Teachers constantly assess students; in every lesson, teachers will be gaining a greater understanding of what student know and can do. Teachers at Leventhorpe will make what we call "low stakes" assessments all the time while students are in class. A "low stakes" assessment might be a quiz, a test, a piece of writing, a question or even an observation.
These "low stakes" assessments help teachers to know whether students are remembering what they are taught. We call them "low stakes" assessments because the outcome will not have an impact on each student personally, they simply help the teacher adjust their teaching to the class. Less frequently, we will do more significant assessments, that enables us to compare students and decide on their progress through the year.
We report on students’ progress three times per year in two interim reports and a final written report. Each report gives information on attitude to learning and academic progress. We also hold one parents’ consultation a year, where a verbal report is given on progress.
In each subject, students will have been given an academic progress grade based on the work that they have done so far in the current year. Each subject is very different and so this progress grade will come from a variety of sources: a single big project; the average of a number of tests; a single large test; a practical performance, an overall teacher summary of performance or a combination of these put together.
Reporting Attitude to Learning
At Leventhorpe we believe that the most important thing is a student's attitude to learning. If this is right, achievement will follow. We call this being “Ready to Learn” and a Leventhorpe student who is “Ready to Learn” will have three distinct qualities: being prepared, being focused and being engaged.
- Prepared: A student will be ready to learn if they have "prepared" by doing their homework, bringing the right equipment and arriving on time in a calm and positive way.
- Focused: A student will be ready to learn if they are "focused" in the lesson, listening to their teacher and fellow students, so that they know what to do.
- Engaged: A student will be ready to learn if they "engage" by doing all that is expected of them to the best of their ability.
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Students receive a grade for each following this scheme:
|
| Completely |
30%-35% of students |
Model students who are a real asset in the classroom. |
| Nearly Always |
50%-55% of students |
Students who are learning well and making the best of their abilities. Slip-ups are very rare accidents. |
| Sometimes |
10%-15% of students |
Students who are inconsistent and who are not always making the best of their opportunities. |
| Rarely |
5% of students |
Students who are often not ready for learning and who may be slowing the progress of others too. |
The attitude to learning grade works in the same way for students of all ages, but the current academic grade varies according to the assessment scheme used for the year group a student is in.
Reporting Progress at Leventhorpe School
We are very aware that students make progress at different rates and that attainment at primary school may become a less useful guide to future performance as time passes. For this reason, target grades are reviewed and sometimes changed each year based on our assessments during the year.
In Year 7 and 8 every student has been set an end of Year 11 goal which is based on how they did in how they did in their primary school SATs tests. These goals are expressed as follows:
- Band 4 - Aim for grades 7, 8 and 9 at GCSE
- Band 3 - Aim for 5, 6 and 7 grades at GCSE
- Band 2 - Aim for 4 and 5 grades at GCSE
- Band 1 - Focus on achieving grade 4 at GCSE
We are very aware that these online tests provide only a snapshot of what students are capable of and we have used them out of necessity this year, since the normal primary school end of key stage assessments were not completed due to the national lockdown. At the end of the year, these goals are be adjusted based on each student’s performance in their different subjects.
In the summer progress levels will be used to review students’ targets, so that their progress this year is added to the goals that were decided in the autumn based on the online tests done in school in September.
Progress is expressed in four levels:
- 4 Exceeding curriculum expectations
- 3 Achieving curriculum expectations
- 2 Not always achieving curriculum expectations
- 1 Rarely achieving curriculum expectations
By putting these two pieces of information together (target and progress) we can arrive at a goal for next year that considers the ability level on joining the school as well as more recent progress in the school. The table below shows how the target will be adjusted if it is out of line with the progress score:
Year 7 and 8 Target Band |
Progress Score in Year 7 or 8 |
New Year 8 or 9 Target Band |
| Band 1 20% |
1 |
1 |
| |
2 |
1 |
| |
3 |
2 |
| |
4 |
2 |
| Band 2 30% |
1 |
1 |
| |
2 |
2 |
| |
3 |
2 |
| |
4 |
3 |
| Band 3 30% |
1 |
2 |
| |
2 |
3 |
| |
3 |
3 |
| |
4 |
4 |
| Band 4 20% |
1 |
3 |
| |
2 |
3 |
| |
3 |
4 |
| |
4 |
4 |
The targets that a student will start Year 8 or 9 with will be based on this system. As progress may be different depending on their progress in various subjects it is possible that there will be a different target for different subjects next year.
