Pupil Progress

Pupil Progress Update 2022

Context:

At the end of last academic year (2021-22) we decided that our current assessment systems were not capturing a clear picture of our student progress. As part of our assessment journey, we wrote outcomes for each area of need set out in the code of practice as well as adapted Early Learning Goals and National Curriculum outcomes. We are currently drafting adapted Entry Level outcomes for Literacy and Maths. The rationale behind this was:

By creating our own bespoke system, we would have a better picture of progress and gaps that our students present and our response to identified gaps could be more efficient and targeted
Our system would also be more meaningful for staff, whilst aiming to reduce staff workload
Our cohorts of learners would have their own assessment outcomes/endpoints, for example:

Complex Learnerswould primarily be assessed on the 4 areas of need
Less Complexwould work towards adapted ELG and NC outcomes
More Ablewould work towards NC outcomes and Entry level

This is currently in place for Literacy and Maths and is being trialled for different subjects throughout this academic year, for focus students.

Our data drop has been completed earlier than usual this year in order to ‘iron out’ any issues with the new systems in place.

Two systems are currently in use:

SS tracker analyses progress against the 4 areas of need
Our own Highshore Steps analyse progress against Literacy and Maths outcomes
We are working with SS tracker to move everything onto one system and this continues

Currently we analyse Literacy and Maths progress as follows.

Students are set targets by teachers
These targets are then assessed using the following progress levels
- Not yet developed = +1
- Emerging = +2
- Developing = +3
- Established +4
- Generalised + 5

To determine what we expect to be below, expected or exceeding progress we used the following. Due to class numbers being all less then 10, the effect 1 student can have on class averages is high (e.g, in a class of 8, 1 student not meeting expectations is equal to 13%, which significantly effects a class average). Due to this we have put in place the following:

Working out the percentage of 1 student for each class, we have used that percentage to determine, along with class average progress, what is below or expected progress. For example, in a class of 8, a single student is represented by around 13%. Now say that in that class the average progress towards their Number targets was 35%. Therefore, we would have the following:

22% or lower is below expected progress (35% – 13%)
48% and higher is above expected progress (35% + 13%)
Between 23% and 47% is expected progress

However, it is important to understand that this is merely a guide. Due to smaller numbers, a student that scored significantly higher than their peers may skew the average higher and vice versa. Therefore, whilst these expectations give us a guide towards who is not meeting/exceeding progress, the analysis of progress within each class is vital to getting a clear picture of student progress within each class. This accompanies each of the class analysis included in this report.

As our data drop is earlier than usual (usually end of Autumn Term), the progress made may be lower than expected. This was done however to ascertain any issues within our systems and to also give us a reliable set of baseline data. Each class has a breakdown of their students’ progress and subsequent actions plans are draw up to assess student gaps. These will be reviewed termly.

Headlines

In Key Stage 3, students (on average) made the following progress towards their targets:

In Key Stage 4, students (on average) made the following progress towards their targets:

In Key Stage 5, students (on average) made the following progress towards their targets:

Overall, it is encouraging that there is little variation between subjects in terms of progress. This evidences the significant impact the new Literacy Lead has had as well as the continuing impact of the training and implementation of Power Maths on student progress. It should also be considered that this data drop was done earlier than usual in order to ‘test’ our new assessment systems, therefore, we would expect progress to be even greater next time. Overall, the following actions have been put in place:

Action plans implemented and monitored for identified students
Investigating how Writing looks for different students who may not write in the traditional sense and what are considered suitable outcomes
Developing a whole school calculation and problem-solving policy so that there is even greater consistency in Maths teaching and transition between classes

Progress of Phonics Readers (Autumn 1 2022 update)

Headlines:

In Year 7, those students who follow a Phonics based (RWI) reading strategy made overall higher average progress towards their reading targets than those who followed an alternative. As this cohort haven’t had a different scheme since starting Highshore, this is promising with regards to the implementation of the new phonics scheme
For the rest of KS3, Non-phonics-based readers were slightly higher. We would expect this to change as students are still learning the more systematic approach in place and learning the new routine has been part of the monitoring and implementation process. 1 of the AAC users has also achieved significantly well in towards her reading target and has skewed the non-phonics reader average slightly higher (due to small cohort numbers)
Key Stage 4 have benefited significantly from highly consistent phonics teaching. This is also the Literacy leads’ Key Stage where the expertise in this area is clearly evident.
In Key stage 5, one class has a small number of students receiving phonics intervention. As this is a small number, this group is consistently monitored for how quickly students may progress. Whether this intervention is worthwhile is under review, as due to their age, conversation over whether a different strategy is more appropriate is up for debate.

Overall:

Phonics instructions (RWI) for new students is currently showing promising signs of progress, with those receiving Phonics teaching progressing further than non-phonics readers.
Students in KS3 who would have had less consistent teaching and a different scheme last year are slightly below progress of non-phonics readers, however, this is expected to improve as the year continues.
Students learning Phonics in KS4 show high levels of progress and the Literacy lead continues to model a high level of phonics teaching to others.
KS5 phonics is not necessarily showing clear signs of the impact of phonics teaching, however, continues to be monitored.

AAC progress (Autumn 1 2022 update)

The above results show the increasing impact on implementing and using AAC is having on student progress. Reading and Writing is showing encouraging progress for AAC users. A focus on how AAC can be better incorporated into Maths lessons will be a focus throughout the year, based on the above progress.

Pupil Premium (Autumn 1 2022 update)

We currently have 101 students listed as Pupil Premium. Of those 101, the following was found:

This demonstrates that a high majority of our students listed as Pupil Premium Meet or Exceed their expectations. The area in which they do not meet the most is in Maths, and when investigating further, this was predominantly in KS3 (7 students) and KS4 (6 students). In looking at these students, those in KS3 were new Year 7 students, who had just transitioned to the school and therefore have taken time to ‘settle in.’ These students have action plans in place and had previously been identified. Those students in KS4 were mostly one class where the teacher had been on an unexpected long term absence, however, that has now been resolved and progress is expected to be good. This will be reviewed in a terms time (with ongoing monitoring).