Assessing and Sharing Progress in the Broad General Education

Broad General Education ASSESSING & SHARING PROGRESS Assessing and sharing progress is a continuous process between the learner, the teacher, parents and the school. Assessing learning in the Broad General Education (early years to the end of S3) ensures that: • children and young people make progress through the learning levels in the eight curricular areas • the next steps can be planned • information can be shared regularly between learners, parents and teachers • learning continues smoothly throughout the young person's learning journey. There is no standard way to undertake assessment. However, the repeated sequence of assessing progress, sharing progress and planning next steps, as illustrated below, will ensure that learners continue to move forward in their learning. CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE IN A NUTSHELL The National Parent Forum of Scotland Summary of Assessing and Sharing Progress in the Broad General Education (early years to S3) Assessing and Sharing Progress in the Broad General Education • a project • a presentation (video, recording, PowerPoint, talk) • a piece of work (a piece of writing, a model, an experiment, a drawing) • a performance • an exhibition or an event • a portfolio of work • a group activity or group project • a peer review • a test • online diaries, learning logs or blogs • self-assessment • verbal feedback • online work • a formal written report • a consultation meeting between the teacher, the learner and the parent. Assessing learners' progress enables the following questions to be answered: Learner: How am I doing? How do I know how I am doing? Who do I ask? Parent: What are my next steps? How will I know when I've achieved them? How can I work in partnership with the school/ teacher to support my child on their learning journey? Teacher: How can I work in partnership with parents to support my pupil on their learning journey? School: How do we support and maintain the assessment partnership between the learner, the teacher and the parents in a culture of trust and openness? How is progress assessed and shared with parents?

Information is gathered which shows progress as children and young people learn. It might be: Information from assessing progress is shared between teachers, children and parents in order to plan the learner's next steps. During the school year, there are formal and informal opportunities for sharing progress with parents (see examples overleaf). The formal sharing of assessment information (school reports, parent consultations, summary reports) takes places at key transition times such as moving class, year, school, learning level, moving from the Broad General Education to the Senior Phase, course choices and planning post-school choices. Other ongoing ways of monitoring progress such profiling (paper-based or digital) and learner-led conferences are more informal methods of reporting. These enable learners to capture, share and identify their next steps. Moderation Schools and teachers work together to set shared standards for assessing progress. This is called 'moderation' and it ensures that schools within an area or a local authority are using similar benchmarks and have similar expectations. SHARING PROGRESS ASSESSING PROGRESS PLANNING NEXT STEPS SHARING PROGRESS ASSESSING PROGRESS PLANNING NEXT STEPS SHARING PROGRESS ASSESSING PROGRESS LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING

What can parents expect? When progress about your child's learning is shared with you formally, you can expect that this will: • give clear and constructive feedback about your child's learning and personal development • show progress and next steps in learning • record achievement of, or within, a curriculum level • describe any support that is in place • suggest how you can help with any gaps in progress or share information about wider achievement. Some schools use learner profiles and profiling to record progress; the National Parent Forum of Scotland supports this as a way of reflecting the wide range of children and young people's achievements. These can: • summarise the assessment information that teachers and learners have gathered throughout the year and from earlier years • recognise wider achievement (eg hobbies and interests, attending clubs, caring for others, roles in school such as Eco School or buddying, recognised awards such as Duke of Edinburgh's Award or John Muir Awards) • be compiled by learners, with support from teachers and parents, as appropriate. Liaise with your headteacher and parent council to ensure that these expectations of collaborative and shared assessment and reporting are delivered. Useful Information for Parents 'Sharing Learning, Sharing Assessment' (www.parentforumscotland.org/npfs-assessment-group/) is the National Parent Forum of Scotland's report on assessing progress. It includes key recommendations. A copy of this report was sent to every headteacher and every parent council: ask in your school about progress with the report's recommendations. Further Information on assessing and sharing progress • Parentzone webpages on assessment in the Broad General Education: http://tinyurl.com/o9h7lqm • Curriculum for Excellence Briefing on the Broad General Education in Secondary School: http://tinyurl.com/letd8mf • Questions and Answers on Assessment: http://tinyurl.com/l6c7jur • Supporting Learning at Home: http://tinyurl.com/jwyhew7 • Parents as Partners Factfile: http://tinyurl.com/oox369o • Curriculum for Excellence Additional Support for Learning Factfile: http://tinyurl.com/nc9rdgm Examples of Assessing and Sharing Progress Early Level Each child has an 'All About Me' book which is used to record progress and achievement with contributions from parents, children and early years staff. Children photograph what they make and do themselves using a tablet computer. The photographs and comments from the children go into the books which have curricular area sections as well as news pages and free pages. Children talk about their achievements with staff, who write up the children's comments in the 'All About Me' book. Second Level Children prepare a Second World War Victory in Europe Day themed tea party for parents, grandparents and residents of a nearby residential care home for the elderly. They learn songs (expressive arts), they prepare food (health and wellbeing; numeracy in weighing ingredients for recipes), they write invitations (literacy), they research VE Day, food and clothes of the time (social studies: history). The event is filmed and recorded and is emailed to parents as a record and a celebration of achievement. Third and Fourth Levels Learners and teachers work together to record progress and assessment information in all curricular areas and to record wider achievement using an online profiling system. This can then be shared electronically. The National Parent Forum of Scotland is grateful for the support of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Qualifications Authority and Education Scotland in the preparation of this series. www.parentforumscotland.org enquiries@parentforumscotland.org

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parentforumscot CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE IN A NUTSHELL The National Parent Forum of Scotland Summary of Assessing and Sharing Progress in the Broad General Education (early years to S3) HISTORY Broad General Education ASSESSING & SHARING PROGRESS