Year 9: Assessment and Curriculum Guide for Parents

2018-2019

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 level or 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.

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How will my child be graded?

In Year 9, students are assessed using GCSE grades in all subjects other than BTECs. What do the new 9-1 GCSE grades mean?

New GCSEs have been introduced across all subject areas. The new

GCSEs will be awarded using a grading system, 9-1. 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 9 a student who was ‘achieving’ in Year 8

should be working at a grade 3 or 4 using the 9-1 grading. The diagram

below gives an overview of how a student might progress through school

years 7-11. 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 9 student below). You will also be

able to view details of individual assessments by clicking onto subject data and looking at grades held in

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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.

You can click on individual subject assessments to find out specific assessment details.

How do I make sense of the data on Go4Schools?

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 2018

Agreed Target

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.

Current Level

This is a weighted average of the assessments your child has completed in the academic year.

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Section 2

Curriculum and Assessment

Guides by subject

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Contents

Art and Design

Business Studies

Dance

Drama

Engineering

English

Food & Nutrition

French

Geography

History

ICT & Computing

Mathematics

Music

Physical Education

Product Design

Religious Studies

Science

Spanish

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Art & Design

Year 9 Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1, A*-G, or NC levels (delete as appropriate)

Name of GCSE course and code: e.g. AQA Physics: 8463

Link to specification: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse/physics-8463

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Business Studies

Year 9

Year 9

Level 1 Pass, Level 2 Pass, Merit, Distinction, Distinction* + or -

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Year 9 Dance Year 9

Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: GCSE Dance (8236)

Link to specification: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/dance/gcse/dance-8236

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Year 9 Drama

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Drama GCSE J316

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-drama-j316-from-2016/

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Engineering Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: GCSE Engineering (8852)

Link to specification: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/resources/engineering/specifications/AQA-8852-

SP-2017.PDF

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Main topics covered Key assessments

Au

tum

n

• Travel Writing

• Shakespeare Study

Reading Assessment: Unseen literary analysis of an

extract from a 20th

century text. Reading Assessment : close textual analysis of a chosen key scene

Spri

ng

• Non-fiction Reading

• Study of a Modern Novel • Year 9 exams: • Section A Reading • Section B Transactional Writing

• Reading Assessment: a literature essay based on a theme or character from ‘Of Mice and Men’.

Sum

me

r

• War Poetry

• Current Affairs • Writing Assessment: a creative writing piece in

response to a chosen war poem. • Writing Assessment: a piece of transactional

writing, stemming from debate. GCSE Speaking and Listening presentation

English Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

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Food & Nutrition Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Food, Preparation and Nutrition J309

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/234806-specification-accredited-gcse-food-preparation-and-nutrition-j309.pdf

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French Year 9

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Geography Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: Geography B for enquiring minds J384

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-geography-b-geography-for-enquiring-minds-j384-from-2016/

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History Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: Edexcel 9-1 History (from summer term onwards)

Link to specification: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/history-2016.html

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ICT and Computing Year 9

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Mathematics Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: Edexcel Mathematics 1MA1

Link to specification: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/mathematics-2015.html

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Music Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Music: J356

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-music-j536-from-2016/

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Physical Education Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR GCSE PE J587

Link to specification: Theory: http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/234822-specification-accredited-gcse-physical-education-j587.pdf Practical: http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/234827-guide-to-non-exam-assessment.pdf

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Product Design Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Design & Technology

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-design-and-technology-j310-from-2017/

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Religious Studies Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: OCR Religious Studies J125/J625

Link to specification: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse-religious-studies-j625-j125-from-2016/

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GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy Year 9

Year 9

Grading scheme used: 9-1

Name of GCSE course and code: AQA Trilogy Combined Science 8464

Link to specification: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/science/gcse/combined-science-trilogy-8464

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Spanish Year 9