To reassure students, we do not use targets as part of our decision making for deciding on sets, this is always solely based on test scores, so if a student feels uncomfortable about their target if it changes either becoming higher or lower, please be assured that work ethic is the principal factor in future success rather than the target.
The end of Year 9 report comments on progress and so we will use this to modify their target for the start of Year 10. In Year 9 we use the same system familiar from Year 7 and 8 that reports on progress in four levels:
- 4 Exceeding curriculum expectations
- 3 Achieving curriculum expectations
- 2 Not always achieving curriculum expectations
- 1 Rarely achieving curriculum expectations
In this report our teachers give the end of year progress score for each subject based on assessments and work completed. This end of year progress level will be used to modify students targets, so that their progress this year is added to the goals that were decided based on primary school assessments at the end of Year 6.
These goals were also expressed in four levels:
- Band 4 - Aim for grades 7, 8 and 9 at GCSE (top 20%)
- Band 3 - Aim for 5, 6 and 7 grades at GCSE (upper middle 30%)
- Band 2 - Aim for 4 and 5 grades at GCSE (lower middle 30%)
- Band 1 - Focus on achieving grade 4 at GCSE (lowest 20%)
By putting these two pieces of information together we can arrive at a sensible GCSE or BTEC target grade that considers the ability level on joining the school as well as more recent progress in the school. The table below shows how this is done:
| Year 9 GOAL Band | Progress Score in Year 9 | GCSE/BTEC Target Grade |
| Band 1 20% | 1 | 3 - L1 Distinction |
| | 2 | 3 - L1 Distinction |
| | 3 | 4 - L2 Pass |
| | 4 | 5 - L2 Merit |
| Band 2 30% | 1 | 4 - L2 Pass |
| | 2 | 5 - L2 Merit |
| | 3 | 5 - L2 Merit |
| | 4 | 6 |
| Band 3 30% | 1 | 5 - L2 Merit |
| | 2 | 6 - L2 Merit |
| | 3 | 7 |
| | 4 | 7 - L2 Distinction |
| Band 4 20% | 1 | 6 |
| | 2 | 7 - L2 Distinction |
| | 3 | 7 - L2 Distinction |
| | 4 | 7 - L2 Distinction |
The targets that students will start Year 10 with will be based on this system. As progress may be different depending on their progress in subjects it is possible that there will be a different target for different subjects. These targets will not be the final word though as we intend to modify them at the end of Year 10 to take account of progress in the first year of the GCSE course.
We would like to make the point that the GCSE “target” is not a guarantee or prediction of success as everything depends on the work ethic of students, but the target does indicate something realistic to aim for.
As in Year 7 and Year 8 we do not use targets as part of our decision making for deciding on sets, this is always solely based on test scores.
As Year 10 students start their GCSE and Vocational Level 2 course, their targets are made more precise so that they represent a single grade to aspire to. Our targets are designed to be quite demanding so having a high target is not a guarantee of achieving that grade. At the end of year 10 we may raise a student’s target if they exceed it, but we do not lower targets in Year 10.
Our mock exam and summer assessments report on students’ progress in terms of GCSE or vocational grades and if a student's grade has exceeded their minimum target by two grades, we will raise the target by one grade for next year to acknowledge this. Since grades vary a bit in exam situations for better and worse, we will not change the target if there was only one grade difference between the target and the actual grade.
As in the lower school, we do not use targets as part of our decision making for deciding on sets.
Targets do not change after the start of Year 11 and when the end of year qualifications have been taken, we and other schools will reset post-16 targets based on average GCSE results.
In Year 12 every student has an end of course target or goal that is based on how they did in their GCSE examinations. This takes the average of their grades for GCSE and uses this to project forward a challenging target for A’ Level or Level 3 BTEC. As ever, this target is not a guarantee of success, and most students score either higher or lower grades than their targets based on their level of effort.
