Rationale
This assessment policy is designed to reflect and support the philosophy and objectives of St. George International School and Preschool (SGIS ) as a whole. SGIS are committed to providing the high est standards of teaching and learning and all staff are accountable for providing quality feedback which is understood, clear and can be inferred by all students, always, enabling them to self-correct, identify their own mistakes and correct their shared, taught, and independent learning.
Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. The purpose of assessment is to identify students’ strengths and to build on their needs , helping students to learn and grow at the appropriate pace, as set out in their learning, through informed and detailed planning . Every opportunity must be made by all teachers to improve their understanding of assessment either through CPD or other means. A shared
All teachers must understand the main types of assessment and have a clear direction on how to evaluate student progress.
Assessment in the classroom should be differentiated, sensitive and accessible to all learners. Students should feel successful, motivated and supported. Assessment will take many forms, such as discussions, questioning, observations, marking of written work, testing, self-assessment, and project work. Where applicable, assessments should be shared with the students prior to assigning the assessment task, such as checklists related to a project or an assigned written task. Assessment must be sensitive, considering cultural, gender, racial and religious differences. Differing levels of English will need to be taken into consideration and assessment should be adapted or modified accordingly.
Assessment enables teachers to:
Plan and observe the individual progress of students Provide feedback for the student’s progress Evaluate whether learning objectives have been met Diagnose students’ strengths and needs Evaluate effectiveness of teaching and learning Provide information on individual student achievement Create a timeline which correlates with the academic progress of all children . Assessment enables students to:
Evaluate and take responsibility for their own learning in various ways so that they can feel successful and involved in the process of their future learning. Identify their strengths and targets for improvement. Principles and Practice
In line with its overall aims, St. George International School recognises that teaching, learning, and assessment are fundamentally connected, complementing each other in developing high standards of achievement for all students at the school.
Language is not a determiner for overall progress but should be seen as a potential barrier to explaining and interpreting taught methods and therefore may have an impact on both formative and summative assessment.
Students:
Have differences in how they learn Have different cultural experiences, expectations and needs May perform differently depending on the type of assessment Need to receive clear, understandable, fair, and critical feedback including strengths and weaknesses, to improve Should receive feedback that encourages self-improvement Are often required to follow two National Curricula in full (constituting of Bulgarian standards for education and the Cambridge international programme) May retain and forget information in different subjects at different times in their academic development May progress at faster and slower rates in comparison to their peers. The school uses assessment to:
Measure individual achievements and student progress to produce coherent feedback for student, parents, teachers, school administration, and external institutions Monitor the effectiveness of teaching and learning across the school Inform curriculum, assessment review and planning Inform parents and other relevant parties of the progress being made by students Plan effectively . Assessment must:
Be fair, consistent, and based on clear, understandable criteria Allow students to track and monitor their own performance Provide parents with accurate feedback on their child’s progress Allow teachers to monitor the effectiveness of lessons in relation to the desired learning goals Be differentiated, to provide material for students working at different levels, including children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), English as a Second Language (ESL/MFL departments), non-Bulgarian speaking and Gifted and Talented (GandT) students Allow students to develop examination techniques and manage stress. Differentiation:
Differentiation is the process by which curriculum objectives, teaching methods, assessment methods and learning activities are planned to cater for the learning needs of the individual student. To provide for this basic entitlement, students in the same group must have learning opportunities matched to their needs and teaching must consider the differences in learner characteristics. This in turn requires flexible planning, careful assessment, and the provision of a variety of approaches to learning and teaching. Mixed ability teaching implies that all abilities must be catered for when planning a lesson. Assessment must be fair and considered in-line with the school’s differentiation approach to teaching.
Forms of Assessment
Examples of assessment terminology used: Formative assessment Summative assessment St. George International School and Preschool uses a variety of assessment techniques in order to meet taught objectives. Assessment at St. George International School and Preschool must be understood since it is a critical tool to inform current and future teaching and learning.
