Pupil Achievement KS3

Summary

A request was made for details on KS3 pupil assessment and setting policies across Isle of Man secondary schools, to which the Department of Education responded with specific data for Ballakermeen High School and Castle Rushen High School.

Key Facts

• Ballakermeen High School assesses progress half-termly using National Curriculum descriptors.
• Castle Rushen High School uses setting for subjects including English, Maths, ICT, History, Geography, Spanish, French, and RE.
• At Ballakermeen, Year 7 students in Maths, English, History, RE, and Geography are taught in mixed ability groups pending review.
• Both schools utilize a range of ability levels (e.g., 2A to 7C) to define set groupings.
• The response provided detailed tables of student numbers and ability ranges for specific sets at both schools.

Data Disclosed

• 2017-09-11
• 2017-09-22
• 20 September 2017
• IM102335I
• 31
• 26-28
• 24
• 18
• 16
• 15
• 11
• 5b-4a
• 6c-5b
• 7c-6c
• 5C
• 6B
• 2A
• 7A

Data Tables (28)

Full Response Text

20 September 2017

Re: Freedom of Information Request – Reference Number IM102335I

Your Request:-

I am seeking details regarding the assessment and setting of pupils in KS3 across the Island’s Secondary schools. Accordingly, could you forward me the following information: i.) Within each secondary school, how is the level of pupil achievement assessed in each of the KS3 years (e.g. by reference to traditional National Curriculum levels – 6c, 7b etc, by a “locally derived” level 6+, 6, by reference to GCSE/IGCSE grade equivalents etc and so on)? ii.) For each secondary school, what is the policy on setting pupils in relation to their academic ability in Years 7, 8 and 9 and for each school which academic subjects are taught in sets comprised of pupils with a defined range of ability and which subjects are taught in random mixed ability groups within these years? iii.) For each secondary school and for each subject where the pupils are set according to ability, how many pupils are there within each set and what are the upper and lower levels of achievement for each set across each of the KS3 years (e.g. Nonsuch School Year 8 Maths Set 1 – 25 pupils – with levels of achievement between 8b and 7b; Year 8 Maths Set 2 – 27 pupils – with levels of achievement between 7c and 6b etc)

Department Response

The Department is pleased to provide you with the following information in response to your Freedom of Information request, IM102335I.

BALLAKERMEEN HIGH SCHOOL

Assessment of student progress is carried out on a half-termly basis across all subject areas. Grading is applied using National Curriculum descriptors.

Students in Years 7-9 are taught in mixed ability groups in the following subjects:  Art  Drama  Music
 ICT  RE  PE
 *Design Technology. Mixed and predominantly single sex

Students are taught in groupings based on a defined range of ability in the following subjects: Department of Education and Children

Rheynn Ynsee as Paitchyn

 English  Maths  Science  Humanities (Geography, History and RE*)  Modern Foreign Languages (MFL)

*Students in Year 7 Maths, English, History, RE and Geography are currently taught in mixed ability groups. This will be reviewed after assessments have taken place at the end of term 1. Design Technology set Year 9 classes based on Year 8 achievement. Each year group has a most able group (E) and a group that receives additional support (S).

Year 7

Subject Set Number Number of Students in Set Range of Ability Science/MFL 7A1 31 5b-4a

7A2 26-28 4a-4c

7A3 24 4b-3b

7A4 18 3b-1a

7B1 31 5b-4a

7B2 26-28 4a-4c

7B3 24 4b-3b

7B4 18 3b-1a

7C1 31 5b-4a

7C2 26-28 4a-4c

7C3 24 4b-3b

7C4 18 3b-1a

Year 8 Subject Set Number Number of Students in Set Range of Ability Science/Humanities/Maths/English/MFL 8A1 31 6c-5b

8A2 26-28 5b-4a

8A3 24 4a-4b

8A4 18 4a-2b

8B1 31 6c-5b

8B2 26-28 5b-4a

8B3 24 4a-4b

8B4 18 4a-2b

8C1 31 6c-5b

8C2 26-28 5b-4a

8C3 24 4a-4b

8C4 18 4a-2b

Year 9 Subject Set Number Number of Students in Set General Range of Ability Science/Humanities/Maths/English/MFL 9A1 31 7c-6c

9A2 26-28 6c-5b

9A3 24 5b-5c

9A4 18 5c-3a

9B1 31 7c-6c

9B2 26-28 6c-5b

9B3 24 5b-5c

9B4 18 5c-3a

9C1 31 7c-6c

9C2 26-28 6c-5b

9C3 24 5b-5c

9C4 18 5c-3a

CASTLE RUSHEN HIGH SCHOOL

Castle Rushen use National Curriculum Levels in Key Stage 3.

