Assessment
At Boronia K-12 College, we believe that assessment is an ongoing process of gathering, analysing, reflecting and acting on evidence of student learning to inform teaching. This is why it forms such an essential part of our Instructional Model. Assessment must provide all learners with the capacity to demonstrate and reflect on, what they know, understand, can do and value at different stages in the learning process. Whilst assessment provides evidence of current learning (achievement) it must support students to reflect on their progress, set goals for their learning and engage them in making decisions about what they need to do to achieve these goals. It is central to the PYP goal of thoughtfully and effectively guiding students through the five essential elements of learning:
- the acquisition of knowledge
- the understanding of concepts
- the mastering of skills
- the development of attitudes
- the decisions to take action
This is why we prioritise open-ended tasks that cater for students at their point of need but are curriculum based for all learning, including assessment
Reporting
At Boronia K-12 College, we have adapted an on-going system of reporting, via the COMPASS portal. Published Assessments (known as Learning Tasks or Common Assessment Tasks) are tasks which provide evidence of learning of single subjects and transdisciplinary learning. These tasks are common to the year level / subject and are assessed using a rubric, enabling students and parents the opportunity to understand the continuum of learning. Opportunity is provided to students to engage with the rubric, including co-creation where appropriate, to enable students to ‘see’ what success looks like, strive to achieve more by reflecting on and setting goals, before, during and after the learning. This is intended to create assessment-literate students who take ownership of their learning and have high expectations.
Progress Reports
Progress reports relating to student work habits occur towards the end of each term for primary school students and every 5 weeks for secondary students.
Semester Reports
Each Semester, classroom and specialist teachers provide a grade or score that indicates each student’s performance against the Victorian Curriculum Standards for their Year Level, based on the Department of Education (DET) requirements at the time. Student results will reflect their most recent achievement/s at the time of reporting. Teachers work collaboratively to determine achievement levels and all scores/grades are a culmination of all Learning Tasks, assessments and activities across the Semester.
Student/ Parent / Teacher / Conferences
Opportunities for parent/student/teacher conferences are formally provided twice a year. This gives students, parents and teachers an opportunity to connect and discuss the achievements of the previous Semester as well as setting goals for future learning.
As the need arises, it may be necessary for parents and teachers to arrange a time to meet to discuss concerns, changes in student’s circumstances etc. These be conducted at a mutually agreed times for both parents and teachers.