Assessment for Learning @ John Henry Newman Catholic College

What is AfL?

Assessment of

learning

Assessment for

learning

Summative

Formative

In-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and

progress during a lesson, unit or course.

Used to improve or adapt teaching and student learning while it is happening.

Used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined teaching

period—typically at the end of a project, unit, course, term, or school year.

EVA

LUATIV

ED

IAG

NO

STIC

Assessment for Learning...

The importance of AfL

Incorporating AfL

AfL at JHNCC

At John Henry Newman Catholic College, the school’s ‘key drivers’ underpin the approach towards assessment for learning.

STAR (Stop-Think-Act-Reflect)

Every Second Counts

Precision Planning

Students Leading Learning

Technologies Enhancing Learning

Literacy

STOP

• The learning process is paused to enable opportunity for pupils to reflect on their feedback.

THINK

•Students read through their feedback, including a ‘What Went Well’ comment and ‘Even Better If’ suggestions made by the teacher or peer assessor. They should consider how they can use this feedback to make improvements.

ACT

• Students are given the opportunity to make improvements to their previous effort at a task or activity, using the ‘Even Better If’ comments and success criteria to secure progression.

REFLECT

• Having made their improvements, students are encouraged to reflect on the impact of these changes on the quality of their work and to consider how this has impacted on the progress of their learning.

STAR

STAR in action...

Students Leading LearningStudents are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning as well as the learning of

others.

One way in which this is incorporated into lessons is through the provision of opportunities for self and peer assessment.

Having been provided with the success criteria for particular tasks, and with the learning objectives in mind, students are regularly required to judge the strengths and areas requiring improvement of their own, or their partner’s , work. This is usually done in the form of a WWW and EBI to align with the school’s STAR policy.

Having conducted self or peer assessment, students are then provided with time for a STAR opportunity, enabling them to act upon targets identified by either themselves or their peers in order to make progress with their learning.

Precision PlanningTeachers at JHNCC are encouraged to incorporate a wide

variety of AfL techniques into the teaching and learning cycle so as to monitor progression and enable teaching to be adapted to suit the needs of all learners.

QuestioningQuestioning plays a vital role in driving AfL at JHNCC.

A hinge question is based on the important concept in a lesson that

is critical for students to understand before you move on in the lesson.

Questioning using Bloom’s taxonomy enables teachers to promote higher order, deeper thinking amongst students.

PlenariesMini-plenaries are incorporated into lessons, whilst

teachers are encouraged to protect time at the end of each lesson to focus solely on an AfL-inspired plenary.

Identify your own learning needs based on today’s objectives.

Technology Enhancing LearningThere is an emphasis on utilising new technologies to support and

enhance teaching and learning at JHNCC.

As such, iPads and internet-based software are used as a way of conducting AfL in an interactive and engaging manner.

Socrative quizzes

Learning blogs

iPads