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Principal’s Report to Governors St Thomas a Becket – Sept - Dec 2016.

Outcomes for students n  Having an overview of progress at Key Stage Three

n  The Gap and all vulnerable groups inc MMA

n  Focus on maths at KS4

Validated Raise online has been published and confirms us as the best school in the Diocese for P8, top three in Wakefield and top 8% nationally for the third year running. Year 11 Consultation Evening TW We had a very successful first Year 11 Consultation Evening on Thursday 20th October. Attendance was over 80% (a benchmark we are delighted to have passed!) and staff were most impressed by the active involvement of Year 11 students in the consultation process with several students again receiving feedback from teaching staff and engaging in mature conversation about their learning even though their parents and carers were unable to attend. It was excellent to see many of the students showing more involvement and self-awareness in their progress than before as most responded positively to the message from all staff to really focus and push on at this vital time of their school careers.

Year 11 Study Support Evening TW We decided that this year’s meeting would focus on the needs of Year 11 students. 98 students and parents attended and were provided with information about revision techniques and which topics need revising in a variety of subjects. Short films of results day and advice on growing good study habits were also shared.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare n  The Behaviour of students including their physical and mental well-being

n  Attendance

n  Student engagement and involvement in enrichment activities (Shine)

Behaviour update (comparing 1st half term September-October, 2014, 2015 and 2016) A number of areas demonstrate improvements, where only few areas show slight increases in numbers within pupil groups. Late detentions have continued to follow a similar trend in comparison to the previous year. There was a slight increase in the total number of detentions. Despite this slight rise in number of detentions this actually demonstrates that there are fewer ‘repeat offenders’ due to the rise in number of pupils attributing to these detentions. We are very pleased to show positive improvements in the number of uniform detentions issued. There has been a decrease in both the number of detentions accumulated and the number of pupils. Head Teacher’s detention demonstrated significant decreases in most year groups, and more specifically PP and SEN. The general overall picture for detentions and internal exclusions is a positive one when comparing the 16-17 to the previous two academic years at the same period of time, where we are able to show improvements in a vast majority of the areas of focus. Raise online Permanent exclusions 2015 = 0 Fixed term exclusions below the National Average for all pupils and all groups i.e. gender, FSM, EAL, SEN & ethnicity

 

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Rewards Assemblies Students were again rewarded for their efforts in class before half-term with the latest reward assemblies. Rewards were give out for 100% attendance; most achievement points; best planners; outstanding Behaviour For Learning, in addition to departmental rewards. Pastoral Reviews Year 11, 10, 9 and 8 Pastoral Reviews have been undertaken in the past few weeks. All form groups have been visited to ensure that pupils were receiving the highest standard of pastoral care; assemblies were visited in Years 8 and 9. Evidence of excellent practice was consistently found – the individual year group reports which are available provide detailed evidence. Achievement Leaders will be revisiting forms with a view to checking the quality of planner use – an area where we feel the students need to work even better. Ensuring students record home learning set and have their planners checked weekly by parents are particular foci as we move forward.

Students attendance and punctuality

Attendance (5.9.16-21.10.16) B Bannister Data on attendance 95.3% (95.0%last report) of pupils are attending school; 3.5 % have authorised absence (3.5% last report) 1.2% have unauthorised absence and 13.61% are persistent absent pupils (13.3% last report). The L.A. have changed the margins to 90% from 85%.

Students spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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The Catholic Life of the School Lourdes Pilgrimage 2017 This term the Year 10 pupils have applied to participate in the Lourdes Pilgrimage which will take place between Thursday 6th July and return on Friday 14th July 2017. All the pupils who applied will taking their calling and going. They received their letters of acceptance on Friday 18th November and the funding raising will begin in earnest. Batley St Thomas a Becket was well represented at the 65th annual Batley Torchlight procession from Batley town centre to the Church of St Mary and the Angels. Bringing the light and peace of Lourdes from the Pyrenees to the Pennies. Led by the Rt Revd Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and this year we remembered the late MP, Jo Cox (RIP). The evening was truly enjoyable and had a lovely community feel.

Ripon Jude Roberts and Cathy Hindle accompanied a group of Year 10 and 11 pupils to celebrate Mass with Bishop Marcus Stock at Ripon Cathedral on Saturday the 8th October, followed by a walk from the Cathedral to Fountains Abbey and a welcome from the National Trust.

