Developing Good Assessment Practice
The case studies in this section are the fruits of a project funded by TDA and developed collaboratively by Advisers in Education in collaboration with NATRE and AREIAC and RE Today. The project which occured in 2007 aimed to build the capacity of local teachers network groups in secondary schools, is still very much relevant today.
The teachers concerned have offered this material on the basis that others may find it useful and can adapt it to suit their own context as appropriate.
The project was a pilot and we therefore chose to focus on the north-east and east London areas. Two schools were chosen to be involved from nine local authorities.
The plan was to encourage teachers to work more with each other, to share ideas and resources and to focus on two areas of interest:
1. Learning in RE outside the classroom;
2. Improving strategies for assessing, recording and reporting students' achievement
Examples of good assessment practice:
Can you see the world from your window?
The students took part in a “faith trail” around the Brick Lane area of Tower Hamlets. This was to gain a historical understanding of the diversity of religions and to consider how religions support members in the their community influencing lives both structurally (the buildings themselves) and culturally (food, fashion, music and support).
Completed by Ruth Price, Morpeth School, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, supported by Deborah Weston.
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How are key Muslim beliefs shown in a mosque?
The unit aimed to develop a module entitled: Our Spiritual Quest.
The intenttion was for students to visit two places of worship; one from a tradition other than the Roman Catholic tradition namely an Orthodox Church; the other from another faith, in this case Islam - a mosque
The aim of the visits would be to focus on aids to worship and the reasons why people worship. Students would explore the place of buildings in the particular tradition and community and the function of the religious building. They would investigate different types of religious art and imagery.
Completed by Paul Christian, Cardinal Pole Roman Catholic School, London Borough of Hackney, supported by Karl D'Cruz.
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How do people face up to good and evil?
The aim of the project was for students in Year 9 to develop their knowledge and understanding of how human beings experience, understand and explain the nature of evil by researching first hand some religious and secular views and how these impact on people's lives. Another aim was to develop students skills as researchers and allow them to explore a variety of viewpoints. These would include a wider spectrum of people from secular and religious backgrounds than they would normally have the opportunity to engage with and the school would create a forum for students to showcase their findings.
Completed by Hamsha Rama, Redden Court School, London Borough of Havering, supported by Janet Dyson.
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How do some religious faiths respond to poverty?
The aim of this project was to investigate local endeavours that are offered by Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. Pupils would discover; the history of these projects, how they are inspired and what takes place was developed. Through the project the pupils would learn more about faith projects that aim to respond to poverty and consider these in the light of the religious beliefs that underpin them. It will also make pupils more aware of what is happening in their local area.
Completed by Andy Joyce, Walthamstow Academy, London Borough of Waltham Forest, supported by Lynne Broadbent and Denise Chaplin.
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What are the causes of suffering?
This purpose of the project was to enable year 9 students to explore the question, ‘Why do we suffer?' through an analysis of the Story of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. The students made comparisons with Buddhist beliefs about suffering. The use of outside areas allowed students to become involved in the story of the Fall of Man by ‘returning to Eden' - the scene of the crime.
Completed by Mary Whitworth of Marshalls Park School, London Borough of Havering and supported by Janet Dyson.
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What can we learn about religious beliefs from looking at paintings?
The main aim of this case study was to enrich the students' learning experiences when following the Holy Spirit unit of work. As part of this unit, students learnt about some of the symbols of the Holy Spirit and read the biblical story of the Pentecost. The aim was for the students to become more aware of how the Holy Spirit is represented in art.
Completed by Cory Cambridge, Woodbridge High School, London Borough of Redbridge, supported by Claire Clinton.
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What does Islam look like in practice? The Five Pillars in Barking.
The purpose of this project was to challenge more able pupils to learn from what is around them, by raising awareness, developing research skills and empowering pupils to investigate their environment. The pupils involved in the project were a group of year eight students, most of whom were in the top set for humanities.
Completed by Farzana Hassan, Barking Abbey School, London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, supported by Janet Dyson.
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What does our local Anglican church reveal about the Christian faith and community?
The priority of this project was to expand the usual singular church visit into a fuller exploration of ‘church' in its broadest sense. Students' would experience more of what it really means to be a Christian and begin to understand how a church can be the hub of the Christian community rather than a building of purely architectural or historic interest empty excepting Sundays! This work would hopefully explode the common misconceptions.To fully grasp the complexity of the symbolism in the church in terms of its physical features', uses and the lives of the people who are part of it is quite an objective but one we hope to achieve.
Completed by Delyse Leslie of Stoke Newington School, London Borough of Hackney, and supported by Karl D'Cruz.
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What is the impact of religion on our community?
The purpose of the scheme of work is to increase student's understanding of the different faiths represented in the local community and their effects on the community itself. The purpose is also to widen students' understanding of religious identity.
Completed by Nathalie Chambers of George Mitchell School, London Borough of Waltham Forest, and supported by Lynne Broadbent.
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Where is God?
The project aimed to combine learning in Religious Education and Art
Completed by Sarah Heath, Plashet School, London Borough of Newham, supported by Claire Clinton.
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Who is Jesus? What are the key teachings of Jesus for Christians today?
The purpose of the project was to bring a more creative assessment task into the year 8 curriculum that would incorporate learning outside of the classroom.
Completed by Adele Rood of Seven Kings High School, London Borough of Redbridge, and supported by Claire Clinton.
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What does it mean to be ... in 2008?
One of the main areas of the school development plan is to look at key stage three assessment. With this in mind and in light of the potential of the newsecondary curriculum and QCA’s ‘Big Picture of the Curriculum’ for RE, I decided to devise a new set of assessments tasks which have a strong focus on a range of assessment for learning strategies.
What does it mean to be a Muslim in Barking?
The purpose of the project was to enable students to get a clear understanding and taste of what it means to be a Muslim in Barking. Activities were planned to allow students to gain hands on learning experiences outside the classroom. One of the aims was to encourage students to look at current stereotypes of Muslims and to encourage them to challenge and eliminate them by showing them what life is really like for Muslims in their Borough.
