Our Schools > Curriculum/Learning Programs > Horizons of Hope > Assessment

Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering, analysing, and interpreting data about learners’ progress and achievement to improve learning(Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority 2015) and to support growth along a learning continuum.

Deeply embedded in the learning and teaching cycle, the assessment process provides reliable and valid evidence of a student’s learning (Partnerships for 21st Century Learning, undated) and informs adjustments to teaching strategies that influence the nature, amount and rate of learning.

Assessment is a means of uncovering the narrative of our learners: their progress, success and challenges in learning. At its best, assessment engages students, teachers and families in an authentic relationship about learning. This forms the basis for learning partnerships that enable the full flourishing of every student across all learning domains

Assessment in a Catholic school focuses on growth across religious, physical, cognitive, social and emotional domains. This multidimensional approach to growth respects the sacred dignity of the learner and engenders a feeling of being valued and understood. When the learning community is open to encounter, and the importance of relationships is valued, assessment becomes more than just results. Learning communities understand and value the narrative of their students, their context, their world and their families in order to see their students fully flourish.

Assessment in a Catholic school requires leaders, teachers and learners to learn alongside one another, as they uncover evidence that informs both learning and teaching. Learners use both assessment and feedback to reflect on and evaluate their own progress, while teachers and leaders use assessment and evidence to inform and shape the design for learning.