KS3 Assessment Information & Support

Assessment is a crucial part of the learning and teaching process at Orsett Heath Academy.

On entry to the school, we use Key Stage Two and baseline data to place each pupil into a band for Key Stage Three:

This band helps us to track pupil progress through Key Stage Three. Consistently high performance will lead to a pupil being moved to a higher band at the end of Year 7 and/or Year 8.

Two types of assessment are used:

Formative assessment is used by teachers each lesson in the form of verbal and written questioning and throughout Schemes of Learning to check growth and retention of knowledge using quizzes and tests. This form of assessment is used to inform and modify daily teaching.

Summative assessment is used two times per year in Key Stage Three. Each summative assessment is a cumulative test of knowledge to ensure rigour. Results of summative assessments will lead to modified planning and supportive interventions to maximise pupil attainment and progress.

All departments have a well structured and sequenced curriculum. To assess how well pupils are learning and remembering they look at the summative and formative assessment performance, classwork and homework and then use subject rubrics or descriptors to determine which Band each pupil is attaining. You can find the KS3 rubrics on the subject pages of this website.

KS3 Communication after the assessments:  

After an assessment window you will receive a report containing the progress measure from recent assessments, classwork and homework. This report will contain: 

• Band: An aspirational target for the end of GCSE using KS2 data as a starting point
• Progress: This will highlight how much knowledge has been learned from the curriculum 
• Attitude to Learning grade: This will help you understand your child’s effort and behaviour