Primary Years Programme Learner Profile

Assessment in Scotch College Junior School

This article will give you an insight into our current assessment policy statement for Scotch College Junior School. Future articles will expand on this paper and also explore the changes we will be making over the next two years in consultation with yourselves and the Scotch College community.

Assessment is integral to the teaching and learning cycle. Assessment procedures and methods of reporting to parents reflect the philosophy and objectives of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP) alongside the College’s vision, mission and values.

Assessment is in accordance with the principles of the Pre-Primary to Year 5 Teaching, Learning and Assessment Statements found in The Western Australian Curriculum and Assessment Outline. The Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten years are guided by The Early Years Learning Framework documentation process and our Pre-Primary curriculum incorporates aspects of both programmes.

Assessment at Scotch College is:

• Authentic: It supports making connections to the real world to promote student engagement.
• Clear and specific: This includes desired learning-goals, success criteria and the process students use to learn.
• Varied: It uses a wider range of tools and strategies that are fit for purpose in order to build a well-rounded picture of student learning.
• Developmental: It focuses on an individual student’s progress rather than their performance in relation to others. 
• Collaborative: It engages both teachers and students in the assessment development and evaluation process.
• Interactive: Assessment encompasses ongoing and iterative dialogues about learning.
• Feedback to feedforward: It provides feedback on current learning to inform what is needed to support future learning (Hattie, Timperley 2007) and raises students’ motivation.

Mr Warwick Norman
Junior School Dean of Teaching & Learning