John Hanson Community School

‘Assessing the Future’

Dear parents
I hope you and your children are safe and warm and if you like ‘the white stuff’ spending some time enjoying the snow?

If you have a child in years 10 or 11 you will probably be very aware of the significant changes that have been made to both the nature of GCSE exams (structure and content) and also the way that students will be assessed (terminal examinations and the 9-1 grading system).

Taking all this in to account my staff have been working hard to make sure that the way we assess students gives us the feedback we need to ensure subsequent teaching leads to continual progress and ultimately high levels of attainment.

This does not start in year 10, but throughout the school from year 7 upwards. With examinations ‘getting harder’ and some content being added that traditionally would have been part of an A level syllabus it has been critical that students start developing the study skills that will allow them to tackle these new style examinations as early as possible.

By the time students get to their year 11 examinations they are drawing on the knowledge, skills and understanding (KSU) built up over a 5 year period in many cases. In order that we can make sure students can recall what they need, when they need it, we have and will continue to review and amend our assessment practices to include a greater frequency of regular recaps of previous learning, frequent quizzes to make sure that the KSU ‘sticks’ and a focus in exams on ‘knowledge first’ – especially at key stage 3, to make sure students are not progressing with any significant gaps in their learning.

This is not a time bound process or something that the school will only focus on this year, but a key objective moving in to the next academic year and beyond. I will write about this topic frequently to keep you informed about the changing landscape of secondary education and what we, as a school, are doing to make sure your children get the best educational experience possible.

Enjoy the snowy weekend

Regards
Russell Stevens
Headteacher

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