Assessment will take the following forms:
Entrance exams
At the start of each academic year, as an assessment for new and prospective students starting their academic life at SGIS (during the admissions process), students will be assessed using appropriate baseline testing methods, as specified by the Academic Heads of the school:
A Centre of Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) test, alongside written, online testing and/or oral examination/s, as directed by the Heads of School, are implemented accordingly by the Admissions Team for the forthcoming academic year. The same is applied to new students starting later or at a mid-point in the year. This will help to inform and build a profile of all students who enter into school. New students or students returning to the school after a period of absence, as well as existing children on our roll must all be baseline tested at the beginning of each academic year. Once an entry exam is completed then this information is kept by the school and archived appropriately when students leave. Previous and historical prior school data from other academic institutions will also be referred to inform placement and orientation accordingly. This baseline assessment will help to inform and plan for all learners’ needs.
CEM tests are adaptive tests, which measure Reading, Maths, cognitive ability, and other qualities of students at a given time. The score is standardised based on age and makes comparison against current and historical sample size. CEM data and analysis provides a reference marker for each student only. Testing may help to inform teachers where prior knowledge is not known or given for each student to cater for all student’s strengths or areas for development. However, the long-term monitoring of progress throughout a student’s education at our school must be completed via a thorough and structured means, end of unit testing, baseline etc. For IGCSE and A Level Students: frequent feedback, formative and summative analysis must be given regularly, to track their success as a guide to predicted outcome/s. However, CEM data is not to be used solely as the only method to inform quality planning and differentiation. It is a guide on the current standard of a student.
The CEM testing is a method which is used in the school to gain a perspective of long-term analysis and progress for the whole school, year-on-year, over several years. However, it is not to be used to provide the sole basis of planning and grouping of students or as a perfect indicator towards their levels of ability and achievement. Results are shared with our parents in a report during Parent-teacher meetings during the academic year, at any given time, as specified by the Heads of School, as well as presentations to School Governance, and during formal meetings.
Entry-level diagnostic test (Baseline testing) - Statutory
During the first several days of the school year, each student will sit a test in every compulsory subject, part of the Bulgarian curriculum and studied in the previous school year. Where students have not previously studied a particular subject, the baseline testing will acknowledge their current knowledge in the area. These tests will inform the academic teams on every student's current level of academic knowledge and understanding for each given subject. The exams are in written form. The exam papers are kept at the school for one academic year and archived appropriately.
Exit-level diagnostic test (Baseline testing) - Statutory
As advised by the school’s academic leads, and the Head of School, before the end of the school year, each student will sit a test in every compulsory subject, as part of the Bulgarian curriculum for content studied during the current academic year. These tests show the student's current level of knowledge and understanding, as well as the academic progress they have made throughout the year. The exams are in written form. The exam papers are kept at the school for one academic year and archived appropriately.
Year-Grade Exams
These exams are only for the 11th and 12th grade students since the students are in a self-study form of education. At the end of the year the students sit one exam for every subject to have their year grade determined. This is linked with St. George International School’s Procedure for Self-study Form of Education.
Formal Assessment - Statutory
Formal assessment takes place on a regular basis. These tests are designed to demonstrate that the student has made progress and constitutes various levels of difficulty.
The requirements for the formal assessment`s minimum frequency for each subject from Grades 5 – 10 th is listed in Table 1 below.
Subjects taught up to twice/week - Number of minimum grades per term - 2
Subjects taught 2,5/3,5 lessons/week - Number of minimum grades per term - 3
Subjects taught minimum 4 lessons/week - Number of minimum grades per term - 4
The baseline tests are included in the number of minimum grades.
