Assessment & reporting

The purpose of assessment is to communicate progress with students, teachers and parents so that students have a clear sense of where they are in their learning journey and the next steps that they need to take.

How will students be assessed?

We recognise that the most effective assessment takes place in the moment, with teachers in lessons identifying individual or class needs on a continual basis and then responding to them. In addition to continual classroom assessment students will also sit formal assessment papers set by their teachers.

Assessment papers

Prior to an assessment point you will receive information from your teachers regarding the topics and best places to revise for your subject area. Assessment times can be found on the school calendar.

When will students be assessed?

Student’s teacher’ have autonomy on setting their assessments at a time that suits the cumulation of a topic of learning.  Year 11 and Year 13 will have formal examinations in the gym in preparation for summer exams.  These will happen in the weeks listed below.  To note, coursework for practical subjects will also be assessed at these points too. 

• Assessment Calendar 2022 23 for parents

Attitude to Learning and Homework

In addition to grades achieved in assessment (this will be a combination of in class assessment and assessment papers in many subject) reports will also detail attitude to learning and homework scores these are detailed below regarding their meaning. We believe that great learning happens when students challenge themselves to work hard and aim high. We want students to be curious learners who fully engage in every learning opportunity. We expect all students to take responsibility for their own learning through actively participating in lessons, developing their resilience and persevering to overcome challenges. We encourage students to reflect on their specific strengths and areas for development, enabling them to maximise their learning potential.

Student all receive GCSE grades 9-1 for their working at grade. Key Stage 4 students may have a mix of 9-1 or BTEC grades depending on their option choices.

Over their time at TBS we expect students to develop and progress towards the GCSE grades.  A grade increase in a year would show consistent engagement and a positive attitude to lessons.  Each student’s journey will be different and each student will have their own targets they are working towards.  Targets are formally given at GCSE for students to use to aim towards.  Please use parents evening and interactions with class teachers as the key point to discuss what to do to improve further as well as reviewing assessed work and feedback given.  Predicted grades in year 10 and 11, will give the most likely grade that we would expect students to achieve at the end of year 11.

How parents can help

Attendance

Our student’s attendance target is nothing less than 96% attendance. We of course aim high and want all our students to be in 100% of the time as we know there are strong correlations between this and achievement. Research shows that missing just 15 days in a school year (92% attendance) equals a drop in each of your GCSE grades. All parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school on a punctual basis. Interventions take place for those students who have less than 97% attendance. Further details can be found in our Attendance Policy here.

If you have any further queries about assessment please get in touch with Miss Tynegate mtynegate@beaconsfield.school or if you have a specific subject enquiry following a report please get in touch with subject leads on the emails below:

englishdept@beaconsfield.school

mathsdept@beaconsfield.school

sciencedept@beaconsfield.school

artdept@beaconsfield.school

ictdept@beaconsfield.school

dtdept@beaconsfield.school

performingartsdept@beaconsfield.school

historydept@beaconsfield.school

mfldept@beaconsfield.school

pedept@beaconsfield.school

redept@beaconsfield.school