The following subjects use setting:

a. English b. Maths c. ICT d. History e. Geography f. Spanish g. French h. R.E.

The last 5 reflect setting for English, and ICT reflects setting for Maths. Subjects in random mixed ability groupings are:

a. Science b. D&T c. P.E. d. Art e. Drama f. Music

3) Analysis of ability range for those subjects which use setting. English End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7E/EEC 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7E/AK 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7E/RK 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7E/IC 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 7E/IK 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8E/IC 28 5B 6A 6C 1 8E/RK 26 4A 5A 5B 2 8E/EDM 25 4B 5B 4A 3 8E/EEC 22 4C 4A 4B 4

History End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7W/Hi1 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7W/Hi2 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7W/Hi3 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7W/Hi4 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 7W/Hi5 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8W/Hi1 28 5C 6B 5A 1 8W/Hi2 26 3A 6A 5A 2 8W/Hi3 25 4C 5B 4A 3 8W/Hi4 22 4C 5C 4B 4 8W/Hi5 15 3C 4B 3A 5 9W/Hi1 30 3B 7A 6B 1 9W/Hi2 30 5B 6A 5A 2 9W/Hi3 27 5C 7C 5A 3 9W/Hi4 19 4C 5A 5B 4 9W/Hi5 11 3C 4A 4C 5

Geography

End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7W/Gg1 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7W/Gg2 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7W/Gg3 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7W/Gg4 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 7W/Gg5 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8W/Gg1 28 5B 6B 6C 1 8W/Gg2 26 4A 6C 5A 2 8W/Gg3 25 4B 5A 5B 3 8W/Gg4 22 3B 5B 4A 4 8W/Gg5 15 3B 4A 3A 5 9W/Gg1 30 4B 7C 6B 1 9W/Gg2 30 5C 6A 6C 2 9W/Gg3 27 4A 6B 5B 3 9W/Gg4 19 4C 5A 5B 4 9W/Gg5 11 3B 5C 4B 5

Spanish End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7W/Sp1 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7W/Sp2 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7W/Sp3 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7W/Sp4 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 8E/AK 15 3C 4B 3A 5 9E/IC 30 5A 7C 6C 1 9E/EMM 30 4B 6B 5A 2 9E/EEC 27 4B 5A 5B 3 9E/AK 19 4C 5B 5C 4 9E/RK 11 3C 5C 4C 5 7W/Sp5 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8W/Sp1 28 3C 4C 3A 1 8W/Sp2 26 2B 3A 3C 2 8W/Sp3 25 2B 4C 3C 3 8W/Sp4 22 2C 3C 2A 4 8W/Sp5 15 2C 3A 2A 5 9W/Sp1 30 4C 5A 4A 1 9W/Sp2 30 3C 5B 3A 2 9W/Sp3 27 3C 4B 3A 3 9W/Sp4 19 2A 4C 3B 4 9W/Sp5 11 2C 3B 2B 5

French End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7W/Fr1 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7W/Fr2 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7W/Fr3 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7W/Fr4 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 7W/Fr5 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8W/Fr1 28 3C 5C 3A 1 8W/Fr2 26 2B 4B 4C 2 8W/Fr3 25 2B 4C 3C 3 8W/Fr4 22 2A 4C 3C 4 8W/Fr5 15 2C 3C 2B 5 9W/Fr1 30 4B 5A 5C 1 9W/Fr2 30 3A 5A 4A 2 9W/Fr3 27 3C 5B 4B 3 9W/Fr4 19 2A 4B 3A 4 9W/Fr5 11 2A 4C 3A 5

