Assessment Guidelines
What is assessment?
Assessment is an integral part of your child’s learning process. It helps you and your child to track his/her progress academically, and know what your child can do to close his/her learning gaps through effective and timely feedback provided by teachers. Your child’s progress will be assessed in terms of
- knowledge and understanding
- skills
- attributes and capabilities
How does assessment look like in SGS?
In line with our changing Singapore educational landscape, our school believes that we must strike a balance between rigour and joy of learning. This balance is to ensure that desired academic outcomes are achieved, and to allow room to prepare students for the future. In the process of learning, the balance will enable students to find joy, develop learning dispositions that will motivate them to learn for life. Hence, our school employs a good mix of formative or summative assessments.
Formative assessment aims to monitor student learning continuously and to provide ongoing feedback which will bring about improvement in their learning. In order to provide more flexibility in supporting your child’s learning needs, our school has designed formative assessment to take on varied forms:
- participation in a presentation, class discussion, performance or practical investigation
- creation of a prototype e.g. drawing, report, photograph(s), video or audio clip(s) or piece(s) of artwork that they have produced to encapsulate their learning
Summative assessment aims to evaluate student learning and academic achievement at the end of the year, and usually takes the form of an examination or Weighted Assessment (WA). Summative assessment recognises student achievement for placement at higher levels of learning.
How can you help your child prepare for assessment?
- In preparing for assessment, you can support your child by helping him/her form good time management routines.
- You can encourage him/her to revisit his/her work regularly, so as to develop a deeper understanding of what he/she have learned, and what needs to be worked on.
- With the aid of the WA and Exam schedule, you can work with your child to craft a revision and/or work plan.
- You can also work with your child to form good study habits.
What are the guidelines for students’ absence from summative assessment?
A student who is absent for a paper during an examination/ WA due to illness, must produce a Medical Certificate (MC) to cover his/her absence. A student without an MC will be given zero mark for the paper he/she missed. MCs issued by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners and letters from parents/ guardian will not be accepted.
The table below provides details on how absence will affect the student:
Absence from Weighted Assessment (WA)/ Examinations
| With Medical Certificate (MC) | Without Medical Certificate (MC) |
|---|---|
| All component(s) taken by students will be reflected as “MC” in the Result Slip. | * AB will be reflected in the Result Slip. * AB stands for absent. |
| Computation of subject total will not take into consideration the component(s) with “MC” | It will be computed as zero marks in the overall results. |
This practice will ensure
- alignment with the national examination where there is no re-attempt for examination papers missed
- fairness for all students
We seek your cooperation NOT to send your child/ward to school for Weighted Assessments/Examinations if he/ she is unwell. Do take your child/ward to the doctor when he/she is unwell and get an MC so that the school can process the results accordingly.
How should students conduct themselves during summative assessment?
All students are responsible for upholding the highest standards of academic conduct and integrity in all academic undertakings. Any act of academic dishonesty, including cheating and plagiarism, will be subjected to stern disciplinary actions.
All in all, through assessment, teachers gather information about your child’s learning and provide feedback about his/her accomplishments and gaps. This informational feedback that your child receives can be used to make himself or herself more competent, making your child intrinsically motivated. With the information, your child will be empowered to do better, and learn for life.