Ascot Heath CE (Controlled) Junior School

School background

Ascot Heath provides for children aged 7 to 11. The planned admission number is 60 with two classes in each year group, creating a maximum of 240 children. The school is popular with local families and the number on roll varies between 230 and 240 as children move in and out of the area. The population remains socially diverse, with a tendency towards the skilled and professional sector. Parents are supportive of education and the children are generally well motivated.

The school was appointed to Beacon status in September 2001, with the areas of strength being leadership and management, continuing professional development, monitoring and assessment, and working with able children. Taking into account the inclusive nature of the intake, our national curriculum test results vary slightly from year to year, being in the high 80s to high 90s. English remains a strength of the school with over 50 per cent of children achieving level 5. 35 to 40 per cent achieve level 5 in mathematics and science.

A programme of monitoring children’s progress throughout the school allows teachers to establish targets and predict outcomes. These prove extremely useful when negotiating with the LEA. Teachers plan and work closely in teams, with each year group supported by part-time learning support assistants.

How many children are more able?

The philosophy of the school is that every child is good at something. This allows the staff to keep an open mind and look out for unforeseen talent or ability. The school does not subscribe to a fixed percentage of able children but aims to provide a broad curriculum of opportunity. By creating this style of provision there are occasions when children demonstrate ability in a way that may not ordinarily be recognised. This may be because they are quiet and reserved, because it is not ‘cool’ to know the answer, or because their talents fall outside the obvious or expected range.

The percentage of children identified as more able within any single year group ranges from 50 to 75 per cent. This means that they have a star by their name in at least one subject or test score.

What prompted the introduction of this way of working?

A mass of data is collected on each child throughout his or her time in the school. This includes the statutory and non-statutory national curriculum test results, as well as other assessments included as a means of understanding a child’s innate ability.

It was important to develop a system that allowed the school to keep appropriate records, measure progress and make this system easy for teachers to understand and use. Over the years, the system has progressed from using tables created in word-processing software, to a spreadsheet and now to assessment manager software. The deputy headteacher is assessment coordinator and he too has developed a file that allows teachers to record end-of-year information over and above the sheets already produced. Throughout this work, the school has maintained the principle that each piece of paper is worthwhile and of value. The need to keep workload and paperwork within manageable proportions is another philosophy to which the school firmly adheres.

The school secretary is becoming familiar with the assessment manager software and she is taking over this aspect of inputting data. Since the program has to include information needed on the transfer forms, this easily falls within her remit. The school also receives electronic data from the infant school and the process is becoming more and more focused.

The spreadsheet is still maintained as a means of storing a wider range of results, but the assessment manager software is gradually taking over.

How is this related to the School Development Plan (SDP)?

Since the work of gathering and monitoring data is an established part of the school routine, it does not appear as such within the SDP. However, there may be years when the school needs to focus on specific aspects of children’s work, and assessment, including studying results, will then feature; for example, the school might aim to increase the number of children achieving level 5 in science and mathematics.

How are the more able identified? What is looked for?

The school does not aim to identify a fixed percentage of children; the number of children identified varies from one year to the next depending on the strengths and weaknesses of any particular cohort. Test scores are the main source of information, along with teachers’ and parents’ comments. National curriculum assessments and the optional national curriculum tests serve as the core. Other tests used to monitor progress are the NFER non-verbal reasoning test in year 4 and the Edinburgh reading test in year 5; these both highlight different aspects of ability.

When identifying children for the subject-based aspects of the register, including creativity and social skills, the teachers use their professional judgement to assess whether children show a skill or talent above that which they would normally expect from a particular age group. It has been interesting to note that this judgement can vary according to the teacher’s own level of expertise within a subject; for example, coordinators take a tougher line compared to non-specialists. Since the register is reviewed twice every year (usually in February and July when the teachers know the children well), any discrepancies can be taken into account and discussed. The columns in the system software allow sufficient space to enter the year group on each occasion so that the number of entries can be tracked. This allows the school to note whether the entry is a one-off or part of an on-going talent.

Teacher observations, although often anecdotal, allow us to build a picture of a child’s cognitive and conceptual ability. Examples here would include their ability to apply and transfer previously acquired knowledge, to analyse, synthesise and evaluate information, to investigate and solve problems and to think divergently. This type of ability is not necessarily reflected within pure test results and so teachers need to be aware of these skills in order to understand the child.

