Information accompanying primary school reports 2021

Summary

The requester sought letters accompanying 2021 primary school reports for Years R, 2, and 6, including contextual attainment data, but the authority disclosed only sample letters from specific schools while noting that not all requested information was held.

Key Facts

• The Department of Education, Sport and Culture responded that some information was sent but not all was held.
• Due to the pandemic and local lockdowns, end of Key Stage National Curriculum levels were excluded from 2021 reports for Years 2 and 6.
• Reports instead used a simplified grading system indicating if a child was above (A), at (E), or working towards (W) the expected level.
• Schools advised against comparing 2021 results with pre-Covid data due to significant learning disruption.
• Sample letters from Arbory School and Ballaugh Primary School were included in the response.

Data Disclosed

• 2021
• Years R, 2 and 6
• July 2021
• 14th October 2019
• 2022-04-25
• 2022-05-23
• 16.07.2021
• 32 pages
• 2 documents
• 1834
• 14 months
• 01624 823369
• 01624 897311

Original Request

For each Island primary school I request a copy of the letter sent to parents/carers of pupils completing Years R, 2 and 6 in July 2021 which accompanied annual school reports relating to pupils and any other such information provided by the respective schools to parents/carers regarding 2021 end of year curriculum attainment levels for Years 2 and 6 (and in the case of Year R references to GLD and GLD Prime). Traditionally these have taken the form of an explanation of levels and historic IOM attainment data to put results in some context. I also seek such information as was passed to the schools from other areas of the Department (e.g. EAS) to inform/assist the schools, or any of them, in compiling such letters distributed with annual reports e.g. enabling contextual comparisons with results from previous years. I refer you to FOI request 957965 submitted 14th October 2019, in response to which the DESC provided such information as I now request (in that instance for Years 2 and 6).

Data Tables (2)

Full Response Text

16.07.2021 Dear Parents, We are really pleased to provide you with your child’s annual report. The teaching staff have worked hard to produce a report that reflects attainment and progress over the year and as you will appreciate, due to the two local lockdowns, there will be some gaps in the children’s knowledge and understanding this year. The teachers have idenitified many of these gaps and your child’s report may reflect this. We have planned to cover as much as we can in terms of skills and concepts during the time we have been in school and all staff have met with your child’s new teacher/s to plan a way forward for September. The reporting format for Years 2 and 6 will be different this year, due to unprecedented school closures as a result of the global pandemic linked to Covid 19. The exceptional circumstances that we have found ourselves in have resulted in pupils spending less time learning and being assessed in school this academic year.

Your child’s school report will reflect the proportionate educational achievement during their time in school this year, and thus there will be no end of Key Stage National Curriculum levels included in this report for pupils in years 2 and 6. For the five core areas of Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing, Maths and Science, an indication of whether your child is ; •above the expected level (A) •at the expected level (E) •working towards the expected level (W) for the end of the year is included in the report. Please sign one copy of the report with any comments and send it back to the school office. Yours sincerely Jonathan Ayres Headteacher Rheynn Ynsee, Spoyrt as Cultoor Ellan Vannin • Isle of Man Department of Education, Sport and Culture Ballabeg Isle of Man IM9 4LH
Scoill Chairbre Balley Beg Mannin IM9 4LH T(01624) 823369 E arboryenquiries@sch.im W https://arbory.sch.im/ Arbory School Headteacher: Mr J H Ayres BEd(Hons) NPQH “A caring community of creative, confident learners.” “Co-phobble kenjal dy ynseydee chrootagh as yarrooagh.” Founded 1834

Dear Parents, Historically, at this time of year we would share with you your child’s end of year results in English, Maths and Science compared to pre-covid National Curriculum UK averages for their age. It is important to understand that any comparisons made now are done so against data from a time before the children experienced significant disruption to their last two years of learning. At this moment I do not believe it is constructive to place too much value on this data, other than to evidence the impact of the last fourteen months and to make a new starting point from which to gauge your child’s progress over the coming years. This may reflect that some children have thrived on their “lockdown learning” while others could not.
We will therefore not be commenting on their levels of attainment within the end of year reports but if you do wish to know this information for your child then please email the school and we will be happy to share it with you. As ever, the staff have been focusing on your child’s next steps in their learning as well as their well-being and engagement with their learning. The school reports focus on manageable ways that you can continue to support your child away from school.

It is also very important that we thank you for doing as much as you were able to do with, and for, your children in what were often unique and challenging circumstances. Thank you.

