ASSESSMENT POLICY

Rationale

Hope is an integrated service which combines both Surrey County Council and Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Policies and Procedures. As issues arise the response process to be followed will be that of the most appropriate organisation. The Manager for Hope is to be contacted in the first instance and will direct the query to ensure the appropriate application of Policies and Procedures of each organisation.

Assessment is a process which is used to ensure successful learning and teaching takes place. It enables young people to understand where they are in their learning and to understand what they need to do next. Assessment provides young people with the opportunity to work with their teacher to review their progress on an ongoing basis. The Hope Service uses the following types of assessment;

  • Summative Assessment – young people are assessed on arrival to identify what they already know and what they need to focus upon. Teachers will report on each young person’s progress at the end of each term and this will be sent out to parents and carers
  • Formative Assessment – Young people are given feedback on their learning both verbally and in written form by the teacher

Procedure

Key Stage 3

  • On acceptance into the day programme, each young person sits an assessment to identify what they can do and what they need to improve upon. For English and Maths,teachers use an online tool (Alfiesoft) and in Computing the teacher uses an in house assessment project
  • The purpose of this is to gain an overview of the current capability of each young person in these subjects and to identify areas of weakness for the teacher to focus upon with the young person in the classroom
  • Teachers use these assessmentsalongside their professional knowledge to confirm if the young person is working at their age expected level and to ascertain a baseline level which is then converted into a 1-9 grade.
  • Each grade is broken into three steps (Emerging, Understanding and Secure) and targets are set, based upon an expectation that each young person will make 3 steps of progress a year (1 step per term) if they have two subject lessons a week and 2 steps of progress a year if they have just one lesson a week.
  • As each young person is unlikely to cover a whole curriculum in any subject area, the progress measures are based upon the aspects of the curriculum covered and will be a best fit approach based on teacher professional judgement
  • Targets and termly progress levels are recorded on individual target sheets which are placed in each young person’s subject folder or exercise book
  • All young people are continuously assessed and at the end of each term their current progress is recorded centrally so that progress can be tracked across all subjects
  • Where a young person is not making expected progress a meeting will be held between the teacher and the Teacher in Charge to discuss concerns and set out specific short term targets which will be shared with the young person, parents and carers
  • Teachers complete a termly report for each young person which is then collated and sent out to parents and carers

Key Stage 4

  • Due to the complex needs of the young people in the day programme it is often important to re-engage them in their learning before attempting to focus upon key stage 4 programmes of study, including GCSE exams and qualifications
  • Therefore, for many young people it is applicable to follow the procedures set out above for key stage 3, using Alfiesoft assessments (English and Maths)or teacher based assessments (Computing) to form a baseline, to identify areas of weakness and to set targetswithin a 1-9 grading system
  • Alongside this they may be encouraged to sit Functional Skills exams in English Maths and IT if they are not already working towards a GCSE qualification in these subjects. Furthermore they may be working towards an ASDAN or BTEC qualification
  • Targets and termly progress is recorded on individual target sheets which are placed in each young person’s subject folder or exercise book
  • All young people are continuously assessed and at the end each term their current progress levels are recorded centrally so that progress can be tracked
  • Where a young person is not making expected progress a meeting will be held between the teacher and the Teacher in Charge to discuss concerns and set out specific short term targets which will be shared with the young person, parents and carers
  • Teachers complete a termly report of each young person which is then collated and sent out to parents and carers

PASS Data

  • Each young person of compulsory school age completes a Pupil Attitude to School and Self survey (PASS) when they start in the day programme and this is revisited when they are discharged from the day programme
  • The results are converted to a percentage and the data is recorded centrally and used as a further assessment and progress measure

Further assessment data

  • HONOSCA questionnaires are used to measure the health and functioning of young people with mental health difficulties. There are 13 scales covering different areas of concern and 2 scales measuring their understanding of the presenting problems and available resources.
  • CGAS (Children’s Global Assessment Scale) is a clinician-rated measurement of a young person’s overall psychological, social and school functioning.

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