thoughts on KS2 results?

[chantelle]

should these be trusted at all? I'm just looking at the results for Southwark that came out in December - Bellenden School goes from 29% two years ago to 73% in 2010 to 100% in 2011 - how is that in any way credible?

[Fuschia]

The results each year represent a differ cohort, so you can't really glean much from he trend

[Scruffy Mummy]

If you look at the context surrounding the trend it very much makes sense. I believe the new head has been in place just about three or four years (people who know the school better can correct me)- he has made radical changes from what I know. However, KS2 results reflect the acheivement of the year 6 cohort. Any changes made to teaching, assessment and culture in any school will have less effect on the year 6 pupils who have (unforuntately) had most of their education in the previous culture. Therefore results from the year 6 students in the first year of a new leadership will not be likely to reflect this new culture/new changes.

As children move up through the school however, the culminative effect of the changes will be become evident as the children are receiving a better education from an earlier age and therefore, will achieve at a higher level in year 6. Those year 6 students at Bellenden who are achieving well now no doubt benefited from having a better culture from learning several years ago when the new head brought in the changes. This also happened at Peckham Park Primary which had very low results several years ago and is now one of the highest performing schools in Southwark - a result of a radical new management.

Often, current year 6 KS2 results actually reflect what was going on in the school several years previously. So it's important to look at trends within the whole context.

[Monkey]

I could be wrong but I remember looking at the number of children sitting for the tests and it's quite low for some reasons (smallish school?). Means the stats could be more easily skewed? Just a thought.

[Fuschia]

Yes, for a one fe school, 30 pupils in Y6, each pupil = 3% approx

If the Y6 isn't full, or some are disapplied, even more

But the previous levels of each group of children, mobility etc vary so much year on year that although the headline figure may drop form one year to the next, esp for a small school, it can still be the case that the school is doing better than before, when you consider the improvement since KS1.

Great store is put by these results by the govt/league tables, and although clearly it's the school and its effectiveness that produces those eventual results, you can't mnake assumptions from a school whose results are not continually improving...

Having said that, for any school to get 100% is impressive, with any cohort!

[chantelle]

Thanks, those are good points. I haven't seen such dramatic changes elsewhere, and there usually is some consistency or trend even when new heads come in. Very few schools score 100 percent and they are mainly longtime high achievers.

[Fuschia]

They are externally marked tests.. so there is little chance for schools to fiddle it... in case that is a worry.

Anyway, i would judge a school on its OFSTED report, your own feelings and esp what is said and what you see in nursery/reception because that's the bit that will have immediate impact on your child. esp if there is a new head, what's going on in Y6 will surely change by the time your child gets there anyway!!

Look at what they do re phonics, how they teach literacy/numeracy, how much of the day is dedicated to that and how much free play, what outside space they have, how many staff in the reception class, that sort of thing. Different schools will suit different children, of course.

[chantelle]

Thanks. I seem to recall that bellenden has a disproportionate number of students leaving before year 6. Teacher friends have also said it's possible to teach the test basically and put all resources into a good outcome.

This would have been our local school and we moved to be near better ones so I found the 100% result interesting.

[Scruffy Mummy]

I looked at the school to as we were in the area - although it wasn't our closest and we didn't choose it in the end, I was very impressed with the school. It got a great Ofsted report and many positve things going for it. My impression is that in the last couple years more middle class parents who live nearby have choosen to stay at the school as they have been pleased with the Head and the positve changes. I think in the past many parents of high-achieving children will have simply left the school - now it seems they are re-assured by the leadership and teaching and are staying.

It is great that the school has improved so much. Children who don't achieve Level 4 by the end of primary are going to enter secondary school at a severe dis-advantage - they are likely to be put in lower sets and will start secondary school struggling to keep up. The tests are measuring levels of reading, numeracy and writing - foundation subjects for any further study or career. For a school whose intake isn't primarily middle class, where there is a higher level of children on free school meals, and from disadvantaged backgrounds to be achieving these results are inspiring!