Mrs Melinda Richardson
The term 'assessment' can hold many varied perspectives based on the experiences we have had in life. When I reflect on my experiences of assessment as a student, there is a wide range of emotions. Depending on the subject area, and sometimes even the task, my confidence and mindset could greatly differ. Traditionally, assessment only credited a person's ability to retain content knowledge. If you couldn't retain the information, you failed. This discredited the fact that perhaps you grew in a learning skill or attitude. It discredited that perhaps you used that content knowledge to solve a real problem. It discredited the fact that perhaps due to anxiety, you were not successful that day, all knowledge simply disappeared for a moment in time.
St Peter's views assessment as a crucial element of everyday school life for our students. The main objective of assessment is to inform learning - it provides us with information about how our students are progressing in their learning and where our teaching needs to head. Assessment takes place in a variety of ways, underpinned by four key purposes:
- Monitoring learning - allows students to reflect on their learning through goal setting and success criteria
- Documenting learning - captures learning over a period of time through visible documentation
- Measuring learning - captures learning at a single point in time, finalising data to show student achievement
- Reporting learning - communication with all stakeholders in relation to the learning journey of a student
Throughout the school day, teachers utilise a range of strategies to gain insight of student progress. This may involve noticing student contribution to a discussion or response to a question, review of documented learning experiences such as written responses in a workbook, on Seesaw or a mini-whiteboard, and their use of the Approaches to Learning and the Learner Profile. Our teachers are constantly 'assessing', making mental and anecdotal notes about each student within their class. They provide constant check in points to support students in monitoring their own learning - this can be through exit tickets, a mini-meeting or even a simple thumbs up / thumbs down, helping them to consider the next step.
Term One is predominantly a period of monitoring and documenting learning. It is these insights that support teachers in knowing the students in their care - the knowledge they have brought from previous years, any general knowledge they have from home and the skills they have as learners, both academic, social and emotional. This is why our initial Parent / Teacher Interviews, a strategy for reporting learning, focus more on wellbeing than achievement. Your contribution to this allows us to make sense of some of the observations we have made early on.
Term Two starts to see the rise in opportunities for teachers to 'measure learning'. The starting point for measuring learning are the NESA syllabus outcomes that outline general attainment within a particular grade / stage. Teachers use this information to develop rubrics within a five point scale which families may be familiar with through our formal reporting process. Once a rubric is developed, a task is also written to consider the best way our learners can demonstrate their learning. Our assessment tasks consider content knowledge, but are balanced to also consider varied learning skills (Approaches to Learning) and understanding. Monitoring and documenting learning continues to play an important role as this provides the evidence for our professional judgement. Professional judgement is incredibly pertinent for when a student, for example, is not successful in a 'measuring learning' task. Teachers are able to reflect on the knowledge they have of that particular student, to ensure their learning journey is credited. At the conclusion of Term Two, another strategy for reporting learning is formalised through the Semester One reports. It is a document that enables parents to see how their child is progressing in measurement with the NESA outcomes for their grade level. It also celebrates growth within a whole child realm, considering the development of a range of skills and attitudes.
At St Peter's, we don't just want to know what our students know or don't know in relation to content knowledge. We want to know their why and how, what makes them tick as a learner and how we can continue to empower them to succeed in later life.
The following external assessments will take place in the coming terms. Being external, there is no element of professional judgement, and student performance is simply gained from that moment in time. This is why at St Peter's, we use the data from these external assessments as a jigsaw puzzle piece as such, combined with their daily performance.
NAPLAN (Measuring / Reporting Learning)
Students in Years 3, 5 & 7 will participate in the NAPLAN Online assessments, commencing next Tuesday. Families of students within these grades should have received additional information via email.
ICAS (Measuring / Reporting Learning)
St Peter's will continue to offer the International Competitions and Assessment for School (ICAS) in 2022. These will take place in Term 3, for interested families for students in Years 3 - 6. More information will be provided soon.
