Review of CPD course; How to assess Spanish Speaking CA tasks (Edexcel) - Natalia Palmero

The focus of this course was linked to understanding and applying the marking criteria. To practise it, we listened to recordings and marked scripts at a range of grade levels, both individually and with other colleagues. We also checked our marks against those awarded by the moderators which was reassuring and showed consistency in our marking.

Moreover, we tried out different methods of marking. All suitable and recognised by Edexcel, to find the one we feel more comfortable with. In my case is using the ‘Assessment Criteria sheets’ in Unit 2, Edexcel GCSE in Spanish.

Finally, we evaluated controlled assessment tasks and focused on the importance of the quality and quantity of its wording (to help students to remember all the relevant information) and to write them in English. In reference to this, we were reminded to use the word ’may’ instead of ‘must’ in the sentence: You ‘may’ want to include the following points(…) to avoid our students being penalised if they do not answer all of them.

There were several other key points that were more general but just as thought provoking which came out of the day. These included;

·         We have to encourage spontaneity in our Speaking CA. Consequently, pauses are natural and they expect to hear them. Also, some utterances expressing doubt like, ‘let see…’ or ‘a moment, please…’ in Spanish are perfectly acceptable.

·         Examiners are very fond of a single sentence containing two or even three tenses.

·         Standardization within the department is crucial.

·         We should share ‘Assessment Criteria sheets’ with the students so they know how they are going to be assessed and act accordingly.

The Hunger Games: A Cross-Curricular Project

Since being involved in resilience I hear many varied excerpts of books aimed at our pupils. One of the things that surprised me about this was just how few of these popular books I had read. Last Easter I decided to read The Hunger Games, as I had seen a trailer for the first film and my interest was piqued. Throughout the novel I kept making references to real world situations and couldn't escape some of the geographical themes that were explored in the book.

I decided to investigate the possibility of a cross-curricular project and was pleased when colleagues in the English Department shared my enthusiasm. Following several planning meetings with Amy Dare, we had roughed out areas that each subject could cover and identified themes that complimented both the Geography and English curriculums.

The dystopian style of the novel was a particular point of interest as so much of the geography that pupils pick up from current affairs is focussed on natural disaster and conflict. During the lessons pupils were able to draw on references to Syria, the Ukraine and Hurricane Katrina. It was pleasing to see that both the boys and girls were keen to read more about the story behind our scheme of work, a number of the Year Eight pupils even showed me their copies of the book they had selected for reading in resilience sessions.

The assessment element of this scheme of work was significant in proving, learning linked to popular fiction is an excellent way to make the geography relevant to pupils. In the lead up to the assessment we had studied natural and built environments that felt "dystopian" as places had been abandoned or ravaged by natural disasters. Pupils understood that dystopian novels combined difficult elements such as political problems and a lack or resources. To make the assessment as accessible as possible I decided to give pupils the choice between writing their assessment or debating it. Year Eight pupils have experience of using "talk" as a vehicle for assessment as the Geography department uses this in Year Seven and Year Eight topics the pupils had already studied. Many pupils chose to talk, whilst a smaller proportion were seated at the edge of the classroom at tables with paper. I am always impressed at the mature approach pupils adopt when debating. Very few behaviour sanctions were needed as pupils were engaged in listening to one another and looking for their opportunity to add to the debate.

For colleagues interested in trialling a talk assessment, I would recommend creating a tick column criteria sheet as this helps with recording how well the pupils perform and is essential to provide individual written feedback. I have generated a few short hand codes, that used along with some key words helps me to assess and level the pupils. Finally, if you are considering this type of activity but are uncertain of how pupils will respond, I would say that so long as pupils are given preparation time to script their ideas, on the whole each of my classes thoroughly enjoyed this change of activity.

Power 3 Planning

Power 3 Planning

This technique is designed to support pupils with planning the structure for a piece of extended writing that may have detailed sentences and paragraphs. I have continued to find this beneficial over the last few years.

I first observed this technique when I was fortunate enough to travel to Ontario, Canada as part of the DfE funded TIPD scheme. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic Dostrict Board for their hospitality and range of exceptional ideas. We saw the power 3 planning tool being used in an elementary school with grade 2 pupils who were around 7 years old. Pupils were completing some writing about their favourite activities to do at the weekend. With guidance and modelling from the teacher, pupils offered ideas such as going to the park. This was extended by explaining the the swings were fun as you could go really high. Pupils independently added two more ideas of their own to build the plan for their paragraph. What struck me as powerful was that once pupils had the keywords listed, they wrote cohesive sentences with little support from the teacher.

Since returning I decided that this would be especially useful to support pupils when planning assessments. I often find that the pupils struggle to know how to develop and link evidence about places. Another problem is waffling and repetition. Using the power 3 helps them to establish links and plan out their paragraphs independently. If pupils are allowed to plan collaboratively this can benefit mixed ability groups. I also find that when pupils complete plans on A3 paper in teams, these can be beneficial if a pupil has missed the planning lesson as the A3 plans can be bluetacked around the room for use during the assessment. Stem words can be provided to help support pupils, or completed Power 3 plans can be critiqued by pupils, this worked especially well when the power 3 plan was deliberately muddled as pupils were able to reorganise information to establish better links between facts and create paragraphs that made more sense.