Kindest regards G Cushnie

Ballaugh Primary School Headteacher Dr G Cushnie

Station Road, Ballaugh, IM7 5AH Tel: (01624) 897311

Parent Veen,

At the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 we report a teacher assessment for overall performance in core subjects. I always feel that this is a rather narrow summing up of a child’s abilities and definitely not the only predictor of their potential.

Your child has learned so much since Blein Toshee. As well as their attainment in core subjects, Year 6 are leaving primary education able to:

• communicate effectively in two languages

• cooperate and collaborate with others working towards a shared goal

• ask questions and work independently to find the answers

• memorise and recall useful information

• organise themselves and approach tasks with enthusiasm

• be flexible and find ways round problems

• care for others and reflect on their learning and behaviour • express themselves with creativity and originality

Their mastery of these skills will have a significant impact on the degree of success and satisfaction that they experience in life and their further education.

I wish them the very best of luck as they leave us to embark on the next stage of their education and hope that they will keep in touch.

Julie Matthews Head Teacher Bunscoill Ghaelgagh St Johns ISLE OF MAN IM4 3NA

Henry Bloom Noble – paragraph included on pupil reports

The Covid Pandemic has once again impacted on school during this academic year, resulting in pupils spending a reduced time learning and being assessed in school. The reporting format for Year 2 and 6 is therefore the same as last year. Your child’s school report will reflect the proportionate educational achievement during their time in school this year. To give you an indication of your child’s development in the core subject areas we have given guidance as to whether your child is; developing towards, achieving, or exceeding expected levels for their age at the end of the academic year.

Jurby Community School School Close, Jurby, Isle of Man, IM7 3BJ Headteacher: Mr Will Nelson Telephone: (01624) 897651 e-mail:- enquiries@jurby.sch.im Web:- www.sch.im/jurby Believe it; Achieve it Dear Parent’s At the end of Year 2 and Year 6 children used to sit formal exams called SATS (and still do in the UK), and these results were reported to parents. In the Isle of Man we no longer ask the children to sit exams at this age, instead their class teachers continually assess them in an informal manner so as to ensure that every child is given work at the correct level.
We are however required by law to share the results of our teacher assessments with parents at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 and your child’s results are shown below. Overleaf is a letter written by the Department of Education that puts the results into context, but a simple explanation is that at Year 2 the average child will achieve a level 2, and at Year 6 the average child will achieve a level 4. If you have any questions about these results please don’t hesitate to ask your child’s teacher or myself for a more detailed explanation.
Yours Sincerely Mr W Nelson Name Reading Writing Maths Science Information for Parents/Carers of Children in Year 2 and Year 6 If your child is in Year 6 or Year 2 their end of year report will contain information about the National Curriculum levels they are achieving in English (reported as reading and writing in KS1), mathematics and science. On-going teacher assessment has been used to assess these levels and the Department of Education, Sport and Culture moderates these assessments, across schools, to ensure consistency. At the end of Key Stage 1, the range of performance is expected to be between Levels 1 and 3 with the majority of pupils attaining Level 2 for reading, writing and mathematics. This is reported in three sub levels graded ‘A-C’ with ‘A’ being the highest. A very small number of children, who have identified learning difficulties, will be achieving against what are called ‘p-levels’ and this indicates they are working towards Level 1. At the end of Key Stage 2, the range of performance is expected to be between Levels 3 and 5 with the majority of pupils attaining Level 4.

END OF YEAR REPORTS 2021

Please find enclosed your child’s end of year report for the 2020-2021 academic year. This has been another challenging school year and we have all had to manage two periods of lockdown where we moved to a remote learning package. I would like to put on record my thanks and appreciation to all the pupils and parents for adapting to these changes so well.

The remote learning package meant that our federation was able to maintain a continuous provision of education despite the enforced building closures, and even though the means of teaching and learning looked different this year, the school has been able to set work, assess learning and report on a full academic year.

Inside this envelope you will find two copies of the end of year report for your child. One copy is yours to keep. We would ask that you sign and return the other copy so that we can hold an agreed record here in school. There is space for a parental comment too, should you wish to make one. Please send the signed copy back before the end of term.

Where applicable, for children in Years 4, 5 and 6 you will find a Manx Report prepared by the Manx Language Unit. And for those children completing a Key Stage (those in Year 2 and those in Year 6) you will find details of their assessed level in English, Maths and Science.

