Aim

Through structured and useful assessment, we aim to further accomplish the mission statement of the school to help students to achieve their full potential. Our assessment helps us to:

• Improve the teaching and learning of our students
• Help and provide them with information and targets so that they can progress in the future.
• Celebrate achievement and enhance the self esteem of the learner.
• Help us to assess the effectiveness of our curriculum and it’s delivery.
• Help us to compare our students’ achievement with a wide rage of other students from the same age group.

How do we assess?

1. Externally generated assessments help us to measure children’s academic performance against that of their peers and help us to measure our effectiveness as a school in particular areas.
2. School based and teacher assessments allow us to chart a child’s progress in smaller stages and to give our children and ourselves more frequent and continuous information on how well they are achieving and progressing at school

What do we assess?
We assess children most frequently and regularly in the core subjects – English, Thai, Mathematics, Science and ICT. Children are assessed regularly in their personal and social development, related to the expectations of development for a child of their age.  At SBS we recognize that a child’s social and personal well being has an impact on their capacity to learn and progress academically.  The child’s perception of themselves as a learner and their self esteem will have a big impact on their rate of progress and their motivation at school. Students are assessed regularly and are given regular feedback about their academic performance by their homeroom and subject teachers, and are advised on ways they can improve their work.

External Assessments
The School uses the Thai National Curriculum tests at the following grade levels - P3, P6, M3 and M6. The School is also investigating a range of external assessments appropriate to its curriculum. These include ASPECTS (for Early Years), Performance Indicators in Primary Schools, PIPS (for Primary), and Middle Years Information System, MidYIS (for grades 6 – 8). (Note: These are testing systems developed by Durham University in England, and are used widely and internationally by schools to provide external moderation).

Internal Teacher Assessment
This is organized in grade level groups and takes many forms, including:<

• Specific assessment tasks within the normal class work
• Observations of performance
• Oral assessments
• Aural assessments
• Project and practical work
• Student self-assessment
• Assignments over a period of time (older children)
• Written tests

Results from these assessments are used within individual classrooms to set targets for children and to inform teaching.  Sometimes they are looked at across the year group and across the school to check the standards and levels are consistent throughout the age ranges.

Reporting to Parents

• Student assessments – 10 / term
• 2-3 consultation per year at Parent Teacher conference
• Optional Consultations requested by parent or teacher.
• 2 End of Term reports
• Student Progress Report as appropriate.

Student Grading System
Procedures for the student grading system are as follows:
1) Teachers perform an assessment of each student at 10 occasions during the semester.

a. Each assessment will have a due date, which will be flagged by the system, that is, each assessment will have to take place before the set date. The teacher performs the assessment before or on the due date.

b. The system notifies the teacher of the type of assessment required, Reading, Writing, Speaking or Listening. The teacher determines the method of assessment, consistent at each grade level, and enters the following assessment information:
Date of Assessment         
Assessment Heading    
Description of Assessment

c. Any students failing to attend the assessment date will be flagged and the teacher notified.


2) Regular assessments will be carried out during semester, At the end of the semester,   there will be a possible total of 50%  for all assessments 



3) The students will also be asked to perform an end of semester test, weights 20%. (The end of term test will a mid – term test assessments 10% and weights 20% be attached within the system as a Excel file, for reference information).  


4) Both the continual assessment mark may be weighted at 60% of the semester score, and the test mark as 20% of the final score. The system will then work out both grades as a percentages graded as follows:  ·        
4 = 80 – 100%       
3.5 = 75 – 79% 
3 = 70 – 74%        
2.5 = 65 – 69%       
2 = 60 – 64%           
1.5= 55 – 59%        
1 = 50 – 54%         
I , 0 = 0– 49%

5) Comments may also be made by the grade teacher to appear on the bottom of the grade report. 

6) The final grade certificate then displays no numbers only 0 -4 depending on the students’ grade.

The system facilitates the following:

- Continual assessment on a regular basis.
- Uniform assessment across grades. 
- A higher weighting towards the students ability rather than reliance on test scores.