Head's Welcome

Head of College Welcome

Welcome to Dawlish College.

It continues to be an absolute privilege to be the Headteacher at Dawlish College – the staff and students are second to none and take all of life’s challenges in their stride. Despite current uncertainties as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, we continue to hold onto our core purpose in all that we do. Behind all of the decisions taken and measures put in place sits the balance between keeping staff and students safe whilst also providing them with a varied and exciting school experience.

Dawlish College is a vibrant and exciting place to be, where we have the highest expectations of staff and students alike and seek to provide challenge at every available opportunity. As a small school, we have a very proud record of holistic support, care and individual attention: the happiness and well-being of our students is of paramount importance and is a vital foundation for their growth and development. Our college has an atmosphere of creativity and positivity that is generated by the provision of excellent opportunities for every individual thereby maximising the outcomes and improving the life chances of the young people in our care.

As a parent myself, I understand that you want your child to be inspired, supported and challenged to be the best version of themselves within an environment that knows them and values them as an individual. Thank you for entrusting me with the care and education of your child, present or future, and I look forward to unlocking their ambitions as I get to know them and work closely with you.

S Banks

Headteacher

Assessment

Assessment

You will experience two types of assessment (or marking): Formative and summative.

The purpose of summative assessment is to reach a judgement, mark or grade based on a piece of work or an exam. The ultimate summative assessments are the GCSE exams: you get awarded a grade based on how you did that day and there is no opportunity to improve. We will use summative assessments at key points in the college year, however formative assessment is much more useful in helping you to improve and make progress.

The purpose of formative assessment is to enable you to improve your knowledge, skill or application. This form of assessment results in either, you doing something different to have a positive impact on your progress, your teacher doing something different to have a positive impact on your progress or both of these at the same time.

Each subject area works slightly differently due to timescales, content and frequency of contact. However our approach to assessment is as follows:

  1. Initial Assessment – the purpose of which is to ascertain the level of your prior knowledge and skills so that subsequent teaching can be pitched appropriately for you and the class.
  2. Progress Check – this takes place approximately mid-way through a unit or topic. The purpose is to gauge how well you are progressing towards acquiring the skills and/or knowledge in that unit/topic so that action can be taken before the end.
  3. End Point Assessment – the purpose of this is to measure the progress made by you and to identify gaps for future study. In some subjects this assessment will be purely summative and in others where skills cross over units there will also be an element of formative assessment.