Year 8

Health and Physical Education Support Materials

Assessment Principle 1

Assessment should be an integral part of Teaching and Learning

Health Education snapshot: Making informed decisions

Health and Physical Education/Health Education/Personal, social and community health/Staying safe

Content Description
Skills and strategies to promote physical and mental health, safety and wellbeing in various environments

Nature of the assessment

Pre-assessment to determine prior knowledge

Purposes of the assessment

To assess students’ ability to identify risks in common situations and suggest strategies that support their health, safety and wellbeing

Stage in the Teaching sequence

At the start of a lesson – formative assessment

Assessment task

Students were given a situation where a young person might be at risk (e.g. peer pressure, online safety, or being left out).
They were asked to:

  • identify the risk
  • suggest one safe action or strategy the young person could use
  • explain how the action or strategy helps the young person’s health or wellbeing.

Assessment process

The students wrote their answers on index cards which the teacher collected.

Using the information

The teacher reviewed student responses to determine how well they understood key strategies such as assertive communication, refusal skills, or seeking help. This helped identify students who had a strong understanding and those who needed further support.