• The school
• The challenge
• The process
• The issues
• The impact
• Tips for other schools
• School quick facts
• School contextual data
• Data management quick facts

The school

Staining Church of England VC Primary School is a school situated in a village outside Blackpool.

It draws from a wide range of backgrounds and the number of children with special needs and free school meals entitlement are both average. Children’s attainment upon joining the school is average.

The 2001 Ofsted inspection report recognised that the children achieve very well and attain standards that are much higher than children in similar schools.

You can view the Ofsted report and performance tables by following the links on the right hand side of the screen or by visiting

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The challenge

The current head has held the post for 21 years. In the late 1990s he became aware of the Autumn Package (now Pupil Achievement Tracker), and a subsequent increased availability of national data, and began using spreadsheets to manage data in school.

The 1996 Ofted inspection identified the need to improve the linking of assessment to planning and establish uniform systems for record keeping; the 2001 inspection the need to improve boys’ writing at KS1.

The school saw that progress in these areas would require rethinking about of the use of pupil data and clearer systems.

It has also recently become involved in an LA Working Group on the use of the Pupil Achievement Tracker (PAT).

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The process

The school has used a wide range of assessment and analysis tools in the past and has now settled on a combination of tools.

Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) are used in all years (twice in reception) following the recommended schedule.

Results are held on paper and in a Microsoft Excel database and are discussed by teachers, subject coordinators, the SENCO, the headteacher and the deputy. Composite results, trends and value-added analysis are discussed by governors’ committees. PIPS ‘chances graphs’ are used to support setting targets for each individual child for key stage 1 and key stage 2.

NFER reading tests are taken by years 2 to 6 in May and June. Reading ages and standardised scores are recorded in SIMS Assessment Manager and a report is produced to track progress. The standardised scores are particularly useful for establishing target groups of children, for example those with scores in the 95-100 range to be given additional support.

Each half-term, all years from 1 to 6 have a piece of unaided writing formally assessed by the teacher. The results are recorded in Assessment Manager. NFER Richmond tests are taken by years 4, 5 and 6 early in the spring term. Results are held on paper and in an Excel database.

Each term, teacher assessments are collected for every child and progress towards the agreed targets is recorded and discussed [see images 21-01f and 21-07f].

The QCA optional tests are taken by years 3, 4, and 5 in the same week in May that years 2 and 6 sit the statutory tests. Results are recorded in SIMS Assessment Manager [see image 21-02f] and summaries are produced for each class.

After the national curriculum and optional tests the school enters the results for every child into the QCA diagnostic software (now Pupil Achievement Tracker) [see image 21-03f]. The school uses the analysis provided by the diagnostic software in a number of ways.

The question-by-question results and the analysis of ‘missed out’ questions are very useful to the class teacher to inform planning. The ‘web graphs’ produced for each child are also a very useful facility [see image 21-04f].

It also uses summary analysis in its discussions, for example the breakdown of the results by attainment target and by gender [see image 21-05f]. It then imports this data into the Pupil Achievement Tracker (PAT) The value-added graphs are particularly useful in the discussion of the progress of groups and individual children [see image 21-06f].

Each July, the headteacher, the current teacher and the prospective teacher for the following year, with subject coordinators and the SENCO as appropriate, meet to discuss each class. All the above data is available to support these discussions and it is considered alongside the teacher’s regular assessment.

For each child, current national curriculum levels (for English, mathematics and science) are agreed and targets are set for the end of the following year. Numerical targets are currently not shared with parents and children, except in year 6, but curriculum targets are shared with both by the teacher.

Each year the headteacher prepares a summary of the PANDA results and of the school results and targets for the governors.

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The issues

Using pupil performance data in this way requires staff trust and discussion. A lot of time has been invested in building this trust.

In particular, the school has worked hard to collect data on all children who have joined the school during the year.

Workforce reform will have implications for the entry of data, but the school does not want to lose the benefit of the discussions that the head and teachers have about each child.

Entering question level data into the QCA diagnostic software can be time consuming, but is well worth the effort. It works best if two people work together.

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The impact

The school is in no doubt that the more focused use of data has raised teachers’ expectations and introduced more challenges into the teaching. Teachers use the data to inform teaching strategies and to determine specific interventions with individual children.

For example, this has allowed additional support for a group of children by a teaching assistant to support their writing and establishment of a key stage 2 reading club. The SENCO has also been involved and running records for reading have been introduced throughout the school and supported by staff training.

It was suggested that a particular boy, who was identified through PIPS and reading tests as being 12 months behind his chronological age in reading, read to an adult, including his mother, twice a day. On retesting six months later he was two months ahead of his chronological age.

According to several teaching staff:

‘The system helps you to target groups of children for specific types of help.’

‘It helps you to inform any helpers in the classroom – we share the data with the teaching assistants.’

‘We know when we can remove children from the target groups when they have improved.’
‘It has forced us to look at particular areas of attainment and decide what to do to help the children get to the next level’.

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Tips for other schools

Advice to schools in a similar situation, looking to set up their own systems, would be to:

• do the QCA optional tests
• use the Pupil Achievement Tracker
• allocate administrative staff time and support the processing of the data
• use a digital projector to share data at staff meetings
• make sure that your system is simple and that everyone can see it is worth doing
• begin with an annual system and carefully move to a termly one.

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School quick facts

School quick facts
School name:	Staining Church of England VC Primary School
School type:	Primary
School category:
School LEA:	Lancashire
School last inspected:	March 2001
School location:	Rural
School address:	Staining Road, Staining, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 0BW
Headteacher:	Geoff Bottomley
Pupil age range:	4-11
Pupil gender:	Male and female
Pupil background:
Pupil mobility:
Special educational needs SEN):
Free school meals (FSM):	Average
English as an additional language (EAL):

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School contextual data

School contextual data
Context	2001	2002	2003
NOR	246	239	235
FSM %
% SEN pupils with statement	1.2	0.8	1.7
% SEN pupils without statement	16.7	15.9	14.0
% Authorised absence	5.2	4.6	4.6
% Unauthorised absence	0.0	0	0.0
Pupil turnover			82
Results
% Achieving level 5 or above in KS3 English	73	78	100
% Achieving level 5 or above in KS3 mathematics	59	73	93
% Achieving level 5 or above in KS3 science	89	89	100
% Achieving 5+ A*-C at GCSE	71	76	83
% Achieving 5+ A*-G at GCSE	83	92	89
% Achieving 1+ A*-G at GCSE	97	97	100

Note that, where possible, these figures have been taken from the Performance Tables website.

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Data management quick facts

Data organisation quick facts
Tool	Further information
Pupil Achievement Tracker	www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/performance/
QCA optional tests	www.qca.org.uk/ages3-14/45_9085.html

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