Types of Assessment

Teacher Assessment

At the British Overseas School assessment is used as the means of providing information about each individual student’s experiences and achievements which identify and guide the direction of their learning. Assessment is making valid judgements about teaching and learning so that each student can be aided to reach their personal highest standard. Assessment is at the heart of effective teaching and learning and, when it has an effect on planning and informs teaching, it raises standards.

Teachers at the BOS conduct three key forms of assessment; teacher assessment, more formal, published tests and online assessment. The results of these will tell parents how well their child is doing at school and all of these assessments can be measured against the performance of children attending schools in the U.K.

Tests and teacher assessments measure a child’s progress in different ways: tests measure what all children can do when they are set the same questions, and teacher assessments show how well a child is progressing in all areas of a subject over a period of time. The results of the tests and teacher assessments may be different, but they are both equally important to your child.

The School uses the following teacher assessment instruments which, together with the SATs and the online assessments, form the Assessment Profile for each child:

  • Foundation Profiles: Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Reception
  • Nelson spelling assessments and weekly tests: Years 2 to 6
  • Unaided writing linked to National Curriculum levels: Years 2 to 6
  • Individual Guided Reading Record Sheets: Reception to Year 6
  • End of unit maths tests from the Abacus scheme linked to key objectives
  • End of topic science tests from the Heinemann scheme linked to key objectives
  • End of topic history and geography assessments linked to key objectives

Standardised Attainment Tests—SATs

The National Curriculum publishes optional tests that may be taken at the end of Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 and compulsory tests that are taken at the end of Year 6. These tests cover the core curriculum areas of Numeracy and Literacy for Years 2 to 5, and Numeracy, Literacy and Science for Year 6. They are designed to measure what all children can do when they are set the same questions and how they compare to the level expected at this stage. The children at the BOS take these tests because:

  • They give parents and teachers information about the children’s strengths and weaknesses.
  • They help parents and teachers plan the next stage of the child’s schooling.
  • The give each child the chance to show how much they know and what they can do in relation to what is expected of them under the National Curriculum.
  • Testing is also an essential part of gaining qualifications and it is vital that children know how to take tests, so these national tests help to prepare them for the future.
  • They inform teacher assessment and form part of the Assessment Profile for each child.

There are eight levels in the National Curriculum. By the age of 7, children have normally achieved level 2b. By age 11, children have normally achieved level 4, and by age 14 they normally achieve level 5 or 6. If your child has reached the expected level in the national Curriculum, it means that they know as much as (or more than) most other children of the same age, and they have the same skills. At the BOS, our aim is to enable our students to achieve higher than the norm. Accordingly, at the end of Key Stage 1, the BOS expected standard is level 3C. At the end of Key Stage 2, the BOS expected standard is level 5.

Online Assessments

Each year the children participate in a range of assessment tools developed and administered by the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) at the University of Durham, England, which helps us to track the progress of each child.

The Nursery Class

The Assessment Profile on Entry for Children and Toddlers (ASPECTS) provides a baseline for children starting nursery from which progress can be measured. It assesses personal, social and emotional development, language and mathematics development and motor development, using a combination of objective tasks and teacher observation. Age-related scores are given for each child at the start and end of nursery and feedback about relative progress at the end of nursery.

The Reception Class

The children in the Reception class are given the PIPS On-Entry Baseline assessment test.

Years 1 to 6

InCAS (Interactive Computerised Assessment System) is a personalised, diagnostic assessment. This tailors the level of difficulty of each question depending on how the pupil performed on the last one. It highlights students’ strengths and weaknesses so that the teachers can determine what students know and can do which, in turn, can inform teacher planning and target setting. It provides age-related scores and diagnostic information to facilitate personalised learning.