At February’s Academic & Pastoral Committee meeting, Assistant Head Mrs Lungley gave a presentation on various aspects of new data-collection, tracking and assessment procedures for September 2013. As Chair of the Committee and Link Governor, I had a follow-up meeting with her on Monday, 18th March. One of the topics Mrs Lungley covered in her presentation was the range of grades used (at present, the likes of ‘aspirational’, ‘target’, ‘expected’, ‘working at’). She is currently working on compiling a guide to clarify some of the issues surrounding grading in order to make it clear how each of the different types of grades is established in terms of input (central data, teachers, students, etc.), what the purpose of each grade is and whom the grades are shared with (students, parents, etc.). Another area we looked at is the groundwork being done to provide parents with the opportunity in future to log on, via the School’s website, to access selected information about their children and their lives at school. It goes without saying this is a minefield, with plenty of delicate issues that need to be negotiated carefully – personal data security, safeguarding, selection of information to be made accessible. This is still a work in progress, but one where progress is clearly moving apace. One of the next goals will be to devise a workable prototype version that could potentially be trialled with some sample groups.
Mr K Watson
Vice Chairman of Governors