Chaplain and Tuesday Morning Mass Our chaplain, Fr Tomasz assistant priest at St Martin de pores continues to support and guide us. Duke of Edinburgh The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme I would like to start by saying that the D of E role that I have in school is extremely rewarding; the hard work often bringing positive change to the young people who participate in the scheme. The 2015-16 cohort of participants was quite a challenge with regard to the push that was needed to see it succeed. Of the original participants only 3 decided not to pursue the award at all. Twenty four participants took on the Bronze challenge with a 100% success rate; that is to say they all completed voluntary, skill, physical and expedition activities. Participants are responsible for organising every aspect of all sections other than the expedition section.

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The Bronze Award practice expedition took place in May 2016 with the qualifying expedition in June. The weather was reasonably kind for most of it but on one occasion torrential rain almost spoiled the fun. However every participant soldiered on successfully. During the presentation section it became clear that all participants from this year’s cohort had learned new skills and something extra and positive about themselves, one in particular who guided her group home through stamina and determination after the group had recognised that they were off track. Getting back on track and determination to succeed being absolute strengths. The presentation of certificates and badges for the 2015 – 16 cohort will be in January 2017. D of E Manager and Expedition Coordinator. CEDAR Court and Careers Over 60% on Year 11 students attended the Post -16 Cedar Court Event by the LA. As ever the afternoon was extremely informative as a range of post-16 providers were on hand to share their offerings with students. A new feature this year was the provision of an area focused on Construction. Our new Connexions tem of Tanya and Jez have been busy supporting Mrs Fitzgerald with our careers work. Tanya is in school every Monday and Jez each Wednesday. They also delivered an assembly to all Year 11 on the 21st November explaining their roles. Students are being guided through the UCAS application process as well as receiving support with compiling CVs and Personal Statements. Tanya and Jez are keeping a close eye on the applications of vulnerable students as well as chasing up information about the pupils who left us in Summer 2016. Prefects Over 70 Year 11 students successfully applied to be prefects, the highest number yet. Their defined role is simple to act responsibly as ambassadors of our school community- and look out for the needs of younger pupils. A number are involved with literacy projects - working with pupils in younger years to help boost literacy levels by listening to them read. Shakespeare schools festival RC Mrs Carney directed and produced a group of 27 students ranging from years 8 to 11, in a modern interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, as part of the prestigious Shakespeare Schools Festival. St Thomas a Beckets took part in the non-competitive national festival and performed at the Bradford Alhambra’s Studio theatre on Wednesday 19th October. The students worked tirelessly with Mrs Carney since the beginning of term to rehearse for the production and performed with absolute professionalism. The performance raised the roof at the venue and received the most wonderful feedback from the festival organisers, fellow schools and audience members. The feedback highlighted how intense and moving the performance was and that the actors created so much emotion in such a short space of time, which would be challenging even for professional actors. As part of the festival the students attended a cast workshop where they worked with theatre professionals to develop their craft. The students thoroughly enjoyed their experience and there has been a vast development in many of their acting skills by taking part in this experience. Battlefields Two students accompanied by John Rooney visited the war graves and battlesites of the Great War. On their return they led assemblies, staff briefing as well as marking the centenary of the end of the battle of the Somme on Friday 18th November. Presentation Evening took place for the class of 2016 on 17th November and, as always, proved to be a very popular event. We were able to celebrate the not inconsiderable achievements of the year group as all students received their GCSE certificates. Individual subject awards were also presented with an overall award for services to the community given to Declan Kelly.

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The Quality of Teaching, Learning and Assessment n  Consistency in accuracy of teacher assessment

n  The implementation of Life after Levels initiative (SOLO)

n  Teaching of literacy and numeracy

Our new reporting system For Years 7-10, the first set of reports for this school year are being completed and will be published and sent home shortly. For all year groups, Behaviour for Learning replaces Attitude to Learning as the key measure If behaviour for learning is right - pupils are on time, have the right equipment, are ready to learn and try their hardest in class and with their Extended Learning outside of class, progress should follow. Behaviour For Learning is now measured and reported in ascending "gears" with 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest. The benchmark for pupils is to be at least in 3rd gear, with a 4th gear used to show outstanding attitude, engagement and behaviour for learning or very rapid progress. Their progress marker differs depending on their year group and the stage of their learning journey they are at.

MEASURING PROGRESS IN YEARS 7 AND 8 1.   You may be aware that the government abolished the use of levels to measure

progress and tasked schools with creating their own mechanism. 2.   At Becket's we use the end of Year 6 data we received from your child's primary

school as a starting point and measure progress from there, so a pupil with a higher Yr 6 score is expected to attain higher assessment scores than a child with a lower Yr 6 score.

