Sir James Smith’s Community School STEPS GRID handbook A practical guide Key Stage 3

STEPS and the STEP Grid Handbook Monitoring and reporting attainment and progress in Year-7 and Year-8. Dear parent/ carer, As someone with a son or daughter in Year 7/8 you may be aware that there have many changes to assessment in schools over the last few years. At the same time as the government’s announcement of a major shift in the way attainment and progress were to be reported at KS2 from September 2016, they also indicated the abolishment of ‘levels’ at KS3, but with a much earlier deadline of September 2014. However, unlike KS2, there was no prescribed alternative system put into place across the country and all secondary schools were invited to create their own model of assessment. Over the past two years we have been working to create an assessment model that will work with our Key Stage 3 students. This year we have improved our model to create distinct STEPS grids. Each grid is comprised of 9 ’steps’ and a number of ’strands’. The grid contains descriptors for what a child needs to be able to do to complete a ‘step’. Your son/ daughter will start with a baseline ‘step’, which will be derived from KS2 data and baseline assessments they will complete in their opening weeks of the Autumn-term. We will report the baseline step for each subject in the Q1 report in mid-November. It is expected that most students would move up each strand by at least 1 step each year (3 steps over the course of the key stage)*. We feel very confident that what your son/ daughter experiences at Sir Jim’s is indeed a very comprehensive and professional package. This assessment model allows you as parents and carers the opportunity to be closely involved in their attainment, progress and target setting over the entire key stage. Accompanying this letter you will find your own copy of the STEPS grids. Please keep this safe and use it to cross reference attainment on each report with content of the KS3 courses for each subject studied. Finally, please feel free to contact me directly if you have a specific question about the system which needs further explanation. Yours faithfully Mr. E. McGuffie Assistant Head Teacher – Curriculum * In Science, progress is built implicitly into the scheme of work. Therefore students will be expected to stay on the same step or fluctuate above/ below this step as the content becomes more challenging throughout the year.

Introduction What is STEPS?   What is STEPS? Strategic Targets for Educational Progress and Success (STEPS) is an assessment and progress monitoring, tracking and reporting programme for secondary schools. How does it work? Upon arrival in Year-7, every student is assessed via a broad range of information and results available to the school. Subject teachers then place students at a baseline Step in each Strand and this becomes the starting point for each subject. A Step Point Score is generated which is an overall score for a subject. Each student is expected to make at least one Step of progress in the Step Point Score per year, with the exception of Science where progress has been built implicitly into the scheme of work. School reports You will receive four reports per year showing your child’s attainment and progress in every Strand in every subject and it will also show you the overall Step Point Score. When used in conjunction with this handbook, it will give you both a detailed and quick method of reviewing attainment and progress so far. It will also allow you to discuss targets to progress to the next Step. The STEPS grids Each subject has its own grid, these form the rest of this handbook. Each grid is a basic summary of all the work that can be covered in each of the Key Stage 3 Programmes of Study. Each subject follows a similar approach. Strands: these run along the top of the grid, they break a subject down into smaller topics or areas. There are between three and seven Strands per subject. Steps: These break a subject down into progressive Steps. There are nine Steps per Strand per subject; 1 is the lowest Step and 9 is the highest. Statements: Each Step has one or more statements. Students have to achieve all of these, and all of the ones in the Steps below, to be at that Step level. The Step Point Score Students will be given a Step score for each individual Strand in each subject. The Step Point Score combines these individual scores to give an overall score in a subject. If 3.6 was the baseline at the start of year-7, then the students would be expected to reach: 4.6 by the end of Year-7 5.6 by the end of Year-8 6.6 by the end of Year-9. This would be a minimum expectation and targets could be adjusted each year to maintain challenge for each individual.

Art  

Evaluate, communicate and reflect Art Step Strand 1 Research and develop (Equal weighting) Strand 2 Observe and record Strand 3 Explore and refine Strand 4 Respond and present Strand 5 Evaluate, communicate and reflect 9 All of the below and… can compare and contrast own work with the work of others, showing an ability to investigate extensively and independently. can experiment with a wide range of drawing styles and techniques, demonstrating confidence and flair. can fully realise the potential and restrictions of a wide range of materials. can make independent judgements about all aspects of a wide range of materials. can express a wide range of ideas subtly and sensitively. can establish that audience and concept of the work is at the forefront of the presentation. can provide an in-depth and insightful review. can show that independent, sensitive insights are supported by analytical discussion of the formal elements. 8 can expand and progress own ideas with a comprehensive investigation of other artists, cultures and craftspeople. can record sustained, precise and perceptive visual observations of own ideas and intentions. shows a very high level of visual appreciation of characteristics. shows a distinct ability to exploit and control materials through exploration and additional refinement. can establish a sustained, individual and clear response to a selection of ideas and intentions. can show a personal realisation that shows innovation and resourcefulness. can confidently express reasoned judgements about own work and that of others, while demonstrating a range of analytical, critical and contextual understanding. 7 can sensitively and astutely make decisions based upon personal opinions. has the ability to independently analyse and comment on the work of others. can demonstrate a consistent command of recording techniques and skills in observation. shows a high level of aptitude to explore and experiment in order to reinforce understanding and control of materials, methods and technical skills. can produce a response that displays highly-skilled manipulation of the features and characteristics of the chosen media. can explain how and why understanding of the work of others affects own ideas, values and practices. 6 can sensitively and astutely make independent and personal opinions about the work of others. can establish a dependable command of recording techniques and skills in observation. shows good ability to explore and experiment in order to reinforce understanding and control of materials, methods and technical skills. can produce a response that displays skilled manipulation of the features and characteristics of the chosen media. can provide a reasoned evaluation of the purpose and meaning of own work and that of others. can use critical understanding to develop own views and improve practice.

