Tracking, Monitoring and Reporting in the Broad General Education Consultation with Parents (Primary Sector)

Proposals for Consultation The school is working to find ways in which we can all monitor the progress of all children more closely during the session. (Beginning October 2018). We also hope to communicate more regularly with parents about the progress their child is making during the year so that we can intervene at the earliest stage if a child is requiring help with their learning. This is likely to involve a review in our approaches to reporting to parents to reduce the length, but increase the frequency of reports to parents at all stages in the school. This already happens in the senior phase (S4, S5 and S6) in secondary schools.

Proposals for Consultation During session 2018-19 we plan to work closely with parents, pupils and staff to consider these proposals carefully. We plan to introduce these new approaches in October 2018. It is proposed that parents will receive three short tracking reports during the year (containing working at grade only) and one final report at the end of the year which will include further details such as engagement in learning, homework etc. We will involve everyone in monitoring and evaluating any changes we make in the future. We need to advise that the SEEMIS system was delayed in the roll out and this is why we are consulting at a later stage than anticipated.

Proposals for Consultation We are also considering making changes to the way we report to parents about a child’s progress within a Curriculum for Excellence Level. Stages of Progress within a Level How do we report on progress just now? How will we report on progress in the future? * Developing * Consolidating * Secure * Beginning to learn at a new Level * Making progress in learning within the Level * Making good progress in learning within the Level * Making very good progress in learning within the Level Worth mentioning that we want to move to plain English to help parents and pupils understand progress better. We also want to move to four stages to be able to show progress more often as pupils can currently sit at consolidating for up to two years. It is possible to move to reporting on four stages this year by adapting our reporting template on SEEMIS so this needs to be discussed too?

The Needs of Parents and Families “Parents and families must have access to information that allows them to form a clear understanding of how their child is progressing, and the information they need to help them play a key role in their child’s education.’” National Improvement Framework “If parents are to play a greater role in education then they need more regular information about their child’s progress.” Need to balance discussion of workload with needs of parents and families?

Why do we track and monitor Evidence shows that close tracking and monitoring improves learning and attainment. It creates opportunities for teachers to talk to pupils and / or parents about their progress, and help them to understand a pupil’s strengths and next steps in learning. It helps head teachers to monitor the progress of individual classes in comparison to previous years’ progress and intervene if improvement is needed. It helps teachers to monitor the progress of their class and intervene to support individual pupils or whole classes when they need extra support. It helps schools / authorities to look at the progress of groups of learners to check that everyone is doing as well as they can e.g. boys, girls, children living with social or economic disadvantage, young carers or children who are ‘looked after’. It improves education.

What has this got to do with reporting ? Parents will receive information on attainment targets for their child. This will be the CfE Level (and stage within the Level) that the class teacher believes your child is capable of achieving by the end of the year. Tracking reports will not. They will simply report on the attainment grade each child is currently working at in each subject/curriculum area. If your child is not making the progress you and the teacher had hoped for, you can contact the school to discuss the way forward to help your child to get back on track rather than waiting on a short appointment at the annual parents’ evening. These meetings can be triggered by the teacher or the parent / carer at any time.

How will we report to parents and individual pupils on progress? Learning conversations – pupil and teacher/ pupil and pupil and/or pupil and parent/carer. Three termly tracking reports (showing progress through a Level against an end of year target). Parents can request additional information on the progress of their child at any stage in the session. Review meetings held when a child or young person’s progress is becoming a concern. These can be initiated by the school or by the parent on receipt of a tracking report or indeed at any time. Parents’ evenings involving parents, teachers and learners, as appropriate. Homework/Shared Learning activities . Teacher ongoing feedback to pupils during the year. Fab Books/Files available for parents at Parents’ Evenings. General information provided by teachers / departments on how parents / carers can support learning at home. Provide opportunities for parents to respond to all reports. Provide opportunities for children / young people to comment on their report and their achievements. We need a proportionate response depending on the needs of the child Reporting methods used for all pupils Please use this as a menu of activities that you will offer to parents following consultation with staff. Remove the items that you can’t offer. In one school, one teacher reports to each parent on all subjects. If this approach were adopted, and the report was provided by the registration teacher, this would encourage registration teachers to take a more active interest in each child. It may also be possible to offer longer appointments to parents if the teacher provides appointments over two evenings. This would reduce the number of parents’ evenings they had to attend in the BGE from 3 to 2.