The 5 th - 10 th Grade students sit end-of-term tests as part of their formal assessment. The end-of-term test subjects are listed in Table 2 below:
5 th - 7 th Grade - Bulgarian language and literature
5 th - 7 th Grade - Mathematics
8 th - 10 th Grade - Bulgarian language and literature
8 th - 10 th Grade - Mathematics
8 th - 10 th Grade - Foreign languages
The end-of-term test is conducted for one lesson in Mathematics and for two merged lessons in Bulgarian language and literature and in foreign languages. The end-of-term tests are given according to a schedule, prepared by the school administration at the beginning of each school term.
All tests must be sent home, signed by parents and returned to the relevant subject teacher in order to be used for monitoring, moderation and portfolio purposes. The tests are kept by the relevant subject teacher until the end of the academic year. The entry- and exit-level diagnostic tests will be sent home as copies. The exam papers are kept at the school for one academic year and archived appropriately.
Each child will be formatively assessed in each lesson by the class and subject teachers, daily. Records of formative assessment include work completed in the class, notes in students work, verbal and written feedback, and communication to the subject leads. Assessment for learning must take place at the end of each lesson through quality plenaries, as well as monitoring progress through curriculum set objectives. Question and answer sessions must be used, regular checking of all written and electronic work; including the school's official academic platforms, with quizzes and games which enhance learning methods and interactive assessment. Teacher must have a clear understanding of where their students are formatively.
Every member of staff is accountable for children’s progress, and must have it into account while preparing the students for the future academic years and the school’s curriculum needs.
Summative assessment
Summative assessment is a form of formal testing and is a necessary part of the students learning. It is an overall assessment of the student and can take place in many forms, for example: exam, project, verbally, or through a piece of coursework. It should result in a final grade or score. Summative tests seek to evaluate student learning by comparing with a standard or benchmark (i.e. criterion based in accordance with either Bulgarian standards for education or the Cambridge international programme). Summative assessment gives the teachers, students, and their parents the opportunity to understand how well the student has understood a topic or course of work taught over a period of time. It also gives parents an understanding of achievements, progress, and wider outcomes of their children over a period of time. Additionally, it provides teachers with the opportunity to evaluate their delivery of a topic and the impact they have made - allowing school leaders to monitor the performance of all students, while interventions identifying interventions (along with formative assessment).
Summative assessment can be used in a normative manner to allow comparisons across the cohort or class.
Each department is expected to be cross-checking randomised marked work. This is done by selection of random written papers to be marked by a peer.
The results are recorded in the school’s official platform to allow quick and easy monitoring by staff and parents/guardians.
Formative assessment
Formative assessment is assessment that is used to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by students and teachers to improve the teaching and learning process and by parents to inform the progress of their children. Formative assessment is a day-to-day form of assessment, helping the teachers to measure the students’ knowledge and understanding. The formative assessment allows the teachers to identify when students are struggling and what interventions are needed to close that understanding gap. It must be inclusive of all abilities. The formative assessment should be used to inform the teacher’s planning for future lessons.
Formative assessment provides all academics within the school and parents with a broad picture of where their children’s strengths and weaknesses lie. Written reports will be sent to the parents on a regular basis. The reports will contain progress comments and will give parents the understanding of how their child is performing across the course they are taking.
Formative assessment could take different forms depending on the subject and the current lesson. Some examples of formative assessment could be: administering tests or quizzes, questioning during lessons, oral examination, marking student’s work, scanning work for students’ attainment and development, end-of-unit or mid-term tests, etc. The tests are designed to demonstrate that the child has made progress and constitutes various levels of difficulty.
Formative assessment may form the basis of a plenary during a lesson. St. George International School and Preschool encourages students to be reflective learners, recognising their strengths, as well as areas for improvement. Clear, honest, and fair feedback, given by the teachers at SGIS, is considered vital and forms the educational lead for quality of teaching and learning to enhance all learners' experiences.
Judgements on student’s progress will be made via formative and summative assessment based on the curriculum criteria covered in the topics or modules, in each subject, up to set times as decided by the curriculum leads within the school.
External Examinations
SGIS students will sit an examination according to the Bulgarian educational standards and the Cambridge International programme in accordance to the particular educational authority’s schedule.
