NEWS FROM SECONDARY & JC
CEM Assessments at SIS-PIK
We are delighted to announce that, from this year, we are introducing Cambridge CEM Assessments to the Secondary and JC at SIS-PIK. Following two years of Checkpoint examinations being cancelled, we now feel Cambridge CEM assessments will be far more useful for our students. CEM Assessments are usually taken at the beginning of Secondary 3 and JC 1, but for our first year, we will administer them to Sec 3, Sec 4, JC 1 and JC 2. These tests will occur in September. This means that Secondary 2 students this year will not take the Cambridge Checkpoint, but will instead take the CEM at the beginning of Secondary 3.
CEM Assessments are adaptive tests which assess students’ abilities in English, Mathematics and reasoning. They are aptitude tests rather than content-based assessments, which means students do not need to revise for them. We have previously found that the Checkpoint tests took up a lot of teaching time, and led to greater anxiety for students.
CEM Assessments are not like traditional examinations which result in a certificate. And unlike the Checkpoint, parents will not pay the test fees. All costs associated with CEM will be covered by the school. CEM tests are exciting because they give us so much more data than the Checkpoint. The results of the tests are used by Cambridge to predict how students will perform in their future IGCSE and IB examinations. We can then use this information to check whether your child is underperforming, and if so, we have the data we need to know how to help them best. Therefore, whilst these tests don’t result in a certificate, they give us all the information we need to ensure they have the best chance of success in their vital examinations. Evidence shows that schools which use the Cambridge CEM tests have seen an improvement in students’ results at IGCSE and IB.
We would like to introduce this exciting development to you at a meeting on Tuesday 7th September at 2pm. An invitation will be sent to parents in due course. At this meeting we will explain more about the advantages of these tests and answer any questions you may have.
