Year 10: Assessment and Curriculum Guide for Parents

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1 Year 10: Assessment and Curriculum Guide for Parents Introduction This document has been devised to help you to understand assessment practices used at the school and how to support your child s learning and progress. The content has been informed by feedback from parental forums; I hope that you find it useful. If you have any further queries, please contact individual teachers or the school s Administration Manager Alison Miners (alison.miners@lvc.org). Why is assessment important? Assessment plays a fundamental role in learning: it helps students and teachers to identify what has been learnt, the skills that have been mastered and what needs to improve further. Most importantly, it guides and supports students with the next steps in their learning. High-quality assessment can have a very positive impact on students learning and progress. What kinds of assessment are there? There are two main forms of assessment, summative and formative. Summative assessment provides a judgement about how students have achieved in a particular test or assignment. Assessment outcomes are awarded a grade and usually take place at the end of a unit of study. Formative assessment involves teachers using a variety of methods to diagnose specific areas to improve, and support students in doing so. Formative dialogue is comment-based and occurs throughout the learning cycle. The style and type of feedback used will depend on its purpose and the nature of the subject. In practical subjects, the majority of the feedback will be verbal, with teachers providing students with instant, live feedback through coaching and conversation. In other more essay-based subjects, feedback will take the form of regular written comments. Peer and self-assessment will also be used to help students become familiar with success criteria and be able to evaluate and recognise accurate and effective learning outcomes. How and when will my child be assessed? Each department has their own key assessed pieces of work in their schemes of learning for each year group. These are outlined in section 2 of this document. Key summative outcomes are marked with a grade. In subjects where students have four or more lessons a fortnight, there will be at least one key assessment outcome per half term. For subjects taught less frequently, there will be at least one key assessment a term. The results of summative assessment pieces are recorded on subject mark books in Go4Schools. Alongside these assessed pieces of work, teachers will carry out ongoing assessments and give students regular formative feedback to help them to improve. This will usually be shared using the WWW/EBI stamp ( What Went Well and Even Better If ). Teachers will also provide students with timely feedback in lessons and through the use of specific praise. How will my child be graded? The majority of subjects are using 9-1 grading (Business Studies and Health and Social Care are the only exceptions).

2 What do the 9-1 GCSE grades mean? An indication of how these new grades will match with the old A*-G standard is shown in the table. The proportion of students achieving each grade will be fixed by the QCA (Qualification and Curriculum Authority) as indicated. What level / grade should I expect my child to be achieving? Students working at age related expectations at the end of Year 6 should be achieving against the subject-specific assessment criteria throughout Year 7 and Year 8. In Year 10 a student who was achieving in Year 7/ 8 should be working at a grade 4 or 5 using the 9-1 grading. The diagram below gives an overview of how a student might progress through school years It must be noted however, that learning is not always a linear process and performance may vary depending on the topics students are studying. What is Go4Schools? Go4Schools is an online electronic mark book that enables teachers to record assessment outcomes centrally and share them with colleagues, students and parents. Go4Schools is also used for school reports and recording praise, behaviour and intervention. You should have login details and a password to access your child s progress data on Go4Schools. If you have not logged on before or have forgotten your password, you can register on the parent home page for a password update. What can I see on Go4Schools? You are able to see an overview of your child s assessment data which includes their agreed target, and an overview of their assessments in each subject (see snapshots of a Year 10 student below). You will also be able to view details of individual assessments by clicking onto subject data and looking at marks, levels or grades held in subject mark books. Please see an explanation of the different grade types below. The quantity of assessment recorded on Go4Schools will increase during the academic year the first half term will have limited information in place. 2

3 You can click on individual subject assessments to find out specific assessment details. How do I make sense of the data on Go4Schools? Agreed Target Current Grade Estimated Grade This is the target set by class teachers in the first term of the year in consultation with the student and should anticipate students making at least the same progress as those pupils nationally with the same KS2 attainment. This is a weighted average of the assessments your child has completed in the academic year. This is the grade that your child s teacher believes that they are most likely to achieve by the end of the GCSE course. The most important way of understanding your child s progress is to discuss it with them. While we have endeavoured to set out Go4Schools mark books in a straightforward way to make them accessible for parents, their primary purpose is to support teachers with their recording and monitoring of assessment. We hope that engaging in assessment data online in this way will be helpful. However, it is important to recognise that students exercise books and the conversations that you have with them and their teachers can provide a far richer understanding of their learning and progress. Susan Gelder Assistant Principal September

4 Section 2 Curriculum and Assessment Guides by subject 4

5 Contents Art and Design Business Studies Computing Dance Drama Engineering English Food & Nutrition French Geography Health & Social Care History Mathematics Music Physical Education Product Design Religious Studies Science Spanish Statistics

6 Art & Design Year 10, A*-G, or NC levels (delete as appropriate) Name of GCSE course and code: e.g. AQA Physics: 8463 Link to specification: e.g. 6

7 Business Studies Year 10 Grading scheme used: Level 1 Pass, Level 2 Pass, Merit, Distinction, Distinction* Name of course and code: Cambridge Nationals Certificate in Enterprise and Marketing Level 1/2 - J819 Link to specification: 7

8 Computing Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Link to specification: 8

9 Dance Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA GCSE Dance (8236) Link to specification: 9

10 Drama Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Drama GCSE J316 Link to specification: 10

11 Engineering Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: GCSE Engineering (8852) Link to specification: PDF 11

12 English Language and Literature Year 10 Name of GCSE courses and code: WJEC Eduqas English Language C700QS and WJEC Eduqas English Literature C720QS Link to specification:

13 Food & Nutrition Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Food, Preparation and Nutrition J309 Link to specification: 13

14 French Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA French: 8658 Link to specification: 14

15 Geography Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: Geography B for enquiring minds J384 Link to specification: 15

16 Health and Social Care Year 10 Grading scheme used: Level 1/2 Pass, Merit, Distinction, Distinction* Name of GCSE course and code: BTEC Tech Award Health and Social Care (120 GLH) Link to specification: Pearson/Edexcel Health and Social Care 16

17 History Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: Edexcel 9-1 History Link to specification: html 17

18 Mathematics Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: Edexcel Mathematics 1MA1 Link to specification: 18

19 Music Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Music: J356 Link to specification: 19

20 GCSE Physical Education Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: OCR GCSE PE J587 Link to specification: Theory: Practical: 20

21 Core Physical Education Year 10 21

22 Product Design Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Design & Technology Link to specification: 22

23 Religious Studies Year 10 Short course Please note that this is a half GCSE that is completed at the end of this year. Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Religious Studies J125 Link to specification: from-2016/ 23

24 Religious Studies Year 10 Full course Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Religious Studies J625 Link to specification: from-2016/ 24

25 GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Combined Science Trilogy 8464 Link to specification:

26 GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Combined Science Trilogy 8464 Link to specification:

27 GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Combined Science Trilogy 8464 Link to specification:

28 GCSE Biology Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Biology: 8461 Link to specification: 28

29 GCSE Chemistry Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Chemistry: 8462 Link to specification: 29

30 GCSE Physics Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Physics: 8463 Link to specification:

31 Spanish Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Spanish: 8698 Link to specification: 31

32 Statistics Year 10 Name of GCSE course and code: Edexcel Statistics 1ST0 Link to specification: 32