15 January 2015
Primary school teachers from Singapore have been studying the art of formative assessment on a bespoke course in Cambridge.
The programme, designed by the Cambridge Assessment Network, included a review of the principles and purposes of assessment as well as key topics such as dialogic teaching, oracy and digital literacy.
It was developed in partnership with the Curriculum Planning division of the Singapore Ministry of Education and designed to align with competencies identified by the Ministry as increasingly important in the 21st century, such as critical and inventive thinking. Training was delivered in the form of discussions, practical workshops and lectures by Cambridge Assessment Network consultants and guest speakers from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge.
An essential part of the course was to visit some local primary schools, to see the principles of formative assessment in action. The group went to Wroxham School in Hertfordshire, where head teacher Dame Alison Peacock presented the teachers with a copy of her book Learning without Limits and gave them free rein to visit the classrooms. The second visit was to a local primary school, Fulbourn Primary, where the teachers again found evidence of the benefits of formative assessment in practice.
Jill Grimshaw, Senior Manager at the Cambridge Assessment Network, said: “We were delighted to welcome the Ministry of Education delegation to Cambridge.
“The teachers were incredibly hard working and enthusiastic and keen to take as much advantage as possible of the time they spent in Cambridge. It was a great experience for all concerned.”