Assessment Policy

NORTH SPRING PRIMARY SCHOOL ASSESSMENT POLICY

A.   PHILOSOPHY

Our assessment policy seeks to be aligned with MOE’s assessment philosophy to achieve a more balanced assessment system and to develop a common understanding among stakeholders regarding standards and expectations.

A learner-centred and balanced school assessment system provides school leaders, key personnel, teachers, students, and parents with information on the learning, development, and progress of students. It guides action on how learning can be improved. Learning flourishes when assessment is used to address learning gaps. Assessment must thus be continuous and designmeet the needs of learners.

B.   PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT 

Our below principles of assessment are aligned with the Singapore Teaching Practice (STP) model:

1.    Assessment is integral to teaching and learning.

2.    Assessment must be aligned with the intended learning outcomes, content, and pedagogy.

3.    Assessment facilitates meaningful learning through learner-centricity with a formative effect on students’ learning.

4.    The assessment system must be balanced, integrating Assessment for Learning (AfL) and Assessment of Learning (AoL), and used for the right purpose (e.g., instructional use vs. accountability).

5.    Assessment information must be collected regularly to evaluate current school practices and effect improvements in teaching and learning.

C.   ASSESSMENT IN NORTH SPRING PRIMARY SCHOOL

North Spring nurtures students to be self-directed and effective lifelong learners, striving for excellence in every endeavour. We aim for North Springers to experience the joy of learning to effect strong intrinsic motivation in learning.

We have moved away from an over-emphasis on academic results and refined our school-based assessment structures. Time and space have been freed up to better pace teaching and learning, adopt effective pedagogies to deepen our students’ learning, encourage self-directed learning and strengthen holistic development. These facilitate student-centred teaching and learning approaches and nurture lifelong learning attitudes and skills in North Springers. Bite-sized assessments (for P1 and P2) and termly (weighted) assessments (for P3 to P6) are conducted to gauge the learning progress of our students. The performance of assessments informs all stakeholders about students’ readiness for promotion to the next level/course of study. 

Assessments in North Spring include:

1.    Formative Assessment: Regular classroom assessments for learning, including quizzes, class participation, project work, and oral presentations.

2.    Summative (Weighted and End of Year (EOY)) Assessment: End-of-term examinations, standardized tests, and other assessments of learning to measure students' understanding of the curriculum.

3.    Holistic Assessment: Observations, student reflections, and peer assessments to support the development of values, attitudes, and life skills.

D.   COMPUTATION OF WEIGHTED AND EOY ASSESSMENT MARKS (P3 TO P5)

●      Term 2 and Term 3 Weighted Assessments (WA): 15% each

●      End of Year (EOY) Examination: 70%

The weighted and EOY assessment marks will be shared through the report book.

E.   ROLE OF LEARNERS

Students must take ownership of their learning and put in effort to understand how they can improve. Students must:

1.    be involved in self and peer assessment as part of learning to be self-directed learners;

2.    reflect and learn from their mistakes; and

3.    work towards attaining the next level of achievement based on feedback received from teachers, peers, and parents.

F.   ROLE OF TEACHERS

Our teachers help learners become assessors and motivate students to achieve learning success. They:

1.    strengthen communication of standards with students to enhance students’ competencies in student-involved assessment for productive learning;

2.    provide different forms of feedback to target students’ learning needs and gaps correctly;

3.    bolster the implementation of self-assessment interventions;

4.    design appropriate assessment as part of effective teaching and learning to enable students to experience academic success and build confidence; and

5.    leverage student-involved assessment to engage and motivate students.

G.  PARENTAL SUPPORT

Students succeed best when parents collaborate with schools to support them. Parents should:

1.    have regular conversations with their child to understand the child’s progress in school;

2.    make use of the various feedback given by teachers in assignments, tests, and exams and from conversations with teachers to guide the child in his or her development;

3.    provide a conducive home environment for the child to learn;

4.    guide the child in developing the right skill sets to succeed, for example, in time management, good sleeping and eating habits, and most importantly, how to learn from mistakes; and

5.    not complete students’ work for them, as this will increase reliance and hamper their self-directedness.

H.   ROLE OF SCHOOL LEADERS

School Leaders:

1.    Shape the assessment philosophy and establish policies

2.    Foster a positive culture around assessments aligned with educational standards.

Oversee assessment quality, review data regularly, and implement feedback loops for continuous improvement in assessment practices.