On May 2nd 2013, the inaugural meeting of the Marking and Assessment Parent/Carer Forum was held in Braintree Sixth Form.  

A select group of invited volunteer parents and carers from across the school, representing students in all year groups from 7 to 12, got together to discuss marking and assessment at Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form and to offer a home perspective of that topic to the staff at the meeting.

Nick Vosper and Tom Baster, Assistant Headteachers who have been leading on this whole-school project this year, outlined the reasons for needing to improve this aspect of our practice stemming from recommendations made by Ofsted at previous inspections.  They shared the journey that the school has undertaken this year in Marking and Assessment, moving from redrafting the whole-school Marking and Assessment policy to working with Faculties to ensure that each has a workable Policy which is being rigorously implemented.  Parents and Carers at the meeting were able to give a valuable insight into what matters to students and parents with respect to marking and assessment compared to how teachers view the subject and any statutory requirements which also may be brought to bear; subjects such as grades and levels and how easy these are to understand as well as the frequency with which books are marked were robustly discussed.  The Forum will meet again in June when it will form a component of the Whole-School Marking and Assessment Review which is aimed to monitor the effectiveness of our new strategies in this area.  The Review will include support from outside experts as well as monitoring from within the school and will provide a snapshot of the health of Marking and Assessment at Notley High School and Braintree Sixth Form.  The School wishes to thank all the parents/carers who gave up their time to attend and helped to drive this important project forwards.

For more details please contact nick.vosper@notleyhigh.com or tom.baster@notleyhigh.com