Evaluate, communicate and reflect Art Step Strand 1 Research and develop (Equal weighting) Strand 2 Observe and record Strand 3 Explore and refine Strand 4 Respond and present Strand 5 Evaluate, communicate and reflect 5 All of the below and… can use subject-specific vocabulary and can examine and evaluate the context in which others’ work is made. can conclusively and artistically record visually as well as by other means. can, during the process of exploring, recognise the constraints and limitations of materials, methods and technical skills. can produce a response that is technically convincing and fully achieves the set objectives. can evaluate own work and that of others, reflecting on own view of its purpose and meaning. can adapt and refine own ideas. 4 can apply acquired knowledge and show a level of understanding to competently develop own work. can record own observations using a range of visual materials, skills and methods. can reflect and evaluate in own investigations to develop and improve creative work and concepts. can respond personally and produce work that is independent, imaginative and stimulating. can discuss own work and that of others, and consider how to adapt and refine own ideas, skills and processes. 3 can research the work of others through practical investigation of process, technique and materials. can interpret own research and develop personal designs in response to the work of others. can use a tonal variety to effectively express form and shape within visual observations. can show texture and pattern within visual observations. can investigate and improve work when using a range of media, methods and skills. can reflect and improve through experimentation and learn to develop use of mediums, methods and skills. can demonstrate that own response is reinforced by research, progression, investigation and refinement. can, after looking at the work of others, adapt and improve aspects of own work when making images and artefacts for different purposes. 2 can demonstrate knowledge of the links between own work and the work of others. can achieve an understanding of the work of others practically through own creative work. can select and gather a range of sources and imagery to support own observations and concepts. can use shape and form to record first hand observations and ideas. can investigate and experiment to achieve initial aims and objectives. can explore both composition and colour palette to help enhance ideas for practical work. can produce an individual response that fully achieves objectives and ideas. can demonstrate a connection made with the work of others through own ideas and work. can identify the objectives and communicate ideas accordingly. can explain the links between ideas and the work of others. 1 Can… explore the work of others and, as a result, collect a range of relevant information and imagery. develop own ideas within project work after seeing work produced by others. record and describe personal ideas in a range of compositions to define own objectives. use line to record first-hand observations and ideas. blend colour appropriately and use it successfully with a range of media. determine and choose a range of mark-making materials, methods and procedures in both 2D and 3D. demonstrate fresh skills that are specific to a new piece of work or project. propose and develop ideas in an appropriate format for a new piece of work. describe the methods used and evaluate strengths and weaknesses, through oral and written means.  

Frequently Asked Questions Q. What is STEPS? A. STEPS is an assessment-recording and progress-monitoring system for all subjects studied at Key Stage 3. Q. What are STEPS grids? A. The STEPS grids break a subject down into Strands of content and nine progressive Steps. Students are placed on the STEPS grid following a baseline assessment. The expected progress is at least one-Step per year or three-Steps over the key stage. Q. What is a Strand? A. A Strand is an area of study of a subject. Every subject is divided into between three and seven Strands. Q. What is a Step? A. Every Strand is broken down into nine progressive Steps. Nine is the highest Step and one is the lowest. Steps provide the pathway through the Programme of Study for each Strand. Q. Why does my child appear to have made more progress in one subject than another? A. All subjects are different and so are children! It is quite understandable for one student to have a different rate of progress to another. Learning is a cycle of improvement. Students improve and then plateau before making further improvement – the timescale for this improvement is very individual and varies between subjects. It is quite normal for rapid progress to be made when children are exposed for the first time to specialist teaching, when perhaps teachers with expert knowledge were not available in primary school. Q. My child seems to have made no progress at all in one subject. A. There could be circumstances which would mean that within the last assessment cycle this was the case. It could be a completely new subject, or one that has been studied for only a portion of the year. We are anticipating three Steps of progress over the key stage and that one Step is merely the average of this expected progress each year. Remember also that in Science, progress has been built implicitly into the schemes of work. Therefore your child will be expected to stay on the same step or fluctuate above/ below this step as the content becomes more challenging throughout the year. Progress will be numerically represented by a variation score (progress score) from your child’s start point. If your child’s score is positive or remains at 0 throughout the year this represents expected progress or above expected progress; if they receive a minus progress score then this indicates that they will need more support to maintain their progress in the upcoming units.