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

2. 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 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.

3. 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.

4. Drama

5. Drama 9 8 7 6 5 Step Strand 1 Create (Equal weighting) Strand 2
Perform
Strand 3
Respond 9
All of the below – with exceptional skill.
All of the below – with exceptional flair. 8
Plan and experiment with creating psychology and contexts of a character in performance.
Use understanding of group members’ skills to solve problems when creating performances.
Make use of a range of skills, concepts, techniques and conventions when creating work for performance.
Work with others independently (leading and collaborating) to perform for different purposes and audiences.
Use a range of techniques, skills and concepts to show insight into narrative and characterisation.
Perform original drama in insightful and interesting ways, with confidence and flair.
Use professional terminology to discuss performances seen (in class, and professional performances).
Evaluate work in depth both in written and discussion work.
Evaluate how structure and realisation of plays contributes to dramatic effect. 7
Reflect on performances, experiment with ideas and then use them to create and adapt work.
Lead groups, direct others and work collaboratively.
Work cooperatively to create non naturalistic, abstract and unusual performances.
Perform sustained roles, even with unfamiliar texts.
Show clear and imaginative interpretations of character, situation and narrative.
Demonstrate understanding between form and content.
Analyse work confidently, using appropriate drama terminology.
Evaluate work of yourself and others based on intentions and final performances.
Consider and discuss how performances could be adapted for other audiences. 6
Experiment with different ways to present feelings and situations.
Add to and extend ideas from other people to develop them.
Understand how signs and symbols are used in drama to create and communicate meanings.
Perform and sustain an interesting and consistent role.
Perform a character convincingly using vocal and physical skills.
Use different ideas to show moods and atmospheres.
Use space, timing and language effectively.
Discuss how performances communicate with and engage audiences.
Constantly reflect on work throughout creating and rehearsing.
Make links between effects created and intentions of performers. 5
Show imagination when using research and stimulus to create drama.
Work co-operatively and supportively with others when creating drama.
Consider how performances can create images and help people understand wider themes.
Work sensibly, supportively and helpfully with a range of people in performances.
Use a range of skills when performing scripts and devised pieces.
Use performance space imaginatively to show meaning to audience.
Recognise and use a range of drama words confidently and appropriately about own work and work you’ve seen.
Provide constructive and helpful responses to others’ work to help them improve.
Think about and discus other ways drama could be performed.

6. Drama 4 3 2 1 Step Strand 1 Create (Equal weighting) Strand 2 Perform
Respond 4
Research and use ideas found to create Drama.
Work with others to develop ideas.
Experiment with different types of drama.
Perform co-operatively and supportively with different people.
Use vocal and physical skills to show different characters.
Perform work that shows real understanding of the text/theme.
Use Drama words to explain your response to a performance.
Accept other people’s comments about your work and use them to improve.
Connect types of Drama to other types of art and other themes. 3
Work with others to do research.
Create characters and storylines in different ways.
Help and support other members of the group.
Stay in role during performances.
Perform confidently in more than one type of Drama.
Use Drama words to discuss performances.
Explain how effects have been achieved.
Recognise and discuss different types of theatre. 2
Take part in a range of Drama based activities.
Use simple Dramatic devices (EG: narration).
Make up plays based on other stories.
Prepare and learn a few lines for a performance.
Use voices and bodies to create characters and atmosphere.
Employ language and action appropriate to character.
Recognise different kinds of dramas.
Explain in simple terms how atmospheres and effects are used and created.
Discuss why decisions were made in their group. 1
Take part in activities that are ‘pretend’.
Pretend to be a character, creating appropriate emotion in action and language.
Participate in class and group Drama.
Understand the important of practising for performance.
Take turns acting and presenting work.
Understand the difference between plays and stories and other media.
Explain why they chose simple directions for their character.
Explain why they enjoyed performance.

7. 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.