With best wishes

Max Kelly (Executive Headteacher) Executive Headteacher: Maxim Kelly Head of School (Dhoon): Sarah Shimmin Head of School (Laxey): Craig Astin Laxey Primary School, Quarry Road, Laxey, Isle of Man IM4 7DU Tel: +44 (0) 1624 861373 Web: https://laxey sch im
Dhoon Primary School, Maughold, Isle of Man IM7 1HA Tel: +44 (0) 1624 861227 Web: https://dhoon sch im 9th July 2021 END OF YEAR REPORTS 2021

Please find enclosed your child’s end of year report for the 2020-2021 academic year. This has been another challenging school year and we have all had to manage two periods of lockdown where we moved to a remote learning package. I would like to put on record my thanks and appreciation to all the pupils and parents for adapting to these changes so well.

The remote learning package meant that our federation was able to maintain a continuous provision of education despite the enforced building closures, and even though the means of teaching and learning looked different this year, the school has been able to set work, assess learning and report on a full academic year.

Inside this envelope you will find two copies of the end of year report for your child. One copy is yours to keep. We would ask that you sign and return the other copy so that we can hold an agreed record here in school. There is space for a parental comment too, should you wish to make one. Please send the signed copy back before the end of term.

Where applicable, for children in Years 4, 5 and 6 you will find a Manx Report prepared by the Manx Language Unit. And for those children completing a Key Stage (those in Year 2 and those in Year 6) you will find details of their assessed level in English, Maths and Science.

With best wishes

Max Kelly (Executive Headteacher) 9th July 2021 Executive Headteacher: Maxim Kelly Head of School (Dhoon): Sarah Shimmin Head of School (Laxey): Craig Astin Laxey Primary School, Quarry Road, Laxey, Isle of Man IM4 7DU Tel: +44 (0) 1624 861373 Web: https://laxey sch im
Dhoon Primary School, Maughold, Isle of Man IM7 1HA Tel: +44 (0) 1624 861227 Web: https //dhoon sch im Marown Primary School

A link to the Marown Primary School’s website was sent for end of key stage information / attainment.

The below information was included in the school’s newsletter.

Reports Reports for the academic year 2020/2021 will be coming home with your children today. Please read, sign and add any comments to the report and return it back to school no later than Wednesday 21st July. There is a copy for you to keep. The Year 2 and Year 6 reports also show the children’s attainment. We have decided to share this information with you to act as a benchmark as your child moves to their next Key Stage.

MICHAEL PRIMARY SCHOOL

Main Road, KIRK MICHAEL, Isle of Man. IM6 1AJ Tel: (01624) 878246 E-mail: michaelenquiries@sch.im Website: https://michael.sch.im

           Headteacher:   Mrs K. Riley

Deputy Headteacher: Mr K Lythgoe

Work Hard, Aim High, Have Fun!

Dear parents and guardians,

Please find enclosed your child’s school report for this year. Please can you read it, then add your comments and return it to school. We will take a photocopy and then return the original to you, thank you.

It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of another very challenging year for our children in school. They have impressed all of us with their resilience in coping with moving to remote learning, hub school situations and then coming back to Michael School full time. Everyone at Michael School wants to pass our thanks to you for supporting your children while they were learning at home! Every family worked so hard to balance all the aspects of home and ‘school’ life so a big ‘well done’ to you all!

For children in Years 2 and 6, there is also a section regarding ‘Teacher Assessment’ which shows if your child is ‘working towards, at expected or working above’ the expected level for a child in their year group. Please note that these levels have not been adjusted to consider the impact of the interrupted school year that we have experienced, so while it may say that a child is ‘working towards’ the expected level, this is not unexpected this year. If there were any concerns, your child’s teacher would have discussed these with you during the recent parent meetings online. Your child has made good progress and this is the most important factor to us!

Due to the changes in where the children were learning, along with the days leading up to school closures, there may be some unexpected ‘unauthorised absences’ on your child’s attendance report. Please do not worry about this, this may be due to many reasons e.g. hub attendance, arriving after the register closed etc. Let’s hope for a more normal year from September! The attendance shown is also to the end of June 2021.

Finally, we want to say a huge thank you to every child at Michael School. You have been so adaptable and we couldn’t be more proud of you! Every single target you’ve achieved during this tricky year should be celebrated, you’re brilliant!

Yours sincerely,

K. Riley Headteacher

16th July 2021

Dear Parents, Enclosed you will find a report which reflects the learning and progress made this academic year, attendance as a % and Interventions which you child has accessed, if applicable. Even though this has been another disrupted year, because of the availability of online provision we have been able to keep a focus on attain

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