Interested in assessment? Want to know more about assessment for the primary classroom? Then why not join us in Hanoi for a week long Hornby Trust Regional School!

If you are responsible for teacher development, a test developer or working in an examination department of a Ministry of Education or other institution, then you should be in Hanoi this November!

Here’s what one teacher said about the last Hornby school on assessment:

“Superb training and even well beyond my expectations. A wide array of assessment techniques and methods discussed and studied in the course.”

When is it?

26-30 November 2012

Where is it?

Sofitel Plaza Hanoi
1 Thanh Nien Road, Ba Dinh District
Hanoi. Viet Nam
www.sofitel.com/3553

The last few years has seen increased activity in East Asia in the area of assessment. Changes in the economic environment, populations on the move and the changing needs of employers have had a huge impact on education systems in the region. An emphasis on primary education has been a key factor in the last five years and this has led to a revision of primary curricular, a re-thinking of materials and methodology and this has naturally led to changes in and a focus on assessment. Ministries of Education are showing increasing interest in the whole area of assessment.

Therefore, the need for greater knowledge, increased teacher competence and expertise in test development and administration is vitally important. There needs to be a greater awareness at practitioner level of the rationale, different approaches and implications of language assessment. In response to this need, British Council East Asia with the support of Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training is organising its fifth Regional Hornby School on Assessment for the primary classroom: Why, how and what?

The school will be residential in Hanoi from 26-30 November 2012.

What are the objectives?

Knowledge sharing  

Participants will:

• Share knowledge and experience about different types of assessment  systems and practices in the region and elsewhere in the primary sector

Knowledge & Skills Development

Participants will:

• Be exposed to current global assessment practices
• Have a greater understanding of different types of assessment for the primary classroom
• Develop a deeper understanding of classroom based evaluation for primary students
• Have gained tools for selecting the most appropriate type of assessment
• Be more confident in designing their own assessment tasks
• Have a range to variety of tasks to assess different language skills
• Optimise their own use of textbooks and other resources when assessing learning
• Be more confident in their ability to support their colleagues in the area of assessment.

Partnership

Participants will:

• Work together to develop relevant, context-dependent plans of action for the improvement of assessment practices in the East Asia region.
• Write a journal for the school, including key learning points to be published on the Access English website

Which topics will be covered?

The Hornby School will focus on developing greater knowledge and expertise in language assessment among classroom teachers and trainers; examining the approaches and practices that teachers can use in their classrooms. Topics will include:

• Principles of classroom evaluation for young learners
• The importance of context
• Communicative language testing
• Using interviews, questionnaires and journals
• Observation as an assessment tool
• Portfolios and conferences in classroom assessment
• Devising test tasks

The backdrop for these topics will be the participants’ own backgrounds and contexts. Participants will be asked to come prepared to describe the assessment landscape in their own countries and their role in it and then relate input and activities to this context throughout the school so as to better help them in developing their actions plans at the end.

Please click here to view draft timetable.

Who should attend?

• Colleagues from the region (from a variety of organisations and institutions) responsible for Teacher Development
• Colleagues from examination departments of Ministries of Education
• Test developers
• Master Trainers/Teacher Educators

This school will focus on assessment for the primary sector

Fees and registration

To register for the Hornby School download and complete the registration form and send it to Ms Le Song Nga, ELT Development Manager. Deadline for registration for participants is 31 October 2012. If you have any other questions, please contact Ms Nga.