Target Setting at Buxton Community School

Government Benchmarks

Schools are measured against what is known as Progress 8. This is a measure that shows how much progress a student makes from the start of Year 7 to Year 11 across 8 GCSE subjects.

It is designed to ensure that student attainment is broad and balanced. English and Maths are double weighted and therefore, remain at the core of the curriculum and vital for students. There are also several other measures that schools are measured against including the number of students achieving 5 x grades 4 to 9 and 5 x grades 5 to 9 amongst others. GCSE grades are from the 9-1 with 9 being the highest.

We strive to ensure that all students at Buxton Community School reach their full potential and attain the highest grades possible. The targets we generate in school are designed to be aspirational and yet achievable.

What does this mean?

Your child’s target is formed using the actual summer results of students from the same KS2 starting point as your child. Progress is then measured from this starting point to their final GCSE results in the same way as the Government to report progress.

Your son/daughter may have different targets in English, Maths, Art etc. because attainment in creative and academic subjects may be very different. In subjects your child has not studied at primary school, a range of assessment data is used to provide a starting point.

To support the ongoing relationship between home and school, we wanted to share the Assessment, Reporting and parents evening calendar with all parents and carers. This will give you an idea of when your child will be receiving tracking, a report or the opportunity to speak with their teachers. It also includes some key dates pertinent to each year group.

Parents Evenings will either be online using the platform SchoolCloud or face to face. These are identified on the grid below with the codes O or F2F

Prior to tracking – students will be assessed in their subjects and this data will be used to inform their current progress to date. For KS3, it will report if they are working below, at or above expected progress considering KS2 starting points. For KS4 and KS5, we report on Current Working Grade and Most Likely Outcome (MLO). All students receive and Effective Learning Behaviour (ELB) grade at each tracking point. Tracking plus is different to usual tracking as along with data you will also receive more detailed information on your child’s progress and targets to improve.

Remember:

• All students make progress at different rates and may not necessarily change at every tracking.
• In general, we would expect students to stay working at/on track to achieve their potential throughout their school career.
• Tracking reports show where your child is succeeding and where they can still improve.

 

Effective Learning Behaviour Grades (ELBs)

At each tracking point your child will receive an Effective Learning Behaviour (ELB) grade for all subjects. 

A positive attitude can help learning but doesn’t necessarily lead to the gains we might expect. As a school we want to be more explicit on how learning works and why certain learning behaviours are more likely to lead to successful outcomes. 

What are effective learning behaviours? 

“A learning behaviour can be thought of as a behaviour that is necessary in order for a person to learn effectively in the group setting of the classroom.” 

'Behaviour for Learning: Promoting Positive Relationships in the Classroom', Ellis and Todd, 2018 

"Managing a child’s misbehaviour does not necessarily lead to that child learning: they may be quieter, but not necessarily engaging with the content of the lesson. Instead, research suggests that when children improve their learning behaviours, this skill set can improve both academic achievement and cognitive ability. "

‘Improving Behaviour in Schools’, EEF report, 2019 

 

Why are ELB grades beneficial for learning? 

Our ELB descriptors are used by teachers to determine your child’s ELB grade. These outline ways of behaving and learning that education research has shown are characteristic of students with high academic achievement.  

Teachers use these descriptors to praise students who are secure in their learning and redirect students towards more effective learning behaviours when needed.  

Parents and carers should also find the ELB descriptors a helpful tool to hold supportive conversations with their children to reinforce the key message that good behaviour in school must always link to effective habits of learning. 

 

How do we decide ELBs grades? 

Effective Learning Behaviour grades are awarded based on a ‘best-fit’ criteria, according to a teacher’s professional judgement. Students do not have to demonstrate every strand of the descriptors to achieve a particular grade. Your child might meet most of them or have improved significantly in those criteria that are most applicable to a specific subject. Reasonable adjustments will also made for certain students (e.g. those with SEND) when appropriate. 