3.   The amount of progression shown from these starting points to this term's classwork and assessments is measured in "gears" to show how fast they are progressing and how much progress has been made:

1st gear - minimal or slow progress made 2nd gear - the pupil is clearly making progress, but not as rapidly as we would expect 3rd gear - this is our benchmark - the pupil is making expected progress 4th gear - the pupil is progressing faster than expected - they are making really Rapid progress from their starting point 1.   Because the new GCSE specifications are both harder and contain more content

than previously and it is therefore more difficult to access the higher grades than in the past, we have adjusted our schemes of work across the school accordingly, to make sure we prepare our young people as thoroughly as possible.

2.   For some of our pupils, especially those with high levels of attainment at KS2, making progress against this new criteria is much harder than in the past and at this early stage of the year, it is to be expected that many pupils will be working in 2nd gear. This is especially true in skill-based subjects where the skills they learn are built upon as the year progresses.

3.   So long as a pupil has a Behaviour for Learning indicator of 3rd or 4th gear, we fully expect their progress to accelerate as they move forwards.

4.   Assessments are set and marked using SOLO TAXONOMY as a structure and as a set of criteria. SOLO is an acronym for Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes and encourages the kind of deep and connected learning that is needed for success at GCSE level.

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MEASURING PROGRESS IN YEAR 9 AND 10

Now pupils are following the curriculum they have helped to create via the Options process, progress is measured using a Current Predicted Grade. This shows what GCSE (or equivalent) grade each subject is predicting for the pupil, based on their work in KS4 so far as well as the data we have for them. For Yr 9 at this early stage, this predicted grade will not be wholly secure - it is simply a guide; young people change and grow, they learn at different speeds and their GCSE exams are still 30 months away. You will also be aware that the GCSE specifications and gradings have been reformed and are still not settled. As our pupils move forward in Year 9 and into Yr 10 and 11, we will build a more accurate picture of their progress and the new system will stabilise. At this stage, pupils should work as hard as possible to lay the foundations for success in Yr 11, so the behaviour grade is the crucial one. For Yr 10, we have a clearer emerging picture based on their progress in their examination subjects, although again they are still 18 months away from examinations. Again, we have to accept that we do not know for sure what percentage mark will equal which final grade as that lies with OFQAL. All schools are in the same position and we share and work closely with our fellow high schools in the Catholic Diocese of Leeds and within Wakefield District to make sure our information is as accurate as it can be within this changing system.

Literacy G Davis

Gillian Davis has been leading a project on literacy. This is to complete a course she started at her previous school. The main aim is to improve students’ literacy in Key Stage 3 and to involve all departments in achieving this objective. All students in Years 7 and 8 are now required to have a reading book in school every day, as part of their basic equipment. A timetable has been distributed to all staff (and shared with students via form tutors) and each pupil now reads, in school, for at least half an hour per week. The silent reading session takes place in a different lesson each week to minimise disruption to their learning of their various subjects and to promote the idea that we all value literacy. Ideally the subject teacher reads alongside the students demonstrating that this is an enjoyable, relaxing activity rather than a chore. Feedback from both staff and students has been extremely positive; several people have suggested that students would benefit from continuing the “Accelerated Reading Project” into Year 9. Surveys were conducted at the start of the year to ascertain how much and how often students read, to ask them to recommend books they have read and to gauge how well

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they understand the literacy codes used when staff mark their books. These will be repeated towards the end of the project (at Easter) and, alongside reading ages, will be used to measure the impact of the project.

The Effectiveness of Leadership and Management n  Consistency in middle leadership

n  Use of Pupil Premium funding and impact

n  Pupil numbers and to maintain a financially viable school.

n  Visibility of Governors

n  Governors engagement with parents and students

the effectiveness of the governing body in challenging and supporting the school so that weaknesses are tackled decisively and statutory responsibilities are met

see update from Trust Board

The effectiveness with which the school deploys resources to achieve value for money

Premises and staffing – see Resources Committee minutes

The effectiveness of Leadership

Use of pupil premium funding- see Strategy report from Chris Duckett Pupil numbers – We have taken 43 students in year since 1st September. See school context from self evaluation for details of changing school context. Appraisal and Performance related pay – see minutes from Pay and Personnel committee Strategic direction and self evaluation – Keith Worrall spent a whole day in school on 29th November to look at two things; To validate our self-evaluation grades and whole school priorities. A full report will be presented to governors when it is complete. COLDS J Rooney is currently the chair of the Communion of Leeds Diocesan School and College Leaders. The group which meets six times a year includes all secondary schools in the Diocese as well as Notre Dame, Leeds Trinity University and St John’s School for the Deaf. The group support each other in a number of ways including English, maths, science, SENCO, MFL, History, Geography and Curriculum and Assessment networks. On November 22nd Bishop Marcus attended our second meeting of the year to explain his vision for developing the youth of our Diocese. He also expressed the wish to attend every COLDS meeting in future.