At Mulberry Academy Woodside the progress and attainment of students is assessed through a mixture of summative and formative assessments.
Students will sit assessments in a designated window three times a year, results will be analysed and reported to parents and carers.
All year groups will also have one Parents/Carers’ Evening annually, where a conversation with each subject teacher will provide an update about a student’s academic performance, effort and behaviour, and set clear targets on how to improve. Numerical data is kept to a minimum at these events as we believe the conversation about a student’s performance is far richer when focused on the formative evidence, including: the work in exercise books, the contributions in class and the independent learning they have demonstrated.
In addition we encourage parents and carers to make contact with subject teachers directly should they have concerns or questions about a student’s progress throughout the year. Email addresses can be found on the school website.
For further information see Key Stage 3/Key Stage 4 breakdown below and our assessment and feedback policy.
Key Stage 3
Consistent, yet flexible approach
Our approach to KS3 assessment is designed to:
- provide a clear and consistent approach across all subjects
- provide a easy way to analyse the progress/attainment of your child in each subject
- enables students to get detailed next steps in each subject based on their assessments
- ensures that students know how far they are from the next attainment band
Each subject uses their own assessment criteria and mark schemes to provide a percentage mark. This percentage mark is then converted to a descriptor.
Progress and Attainment. What’s the difference?
Attainment: the academic standard that pupils reach in, for example, assessments and exams. It’s usually recorded as grades, scores or levels, and it indicates a pupil’s result at the end of a Key Stage (KS).
Progress: pupils’ achievements over a period of time, for example from KS2 to KS4. It’s the difference between pupils’ previous attainment and current attainment. When measuring a pupil’s progress we take into account the progress of pupils with similar starting points.
KS3 to KS4 Progression
Our framework is based on our KS3 descriptors showing the progression of a student from KS3 to KS4. In subjects, raw marks/percentages that a student achieves will be converted to an attainment grade. The attainment grade helps to give an indication of the level they would then be likely to go on to achieve at KS4.
Our assessments are written and moderated to make sure that the percentages and levels descriptors that students achieve are in line with this approach.
KS3 Minimum Expected Progress
Grades in the student reports are colour coded to indicate the progress a student has made since KS2 or a baseline assessment at the start of KS3, compared to their target grade.
| Blue | Above expected progress (above minimum target grade) |
| Green | Making expected progress (meeting minimum target grade) |
| Yellow | Below expected progress (below minimum target grade) |
| Red | Far below expected progress (2 or more grades below minimum target grade) |
We do not want these to be seen as targets that are a glass ceiling. If a student is consistently working above expected progress then we will increase their KS3 Minimum Target Grade (MTG) to support raising expectations. If this is done, then this is a fantastic achievement by the student.
Student Reports
At each data point we will provide a student report so you can clearly see how your child is getting on in their subjects. Here is an example showing what you will see on each report:
Key Stage 4
While studying for their GCSEs/Vocational Courses in Year 10 and Year 11, students receive an exam grade and a teacher prediction for the end of the course. Both will be measured in GCSE grade 1-9 (unless a Vocational Course).
The internal exam periods and school assessment windows at KS4 are:
Year 11:
- November
- February
- May-June – official summer examinations
Year 10:
- November
- March
- June
Reports will be sent home to parents/carers following each assessment window.