Students will receive a ‘Green, ‘Amber’ or ‘Red’ ELB grade -  

GREEN: 

The student securely demonstrates a range of effective learning behaviours and is making progress at a level that typically leads to high achievement.

 

AMBER: 

The student demonstrates some effective learning behaviours and is making progress, but these are not yet consistent or secure enough to suggest they will achieve according to their full potential.

 

RED: 

The student demonstrates several poor learning behaviours that are likely to hinder achievement and progress 

The following descriptors are used by our teachers to determine a student’s ELB grade for each subject: 

 

Green (secure) 

• You always take pride in your work and the success and achievements of others. 

• You arrive on time to lessons, well organised, fully equipped and ready to learn. 

• You stay focused in class and understand why this is important for learning. 

• You are alert to instructions and always listen to your teacher. 

• You value other students’ contributions and speak respectfully to your peers. 

• You use the strategies you have been taught in class to successfully complete classwork and homework. 

• You stay positive and stick at it even though a task might seem challenging at first. 

• You enjoy talking about what you are learning with your teacher and your peers. 

• You frequently ask questions about what you are learning. 

• You regularly volunteer responses to questions in class and will reflect on your learning. 

• You are keen to learn from your mistakes and welcome feedback as an opportunity to improve your work. 

• You can self-assess your work and suggest ways it might be improved. 

• You make connections between different ideas and between different subjects. 

• You independently seek further information and follow up ideas raised in class. 

• You ensure your opinions are justified and explained. 

• You can suggest alternative explanations.

 

Amber (emerging) 

• You take some pride in your work and the success and achievements of others. 

• You arrive on time to lessons, well organised and equipped, but this can be inconsistent. 

• You are largely focused in class and will usually listen the teacher’s instructions. 

• You mostly value other students’ contributions and speak respectfully to your peers. 

• You normally attempt to use the strategies you have been taught in class to complete classwork and homework but sometimes find this a struggle, particularly at home. 

• You are generally positive but will occasionally give up if you find a task too challenging. 

• You will usually talk about what you are learning if asked to by your teacher. 

• You sometimes ask questions about what you are learning. 

• You will volunteer responses to questions in class when feeling confident. 

• You usually act on feedback and make some effort to improve your work.  However, you don’t always welcome feedback or see mistakes as a learning opportunity. 

• You occasionally attempt to self-assess your work but can struggle to suggest solutions or you believe assessment is only something teachers should do. 

• You can make connections between different ideas and between different subjects but sometimes are unable or unwilling to do this. 

• You sometimes attempt to seek further information about ideas raised in class but typically see learning as something that happens only in school. 

• You find justifying your opinion a challenge but will attempt this if required. 

• You occasionally offer alternative explanations but can lack the motivation to do so. 

 

Red  (likely to hinder learning) 

• You regard academic achievement and success at school as unimportant or socially harmful. 

• You arrive poorly equipped for lessons and do not see being ready to learn as important. 

• You make little effort to be involved in the lesson and may disrupt the learning of others. 

• You often choose not to engage with the strategies and explanations your teacher is providing to help you with your learning. 

• You interact poorly with your peers – for example, speaking disrespectfully to them. 

• You are unwilling to accept support to better organise and plan your learning. 

• You see feedback as criticism of your work and struggle to act on feedback that is provided. 

• You are uninterested in being challenged and will usually give up without really trying. 

• You spend little time thinking about your learning or why it is important. 

• You prefer to let others ask and respond to questions about the learning in the classroom. 

• You take little or no responsibility for your own learning or behaviour. You usually blame others for your lack of progress or misbehaviour. 

 

IMPORTANT – please note that if your child receives an ‘Amber’ ELB grade, this does not mean they are ‘failing’ or making no progress in that subject. They will still be demonstrating some effective learning behaviours and making progress. It is simply an indication that the teacher believes there are some learning behaviours that could be improved in order to ensure that your child achieves according to their full potential.