Schools have so much to juggle. When considering how well pupils are progressing through a subject’s curriculum, we might be tempted to analyse the progress of a range of different groups. This leads to leaders feeding huge files of academic achievement and progress information which limits their time to think about what the information is telling them.
Can colleagues in non-specialist settings be more efficient in this work? Perhaps yes!
We can define ambition by blending progress with attainment. So, what progress do pupils with different prior starting points need to make in order to get to the desired attainment? Let us simply group a cohort into high, at or below expected prior attainment. If pupils are ‘below’ then they are in the ‘need to catch up’ group.
We might expect those pupils with high prior attainment to leave the year group, key stage or indeed the school with high attainment. We might expect those pupils with prior expected levels of attainment to at least maintain such attainment at the end of the next phase. We will be expecting those who need to catch up to do precisely that – get to the expected level of attainment.
Pupils with SEND may be placed into 1 of the 3 groups. Or, depending on their primary need, such a model might not suit them well. In this case, it will be interesting to determine what academic ambition might look like for each pupil.
Perhaps have a go at sketching this model. A diagram might help clarify the thinking further. Once the framework has been created, you can then populate with the subject and the cohort of pupils. Through discussion, colleagues can consider which pupils are not on track to make the progress required. It is here that colleagues can see if disadvantaged pupils are progressing well or not. Subsequently, a discussion can be entertained to see if funding is being spent wisely. The progress of other groups (such as gender and EAL) can also be considered. So, leaders will be interested in particular groups in particular subjects only if pupils are not making the progress required.
At Schoolweave, we work with school leaders to help determine what academic achievement and ambition looks like in their provision. This will underpin their self-evaluation work.
Join the discussion on LinkedIn.