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Cirencester Deer Park School

Cirencester Deer Park School

Assessment & Reporting

Assessment

Throughout Key Stage 3, we aim to assess the progress pupils are making through our curriculum. The nature and timing of assessments is determined by each subject’s curriculum, including the choice of content and the sequencing of the content.

In Key Stage 4, our GCSE and equivalent qualifications follow a curriculum determined by the exam specification for each of the subjects. The focus in KS4 is less about the progress pupils make through the curriculum, rather we assess pupils’ understanding of knowledge and range of skills within the breadth of the specifications. Assessments in KS4 gain more traction as the pupils complete each subject's curriculum across the two years. Similarly to KS3, the nature and timing of assessments in KS4 is determined by each subject’s curriculum, the choice of content and the sequencing of the content.

With these factors in mind and following feedback from parents, staff and governors, we have revised our assessment model for Key Stage 3 and changed our mode of reporting to parents and carers for all year groups.

KEY STAGE 3
There will be assessments in each subject for each year group at least twice during the academic year. These will take place at different times in the school year. Each subject assesses their pupils in a variety of ways, using different scales of scoring.

KEY STAGE 4
Our assessment framework is based on GCSE grades 9-1 and it enables us to track and monitor pupils’ attainment in Year 10 and Year 11. Teachers will provide pupils with a forecast grade (the grade a teacher thinks the pupil is likely to achieve at the end of Year 11) based on the learning demonstrated in lessons and assessments (including coursework and non-examined assessments, where applicable).

 

REPORTING

PAPERLESS

New in 2024, all reports will be digital. We will send them out to parents and carers via the MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) website, as per the reporting schedule below. Parents/carers will receive a full written report every year for each child. This report will have teacher comments addressed to the pupil, including next step targets and an effort grade. Effort grades are marked as EX (Excellent), GO (Good), IN (Inconsistent) and CFC (Cause for Concern). Alongside the teacher comments and the effort grade, all assessments which have been reported in ‘real-time’ for each subject will be aggregated together to provide an overview of a pupil’s performance in the school year.

‘REAL-TIME REPORTING’

Instead of sharing two interim reports as we did previously, we are moving to ‘real-time’ reporting. This allows subjects to report assessments as close as possible to the time they took place, rather than having to adjust assessments to suit a separate reporting schedule. By logging in to the MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) website, parents and carers will, during the final week of each of the six school terms, be able to see their children's subject assessments. These assessments will stay ‘live’ on MCAS until the start of the final week of the following term, when they will be archived in MCAS for reference (though still accessible to parents/carers), and they will be replaced by the latest subject assessments. Every pupil will have new subject assessment data each term, however, this will not necessarily be for every subject.

KS3 Reporting of Assessment Scores
To simplify matters, each pupil’s assessment result in a subject will be converted to a percentage score. Alongside this percentage score will be the year group average percentage score in that assessment. This keeps the reporting simple, understandable and consistent.

KS4 Reporting of Assessment Scores
The ‘real-time’ reporting will show two forecast grades against the pupil’s target grade per subject, in both Year 10 and in Year 11.

Once the new system has settled in, a detailed schedule of the ‘real-time’ reporting by subject and year group will be published on this page.


REPORTING SCHEDULE for 2023-2024

Full Report Issue Date *
Year 7 7 June 2024
Year 8 8 March 2024
Year 9 10 May 2024
Year 10 12 July 2024
Year 11 19 April 2024

* These report dates may be subject to change.

 

PARENTS' EVENINGS

In addition to the full reports and ‘real-time’ reporting, there is at least one Parents’ Evening each year for all pupils. These provide an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teachers and discuss any aspects of their progress.

Parents are also encouraged to contact individual teachers by email if they have any concerns which they wish to discuss between Parents’ Evenings.