KS3 Parental Support Evening

Ceddy de la Croix(Deputy Headteacher)

andMari Phillip

December 4th 2012

SANDRINGHAM SCHOOL

Aims of tonight

1. To clarify the meaning of some of the educational jargon – particularly around assessment

2. To share some strategies in order to help you improve your child’s learning.

3. To network with other parents (and share tips on how to engage

with your child at home and thus support their learning).

THE ICE-BREAKER

“HUMAN BINGO”

PART 1- AssessmentWhat do the following mean? CATsSATsTGNational Curriculum Levels

National Curriculum Levels can be found on line......

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/secondary/b00199545/history/attainment

Our Target Grades aim to ensure our students aim for a minimum of two levels of progress from KS2 to KS3

It is based on the SATs grades attained at

the end of Year 6 from English and Maths

grade

We aim to personalise these Targets a bit more in the practical based subjects

How is my child’s Target Grade worked out?

Parental Challenge

Activity: Badge Assessment

Task: On the piece of paper, design a new

school badge for Sandringham

Assessments At least once every half term an aspect of

your child’s work should be levelled. e.g. 4a, 5c.

Each subject will internally assess your child at least 4 to 5 times over the course of a year – they will be given a National Curriculum Level for this assessment.

End of year exams as well (3rd – 7th June)You can check their exercise books for

teacher grades, trackers, user friendly descriptors and teacher feedback

ReportingStudents receive 3 reports a year. 1. Autumn2. Spring3. Summer

All reports will have:1. CA - Current Attainment grades (NC level);

2. TG - a Target Grade

3. Grades A to E for: Effort / Home Learning / Uniform / Attitude to learning / Attendance / Punctuality

The Summer Report will contain an exam level/grade

ReportingInsert picture of report and

answer any queries about the actual report at this point.

Parent Consultation EventsLearning Review Day (November)

Parents’ Teacher Consultations:Year 7 = Thurs 25th AprilYear 8 = Thurs 18th April Year 9 = Wed 6th March

* If ever you have any concerns please contact the subject teacher via e-mail or via your child’s tutor (student planner)

Tracking Student ProgressAll attainment levels are recorded on our

network. These are readily available for teachers, tutors and Directors of Learning to monitor progress and to plan appropriate lessons

Current Attainment Levels are tracked against the individual students’ Target Grade

A ‘traffic light’ system highlights student progress to ensure all students are on track to meet or exceed their target

Intervention will take place with underachieving students

Quick Summary• Understand that Levels are made up of many

different strands within it. Your child could be a 5a in one strand (handling data in Maths) and a 6a (application of number in Maths) in another. Best fit determines overall NC Level.

• Look for user friendly assessment criteria in your child’s exercise book to help your child move up a Level.

• The overall Level Descriptors can be accessed from the web.

• Know your child’s levels and ask them to explain what they need to do to get the next level in a piece of work (not always easy for every piece of work!)

Part 2: “Questioning your child ”

Bloom’s Taxonomy of questioning

Benjamin Bloom, 1956

\\sand.beausandver.local\1984\StaffHome\delacroixc\Sandringham\Teaching and Learning\Snail Questioning Wheel.pdf

Now you try to use this!

TASK: “Question the object”On your table is an object which

has something to do with my recent

trip to Germany with the school.

Think of two higher order questions you

could ask about the object.

How can you use this at home?To help your child revise and

embed the learning (move through the levels of questioning)

Helping your child to really understand and grasp topic/concept/coursework they are covering(moving from surface to deeper

learning)

PART 3: Support Tips

Do these sound familiar...“All I get is grunts.....”

Ask him/her a question and all I get is “What do you wanna know for...”

“It’s like talking to a brick wall at times”

5 PRACTICAL TIPS ON SUPPORTING LEARNING AT HOME

TIP 1: Encouraging good `talk’

It will be difficult to `talk’ learning until the habit , culture and ethos of good talk has been embedded at home. Encourage `talk’ by:

Examples: • Deciding what TV programme to watch• Gathering ideas on what Xmas presents to buy• Deciding on what take away option to have• Decorating a room – budget• Planning a holiday - budget• Shopping – wish list, where, when, how to travel

Good `talk’ develops a range of skills, such as:persuasion; giving opinions; explaining and reasoning; and

most importantly it extends their vocabulary.

TIP 2: Modelling good talk By sharing daily experiences and eventse.g• An incident at work• An incident at home• Observations you made on a journey• New person you met• News from a friend or family• An article you read in the newspaper• What’s happening in a TV programme• Talking while cooking, playing cards and play

stations etc

It is often at these times, that the children will then

open up and talk more about their school and work

at school

TIP 3:Ensuring the home environment is conducive to learning?

Examples: • Quiet area/ reduced distractions• Access to all the resources (to make them independent

e.g. laptop./ dictionary/ revision books)• Create time• Can you make the Home Learning enjoyable - rewarding

TIP 4: Rewards and Sanctions

• What motivates your child? (privileges)• What sanctions do they not like? (a sanction

only • works if they do not like it)• Be consistent + stick to your rules• Reward more than you sanction• The type of reward and sanction will change

over time• Use what psychologists call 'descriptive

praise' which is akin to reflective listening.

Here are some examples of Descriptive Praise:-“This may sound silly to you, but I really appreciate that you hung your coat on the peg instead of leaving it on the chair.”

“You may think it’s strange of me to say this, but I really want you to know how pleased I am. For the past few weeks you’ve been remembering to bring home all your equipment from school every day.”

“Thanks for ringing to say you’d be late.”

“I asked you to clear the table. You did it straightaway.”

“You sat down and just got on with your homework. I didn’t need to remind you about it. Well done.”

TIP 5: Build confidence

Examples:

1. motivate, praise and encourage your child’s effort, giving them a sense of achievement

Useful reading on motivation and the importance of focusing on effort:

Carol Dweck “Mindset”OrMathew Syed: “Bounce”

2. Give the child responsibility and independence (increasingly so with age)

Weblinks.....

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/index.htm

http://www.parentchannel.tv/14-19-years

Thank you for coming

The End

“Each day of our lives we make deposits in the

memory banks of our children”

(Charles R. Swindoll)

Any questions...

Ceddy.delacroix@sandringham.herts.sch.uk

Please contact me with any queries

Part 3: Thinking Strategy“DE BONOS

SIX THINKING HATS”

What are they?

The Six Thinking Hats

                                                                                                                       

data, facts, information known or unknown

Negatives, difficulties, problems

Feelings, hunches, intuition

CreativitySolutionsPossible alternatives

Benefits, positives

Managing the thinking Chair person

• When are they used?

TASK: Discuss how you could use De Bonos Six Thinking Hats to analyse the following statement:

“Should the use of performing enhancing drugs in athletics be legalised”

To explain the importance of questioning in the classroom

How can we use strategy at home?

Encouraging your child to look at a topic/problem/issue from different perspectives

Useful when writing essays in history/ geography/ RS/ English – understanding different viewpoints and thus give a balanced view

To further develop their emotional intelligence

PART 4: Learning Styles? How do we use these at Sandringham?

Visual AuditoryKinaestheticInterpersonalIntrapersonal

Understanding how your child learns best