RE End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7W/Re1 30 5C 6B 5C 1 7W/Re2 30 4C 5C 5C 2 7W/Re3 28 3B 5C 4A 3 7W/Re4 26 3A 4B 4B/C 4 7W/Re5 16 2A 4C 3A 5 8W/Re1 28 4A 6B 5B 1 8W/Re2 26 3B 6C 5C 2 8W/Re3 25 3B 5A 4A 3 8W/Re4 22 3B 5B 4B 4 8W/Re5 15 3C 4B 3A 5 9W/Re1 30 4A 7C 6B 1 9W/Re2 30 5C 6B 5A 2 9W/Re3 27 4A 6C 5B 3 9W/Re4 19 4B 5A 5C 4 9W/Re5 11 2A 5C 4C 5

Maths End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7M/SL 30 4A 6B 5B 1 7M/DE 30 4C 5C 4A 2 7M/JB 31 4C 4A 4B 3 7M/KC 29 3B 4B 4C 4 7M/KB 10 2A 4C 3B 5 8M/KC 30 5C 6A 5A 1 8M/GK 26 4A 5A 5B 2 8M/SL 28 4C 5B 5C 3 8M/KB 20 3A 5C 4C 4 8M/DE 12 2A 4C 3B 5 9M/DE 29 6C 7B 6B 1 9M/KB 29 6C 6B 6C 2 9M/KC 28 4B 6C 5B 3 9M/JB 24 4A 5A 5C 4 9M/GK 9 3B 4C 3A 5

ICT End of previous year achievement Class No. of Students Lowest Highest Median Set 7M/It1 30 4A 6B 5B 1 7M/It2 30 4C 5C 4A 2 7M/It3 31 4C 4A 4B 3 7M/It4 29 3B 4B 4C 4 7M/It5 10 2A 4C 3B 5 8M/It1 30 4B 6C 5B 1 8M/It2 26 4C 5A 5C 2 8M/It3 28 4B 5B 5C 3 8M/It4 20 3C 4A 4B 4 8M/It5 12 3C 4B 3A 5 9M/It1 29 6C 7B 6B 1 9M/It2 29 5B 6B 5A 2 9M/It3 28 5C 6C 5B 3 9M/It4 24 4A 5A 5C 4 9M/It5 9 4B 5C 4A 5

Queen Elizabeth II High School

English

i) Students are assessed by the ‘historic’ National Curriculum Levels – using the more

detailed criteria from The National Strategies ‘Assessing Pupil Progress’ which divides the

Levels into Assessment Foci. The levels have been reported using + and – but will be

reported in 2017-18 as 4a, 4b etc

ii) In English students are setted by academic ability in Year 8 and 9. In Year 7, those students performing below 4c (based on final KS2 data) are organized into one set from September. After October half term, when students have completed both a reading and writing assessment, students are then grouped according to ability. The data used to determine these groupings are: KS2 data; Reading assessment data; Writing assessment data. CEMS data is no longer used. The groupings are reviewed in January after subsequent assessments and at the end of the academic year. All setting is reviewed at the end of each academic year.

(iii)
Data taken from end of 2016-17 Academic Year. The numbers and data will have

changed with the changing school roll – and movement of students between sets with

students at the higher end of the sets moving up in some instances.

Obviously it needs to be remembered that students in lower sets will have work

differentiated and scaffolded to enable them to attain certain levels. These levels are

not necessarily a measure of independently produced work.
Students with AEN will have access to laptops to help revise and improve work.

Year 7 (end of 2016-17) Set Number of students Reading Range Writing Range 1 29 5- to 5+ 5- to 5+ 2 27 4+ to 5+ 4 to 5- 3 25 4+ to 5 4 to 5 4 20 3+ to 4 4- to 4+ 5 14 3+ to 4 3+ to 4

Year 8 (end of 2016-17) Set Number of students Reading Range Writing Range 1 31 5+ to 6 5+ to 6 2 30 4+ to 5+ 5- to 5+ 3 29 5 to 5+ 5- to 5+ 4 23 3+ to 4+ 4 to 5- 5 15 3 to 4+ 3+ to 5-

Year 9 (end of 2016-17) Set Number of students Reading Range Writing Range Final overall level range 1 30 6 to 7+ 6 to 7 6 to 7 2 29 5 to 6 5 to 6 5+ to 6 3 27 5 to 6 5 to 6- 5 to 6- 4 23 5- to 6- 4+ to 6- 5- to 6- 5 15 3- to 5- 3+ to 4+ 3+ to 4+

As far as science goes here are the answers to these questions.

