Powerful Assessment & Feedback — Solihull Sixth Form College

Powerful Assessment & Feedback

Our commitment to Powerful Assessment and Feedback

Our assessment and feedback principles and procedures are an essential part of how we help you to achieve excellence in your studies. We are committed to assessing your skills, knowledge and understanding through regular and frequent assessment within class and independent study tasks. Assessment varies from exam style questions, mini quizzes, group work and presentations to more formal Year 12 progression and Year 13 mock exams and BTEC/CACHE written assignments.

Students complete Key Assessments every half term. In addition, BTEC/CACHE students complete assignment-based projects throughout the year, in line with the specifications. This regular assessment supports the transfer of knowledge and skills from short-term memory to long-term memory, helping to pinpoint where interventions from teaching staff are necessary and can have impact, and to develop your confidence, resilience and knowledge.

Powerful Assessment:

Assessment is at the heart of teaching and learning at Solihull Sixth Form College – We set high expectations of what you can achieve and are committed to supporting you to be the best that you can be. Purposeful, regular and deep assessment will support you to build links between previous learning and develop your ability to transfer knowledge and skills to different situations.

Assessment is consistent, reliable and transparent – There are clear and consistent processes for the setting, marking, grading and moderation of Key Assessments or internal BTEC/CACHE assignment work. BTEC and CACHE assignments are assessed in line with the exam board regulations.

Assessment is challenging but appropriate – You are encouraged to have high expectations of what you can achieve. Challenge in education is the provision of difficult work that causes you to think deeply and engage in healthy struggle.

Assessment outcomes are meaningful and accessible – Substantial pieces of assessment will be graded so that you have reliable information on your progress. A level and CACHE work will be graded A*-U and BTEC will be graded Distinction – Pass. Your parents/guardians will be able to access this information through Arbor.

Powerful Feedback:

Feedback is only effective when it has a positive impact on your progress – We are committed to giving you high quality and constructive feedback to enable you to make progress. Knowledge and skills are assessed regularly and you will be given ongoing formative feedback on your day-to-day work, focusing on how to improve towards excellence.

Timely feedback promotes learning and facilitates improvement – You will receive verbal feedback in class, whole class feedback on Key Assessments and written feedback as appropriate to give you all of the information you need to be able to act on and make improvements to your work.

Learning behaviour expected of you

Positive Self-Regulation for Learning – You are encouraged to be proud of the work you produce and to hold yourselves up to the highest standards. Through the Key Assessment Wrapper, you will move through three phases of self-regulation; forethought (precedes the assessment), performance, and self-reflection after the assessment.

Focus on the practice of using feedback – You will be trained to be self-critical and to monitor your own progress. You are encouraged to be curious learners – motivated to act on feedback given and to evaluate how you might do better next time.

Errors should be welcomed – Feedback is most effective when you do not have proficiency or mastery and thus it thrives when there is error or incomplete knowledge and understanding. You should be hungry for feedback and use it to support improvements in your work.

Show grit and determination – You will be trained to demonstrate resilience and determination even when the work is challenging. The message is always do not give up.