Assessment Policy

Philosophy

Quality assessments are essential components in the learning process.  Well-designed assessments provide students, teachers, parents and stakeholders with information on the learning, development and progress of students. It also provides feedback on the student’s learning process and informs how this learning can be improved. Assessment must thus be ongoing and designed to meet the needs of our students and learning community. 

Principles of assessment

The Westwood Assessment Policy is aligned to the Singapore Teaching Practice (STP) model. The principles of assessment are:

• Assessment forms an integral part of Teaching and Learning 

• Assessment must be aligned to the intended learning outcomes, content and pedagogy

• Assessment facilitates meaningful learning, is learner-centric and has a formative effect on our students’ learning

• The Assessment System should be balanced – integrating Assessment for Learning (AfL), Assessment of Learning (AoL) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the school curriculum

• Assessment information should be collected regularly to evaluate current school practices and enhance future teaching and learning practices

Purpose of assessment

It seeks to:

• Enable students to demonstrate what they know and can do

• Monitor progress, and provide coherent and timely feedback for students 

• Evaluate students' outcomes objectively against the intended outcomes of the curriculum

• Facilitate informed decision-making about students’ placement and life choices

• Report on students’ level of attainment and progress to key stakeholders - parents, teachers and students

Assessment in Westwood Secondary School 

Termly weighted assessments will be conducted to gauge the learning progress of students. These assessments will vary in format to assess a broad range of skills, ensuring a fair and comprehensive evaluation of student abilities. 

Timed-practice will only be conducted for Secondary 4 & 5 MTL students in view of their Mid-Year GCE ‘O’ level MTL Examinations. End-of-Year Examinations will be conducted at the end of Semester Two for Secondary 1 to 3 students. Preliminary Examinations will be conducted in the third term for students who are taking the GCE ‘N’ and ‘O’ Level Examinations. Performance for termly and end of year assessments will determine students’ promotion to the next level of study, calibration of academic load or retention at the same level of study. For Secondary 2, the results of the assessment are also used in the allocation of subjects during the subject options exercise.   

Computation of assessment marks

Secondary 1 to 3

Secondary 4 to 5