About Information Sixth Form SEND Curriculum Calendar Ofsted Safeguarding Online Services Contact Assessment and Grading – Summer 2021 Earlier this year it was announced that GCSEs, A-levels and other exams would not go ahead “as planned”. On February the 25th the DfE and Ofqual announced how grades would be determined. Schools and colleges have been asked to design their own systems to allocate grades. Guidance has been given and assessment materials are being made available, but the expectation is that each school will use a unique system that suits the needs and context of its students. At Commonweal we will be carrying out assessments in all subjects during the spring and early summer of 2021. The exact nature of the assessments will vary between subjects. These assessments, together with any external assessments already taken during the courses will form the starting point for determining students’ grades. When designing and marking assessments and allocating grades we will be led by the following aims: Objectivity: formal assessments will be used, not opinions Accuracy: assessments will accurately assess the relative performance of each student Fairness: students will only be assessed on material that they have been taught effectively Comparability: it will no harder, or easier, to get a certain grade than in any other year Overall, we aim to ensure that students are not disadvantaged by the pandemic. Students will not be given immediate feedback from their assessments. They will receive grades on a formal results day as in previous years. This will be on Tuesday,10th of August for Key Stage 5 and Thursday, 12th August for Key Stage 4. The information below will be provided to Year 11 and Year 13 students in a variety of forms so that they understand what they need to do to be successful in the coming weeks. We will do everything that we can to ensure that they have the best opportunity to shine and show us what they can achieve. How will we assess you: assessment with a safety net We will be assessing you on a clearly defined curriculum that you have been effectively taught. You will only be assessed on work that you have covered. We will give you every opportunity to shine in these assessments and show us what you can do. The safety net is that when we calculate your final grade, we will also take into consideration assessments, exams and coursework that you have already completed. Teaching of new material in examined subjects will generally end on Friday, 5th March. From Monday, 8th March, Year 11 and Year 13 lessons will contain revision and assessment preparation of the work that has already been covered. You will be informed of the curriculum that will be covered in the assessments on Friday 19th March. Each subject will explicitly tell you which parts of the course will be assessed and which parts of the curriculum that won’t be assessed. There will be no surprises. You will sit the assessments in classrooms or the C6 Auditorium under conditions as per the Year11 pre-app exams or Year 13 6-week assessments. Students with access arrangements will receive their access arrangements. The assessment Timeline: Week beginning Activities 01/03/2021 Last new material taught 08/03/2021 Revision 15/03/2021 Revision 22/03/2021 Revision 29/03/2021 Revision Easter Holiday – Revision Time 19/04/2021 Assessments 26/04/2021 Assessments Extra support As well as the preparation that you will receive in class, extra support sessions will be made available to all Year 11 and Year 13 students. Those students most at risk of under achievement due to disruption, non-engagement in online learning will be requested to attend where appropriate. The drop-in support available for Year 11 will be in Room 114, 116 and 117, Monday to Thursday after school until 4pm during the revision period. Subject specialist teachers will be present. See below. Sessions for Year 13 will be organised by your subject teacher. Day Year 11 Subject support available Monday Performing Arts, Media, Computer Science, Business, Sociology Tuesday Humanities, Maths, Wednesday Languages, English Thursday Sciences Please be assured that we will do everything we can to be fair, measured and appropriate in this process. VIDEO explanation form Robert Linnegar, Headteacher https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/7360b364-03bc-4681-ba62-9129a4deaee1 Only Commonweal Students can access this with their Office 365 credentials. Appeals Procedure (Exams) Commonweal 2021 37.32 KB – Updated July 2, 2021 DOWNLOAD Year 13 Assessment Timetable Summer 2021 168.60 KB – Updated March 30, 2021 DOWNLOAD Year 11 Assessment Timetable Summer 2021 180.83 KB – Updated March 30, 2021 DOWNLOAD Commonweal Assessment Syllabus KS5 2021 4.71 MB – Updated March 26, 2021 DOWNLOAD Commonweal Assessment Syllabus KS4 2021 3.56 MB – Updated March 26, 2021 DOWNLOAD