Assessment Overview

Assessment at The Macclesfield Academy 

Assessment is a key tool for monitoring how well students are progressing through the curriculum.  

At The Macclesfield Academy we believe that our assessments have three key purposes:  

1. To check understanding  

Teachers will use assessments to check that students have understood and can recall the Essential Knowledge and Vocabulary (EKVs) that forms the basis of our ambitious curriculum. 

2. To monitor progress through the curriculum 

Teachers will use assessments to monitor the progress their students are making through the curriculum. Students who are making progress, will know more, be able to remember more and be able to do more.  

3. To inform planning   

Assessments are designed to allow teachers to identify and address knowledge gaps and misconceptions, and through responsive teaching, dynamically refine the curriculum. 

Key Stage 3 Assessment Overview 

hroughout Key Stage 3, we will assess student’s progress through the curriculum, and retrieval of knowledge stored in long term memory. We will use regular low stakes in class assessments including ‘Do it Now’ activities, quizzes and homework. Alongside this, there are two formal Student Tracking (ST) assessment windows in each year. 

To assess progress of individual students, we group together students who achieved similar Key Stage 2 scores and similar outcomes in other internal tests e.g. reading ages. Following each assessment, we generate an average percentage for the different cohorts, which then allows us to see if pupils are performing in-line with their peers (with a similar Key Stage 2 score), or if they need additional support an intervention. For subjects that have practical or performance elements, students are awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze. We report home the outcomes of the ST assessments twice per year. 

Key Stage 4 Assessment Overview 

n Key Stage 4, we will use regular low stakes in class assessments including ‘Do it Now’ activities, quizzes, practice paper questions and homework. Alongside this, there is one formal Student Tracking (ST) assessment window in Year 10 and two ST assessments windows in Year 11. 

The purpose of these assessments is still to check understanding and recall adaptive practice, long term retrieval & identifying knowledge gaps, but for the first-time, assessments will also be used to calculate predicted final grades.   

Assessments and Reporting 

Subjects will run assessment windows across the academic year, with all students completing at least two formal assessments each year. Following each assessment, we will send reports home to parents that include a range of academic data, as well as subject specific areas of strength and areas for development.