View from the Classroom
work on, you just look on Classroom Monitor and it helps you to see their next steps. I have used it both as a Head Teacher and as a Senior Leader. As a teacher, it is easy to use and you feel that your assessment for learning is much more robust. If you are clear about where the children are and their next steps, then it is a lot easier to plan and to teach the way they need to be taught.
What advice would you give to other schools? I’m currently sharing Ash Grove’s best practice with Daven Primary School, where the team had experienced similar challenges with tracking pupil progress. The school also replaced its paper-based APP with Classroom Monitor, which means that I could come in and know what I needed to do straight away. As a Senior Leader who is new to the school, I’m more convinced of the quality of assessments undertaken by teachers using Classroom Monitor. I can also look at this data any time, which is much easier than having to collect it manually.
Classroom Monitor
Classroom Monitor is an online interactive markbook and pupil progress tracker that gives teachers a quick and easy way to assess and report on each pupil’s continual development. Used in over 1,500 schools, the markbook links to the National Curriculum and Government criteria for consistent assessment and best practice. At a glance, teachers, senior staff and governors can track student progress in real-time, and identify gaps in attainment. Ofsted inspectors can easily evaluate the school’s performance, with progress data that maps out the areas of excellence and points where additional attention is necessary. For more information, visit
www.classroommonitor.co.uk
What impact has the improved Ofsted rating had on the school?
The success of Ash Grove has meant that it has become a sought after school and it is growing year-on-year. The pupil roll has doubled from 90 to 180. The teaching has improved considerably, parents hear about it and consequently want to send their children there which is great.
What does Ofsted have to say? Ash Grove’s Ofsted report says that progress for all pupils is rapid and that it has excellent systems for checking progress regularly and setting targets. This keeps teachers ‘on their toes’ and means that pupils themselves are very much involved and always know what is expected of them. Expectations across the school are consistently high and pupils consistently rise to them. School leaders check teaching, attainment and pupils’ progress rigorously and are single- minded in their view that only the best is good enough for the pupils. They have an accurate view of how well the school is doing and are fully capable of maintaining its high performance.
Ash Grove school
Ash Grove is a voluntary academy convertor school which is recognised as ‘Outstanding’ overall by Ofsted particularly in the areas of Achievement, Teaching and Learning, Behaviour and Safety and Leadership and Management.
Its mission statement is ‘Aspire’ and it aims for all children, staff, families and community is to aspire to be better, to aspire to be learners, to aspire to be leaders and to aspire to be happy.
April 2014
www.education-today.co.uk
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