Ideas for Working with Assessment Focuses

• Laminate each AF onto A3 and string them up on a hook in your classroom. Whichever one you are currently working on, hang it up.
• Make sure the pupils have copies of the AFs in their books for reference.
• Link your Learning Objective to the relevent AF.
• Print out each AF onto card. Give pupils the cards and get them to rank them in terms of difficulty - perhaps working towards a Diamond 9. This is great for the start of the GCSE course.
• Or, more simply, get pupils to card sort the AFs into Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing. They find this harder than you might think!
• Use the AFs to structure a group learning activity - set up learning stations for target AFs around the room. Pupils have to know their targets to know where to go!

Key Stage 3 Assessment Focuses

Because I refer to them all the time...

Assessment Focuses for KS3

All your answers will be marked for these areas:

Reading

AF1: Uses a range of strategies, including accurate decoding of text, to read for meaning.

AF2: Understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text.

AF3: Deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts.

AF4: Identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and literary features at text level.

AF5: Explain and comment on writers’ uses of language, including grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level.

AF6: Identify and comment on writers’ purposes and viewpoints, and the effect of the text on the reader.

AF7: Relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions

Writing

AF1: Write imaginative, interesting and thoughtful texts.

AF2: Produce texts which are appropriate to task, reader and purpose.

AF3: Organise and present whole texts effectively.

AF4: Construct paragraphs and use cohesion within and between paragraphs.

AF5: Vary sentences for clarity, purpose and effect.

AF6: Write with technical accuracy of syntax and punctuation.

AF7: Select appropriate and effective vocabulary.

AF8: Use correct spelling.

Speaking and Listening

AF1: Talking to others - Talk in purposeful and imaginative ways to explore ideas and feelings, adapting and varying structure and vocabulary according to purpose, audience and content.

AF2: Talking with others – Listen and respond to others, including in pairs and groups, shaping meanings through suggestions, comments and questions.

AF3: Talking within role-play and drama - Create and sustain different roles and scenarios, adapting techniques in a range of dramatic activities to explore texts, ideas and issues.

AF4: Talking about talk – Understand the range and uses of spoken language, commenting on meaning and impact and draw on this when talking to others.