SGIS students will sit Cambridge Primary and Secondary Checkpoint Examinations, Bulgarian National Examination (NVO) in grades 7 and 10, Cambridge IGCSEs in grades 9, 10; AS-Levels in grade 11 and A-Level in grade 12, and Bulgarian state exams (matura) in grade 12.
Mock exams
Students in grades 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 will sit mock examinations for their NVO, Checkpoint, IGCSEs, AS-Level or A-Level exams in November and February. The mock examinations should be formed from complete examination papers used in previous NVO, Checkpoint, IGCSEs, AS-Level or A-Level Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). The mock examination serves to provide the students experience at sitting formal examinations, as well as identifying areas of strength and weakness to help students and teachers plan for the final examinations and students` future academic preparation effectively.
Student Portfolios
Teachers are to keep a record of assessment in individual student portfolios. A portfolio should include a cover page, formative or summative assessments, checklists, students’ self-assessments and artifacts (samples of students’ best work such as photographs or projects, writing samples). Portfolios should demonstrate both developmental and academic progression as well as give evidence of assessment and student target setting.
Moderation and Peer Review
Moderation is the process of teachers sharing their expectations and understanding of standards with each other to improve the consistency of their decisions about student learning. SGIS are no different in that and moderation processes must be used to increase assessment dependability. Moderation is at the discretion of the Head of the School and given as a directive to each stage or area of the school, as seen fit.
Frequency of ‘Book Looks’ are based solely at the discretion of the Head of the School, Head of Secondary, Head of Departments and Academic Supervisor; these instances may be at a higher frequency than normal during given periods which are deemed more important for state exams or for Cambridge learning.
Awarding grades
SGIS is required to adhere to Bulgarian legislation with regards to the format and type of quantitative and qualitative grades awarded. To avoid confusion, the table below compares the Bulgarian grading scale to the Cambridge International scale. All grades must be awarded according to the Bulgarian grading scales. This is in accordance with set criteria according to the subject and the standards of St. George International School’s curriculum, as approved by the regional inspectorate. The assessment scale for the curriculum is demonstrated below:
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Excellent 6 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 96 – 100%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Excellent 5.5 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 90 – 95%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Very Good 4.5-5 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 75 – 89%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Good 4 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 69 – 74%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Good 3.5 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 62 – 68%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Average 3 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 56 – 61%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Average 2.5 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 49 – 55%
Quantitative grade according to the Bulgarian grading scale Poor 2 - Percentage according to the Bulgarian grading scale 0 – 48%
Quantitative grade according to the CIE grading scale 0 – 1.9 / U-G - Percentage Poor 2
Quantitative grade according to the CIE grading scale 2 – 2.9 / FE - Percentage Average 3
Quantitative grade according to the CIE grading scale 3 – 3.9 / DC - Percentage Good 4
Quantitative grade according to the CIE grading scale 4 – 4.9 / B - Percentage Very good 5
Quantitative grade according to the CIE grading scale 5 – 6 / AA* - Percentage Excellent 6
Types of Grades
Students should receive the following grades:
Current grades
They are awarded following the completion of an assessment in accordance with Table 1. The results are recorded in the school’s official platforms, and in all official documentation, according to Bulgarian legislation, thus ensuring of effective monitoring.
Current grades can be formed using a variety of assessment techniques including:
Oral examinations Coursework Written examinations Written assignments Project work Homework Preparation for class Independent learning. The weight of the techniques listed above is determined by each teacher, in accordance with the specifics of each subject. Failure to meet the deadline for a specific assignment will result in a deduction from the grade with a percentage, specific for each department and determined in each department’s In-House Assessment Policy.
A student awarded a grade Good (4) or lower may be required to attend self-preparation or consultations with a teacher until the teacher is sure that the student has met the requirements for the subject.
Mechanisms for changing grades are described in Appendix B. Any requests to change grades outside of the scenarios mentioned in Appendix B shall not be entertained.
