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Assessement & Reporting

An Outcomes and Standards approach has been operating from Kindergarten to Year 10 since 1998 and is now being extended to Years 11 and 12.

Outcomes and Standards involve defined standards for each level of student achievement. It is an approach that ensures students learn – and can apply their learning in a very practical way - by giving them the information they need, when they need it, working at their pace.

Teachers at Beaumaris take a personal, tailored approach to their students within the constraints of the curriculum.  An Outcomes and Standards approach requires and demands that teachers monitor each student – so they know how each student is going and what he or she needs to do to progress to the next stage or level.  These are then reported to parents formally, twice per year.

Outcomes and Standards ensure teaching is tailored to suit the needs of every student in the class.  Beaumaris parents and students can be confident this approach is designed to raise education standards and make schooling more relevant for students and appropriate for later choices and pathways to learning and work.  

Every state and territory in Australia has structured its curriculum around learning outcomes and every approach is different.  Western Australia implemented an Outcomes and Standards approach with the introduction of a new Western Australian Curriculum Framework in 1998. The Department of Education and Training's Curriculum Improvement Program  details the latest phase of this framework.

The WA system focuses on the needs of every child and allows them to progress at their own rate.

The Outcomes and Standards approach is clear about what students are expected to learn while they are at school.

Standardised Testing

In Western Australia, student achievement of standards is assessed by teachers. A comprehensive state wide testing program is also used to determine individual student performance.  The WA public school system has set realistic yet challenging standards for student performance in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.   These standards – or Achievement Targets – describe the understanding and skills students are aiming for.

In Years 3, 5 and 7 all students sit the Western Australian Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (WALNA) in reading, spelling, writing, number, measurement, space and chance and data.  These tests benchmark WA public school students in relation to the rest of the nation.  Beaumaris consistently achieves above these benchmarks.

Classroom Assessment

Assessment of student learning in an outcomes-focused approach centres on describing individual students' learning progress. It is a process of gathering, analysing and interpreting information, and describing student performance in relation to stated learning outcomes.
Using assessment information, teachers make:

  • on-balance judgements about the levels of students' performance
  • informed reports to students and their parents about learning progress
  • planning decisions to direct future curriculum provision

In an outcomes-focused approach, assessment at Beaumaris is ongoing rather than occurring at the end of a program of work.

At Beaumaris we employ a wide range of assessment strategies, in the collaborative environment enabled by sub schools that allows for professional discussion, sharing and moderation regarding student progress and outcomes.  In this manner, teachers are able to more accurately make consistent judgements about where students are at, where they need to go and what is needed to get there.  Assessment strategies include:

  • observation and anecdotal evidence
  • teacher Journals
  • checklists & matrices
  • criterion referencing – as in rubrics
  • self-assessment
  • peer assessment
  • open-ended Tasks
  • common assessment tasks
  • student-teacher Conferences
  • teacher-made tests
  • standardised tests
  • monitoring standards in education
  • student journals
  • portfolios and work samples
  • Individual Education Programs (IEPs)
  • negotiated evaluation

Our holistic approach to assessment enables greater understanding by teachers, students and parents about student progress and development.

School Reporting

To ensure we are achieving these goals, rigorous annual reviews, across the school evaluate our objectives, practices and outcomes, driving decisions on planning and actioning improvement and school development plans.  These are publicly tabled each year, after endorsement by the School Council, in the form of our Annual Report.

At Beaumaris we involve whole school community input into planning and evaluation which is one of the reasons Beaumaris has been classified as a High Demand Government School by the Commonwealth Government.  This document can be downloaded for further information and parent feedback.

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