Cultivating positive approaches to assessment
Recently, I had the pleasure of joining the Senior School Assembly to speak with students about a topic that should occupy a great deal of their time and thinking, and certainly occupies a great deal of mine: assessment. While assessment takes on increasing significance as students journey through to their final years of secondary education, the attitudes and habits at the heart of successful student engagement with assessment are begun and nurtured in the earliest years.
There is a powerful nexus between learning and assessment. When students are supported to develop an attitude that sees assessment as opportunity and foster a disposition to embrace the challenges of assessment, then learning is deepened. In this view, assessment is an integral part of the learning cycle itself, not just a final task at the end of a unit of work. Assessment provides opportunity to:
The School sets out this student-centred approach to assessment in its Assessment Policy. This document is regularly reviewed and refined. The 2021 Assessment Policy has been updated in layout to provide simpler navigation for parents and students. The policy includes an overview of the purposes of assessment at Trinity and its learner-centred approach, as well as sections for Primary Schools, Middle School and Senior School. It is available on the TGS Community website on this page for the Preparatory School or this page for the Junior School.
Deborah Williams | Academic Dean
