THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment is the process of obtaining, analysing and interpreting evidence for use by both students and teachers to enable the review, planning and improvement of learning. It is fully integrated with the delivery of the curriculum and is an essential component of effective practice.
Assessment lets our students see what progress they are making and provides their teachers and the academy with accurate and timely information which assists us to plan how to help students make further progress and reward them for the improvements they make.
Assessment enables us to report information to parents/carers, as well as information to help older children make choices about the examination courses they will follow and the qualifications and future careers they will seek.
Assessment helps us to set targets for the future by consistently measuring our students’ performance. We are constantly reviewing our academy provision because we strive to provide the best possible service to our community.
UNDERSTANDING OUR ASSESSMENTS
Assessment at Rivers comprises of the following types of assessments:
- Low stakes, ongoing assessment for learning that takes place in every lesson and is not recorded
- Progress Checks
- RAWL Assessments
- End of Year Examinations/Mock Examinations
All students will complete either a Progress Check or RAWL Assessment every half term
PROGRESS CHECKS
This is a low stakes test, identifying gaps in a students knowledge and to embed the knowledge learnt through teachers targeting areas for immediate improvement and celebrating areas of strength. These will always be teacher marked and questions that are frequently incorrectly answered will prompt a review of the teaching of that content. They should also form areas of focus for future lessons to develop the students capacity to store and retrieve accurate information. Outcomes will be recorded internally to help plan student interventions.
RAWL ASSESSMENTS
These assessments will assess what has been taught within the topic, and are pre-planned within the subjects’ curriculum. These assessments will support the development of students examination skills over time and subjects will pause their curriculum delivery in preparation to focus on effective revision techniques beforehand. Outcomes will be recorded internally to help plan student interventions.
END OF YEAR EXAMINATIONS
Students in Yr 7-10 & 12 will sit an end of year holistic assessment ‘End of Year Examination’, assessing the content from that year’s academic subject curriculum. This is in addition to their regular Progress Check and RAWL Assessments. These will take place during normal timetabled subject lessons, and will be timetabled during a specific week. They will be marked by the class teacher, moderated within the department, and an attainment level will be assigned to the level the student achieved against the subject’s Age Related Expectations (ARE). Subjects will pause their curriculum delivery in preparation to focus on effective revision techniques beforehand.
PRE PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS
Students in Year 11 & 13 will participate in two mock examination sittings each year. These where appropriate will use Vocational, GCSE or A Level examination material. Subjects will pause their curriculum delivery in preparation to focus on effective revision techniques beforehand. The outcomes will enable us to see how much our students have developed over the full range of skills in each subject and how much they have developed their overall subject knowledge. The outcomes will inform us of what students may benefit from targeted intervention.
ASSESSMENT POINTS AND ACADEMIC REPORTS
Academic reports will be generated three times a year following each Assessment Point (AP1, AP2 and AP3) and a printed copy will be shared with parents and carers. Parents’ evenings will be strategically placed for each year group where students and parents can meet with their child’s subject teachers to discuss their attainment and agree on targets for improvement. For all year groups, reports will indicate the attainment that the student has made within each of their subjects. Along with other key information.
KEY STAGE 3
At Key Stage 3 all of our students sit the GL CAT4 Cognitive Abilities Test and New Group Reading Tests (NGRT). The reason for these assessments is to provide the academy with further information on each student’s current level of attainment against the national average. This information also supports our teachers’ professional judgement on the attainment that is generated through classwork, homework and internal assessments. These assessments form part of a students profile, along with their Key Stage 2 outcomes and feeder school transfer information. This information will assist in the identification of those students who require intervention, SEND provision, subject setting, GCSE options and establishing targets for the end of Key Stage 4.
Key Stage 3 Assessment Point data will generate ‘Attainment’ data for each student within each subject, which will be reported to the student and their parents/carers in relation to the subject’s Age Related Expectations. This ‘Attainment’ data is based upon their prior ability upon entry and is a holistic grade that is generated from previous work.
| Attainment Grade | Descriptor |
| Exceptional | On track to achieve grades 8 or 9 in GCSE at the end of Year 11 |
| Advanced | On track to achieve grades 6 or 7 in GCSE at the end of Year 11 |
| Secure | On track to achieve grades 4 or 5 in GCSE at the end of Year 11 |
| Developing | On track to achieve grades 1, 2 or 3 in GCSE at the end of Year 11 |
Students that achieve ‘exceptional’, ‘advanced’ or ‘secure’ are considered to be working in line with Rivers Academy’s and Age Related Expectations.
ATTITUDE TO LEARNING
In addition to a student’s attainment, the following scale of Excellent, Good, Indifferent & Unsatisfactory will be used to measure student attitude to learning
| Attainment Grade | Descriptor |
| Excellent | They are very well-motivated and proactive in their own learning. Work is completed to a high standard. |
| Good | They are usually motivated and show interest in their own learning. The majority of work is completed to a good standard. |
| Indifferent | They are sometimes motivated although inconsistent in their approach to learning. Work is often completed to a basic standard. |
| Unsatisfactory | Lack motivation and show little, if any, interest in their own learning. They require regular intervention to help them remain on task. Work is often completed to a poor standard, incomplete or not attempted. |
KEY DATES
| Date | Event |
| 9th – 13th October 2023 | RAWL 1 Week for Years 7 – 9 |
| 4th – 8th December 2023 | Progress Check 1 Week |
| 29th January – 2nd February 2024 | RAWL 2 Week for Years 7 – 9 |
| 18th – 22nd March 2024 | Progress Check 2 Week |
| 13th – 17th May 2024 | RAWL 3 Week for Years 7 – 9 |
| 24th June – 5th July 2024 | End of Year Exams |
KEY STAGE 4
GCSE TARGET GRADE
All of our students at Rivers Academy will be set a FFT20 aspirational target for their GCSEs and vocational courses. These targets are shown on their reports throughout Key Stage 4. It is a highly aspirational target, derived by the Fischer Family Trust, which uses national statistical data. These targets equate to a student making exceptional progress, placing them nationally within the top twentieth percentile for progress, compared to children with the same Key Stage 2 SATs outcomes.