End-of-term grades
End-of-term grades provide an evaluation of the student’s performance throughout each term. The term grade is formed no earlier than one school week before the end of the respective term, and no later than two school days before the end of the respective term. It is based on an end-of-term test (20%), a mean score of current grades (40%), class work (20%), presentation of their notebook (10%) and homework (10%). These percentages are indicative and may vary according to the specifics of each subject and its requirements.
For a subject, taught for only one term, the end-of-year grade is formed based on that grade.
If the student has been absent for more than 25% of the lessons and has not received the minimum number of current grades, the term grade cannot be formed, and the student should sit an exam for awarding an end-of-term grade.
Students who are unable to do Physical Education due to health reasons must present a medical document for verification. After that, they will be exempt from having a term grade for this subject.
End-of-year grade
End-of-year grade summarises the progress and achievements of students at the end of each academic year. It must be given for every subject and should be based on an end-of-year exam, the average current grade as well as the end-of-term grades (in accordance with the weights of all these grades as determined in each subject’s In-House Assessment Policy).
For subjects studied only one semester, the end-of-year grade is the grade for the semester.
Final grade
A final grade summarises the achievement of the learning outcomes at the end of a stage. They are formed only at the end of the 7 th grade.
Effort grade
Each time an achievement grade is awarded an effort grade should also be awarded according to the criteria:
Grade A - Outstanding effort. The student has clearly dedicated an extraordinary amount of effort towards this piece of work.
Grade B - Good effort. The student has clearly shown that they have put a sensible amount of effort into their work.
Grade C - Satisfactory effort. The student has put an acceptable amount of effort into their work. No more, no less.
Grade D - Poor effort. The student has not put an acceptable amount of effort into their work and this is preventing success at fully achieving the learning objectives.
Grade E - Unacceptable. The student has put little or no effort into their work and this is having a serious effect on their ability to achieve the learning objectives.
The teacher should personally enter the grades in the obligatory school documentation and online platforms.
The deadlines for entering the grades in the documentation are as follows:
on the day of the examination – for current grades in the case of oral examinations up to one week after the examination – for current grades awarded for written examinations up to two weeks after the examination – the end-of-year exam on the day when they are formed – for end-of-term and end-of-year grades. Responsibilities in the Process of Assessment
Subject teachers – assessing the achievements of the students according to the Bulgarian standards for education, the international standards and the system for evaluation worked out by the respective department, recording and sharing assessment grades with staff. Teachers are responsible to inform the Heads of Department and the Heads of respective Schools in cases of struggling academically and underachieving students. Heads of Department (HoD) – monitoring teachers’ compliance with the assessment policy and leading standardisation of grades within the department. When necessary, to plan and implement effective intervention to support all students to achieve highly and to regularly inform the respective Head of school for the actions taken. At the beginning of the school year each department should plan a schedule for assessment in accordance with Bulgarian standards for the frequency of assessment, which should be ready no later than two weeks after the beginning of the term; the schedule is coordinated by the Heads of Primary/ Secondary School. It is also certified by the Head of School of St. George International School and Preschool and provided to students. Heads of Sixth Form – monitoring of the success rate, processing and providing information about the top 25% and the bottom 25% of students with regard to their academic results in order that plans for general or individual support are provided by the coordinating team, under the Order for Inclusive Education. Head of Secondary – monitoring the work of the Heads of Department and the Head of Sixth Form, the success rate, the regularity of the examinations and the entering of results in the obligatory school documentations during the prescribed deadlines, and ensuring actions planned by HoDs and Head of Sixth Form are being implemented. Academic Supervisor - Work alongside with the subject coordinators to ensure assessment, which is fair, consistent, and based on clear, understandable criteria done across each department.Ensures that intervention is carried out appropriately in order that the needs of different types of learners are met. Quality control of assessment, including: grades, homework, formative assessments, summative assessment and homework is monitored and adhered to in the given deadlines set by the class teachers. All planning and information with schemes of work are checked and administered by the class teachers, as checked by the academic supervisor Learning support – the learning support at the school consists of the school counsellors, psychologist and the speech therapist. They are involved in the personal development of the students, working with all students, especially with SEND and G&T students, training the pedagogical and non-pedagogical staff on issues related to special educational needs, organising and controlling the preservation of relevant students’ documents. Feedback
Feedback to students is a central part of a teacher’s role and is integral to progress and attainment since it is one of the most effective ways of improving students’ learning. The feedback aims to help students make progress; to provide strategies for students to improve; to give students dedicated time to reflect upon their learning and put in effort to make improvements; to inform teacher’s planning for future lessons; to facilitate effective and realistic target setting for student and/or the teacher.
