Assessment at BSC

Our vision at the British School in Colombo is to be a world class school. We have three aims as a school that we believe will help us to achieve that vision:

Everyone achieving the highest academic standards

Students equipped with the values, attitudes and attributes that will serve them well later in life

The school delivering consistently regardless of change in context or circumstance.

Assessment is central to the school achieving this vision and central to teaching and learning. We use assessment to understand the academic learning potential of the children as well as to measure how well we are helping the children to reach that potential and therefore the highest academic standards. At BSC, we use a range of techniques and tools to help ensure that we close this gap between the academic progress children are making and their learning potential. Teachers are key in bridging this gap between what the children don’t know or can’t do yet and the potential that they have as learners.

Across the school, teachers use assessment for learning as a central part of the learning process. Assessment for learning is all about the way in which teachers use information and data to inform next steps in learning and future lessons. This could be before, during or after the learning process. For example, questioning could be used during a lesson and the planning for individuals or groups adapted or changed depending upon how the children respond.

We use three broad overarching forms of assessment: formative assessment, in-school summative assessment and standardised summative assessment. The main aim of assessment at BSC is to recognise the strengths and talents of pupils, and to identify and support their areas for development. Assessment is used to monitor progress and therefore informs future planning for all groups of children or individuals.

GL Assessment

Standardised summative assessments from GL Education are used across the school. The idea of using GL assessments is that the information from these tests can assist teachers in planning more accurately to challenge all learners.

Cognitive Abilities Test – CAT4

The CAT4 test is completed by children at the beginning of each key stage (Year 3, Year 7, Year 10, Year 12) and is usually administered in September. It is a standardised assessment that benchmarks the children’s capabilities against other children of the same age. The test assesses a child’s ability to reason across four different areas. The results give a measure of a child’s learning potential and does not require children to do any preparation. This measure of potential is directly linked to the target setting process at BSC. All children are given an end of Key Stage target that is based on the if challenged CAT4 target for each subject. This reflects our vision to be a World Class School and for everyone to achieve the highest academic standards. Children’s progress towards achieving if challenged targets is regularly reviewed by teachers and leaders and this informs ongoing action planning in departmental teams.

Progress Tests – English, maths and science

Attainment and progress are assessed at the end of each year using the GL Progress tests for English, maths and science depending upon the year group. Results from these tests are used for future planning and for teachers and leaders to understand how well children are performing against their learning potential. This helps address the idea of the possible gap between a child’s progress and their academic potential.

This image is a good illustration of how we intend GL assessments to be used in school. It demonstrates the use of assessment for learning and formative assessment as well as the GL suite of tests to ensure all children meet their academic potential at BSC.