Reporting to Parents

At Springwood High School, we recognise that in order for students to make the most of their time at high school there must be strong links and good communication between the school and parents. We will provide you with regular information on your child's progress throughout the year, through reports issued twice yearly.

We also hold annual parents’ evenings, to enable direct discussions between you and your child’s teachers, to support your child and allow you to ask their teachers specific questions regarding their progress. In Years 7 and 11 we hold additional evenings to provide extra support when it is most needed, for settling in to school and for preparing for leaving school and the culmination of their studies in the GCSE examinations. The dates for all parents’ evenings, assessment weeks and reporting sessions can be found on our school calendar.

Reports

At every reporting session, an overview document for your child will be posted on the Parent portal called MyChildAtSchool or MCAS. Your child will be given an Attitude to Learning grade (AtL) for every subject using the following descriptors:

ATL 1	A highly motivated and ambitious student who consistently seeks advice, acts upon it and wants to be the best they can be. They will set themselves challenging goals and are surpassing Springwood's minimum expectations.
ATL 2	A student who is seeking to do well and is making sustained progress. They are achieving Springwood’s minimum expectations and know what they need to do to improve further.
ATL 3	A student who understands what they need to do to improve and is capable of making improvement but is lacking the desire or motivation to make the change. Currently, this student is not achieving Springwood’s minimum expectations.
ATL 4	A student who is significantly below Springwood’s expectations. This student sees little value in setting personal goals and challenges.  They are unwilling to accept the help and support offered to realise their goals.  This is a serious concern which needs to be addressed.

At Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9)

You will also be given a percentage attainment grade for each subject following formal assessment weeks. The report will also include the previous assessment result - this will allow you to track your child's progress over time. This attainment percentage is used by teachers to identify gaps in knowledge which need to be addressed.

In Years 7-9 there is a single formal Trust assessment window per year. Other regular assessments and health checks are carried out during the year. Students should also be informed regularly in lessons of the progress they are making.

At Key Stage 4 (Years 10 & 11)

In Years 10 and 11 students will complete two sets of pre-public examinations per year, to prepare them for GCSE’s. These are also initially reported as a percentage in Year 10 and by Year 11 all assessment results are reported as a GCSE current, working grade - judged on the GCSE Grading 9-1 or Cambridge Nationals Level 1 or Level 2 Pass, Merit or Distinction.

Target Grades

At the end of Year 10 and throughout Year 11, the current working grades are issued alongside a target grade.

We are required to set a target grade for every student in each subject from Year 10 onwards. We do not use these targets in KS3. These target grades are based on the national KS2 tests that each student takes at the end of primary school. The target grades are determined by using the Fischer Family Trust data* and is a minimum grade that your child should be aiming for in that subject.

Because we want every child to excel, our targets are in line with the highest performing students nationwide (FFT 25). It is important that targets are not viewed as a ceiling to progress. At Springwood High School, students regularly overachieve.

 

* Fischer Family Trust (FFT)

FFT provides data and analysis to all schools and LAs in England and Wales. FFT estimates are used by teachers to inform the setting of ambitious and aspirational targets for students. FFT analyses pupil results and pupil progress to provide school leaders with insightful data to support school improvement and self-evaluation. FFT Education Ltd is an independent, non-profit company which was established in 2001 and has links to the Fischer Family Trust. FFT25 sets targets on students achieving amongst the top 25% of students in the country in their year group.