The purpose of the able children register is to track progress and to alert teachers to the potential needs of particular children. This, with the spreadsheets, allows us to monitor children, and, if they are not progressing as anticipated, the reasons can be sought.

What assessment criteria are used, and where from?

Key stage 1 national curriculum assessment results serve as our baseline assessment. All children are noted in two ways:

• levels achieved
• average points scored using maths, reading, writing and spelling.

Children who achieve level 3 in any of these subjects are identified and placed on the able children register. The average point scores assist the grouping of children, particularly when the time comes to divide them into sets for numeracy and literacy. They also serve as a guideline to year-on-year progress.

The end-of-year national curriculum optional tests are used in years 3, 4 and 5. The results are recorded using both a spreadsheet and the assessment manager software. The school has developed guidelines for identifying the most able, that is, those children who achieve above average for their year group, and they are placed on the able children register. The school has drawn up the following guidelines:

• achieving level 4 in year 3
• achieving level 4 in year 4
• achieving level 5 in year 5
• achieving a standardised score of 130+ in any of the tests (although this is slightly misleading as it is affected by age).

These results are also used when predicting year 6 targets during the autumn term for children in year 5.

How is differentiated work planned?

Schemes of work show core work to be covered plus differentiated work for both the more able (in the form of extension and enrichment activities) and those working below the level of the national curriculum tests. These also link with the QCA schemes of work. Weekly planning sheets identify learning objectives, and separate columns for the more and less able remind teachers to cater for their needs. Analysis of the test papers enables us to identify areas of strength and areas for development in teaching, especially in teaching the more able.

Within class lessons, much consideration is given to the use of the correct vocabulary pertinent to the subject being taught, such as open-ended questions and problem solving, and higher order thinking skills. The school continues to review teaching strategies in order to develop these techniques even further.

What are the outcomes of this way of working? What enabled it to succeed?

Progress is monitored using points scored as well as levels. If a child has moved on from 3b to 4c in one year (4 points), then this would equate to good progress. Anything above this would demonstrate substantial improvement. But progress is not always linear and there may be years when consolidation takes place, or external difficulties impact on a child’s emotional well-being thus affecting output.

As a result, teachers are able to evaluate their own work and recognise how effective they have been in their teaching. This increases their own motivation and level of satisfaction when they realise that they have made a difference to a child’s development. The opposite can be true and needs to be dealt with accordingly. The school also stresses that progress is based on the work that takes place in each year group and not just in year 6. In this way everyone has a role to play in each child’s development.

It is necessary for teachers to understand the points system and discuss the way in which they can use it to their advantage. They have spent staff meetings as well as a training day learning how to analyse scores and how best to use the information acquired through this process. The headteacher has also been on courses to develop the approach taken by the school. It is important to create an atmosphere of openness and trust so that staff can share ideas and comment on areas of weakness and strength without feeling threatened. There are always ways in which the school, however good, can improve further.

What are the advantages of working this way?

Familiarity with the spreadsheets, the meaning of the average points scores and the Autumn Package allow the teachers to judge for themselves the impact of their work. It helps to reinforce decisions already, or about to be, made. These can include organising the children into groups and working with them to establish individual and group targets for further improvement and development.

The headteacher is also able to provide good statistical information to pass on to the governors. This ensures that they understand when year groups fluctuate and they can offer support and trust in producing targets. They can also ask appropriate questions about areas of strength as well as areas needing improvement and development.

What problems were identified?

With able children it is actually difficult to track them accurately in this way since the points given to higher levels at the end of each year - whether using the official national curriculum assessments or optional tests - are averaged out as a ‘b’. Children can have made good progress over a year but appear to have stayed on level 3, 4 or 5 for two years. For example: a child has progressed from level 4c at the end of year 3 to a well-understood level 4a at the end of year 4. The points scored would remain at 27 for two years running. This also applies to children moving into year 3, having scored a level 3 at the end of key stage 1. They may still be on level 3 at the end of the year but the points score system denies progress.

Where to next?

The school continues to evaluate its work. The headteacher listens to colleagues in other schools, adapting and modifying ideas accordingly. The aim is to make greater use of software in producing reports and creating graphs.

It is important to ensure that the needs of all able children, including the most able, are met. The school is currently reviewing the attainment of this particular group of children and searching for fresh ways in which their learning can be enhanced.