PRE PUBLIC EXAM GRADE
Last Assessment Point Grade (LAPG): The level of attainment that the student achieved in their most recent mock examinations.
Estimated Grade (EG): This is an estimate of what the student is on track to achieve at the end of Year 11 from this point in time. This is based upon their attainment during each of the mock examination series.
It is possible that the ‘Estimated Grade’ could change after each mock examination series, as it will be dependent upon student performance at that moment in time.
UNDERSTANDING THE GRADING SYSTEM
The level of attainment that the student achieved in their most recent mock examinations. This is represented as a GCSE or Vocational grade. An explanation of GCSE and Vocational (Level 2) grading:
| GCSE | VOCATIONAL | OLD GCSE EQUIVALENT |
| Grade 8/9 | Level 2 Distinction✴ | A✴ |
| Grade 7 | Level 2 Distinction | A |
| Grade 6 | Level 2 Merit | B |
| Grade 5 | – | B/C |
| Grade 4 | Level 2 Pass | C |
| Grade 3 | Level 1 Distinction | D/E |
| Grade 2 | Level 1 Merit | F |
| Grade 1 | Level 1 Pass | G |
| U | U | Unclassified |
ATTITUDE TO LEARNING
In addition to a student’s attainment, the following scale of Excellent, Good, Indifferent & Unsatisfactory will be used to measure student attitude to learning
| Attainment Grade | Descriptor |
| Excellent | They are very well-motivated and proactive in their own learning. Work is completed to a high standard. |
| Good | They are usually motivated and show interest in their own learning. The majority of work is completed to a good standard. |
| Indifferent | They are sometimes motivated although inconsistent in their approach to learning. Work is often completed to a basic standard. |
| Unsatisfactory | Lack motivation and show little, if any, interest in their own learning. They require regular intervention to help them remain on task. Work is often completed to a poor standard, incomplete or not attempted. |
KEY DATES
| Date | Event |
| 9th – 13th October 2023 | RAWL 1 Week for Years 10 – 11 |
| 10th – 23rd November 2023 | PPE 1 Year 11 |
| 4th – 8th December 2023 | Progress Check 1 Week Year 10 |
| 29th January – 2nd February 2024 | RAWL 2 Week for Years 10 |
| 26th February – 8th March 2024 | PPE 2 Year 11 |
| 18th – 22nd March 2024 | Progress Check 2 Week Year 10 |
| 13th – 17th May 2024 | RAWL 3 Week for Years 10 – 11 |
| 24th June – 5th July 2024 | End of Year Exams Year 10 |
KEY STAGE 5
ALPS TARGET GRADE
This is the minimum grade a student should achieve at the end of the A Level or BTEC course. This is based upon each student’s GCSE outcomes at the end of Year 11, benchmarked against national A Level data, generated by Alps (Advanced Level Performance System). Alps are a third party organisation who use and analyse level 3 national statistics, generating appropriate targets for level 3 qualifications.
PRE PUBLIC EXAM GRADE
Last Assessment Point Grade (LAPG): The level of attainment that the student achieved in their most recent mock examinations.
Estimated Grade (EG): This is an estimate of what the student is on track to achieve at the end of Year 13 from this point in time. This is based upon their attainment during each of the mock examination series.
It is possible that the ‘Estimated Grade’ could change after each mock examination series, as it will be dependent upon student performance at that moment in time.
ATTITUDE TO LEARNING
In addition to a student’s attainment, the following scale of Excellent, Good, Indifferent & Unsatisfactory will be used to measure student attitude to learning
| Attainment Grade | Descriptor |
| Excellent | They are very well-motivated and proactive in their own learning. Work is completed to a high standard. |
| Good | They are usually motivated and show interest in their own learning. The majority of work is completed to a good standard. |
| Indifferent | They are sometimes motivated although inconsistent in their approach to learning. Work is often completed to a basic standard. |
| Unsatisfactory | Lack motivation and show little, if any, interest in their own learning. They require regular intervention to help them remain on task. Work is often completed to a poor standard, incomplete or not attempted. |
KEY DATES
| Date | Event |
| 9th – 13th October 2023 | RAWL 1 Week for Years 12 – 13 |
| 10th – 23rd November 2023 | PPE 1 Year 13 |
| 4th – 8th December 2023 | Progress Check 1 Week Year 12 |
| 29th January – 2nd February 2024 | RAWL 2 Week for Years 12 |
| 26th February – 8th March 2024 | PPE 2 Year 13 |
| 18th – 22nd March 2024 | Progress Check 2 Week Year 12 |
| 13th – 17th May 2024 | RAWL 3 Week for Years 12 – 13 |
| 24th June – 5th July 2024 | End of Year Exams Year 12 |