Progress, Assessment and Reporting
Ensuring that all Lees Brook learners meet or exceed their potential is central to the academy’s day-to-day work. Our curriculum has been carefully designed to support all students to make progress from their individual starting points towards their targets derived from their prior attainment.
We assess and record evidence of learning and progress in a number of ways in order to paint a holistic view of each student. This enables staff to work in partnership with parents to track, monitor and reward successes; stretch and challenge; anticipate barriers to learning; as well as support and intervene where required.
The GO 4 Schools online platform enables the effective communication of students’ progress, showing live data alongside their behaviour, homework and attendance. At scheduled points throughout the year, each student’s progress data is ‘snapshotted’ and published to GO 4 Schools as a progress report which show progress trends over time. These can be accessed and viewed by parents digitally. Visit our GO 4 Schools page for more information.
Assessment Framework
The Archway Learning Trust (ALT) Assessment Framework aims to ensure in-year assessment is robust, offers opportunities for trust-wide collaboration and comparability and helps us work together towards common goals to achieve the best for our students.
At Key Assessment Points throughout the year, all students complete formal assessments which track their progress, highlighting areas of strength and any need for further improvement. For most students there will be two formal assessments in each subject per academic year. The assessments are designed to test students’ retention of core knowledge and develop how they apply this in different contexts. Content and skills are interleaved within assessments throughout the year to support students in moving knowledge from the short term to their long term memory.
These formal assessments sit alongside teachers’ ongoing verbal and written feedback to students.
A Guide to the Assessment & Attitude to Learning at Lees Brook Academy
Key Stage 3 assessments (updated January 2024)
In years 7, 8 and 9 we intend this year to provide a clearer picture of how your child is achieving. This will be done by using GCSE grades. Since 2017 GCSE grades have been reported using a 9 to 1 scale where 9 is the highest. Roughly a 4 is equivalent to a C and a 7 is equivalent to an A.
Minimum Expected Grade
For each subject you will see a minimum expected grade.
This is an indication of how students with similar starting points achieve at GCSE nationally. Many will achieve this grade, but we hope your child will achieve above this.
Indicative GCSE Grade
Once a year students sit a “Key Assessment” in most subjects. The results of these assessments are standardised and used to produce an indication of GCSE outcome.
An Indicative GCSE Grade of a 5 means based on their latest assessment the student is on track to achieve a 5 at the end of year 11. It does not mean they would achieve a Grade 5 today.
It should be seen along side the percentages displayed from smaller checkpoint assessments throughout the year.
Progress
Reports will contain a statement using the words “Above”, “On”, “Below” and “Well Below”. This indicates how they are performing in comparison to their minimum expected grade.
Key Stage 4 assessment measures the progress made in each subject towards students’ individual target grades. Using ongoing teacher assessment of classwork and tested assessments, teachers record a projected grade which is the grade which the student is expected to achieve at the end of the course. A current ‘working at’ grade is also calculated using the academy’s tracking processes
Attitude to Learning (ATL)
ATL grades are recorded by teachers alongside progress data to describe each student’s approach to their own learning. Grade descriptors indicate the types of attitudes students display and are used in order to guide and support students in becoming better learners. The descriptors for these can be seen below.
