THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

Tips on how to support your Childs Learning

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

Why Assessment?
COMMUNICATION
IS KEY!
Education is shared
between the home and the
School. Good
communication is important
as we work together to

Assessment is essential not only to guide the development of

individual students but also to monitor and continuously improve
the quality of educational programs by providing feedback to
students, educators, parents, policy makers, and the public about
the effectiveness of the program. Assessment also seeks to
determine how well students are learning and help to gauge the
student's academic strengths and weaknesses. There are several
different assessment available to track academic progress.

At TWS you will hear of 3 types of assessment;

support student learning. If

you have questions about

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

an activity or assignment,
we encourage you to talk to
your childs teacher.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

BENCHMARKING ASSESSMENT

When your child struggles, avoid giving them the right answer. Encourage
them to explore different ways to solve the problem. This helps your child become a
more independent learner.

This resource is intended to help you understand how

assessment is conducted at TWS and the impact they have on
your childs learning.

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Formative assessment are a range of
formal / informal assessment employed by
the teacher in the classrooms every day

Summative assessment are assessment

during the learning process. They are;

employed by the teacher at the conclusion of

assessment FOR learning.

administered to determine whether short

a defined instructional periodtypically at

the end of a project, unit, semester, or school
year. They are;

term learning goals have been met.

helpful to the teacher to modify teaching

assessment OF learning

and learning activities to improve

administered to determine whether long

student learning while the lessons are

term learning goals have been met.

still happening or in making decisions

given at the conclusion of a specific

about future instruction too.

instructional period, and therefore they

are generally evaluative, rather than

Examples of Formative Assessment

Writing assignment
Mini Tests
Quizzes
Oral Questioning
Exit slips
Observations
Group discussions

diagnostic. They talk about academic

achievement.
recorded as grades and are entered into a
students permanent academic record.

Examples of Summative Assessment

A Survey
A final project
A midterm paper
A midterm exam
An interview

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

BENCHMARKING ASSESSMENT

Benchmarking assessment have been designed to:

Support schools in understanding pupils developed abilities and likely academic
potential.
give valuable feedback on the learners strengths and weaknesses before they
progress to the next stage of education.
assess learning at a certain key stage / year level.

give feedback which enables teachers to: Tailor individual learning programmes,
monitor group and individual performance, compare the performance of all learners,
manage learning programmes within schools and as learners move between schools,
predict performance in learners formal examinations.
generate data that helps to make strategic decisions, drawing upon a pool of
information and specialist reporting tools that are built into the tests.
The tests are marked by the body that administers the assessment and provides the school
with an external international benchmark for learner performance, which in turn help us to
evaluate ourselves as a school against international standards.

The International Benchmarking assessment conducted at TWS supported by the GEMS

network are;
YEAR LEVEL

INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT WINDOW

YEARS 1 to 6

INCAS

YEAR 6

CAMBRIDGE PRIMARY CHECKPOINT

Month OF SEPTEMBER /
OCTOBER
Month OF APRIL / MAY

YEAR 7

CAT 4

YEAR 8

CAMBRIDGE SECONDARY CHECKPOINT

Month OF SEPTEMBER /
OCTOBER
Month OF APRIL / MAY

Please note:

You need to register your child separately for the above International Assessment.

Contact your childs Learning Bay coordinator or the Accounts department for details on the
payment for these assessment as soon as possible.

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

How we conduct Assessment at TWS:

CLASS
ASSESSMENT
Are informal assessment
that are conducted by
teachers everyday as they
go through the lesson, to
gauge student learning.

CONTINUOUS
ASSESSMENT
Formal / Informal assessment
that are conducted by
teachers as and when she
completes a unit / a set of
objectives or a concept, to
gauge student learning.

They help the teacher to understand if everyday lesson

objectives are being met and this in turn helps them to track
student progress through the APP.

They may be oral or written. It may not be recorded in the

note books.

The feedback that help

teachers change their
teaching / learning activities
through the lesson.

The feedback from these

assessment help teachers
change their teaching /
learning activities in future
instruction.

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI

COMMON ASSESSMENT

Formal assessment that are

conducted for the entire Year
level every 4-6 weeks to
evaluate learning, skill
acquisition and academic
achievement across a set of
Objectives.
The average grade from these
assessment will be recorded
and reflect in the Report card,
which will be shared with
parents at the end of the Term.
These assessment are
conducted over a period of a
week in all subject.
Parents will be informed about
the Assessment Week much
prior to when these
assessment are conducted.
Your child may have more
than one assessment on a
particular day.
(Please note: Only
information of the week when
it will be conducted is shared,
not specific dates).
The results / feedback from
these assessment give us
information about the
performance of the Student /
Class or Year level.

MARK DISTRIBUTION / GRADING

The grades from the continuous assessment will help teachers to track students progress
through the APP.

There will be 2 rounds of Common Assessment in Term I and 3 rounds in Term II

Term I - October / November
December
Term II - February
April / May
June

The end of Term Reports will reflect the grade from:

COMMON ASSESSMENT + INDIVIDUAL PROJECT + INTERNAL ASSESSMENT (class
participation, attitude to learning, quality of work). It

will also reflect the Current Level and the Target

Level of the student.

KEY:
A* = 95% - 100%

A = 90% - 94%

B = 80% - 89%

C = 70% - 79%

D = 60% - 69%

E = 50% - 59%

F = 40% - 49%

U = Below 40%

THE WESTMINSTER SCHOOL, DUBAI