Feedback should motivate students and focus on strengths and achievement. The clear, constructive, and fair feedback, given by the teachers, is considered vital and constructive part of the education and leads to improved learning. Other forms of feedback like peer, group, or verbal will give students a clear sense of how they can improve, how to progress in their learning and achieve their full potential.
Effective feedback requires:
Setting and communicating with the students clear assessment criteria for every subject
Sharing of learning objectives with the student. Feedback should be specific, constructive, and used pertaining to effort and/or content. The whole school assessment effort grade criteria should be used, when appropriate, if feedback is provided on homework, classwork, and testing. Feedback should be timely and respond to the needs of the individual student so that they can actively engage with the feedback. A dialogue, both verbal and written, should be created between teacher and student via the given feedback.
The verbal feedback is the most frequent form of feedback and leads to direct student action which makes it very important for the student’s progress. The verbal feedback may be directed to individuals or groups of students and may or may not be formally planned. In PE, art and music for example, much of the feedback will be verbal. Teachers should ensure that their comments are constructive and aimed at helping the student improve, emphasizing the good work already being achieved. Negative comments should be kept to a minimum and never be of a destructive, sarcastic nature.
The written feedback could be detailed or general, depending on the subjects, the grade and the teacher’s plan. It should clearly identify the strengths and strategies for improvement that students will then act upon.
Where possible, the teacher's comment must be phrased as a question to support and challenge the student to find the correct answer.
In order to reduce the workload while giving written feedback the teacher could use strategies like writes annotations in the body of the work, writes overall comments, give one strength and one-two possible improvements, put a double tick next to the best part of the student work, writes a hint or a next step, goes over the question in class, etc. Written feedback should be given sparingly so that it is meaningful and in order to avoid dependence.
Some subjects that are more practical may not have detailed written feedback.
When tests or marked books are returned to students, it is essential for the teacher to allow time for students to read the comments and understand the feedback. If necessary, the teacher can dedicate some time so the students could edit, redo, redraft or answer some or all of the questions again. When possible, teachers should support their written feedback with verbal, face-to-face feedback.
The peer feedback is rigorously structured and modelled by the teacher. Written peer feedback should be clearly titled and underlined as ‘Peer Feedback’. The peer feedback needs to be led by the teacher after students are well instructed and trained over time how to perform it.
The self-feedback must be performed by the students after an explicit and clear training by the teacher to identify their learning needs. Teachers should share success and/or assessment criteria where appropriate.
The group feedback must be delivered carefully and organised well by the teacher. When done well, it can be used to help students to reflect on their learning and receive different points of view on their progress.
In writing, children should be involved in editing and revising their own work. In the early stages it may be oral, gradually transitioning as learners become more independent. In spelling, teachers’ feedback should target high frequency words and mistakes should be underlined with the correct spelling given. Special attention should be given to text organisation, sentence structure and punctuation. When students become more independent, they will review their own work and will be encouraged to check their spelling, punctuation, and grammar by using resources within the classroom. In targeted handwriting tasks, special attention should be given to incorrect letter formation, joining, sizing and spacing of letters and words. Teachers use a checklist to ensure continuity across all stages and subject areas (Appendix A).