Other Reporting Activities for a group / class / school setting Open days/events ‘Meet the teacher’ sessions School concerts/shows Achievement wall displays Wall displays showcasing learning Buzzbee newsletters highlighting learning Assemblies Curriculum workshops Information events Class showcase events School website/Twitter Parent Council meetings Pupil Council meetings Please customise this slide to suit your own setting by including the types of activities that you offer.

What will a tracking report for each curricular area look like? The number refers to a CfE Level. The letter refers to progress within the a CfE Level Target Grade 2.c Working at Grade 2.a This is the overall grade the teacher thinks your child should achieve by June - the end of the school session. It will be shared with you in October at the first Parents’ evening. Schools will need to negotiate with parents, pupils and staff about whether you will include comments on effort, behaviour and homework on each tracking report or only in the end of year report? Alternatively agreement could be reached at a Head Teachers meeting about this? This is the grade that your child is working at, when the report is written

Curriculum for Excellence Levels 0: Early Level – achieved by most pupils by the end of P1, but earlier and later for some 1: First Level – achieved by most by the end of P4, but earlier and later for some 2: Second Level – achieved by most at the end of P7, but earlier and later for some 3. Third and Fourth Level – achieved by most by the end of S3, but earlier and later for some

Stages of progress within a Level A. Beginning to learn at a new Level / Achieved the Level B. Making progress in learning within the Level C. Making good progress in learning with the Level D. Making very good progress in learning within the Level We should talk about this is a new approach which has been developed and agreed across our collaborative – South Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Council, East Ayrshire Council, and Dumfries and Galloway Council and will be used by us for the first time this academic session. Staff will be trained on its use this session and we will monitor the effectiveness of this approach.

Stages of Progress Within a Level A: Beginning to learn at a new Level B Making progress in learning within the Level The pupil has recently achieved a Level (unless they are working towards Early Level) and is now working at a new Level in almost all of their work. They are just beginning to experience and explore learning at this new level, getting used to the increased level of difficulty that they face. They will need a lot of help from the teacher at this stage. The pupil is beginning to gain some new knowledge and understanding in this subject area. They are also developing a few of the skills required at this level with help and support from the teacher. They are showing early signs that they can use their knowledge, understanding and skills in different situations. They are also coping with the new level of difficulty in learning at this Level with support from the teacher.

Stages of Progress Within a Level C. Making good progress in learning within the Level D. Making very good progress in learning within the Level The learner has now covered more than half of the learning at this Level. They can use their knowledge, understanding and skills in new and different situations most of the time without help from the teacher. They are coping well with the level of difficulty. The learner has covered most of the learning at this Level. They can consistently use their new knowledge, understanding and skills in new and different situations without help from the teacher almost all of the time. At times they are even moving on to work at the next Level in a few aspects of their work. They continue to practice their new skills at this level to make sure that they won’t forget what they have learned in the future but they will soon achieve this Level. These slides now provide more detail on each stage of progress

Recap: Progress Through the 4 Stages 1 2 3 4 Breadth of learning Course coverage (over an average of 3 years) Challenge Increasing level of difficulty Application Developing knowledge Can use their new knowledge understanding and skills understanding and skills in new and unfamiliar situations Degree of Independence Needs lots of help Can work independently from the teacher at this Level This is provided as a different way of showing parents what the four stages mean. It is here as an option. Schools can remove this if they do not think that this is helpful. Teachers will make a holistic judgement about the progress of each young person, taking all of these things into account.

1 2 3 Reports to Parents Target Grade Working Grade Dates have been removed to allow schools to customise this.