Strategies for maximising achievement at 5+A*-C GCSE including English and Mathematics

1. LITTLE HEATH SCHOOL Strategies for maximising achievement at 5+A*-C GCSE including English and Mathematics An HPSS RAPP school RaisingAchievementTransformingLearning

2. LITTLE HEATH SCHOOL Mixed Comprehensive school on the outskirts of Reading 1 707 students Over 400 students in the Sixth Form (doubled in size since 2002) Little Heath School - OFSTED Report November 2005 Grade: 1 (Outstanding) Standards are high and most students make excellent progress, especially in Key Stage 4 and the sixth form. Students’ personal development is excellent. It is impressive to see the way they develop as well rounded individuals as they progress through the school. Students’ attitudes are generally very good; they work hard and are keen to do well. RaisingAchievementTransformingLearning

3. This is not Soweto It’s Little Heath School

4. It’s not about our site & buildings! ..a motley collection of huts …decaying flat-tops …haphazardly spread over a hillside CONDITION

5. What focused our minds? An unexpected and unwelcome dip at 5+A*-C in 2007 led to the establishment of an Action Plan within the 2007-08 SDP aimed at maximising attainment at 5+A*-C and 5+A*-C including English and Mathematics. We achieved our best-ever results in both categories in 2008.

7. COMPARISON WITH 2005 - 2007 These figures show a huge rise at A* - B in 2008. B became our modal grade. We have fewer D grades - 304 in 2008! There were 254 students in 2008, 260 students in 2007, 251 in 2006 and 254 in 2005.

8. Percentage of Age Group Achieving 5 or more A* - C grades 04 05 06 07 08 5+ 67 65 74 65 74 6+ 63 63 67 62 70 7+ 59 59 60 55 68 8+ 55 53 53 49 65 9+ 46.5 47 45 43 61 10 35 38 35 36 53

9. Our Critical Success Factors • Leadership - highly focused team responsible for strategic planning through Year Group Strategy Meetings • Monitoring of progress and intervention where required – the smart / effective use of data • Assertive mentoring for our ‘key marginal’ students Positive ethos: aspirational (both with our students and their parents) and expect them to follow suit • Coursework catch-up ‘club’ • D to C poster campaign • Carefully structured ‘Aim Higher’ revision programme during the examination season

10. Strategy Meetings at Little Heath School • For each year group any new data, either sent to school (such as CAT test results, FFT estimates etc) or any new data recorded by teachers during a ‘recording window’, is meticulously analysed by the Assessment team. • The analysis is discussed at a Year Group Strategy Meeting by that year group’s Intervention team.

11. Our HPSS RAPP work • As part of our commitment to HPSS RAPP / RATL we are working with 3 National Challenge schools and another in need of urgent support. • I lead on this work and in each school have looked for ways in which to evolve similar strategies that are responsive to their circumstances.

12. Strategic Intervention • At the heart of our intervention policy is the smart use of data • Through the strategic analysis of data we aim to: • Ensure no child can be invisible • Work towards data-driven school transformation

13. Strategic Intervention The analysis and interpretation of data enables the school, the teachers and the tutors see where a strategic intervention is needed: • a department which is under-achieving • a student who is now working less effectively • a student who requires support in order to achieve significant national standards e.g. 5+ A* - C at GCSE (including English & Mathematics) Help me! I’m slipping

14. From Analysis To Action • The analysis of recorded data enables form tutors, Heads of Year, Key Stage Leaders and the Leadership team to have effective oversight of student attainment, attitude to learning and progression. • It enables the school to be interventionist and supportive with students and to inform and involve the parents in the process of raising achievement. • It also facilitates target-setting.

15. We make Technology help • As part of their DATA ENABLER package the SSAT have developed a simple resource that enables you to show either GCSE results or mock results or predicted grades or FFT estimated grades in a VENN diagram. • Using this you can visualise the National Challenge • We use this at Little Heath and I also use this with our National Challenge partners • It enables swift identification of those students who will not gain 5+A*-C including English & Maths (and why) • It’s free at http://www.visualisingthenationalchallenge.co.uk

16. Small school – each student = c.1%

17. Students currently expected to gain 5Cs but NOT expected to gain a C in English Language 5% Succeeding with these students would add5%to the current 5+ A* - C including English and Mathematics ‘working at’ figure of 20%.

18. Students expected to gain 5Cs but NOT expected to gain a C in Mathematics – 14% Succeeding with these students would add14%to the current 5+ A* - C including English and Mathematics ‘working at’ figure of 20%.

19. Setting • At Little Heath we have 255 students in Year 11. • End of Y10 analysis in July 2008 suggested that 20 students were at risk of failing to gain 5+A*-C including English and Maths because of Maths and 15 because of English • The HODs of these subjects used this to inform their setting and teacher timetabling for 2008/09

20. Assertive Mentoring Using a system of Assertive Mentoring based on that developed at Hurworth School (Darlington) has revolutionised the effectiveness of our mentoring: • We use data in Y10 to identify our ‘Key Marginal’ students • Tracking is planned to help transform students’ attainment levels. • Each month in Y11 teachers predict GCSE grades for students based on their current standard of attainment and attitude to learning. • This ensures that students (and their mentors) know exactly where they are and it enables the students to put it right. • Mentors interview students within one school week of the monthly data recording, so all data is live and incontrovertible. In 2008 68% of our 60 Key Marginals gained 5+A*-C and 53% did so including English and Maths.

21. OFSTED Survey ReportFebruary 2008 • ‘Progress is good because senior leaders carefully analyse data to identify underachieving groups and develop personalised programmes of support for them.’ • ‘The intervention team considers academic achievement as well as students’ attitude to learning. This enables bespoke programmes to be devised for students, which include literacy and numeracy support, mentoring by senior leaders or participation in programmes aimed at reducing disaffection.’

22. An aspirational ethos • Aspirational target grades are set based on FFT D; in individual subjects students and their teachers can agree to raise but not lower these. • Early in Year 11 we run 4 targeted information evenings for parents at which we give a presentation that focuses on the importance of ‘aiming higher’, and deals with both how we and they can help their children achieve their goals.

23. Coursework catch-up ‘club’ • Throughout Year 11 we run twilight coursework catch-up sessions; a lot of students attend voluntarily though some are compelled! • By February of Y11 we analyse coursework ‘provisional’ grades against target grades to ensure (where possible) students have an ‘edge’ before the exams.

24. D to C campaign • We have begun producing A3 posters that highlight the skills needed to turn Dc into Cs • See 2 examples • Remember to PEE • Remember your PALS

25. Aim Higher revision • In 2008 we revolutionised our approach to the GCSE season (May / June) • Post-February entries we used the skeleton timetable to plan a bespoke timetable for Y11 from the start of the GCSE exams in May • Normal lessons were ended and replaced by prestige revision sessions aimed at the exams taking place during the subsequent day (or 2 days) • These sessions had to be aimed at the skills, knowledge and understanding required for the paper that the students were about to sit.

26. Contact details Phone: 01189 427337 07827871706 Email: jphilip@westberks.org