A S S E S S M E N T

The assessment of student progress is vital and ongoing. All students are involved in a range of assessment activities in each year of their education at Queensmead. The timing of the assessment period for each year

group varies through the five years of compulsory education and the two sixth form years. Students in Year 11, Year 12, and Year 13 additionally take public examinations. Students in Year 9 take National Curriculum tests in Mathematics, English and Science.

Full reports commenting on academic and social progress are issued once each year and parents have an opportunity at a consultation evening to discuss performance and progress with subject teaching staff. In addition parents receive a termly print-out of the student's achievement and effort during the term.

Additional opportunities are offered to parents in Years 7, 10, 12 and 13 to get progress checks on their son or daughter at a consultation evening with form tutors.

All students complete a standardised test (the NFER CAT test) a few weeks after admission to Year 7. This gives the school a valuable measure of innate ability and potential. This information in conjunction with school reports, enables the close monitoring of individual student progress. Queensmead is particularly concerned to identify under achievement and to seek to find appropriate remedies. Close analysis of external examination results over the last five years indicates that the school is increasingly succeeding in this aim.

Common assessment procedures in respect of both student attainment and effort are used across all subject departments. Both students and their parents are therefore able to understand quite readily what progress is being made.