The purpose of assessment, feedback and response is to help teachers, students and parents/carers to understand how learning is progressing and to enable students to improve and develop their metacognitive skills.

Formative assessment take places on a day-to-day basis during lessons, allowing teachers and students to assess attainment and progress. It means providing teaching that is adaptive to students’ needs and using evidence about learning to adjust instruction to ensure that learning moves forward.

Standardised summative assessments are unseen assessments that test learning over time. These are placed at appropriate points throughout the year, with respect to individual subject curriculum plans. Teachers mark these against age-related expectations at KS3 and against GCSE/vocational criteria at KS4, providing appropriate feedback to support improvement.

Formative and summative assessments are marked by teachers and recorded at faculty level to enable the identification of whole cohort, class and individual student areas of strength and development. This then informs future planning of the curriculum, individual lessons, and teaching and learning in the classroom.

Years 7-10 have two data collection points during the year, Years 11-13 have three data collection points per year.

A report is sent home to parents/carers after each collection. At KS3, data is reported in the form of a current working-at grade, which reflects age-related expectations specific to each subject. At KS4, current and predicted end of course grades are reported, which reflect GCSE/ A level/ vocational criteria.  At all key stages, reports also include the student’s end of key stage target grade and progress towards this is indicated as on track or not on track. An attitude to learning grade is also reported at all three key stages. KS3 reports include New Group Reading Test (NGRT) data.

At Shirebrook Academy we follow the ACET Assessment, feedback and Reporting Policy below, with full adoption from January 2024.

If you have have any questions regarding your child's learning progress and/or how we assess learning over time, please do not hesitate to contact us at enquiries@shirebrookacademy.org

Please see below for each subject's age-related expectation descriptors: