assessment data to understand the depth and breadth of student learning so that their next steps can be discussed and planned.

Assessment covers:

    • The ways in which teachers support and assess student learning and monitor progress, identifying their next steps in learning.

 

    • Reporting to parents/carers, in writing and in Parent Consultation evenings, to help them understand their child’s progress and what they can do to help them make further progress.

 

  • Formal recognition of student achievement through reporting and qualifications.
Key information

What is a End of Year Target Grade?

For each subject you study you will receive an End of Year Target Grade. These Grades have been calculated by looking at what students with similar KS2 results have achieved in their GCSEs across all the different subject areas. This means that you will potentially have different End of Year Target Grades for each of your subjects. Students at Helsby High School make better progress than students nationally. As a result, your End of Year Target Grade has been set to give you an aspirational yet realistic target to aim for or even exceed.

How do I use my End of Year Target Grade?

These grades are used to help you discuss your progress with your form tutor, your Progress and Pastoral Leaders and your teachers and parents. This will help you to know how well you are doing, where you need to make improvements so that you can achieve or exceed your target.

Years 7-9 will have an assessment week at certain times during the year. During this week, students will complete in class assessments in each of their subjects. These assessments will not be formal exams but shorter summative assessments designed to identify each student’s strengths and also any gaps in their knowledge so that targeted support can be put in place. To support students in their preparation for these assessments, we create a timetable for when they will take place, as well as a short leaflet outlining what subject specific content will be assessed including where students can access resources for their revision. The timetables and other supporting information will be given to students in school, emailed home and added to the Latest News section of our website.

Following on from this assessment week, we will provide students and parents/carers with an academic progress report. This report will be a short report to indicate students’ attainment and progress against their End of Year Targets for all of their subjects. We will then support this with a Parental Consultation Evening delivered remotely, so that students and parents/carers can receive specific feedback and guidance to aid students in their learning and progress as they prepare for the new academic year.

In Year 10 students will complete in assessments in each of their subjects. These assessments will not be formal pre-public exams but rather shorter summative assessments designed to identify each student’s strengths and also any gaps in their knowledge so that targeted support can be put in place. Some of these assessments will take place in our exam spaces, this allows students to start getting used to this more formal setting. To support students in their preparation for these assessments, we have a created timetable for when they will take place, as well as a short leaflet outlining what subject specific content will be assessed, including where students can access resources for their revision. The timetables and other supporting information will be given to students in school, emailed home and added to the Latest News section of our website.

Following on from assessment week, we will provide students and parents/carers with an academic progress report. This report will be a short report to indicate students’ attainment and progress against their GCSE targets for all of their subjects. We will then support this with a Parental Consultation Evening, so that students and parents/carers can receive specific feedback and guidance to aid students in their learning and progress as they prepare for the final year of their GCSEs.

In Year 11 students have formal Pre-Public Examinations in our exam spaces. These PPEs prepare students for the experience of sitting their real exams. The PPEs help teachers gauge the targeted support students may still need in lessons. This information is discussed with students and parents at our consultation evenings. Students are given their PPE timetables and a booklet of information outlining where they can access important resources for their revision. The timetables and other supporting information will also be emailed home and can be found on the Latest News section of our website.

Leaders have helped teachers to develop assessment strategies that are effective in identifying gaps in pupil’s knowledge. Teachers use assessment information well to address any misconceptions that pupils may have.

July 2023

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