CONTRIBUTORS Safeguarding children
This month, regular Education Today contributor GRAHAM COOPER, head of product strategy at Capita SIMS, offers some tips on ensuring continuing safeguarding of children joining school in September.
With the end of term now firmly in sight, many of you will be thinking ahead to September. It’s an incredibly busy period with many months of preparation for a new intake of both pupils and staff. One area that has had increasing focus placed on it recent years is in ensuring that adequate arrangements are in place to ensure the safeguarding of any new children when they join a school. So as you are preparing for the new intake, here are some tips that
may help.
Before a child joins a school Even with the best intentions, information about a child can get lost or delayed. But schools are still responsible for ensuring that vulnerable children are identified and protected from day one. If you have any concerns, talk to their parents, if it is possible or gather as many pieces of the jigsaw puzzle as you can from schools they previously attended or your local authority to ensure they have the right support in place as soon as they start. Identify vulnerable groups of children who need additional support in
your management information systems, so that you can monitor their progress as groups from the beginning. You could also set up alerts before the start of a new term so the system is set up to automatically email you if attendance or achievement drops below a certain threshold for a particular child. This way, you do not need to go looking for information to find out if a child is showing signs of needing more support - and step in quickly to help.
The first few weeks It takes a while for teachers to get to know their new cohorts. Although it is likely all teachers will remember who the particularly vulnerable children are, in the first few days of term, it may be more difficult to recall which child’s father is only allowed to pick them up on a Friday, or which child has an allergy or asthma. You can make sure your teachers have access to this information by
using codes on the register, whether paper or electronic based, that alert them to the fact that there is a SEND requirement or they have medical needs, so they are reminded of these issues daily. The use of tablets and apps also make this a straightforward process.
Teachers see a picture of each member of the class and within one simple tap, can see important information about the child such as medical conditions and dietary information with the SIMS Teacher app, for example. This instant access to information makes it far easier to not only ensure the safety of the child, but also access parental or carer contact information in an instant, if required.
Ongoing support The ready flow of information is also critical as a child settles in to their new environment. Parents and carers will want to be notified if there are any concerns about their child. This regular contact can make a lasting difference as it can prevent issues from escalating. Remember to record details of all telephone calls, emails and home
visits so that a child’s electronic record is kept up to date. This information will also prove vital if you are working with external agencies such as the child or family’s social worker, charities or other support teams. Preparation is key to ensuring vulnerable children get the best start at
your school. The flow of information will ensure the support they need is available exactly when they require it.
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Grades, levels and labels
This month, regular contributor KIRSTY BERTENSHAWreflects on the use of grades, levels and scores in education.
Do levels and scores really matter? This is a question I asked myself in the wake of the KS2 results this year after they were deemed not comparable to previous years due to the changes in testing. Does it matter what the KS2 results are? Surely GSCEs are the important ones? Or A-levels? This probably depends on your perspective. As an adult, my
experience is of more value to me than the original degree I studied nearly 10 years ago. For our 16 year olds, the wait for GCSE results can be excruciating. Regardless of which category you fall into, the result is a label you acquire. But is this labelling beneficial? The recent KS2 exams are given a score, with expected progress
being 100 or above; no more numerical levels. This is due to “assessment without levels” which is a new concept in British education, especially odd for a system that thrives on reporting progress. And as schools are still required to report back on the progress of each child, numerical levels have to be replaced with a label of some sort. Most schools are using the national curriculum descriptors which are Emerging, Developing, and Secure based on expected progress. New GCSEs will be awarded a number instead of a grade, with 9
being the top and 1 being the bottom. A known grade or level gives you comparable data, a standard to set yourself against. But is it beneficial? Does it matter which grading levelling or labelling system is used?
Something about “a rose by any other name...” comes to mind. We are still labelling our children - sometimes at a very early age. Labels affect further groupings in schools which can limit learning if they are the wrong group. I can name at least one pupil limited in her learning because I spend my time dealing with others, instead of pushing her to achieve greater levels. Labels can demotivate children if they are not the same as others around them, or if they tried really hard but still haven’t achieved what they want. Often, a default response is “well, I’m no good at that anyway. I don’t like that lesson”. This then becomes a reason not to try, as they “aren’t good at it anyway”. Of course, this is then a self sustaining cycle of, in effect, failure. Do grades or labels actually do any good? I was fortunate enough
recently to be in a school which encourages practical research within the classroom, and a colleague tried assessment without levels with one class when marking the class work. Interestingly, those without grades were keener to make improvements when they received their marked work back than those with grades. With lower grades than others, some pupils were demotivated and didn’t try, or too embarrassed to show the work to anyone. Or, those that already achieved a good grade didn’t see the point in making improvements, limiting their potential. Grades, levels and labels all have a purpose. They enable us to see
who is achieving or excelling, to see who has the right skills for a job, to choose between candidates for an apprenticeship or a further qualification. But they are not the whole picture. Exams don’t describe personal skills or attitude to learning or life. Perhaps instead, we should save the labelling for when it really matters, like GCSEs, and not force a label upon children when they are still too young to understand the implications of it.
July/August 2016
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