(I)
All assessments are based on externally levelled questions in year 7 and 8. Tests are

based on a SATS questions bank of levelled questions prepared using a bought in

preparation system called ‘TestBase’. Year 7 and 8 National curriculum levels are given

in the format 4a,4b and 4c for example. In years 9 through to 11 students are tested

using exam questions from IGCSE papers which are collated into tests in house. We use

past paper grade boundaries to level these papers. These are converted to levels for

year 9 students for reporting purposes. (II) 1. In Science at Queen Elizabeth II High School (QEII) students have not been set by ability in year 7 for the last 3 years but have been placed in mixed ability groups. For the first ten lessons of the year students do a skills based unit in tutor groups to learn to use the lab appropriately. These groups are then altered using data from a baseline test/KS2 data. We rank students and we work down the list putting each consecutive pupil into a different group. This leads to truly mixed ability groups and allows students to meet a wider range of their peers during year 7 which we see as a transition year. The expectation to this is where we group students with SEN who require support. These students are put into the same groups in year 7 for the practical reason that we couldn’t adequately support them with learning support staff if they were spread throughout the year group. 2. In years 8 and 9 we do set students. At the start of year 8 we group students according to ability on a ranking basis with approximately 30 students in sets 1-3, 24 students in set 4 and 12 in set 5. Students have an opportunity to move set each rotation where we do a selection of assessments and move the top 2-3 students up or down groups as appropriate. There are three rotations in the year and students who perform highest in the group move up and lowest move down. If a student has moved down in a previous rotation and performs at the bottom of their new group in the following rotation they will be protected from dropping again so students don’t go into free fall but have a chance to remedy their marks. Likewise students who have moved up will not be moved back down the following rotation if they perform bottom of their new group to give them a chance to settle. The same policy is followed in year 9 where students start studying GCSE Science but there are only two rotations. 3. This allows us to encourage students to perform to their best and to move up groups before we have to fix groups in year 10 and 11. It is necessary to fix these groups at this point because of the range of Science qualifications available, for example Separate Science, Double Science, Single Science. Students need to be prepared for their respective exam which limits opportunities to move students, different exams require different knowledge and as such different teaching timelines. (III)

Maths

a) The maths levels of pupils in the KS3 years is assessed against the traditional National Curriculum levels.

b) Mathematics in years 7, 8 and 9 is taught in streamed ability sets.
Students in the KS3 years are set on ability when beginning in year 7 based on their KS2 levels from Primary school. Set changes then occur after October half term based on an initial assessment completed in the first two weeks along with a half term assessment based on learning over the first 7 weeks. Year 7 set changes then occur again over the Easter holidays based on their first 4 assessments, again over the summer holidays and then at Christmas, Easter and the summer holidays over years 8 and 9. Movements can occur outside of these points if required.

c) Based on last years KS2 results and end of year assessments (2016-2017).

Group Number of Pupils Low Level High Level Year 7 Set 1 28 5C 5A Year 7 Set 2 27 4A 5C Year 7 Set 3 30 4B 4A Year 7 Set 4 22 3A 4B Year 7 Set 5 12 2A 3A Year 8 Set 1 28 5A 6A Year 8 Set 2 26 5C 6C Year 8 Set 3 26 4B 5A Year 8 Set 4 22 4C 5B Year 8 Set 5 11 3B 4C Year 9 Set 1 29 6B 7A Year 9 Set 2 31 6C 7C Year 9 Set 3 28 5C 6B Year 9 Set 4 25 4B 5A Year 9 Set 5 15 4C 5A

RAMSEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL

In response to the three questions posed:

1. In all years at Key Stage 3 pupil attainment is assessed with reference to National Curriculum Levels.

2. Whether to set at Key Stage 3 is decis

[Response truncated — full text is 21,462 characters]