When Year 7s arrive at our school in September, they come from more than 60 different schools nearby - both private and state.
For years we would use a couple of days in early September to test these students using a mix of assessments - cognitive ability tests, Lucid Exact and WRAT5 Maths - to understand their learning levels.
But this was far from ideal. For one, it took up invaluable time when we wanted to establish routines and settle our new intake. Also, scores were affected by summer learning loss, so we didn’t really have a true picture of a pupil’s abilities.
Although we use Sats insights, too, we didn’t receive this data until September, and because primary schools obviously work towards Sats - quite rightly - these other tests can better pick up a pupil’s broader learning base.
Saturday tests for Year 7s
This is why, in 2023, we made the decision to run these tests with our new intake before they had finished primary education. Of course, doing that meant a big decision - inviting all pupils into the school on a Saturday in June.
We knew it could potentially be controversial for parents, but we have found that it works really well for several reasons.
Firstly, we communicate with parents early to put the date in their diaries and explain why we do this and how it works - we do this both via letters home and also a coffee morning in March.
We explain that the assessments aren’t high-stakes but help us to identify how we can best support students from day one, and can be a great way for students to familiarise themselves with the school - without other students being around so it’s not too daunting - and meet new friends.
Many see the clear dual-purpose benefits to this - and if anyone still has questions or concerns, we will always aim to meet one-on-one with them to chat further.
At first we invited parents to stay for the day, but we found that students preferred them to leave. So now we ask parents to treat it like a practice drop-off before September. We do make senior staff available on the day to chat if any parents wish to do so, though.
For students, the day beings at 9am and lasts until 3pm. Tests are staggered and varied: some are online in computer rooms, others are paper-based and completed in our sports hall.
We also run other activities to break up the assessments: for example, “Say My Name”, where each child records their name so that staff can learn to pronounce it correctly, and we set up their digital finger-printing for access to the library and food purchasing.
Lunchtime is staggered so that there are slightly smaller cohorts, allowing students to chat and get to know each other.
We also provide four choices alongside lunch for them to take part in - with the option to take one, two or all of the offers below:
- “Sport on Court” supervised by the key stage 3 lead (this is “low level” activity, so no kit is required).
- Tours of the site for familiarisation before attending induction days.
- “Meet the Staff”.
- A “Mingle Zone”, where students introduce themselves to someone new.
Of course, there will always be a few students who can’t make the Saturday (a wedding is a familiar reason).
However, this is rare: last year three students could not make it and this year, so far, there is only one we know won’t attend.
In these cases, we mop up after the first fortnight in September so all students have experienced a full timetable cycle, which is a two-week cycle here.
Crunching the data
Once all the tests have been sat, the data is marked by the firms we use - the benefit of doing this in the summer term is they are usually less busy so we get marks back quickly.
This means we can start planning before the term is finished by looking to identify the particularly able, those who may need swift intervention and those whose profiles are “spiky” - where one area may be anomalous and warrant further investigation.
This data is also available for teachers to inform planning, strategic seating arrangements and adaptive teaching resources to meet identified needs.
The testing benefits pastoral decisions. We can ensure a good mix of students in tutor groups and obviously provide great information for the form tutor, too. It also helps to build good relationships with parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities.
All of this results in a flying start in September: no waiting for test results to come into the school, no delay for those who most need support or would benefit from higher challenge, and no taking students out of routine at the start of their time with us.
Jill Silverthorne is headteacher at Bishop Stopford School in Kettering, Northamptonshire
For key school and trust leadership insights delivered every month, sign up for the Tes Leaders’ Briefing newsletter
