Principles of Assessment
Assessment is a crucial component of teaching and learning at The Stonehenge School. Its core purpose is to support students’ learning, inform teaching, and promote continuous improvement. Effective assessment provides evidence that helps teachers adapt practice, leaders refine curriculum design, and students understand how to make further progress.
All assessment will:
- Be aspirational and inclusive, providing challenge for all learners while ensuring access and equity.
- Inform teaching and curriculum adaptation, helping teachers identify gaps, re-teach misconceptions, and sequence learning effectively across KS3 and KS4.
- Be consistent and purposeful, using shared tools such as Study Journals, Milestone assessments, and Re-teach Weeks to secure long-term learning.
- Empower students to know what they have mastered, understand their next steps, and take ownership of their progress.
- Provide reliable information for parents and leaders to evaluate the impact of teaching and curriculum implementation.
- Drive improvement, enabling departments and leaders to use assessment data to evaluate provision, close gaps, and raise achievement across all groups.
Learning Characteristics
Organisation: This is referring to students arriving to lesson ready to learn and howthey maintain a good standard of classwork to organise their revision etc.
1- Cause for Concern (frequently arrives without the correct equipment/pekit/books. Book is generally untidy with lots of gaps in their class notes)
2- Requires Improvement (on occasion equipment/pe kit/books has bene forgotten.Not generally good but with some gaps in key pieces of work)
3- Good (Arrives to lesson with the correct equipment/pe kit/books and maintains agood standard of work to support their revision)
4- Exemplary (Arrives to lesson with the correct equipment/pe kit/books and goesabove and beyond to maintain a good standard of work to support their revision)
5- Attendance Impacting Progress
Resilience: This is referring to them being able to bounce back from difficulties inthe learning process and seeing areas for development has opportunities ratherthan excuses to hold them back.
1- Cause for Concern (lacks resilience and allows barriers to learning to hold themback)
2- Requires Improvement (on occasion has lacked resilience and needs to embraceall opportunities to make progress in areas of development)
3- Good (Shows good resilience in lessons and embraces opportunities to improveand make progress)
4- Exemplary (Shows excellent resilience fully embraces all opportunities to improveand make progress reflecting on these opportunities frequently)
5- Attendance Impacting Progress
Attitude to Learning:
1- Cause for Concern (Consistent poor attitude to learning)
2- Requires Improvement (Occasions where they have lacked a positiveattitude to learning)
3- Good (Good attitude to learning)
4- Exemplary (Goes above and beyond to demonstrate exceptional attitudeto learning)
5- Attendance Impacting Progress
Home Learning (Homework):
1- Cause for Concern (Frequently fails to hand in homework or it is of aconsistently poor standard)
2- Requires Improvement (on occasion has not handed in homework or ithas not always been to a good standard)
3- Good (hands in homework to a good standard)
4- Exemplary (hands in homework which demonstrates they have goneabove and beyond to meet all required outcomes)
5- Attendance Impacting Progress
Data and Assessment Non Negotiables
Every subject and teacher will ensure that ALL assessment is:
- Curriculum-Driven: All assessments directly align with Schemes of Learning and test the knowledge, skills, and vocabulary that have been explicitly taught.
- Consistent: Each Milestone Assessment follows agreed formats, with moderation and shared mark schemes ensuring reliability and comparability.
- Informative: Outcomes are analysed and used to inform re-teach weeks, department planning, and classroom adaptation.
- Inclusive: Assessments are accessible to all learners, with reasonable adjustments, scaffolds, and adaptive strategies used appropriately.
- Transparent: Students understand the purpose of each assessment, their results, and their next steps for improvement.
- Moderated: Department-level and whole-school moderation ensures validity and consistency in judgements.
- Data-Informed: Leaders at all levels use assessment data to evaluate progress against school and subject priorities, focusing on patterns andinterventions rather than numbers alone.
Frequency
|
Year |
Communication Points with Parents and Carers |
|
7 |
1x Settling in Review 2x Milestone Report |
|
8 |
1x Learning Characteristic Report 2x Milestone Report |
|
9 |
1x Learning Characteristic Report 2x Milestone Report |
|
10 |
1x Learning Characteristic Report 2x Milestone Reports |
|
11 |
2x Milestone Reports |
Settling in Review: A single grade for each subject toindicate the attitude to learning a pupil isdemonstrating. This will be shared at the Tutorconsultation evening in Year 7.
Learning Characteristic Report: A report indicatingstudents learning habits. They include; Attitude toLearning, Home Learning, Organisation and Resilience.
Milestone Report: Full academic report including resultsof most recent Milestone Assessments, teacher forecastsand learning characteristics.
Milestone Assessments
At The Stonehenge School, students complete Milestone Assessments twice per year. These are formal, exam-style assessments that act as checkpoints to measure how well students have learned and remembered the knowledge and skills taught since the previous Milestone.
The week before each Milestone window is a Re-teach Week. During this time, teachers revisit key knowledge, re-teach essential skills, and help students retrieve prior learning so they are fully prepared for the assessment.
Milestone Assessments are designed to:
- Provide students with experience of formal, high-stakes exams.
- Help teachers identify what students know securely and where extra support is needed.
- Give parents clear, accurate information about progress towards end-of-year and GCSE targets.
Each year, the assessments become more challenging so that by Year 10, students are ready to sit full GCSE exam papers. Results are shared through the Pupil Progress app, allowing students and parents to track progress and celebrate success over time.
Pupil Progress
The Pupil Progress app allows parents and students to view up-to-date information about academic progress across all subjects. It provides a clear picture of how well each student is performing against their Milestone Targets and Mastery Levels, showing whether they are on track to meet their end-of-year or GCSE goals.
Parents can use the app to:
- See current attainment grades and targets for each subject.
- Track progress over time through colour-coded visuals.
- Identify subjects where their child is excelling or may need additional support.
- Receive updates following each Milestone assessment window.
- Discuss progress together at home to help their child stay motivated and focused.
- The app supports our aim of helping students take ownership of their learning by making progress information transparent and easily accessible. It strengthens the partnership between school and home, ensuring everyone works together to help every student achieve their potential.
- Click here for support with the Pupil Progress app