At the core of our approach to marking at JRCS is task marking.
In non-practical subjects one substantial piece of work will be task marked at least once every eight hours of teaching. Students will respond to the tasks and they will be checked by staff. In between that time students’ work may be peer or self-assessed or briefly checked by staff.
It is likely the same piece of work will be assessed for literacy. Staff will mark work using the literacy marking code:
Sp |
spelling mistake |
P |
punctuation mark missing or incorrectly used |
Voc |
incorrect use of vocabulary |
^ |
word missed out of sentence |
~ |
unclear meaning or grammar within a sentence |
// |
new paragraph required |
CL |
capital letter error |
Levelling and Assessment
KS3
To develop a growth mindset and reflect ‘life after levels’ work in KS3 books will not usually be levelled; assessment will be formative and highlight how students can improve. Students will record areas of strength and development on their ‘reflection sheets’ which will be at the front or back of the book. At the end of each term a level is reported for students in each subject, which reflects all their work over that term. These are found on students’ pale yellow progress cards, which are stuck into their planners. These cards show students whether they are in line to meet their end of key stage target. With the move away from National Curriculum levels, the school is trialling a new ‘skills thermometer’ and 1 to 9 levelling in English. Other KS3 subjects will be using NC levels for the remainder of this year.
KS4
KS4 practice exam questions and mock exams are likely to be graded. This work might not be in student books. Students will record grades and areas of strength and development in their ‘reflection sheets’ which will be at the front or back of the book. All students receive an attainment and predicted grade at the end of each term. These are found on their pale yellow progress cards, which are stuck into their planners. These cards show students whether they are in line to meet their end of key stage target.
KS5
At KS5 students take a series of VIMAs (Sixth Form Milestone Assessments) during their course. Students receive developmental comments to help them improve their work. Each VIMA result includes four parts: the grade for that assessment, a comparison of the grade with their expected progress grade (EPG), a Learning Capability mark and a prediction of their end of year grade (PEG). The outcomes of these assessments and other graded work will be in student folders. They are also sent home to parents. A summary of VIMA marks and the students’ expected progress grade is also recorded in their planner.
Assessment Policy for MFL
Key Stage 3
Formative assessment
All classwork is ticked as a minimum. Key pieces of work that display levels of skill are task-marked with a positive comment and a short task to develop the work. As often as possible, students will be asked to complete tasks for 5-10 minutes at the start of a chosen lesson. Tasks should not be allowed to build up and there should be no more than two tasks that need completing at any time. When tasks are completed they are checked by the teacher and if they are not completed satisfactorily the student is encouraged to complete it for the next lesson. When all tasks are completed, teachers can then feedback to the class about any misconceptions identified in the piece of work.
Literacy is also routinely checked in MFL and tasks are assessed following this model which takes into account all the grammatical concepts we want the students to identify and correct in a piece of work: Following teacher’s feedback using the MFL editing code, pupils then correct their mistakes in green.
√√ |
this is very good |
√ |
this is correct |
X |
this is not correct |
Sp- |
correct your spelling or look at your teacher’s correction |
^
U
D
ENG |
you have missed something out
underline
date
You need to use a French word instead! |
// |
start a new line/paragraph |
? |
unclear – rewrite or explain |
P |
punctuation |
C |
capital letters |
A |
accent |
Ag |
agreement |
G |
gender |
VT |
verb tense |
VE |
verb ending |
T |
target to improve |
Examples of task marking in MFL: Please incorporate pictures of task marking from the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 folder/examples of task marking.
Homework is set every week. All homework is task-marked and completion recorded in the teacher’s electronic planner. Homework can take the form of a learning homework or a written homework. Regular spelling tests will be held in the lesson to ensure progress and also to check that the students have learnt their keywords for homework. Students can then be asked to peer-assess their work or to self-assess it and write the correction down.
Summative Assessment
Students will have a summative assessment three times a year. The assessments will include four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Each student will then record their predicted next step achievement in a similar skill on the MFL learning ladder used by all MFL teachers and stuck at the front of pupils’ exercise books. They will write a target drawn from the progress ladder that ranges from beginners’ stage to Degree level. The MFL ladder will enable students to stretch the higher achievers.
Key Stage 4
Formative Assessment
Individual teachers are responsible for identifying key pieces of work to task-mark across a project as teachers use different approaches to topics. Tasks are written in books when completed. We are aiming not to give any grades in the students’ books to encourage students to always strive to improve on their work. Students are given regular verbal feedback to indicate more general areas that need improvement.
Summative Assessment
Students are given general grades after the completion of mock exams or each unit (generally one each term) as well as the mid-year and end of year assessment reports.