1. School report for parents for the academic year 2014-2015

2.  Attainment refers to what standard your child reaches compared to everyone nationally.  Progress refers to how well your child is doing from their starting point.  Achievement is these two combined. For example a child may attain low standards but be making very good progress from where they started. Achievement for that child would be good.

3.  The Government requires a number of tests that your children have to take.  The results of these inform the school as to how well your children are achieving academically.  Some of these results are also compared to other schools in Milton Keynes and England.

4.  At the end of Foundation- ‘Early Learning Goals’  At the end of Year 1- ‘Phonics Screening’  At the end of Year 2 in Reading, Writing and Maths- ‘Key Stage 1 SATs’  During the year ‘in school’ Teacher assessments to show how much progress your children are making.  At the end of KS2 in Reading and Maths, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling - formal ‘Key Stage 2 SATS’. These are externally marked. Writing assessments are by teacher assessments.

5.  We only opened in 2005 so our community has had to grow year on year starting with just 3 classes.  This has brought a lot of change.  We are now full and are community is more settled. More and more families have started with us and are moving through the school.  We welcome families from all nations and are very proud of our diverse population.  Half our children use English as an additional language.  Our school was judged to be outstanding by Ofsted in June 2014.

6. So many of our children start the Nursery and Saplings classes with less English than others. As a result attainment for children at the end of Foundation is lower than it is for other ‘typical’ children of that age. 65% of our children made a ‘Good Level of Development’ by the end of Foundation. This compares favourably to at National achievement which was 65% in 2014. We have good evidence to show that our children make good progress from their entry points into Foundation. Those who have been in our Nursery close the gap so that the majority of these children are ready for Year 1.

7. 2014 School2014 National2015 School2015 National 81%74%80%TBC We have a very focussed approach to the teaching of phonics and use Read, Write, inc to deliver this learning from Foundation stage through to the end of Year 1. We serve all our children well and those with a second language do equally as well. If you want to fond out more about Read, Write inc follow this link: http://www.stbernadettesschool.com/read_write_in c.htm

8. Children make outstanding progress from Foundation. We have improved each year.

9. Children make outstanding progress from Foundation. We have improved every year.

10. Children make outstanding progress from Foundation. We have made improvements every year.

11.  65% of Year 6 completed their Key Stage 1 tests in St. Bernadette’s with many joining in Years 4,5 and 6.  This sometimes interrupts learning.  Attainment is now in line with national with 82% of pupils achieving Level 4 in Reading, Writing and mathematics. (A significant improvement from previous years.)  We know that attainment in Years’ 1-6 is now much higher as a result of four years hard work to raise standards.

12. You can see that attainment in Maths is matching at Level 4+ and now exceeding National at Level 5, the higher attaining band. You can see that these children have made excellent progress this year, exceeding both national benchmarks.

13. Formal teaching of Grammar has led to high standards in this test. The children have made excellent progress from Key Stage1.

14. Writing standards were a little lower than national at Level 5 but most children made expected progress. We know that some children had their schooling interrupted by changing schools with better than expected progress not being achieved. Next steps: We know the attainment of all year groups from Y1-5 is on track to exceed this achievement. Parents of Year 5 and 6 pupils need to continue supporting their children with rich experiences so that they can draw upon these when writing. The strong phonics teaching and improved Key Stage 1 results should now lead to improved outcomes at Key Stage 2.

15.  We welcome feedback about what you think about the school’s performance in 2013-14.  We are well aware that the impact of opening a new school with variations in performance for pupils joining at different stages of their school career. This has now settled with fewer leaving and joining.  We feel the achievement in Years’ R-5 shows that we are heading for higher attainment in all areas. We urge you to support your children in all subjects and in particular to encourage your child with maths homework and to use ‘My Maths’. Follow the link.  http://www.mymaths.co.uk/ http://www.mymaths.co.uk/