Marking
Please also refer to the marking policy of the school*
Marking is a central part of a teacher’s role and can be integral to progress and attainment. It is the routine activity of reading, checking, monitoring, correcting, and giving a mark to students’ written work or verbal performance while feedback provides more detailed guidance to the student in order to help him/her improve knowledge, understanding and skills. The marking connects the teacher to the student’s work, motivates the student to take ownership of their work and do their best, as well as it provides crucial information about the progress of each student.
All marking should be given based on the teacher’s professional judgement and clear assessment criteria and scales, specific (if necessary) for every subject. The grading criteria should be linked to the learning objectives and made clear to the students. The marking must be meaningful, manageable and motivating for every student.
Frequency of marking varies from subject to subject, but in general, books should be taken in and checked approximately every two to four weeks, tasks and assignments must be checked regularly after they are due.
At SGIS we expect students to do their best and apply themselves to the fullest of their abilities. Before work is submitted to be marked, students are expected to:
Present a neat work with good structure and presentation. Proof-read and correct the work before presenting it to the teacher - in order to check for technical mistakes, spelling mistakes, if it flows and makes sense, etc. Self-asses against the success criteria for the task. These criteria might have been shared at the start of the task. Academic Honesty
Corresponding to the school’s core values of honesty and transparency, SGIS does not tolerate cheating and plagiarism. Instances like this are dealt with all seriousness.
The consequences are as follows:
I st offence - the student receives a poor mark and his/her parents are informed;
II nd offence - the student receives a poor mark and his/her parents are called for a meeting;
III rd offence - the student receives a poor mark and a formal warning "Note" as his/her parents are informed. Sessions with the school counsellor are organised and started with the student on a weekly basis.
Assessment during online learning due to COVID-19 pandemic
The assessment in the situation of online learning due to pandemic must be done carefully and with consideration of the student’s well-being.
During the online learning the assessment is done through:
oral testing online tests and quizzes assigned tasks. The success criteria for all these must be explicit to the students, done at the beginning of the online education process and reminded before every graded assignment. It is possible the written test/quiz to be followed by oral examination by the teacher.
All tests, quizzes and assignments are uploaded to the students, performed under specific conditions and returned meeting a deadline. Missing a deadline should be an exception. If a student feels that he/she won't be able to meet the deadline, the respective teacher must be notified at least 24 hours prior to the set deadline. At the teacher’s discretion the deadline could be extended if the student provides sufficient justification for his/her inability to meet the deadline. If a student doesn’t meet the set deadline, deduction of the grade will be done, based on each department In-House Assessment Policy.
Grades shouldn't be awarded based on the student's participation in online sessions due to the possibility of the students’ encountering technical difficulties.
All the grades will be written in the formal documentation.
Good understanding with assessment practices in departments will be developed throughout the year. Staff meetings will be utilised to share good practice, formative assessment ideas and ideas around summative assessment in different subjects. The Head of School will enforce the assessment policy through the heads of each respective stage (primary and secondary). Thereafter, they will ensure that the heads of department, heads of stage and class teachers/subject teachers are administering all assessment protocols as described in this policy. It is each teacher’s obligation to ensure that they are fully aware of the assessment requirements of their subject and provide moderation opportunities throughout the year. Moderation is arranged by the head of secondary and the head of primary collaboratively with the heads of departments, subject coordinators and heads of stage to ensure consistency is delivered throughout the school. This is administered by the Academic Supervisor for quality control and reporting to the Head of School for pupil progress and quality control. All students will be checked routinely by their respective line manager as well as the academic supervisor which is then reported on and provided to the head of school. The frequency of moderation and checking is completed monthly. Further guidance for the online learning and assessment is provided in Appendix C.
The current Assessment Policy of St. George International School and Preschool is written in compliance with the Bulgarian educational legislation which could also be used for all other cases, not described in the current document. All additional policies of assessing processes within specific subjects in specific are in direct submission to the current Assessment Policy.
