Pupil performance: Questions Governors might ask

All School governors need to understand the context of their school and how it compares to other schools. RAISEonline provides this information. A useful summary will also be found in the school’s Self Evaluation Form (SEF).

Remember, at KS1 pupils are expected to attain Level 2 (or 15 points) whilst at KS2 it’s Level 4 (or 27 points). At KS4 the target is 5 A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent), including English and maths.

Remember the expected level of progress between KS1 and KS2 is two national curriculum levels or 12 points. This is equivalent to 1 point per term.

Progress between KS2 and KS3 is 1.5 levels or 9 points, and from KS2 to KS4 is 2.5/ 3 levels or 15/18 points.

Subsidiary questions Governors might include:

Are children in the following groups making better or worse than expected progress?

Gender

Ethnicity

Free school meals

Special educational needs

Able, gifted and talented

Looked after children

other groups unique to your school


Subsidiary School Governors questions might include:

Which are the strongest and weakest performing groups of pupils?

Are all pupils fulfilling their potential or should they achieve more?

If there are attainment gaps, why?

Is the attainment gap narrowing?

Is there a culture of high expectations in the school?

Are individual pupils’ targets sufficiently stretching and challenging?

Do any pupils lose momentum between point a & b?

Are the most disadvantaged pupils, or those with SEN, making sufficiently rapid progress to catch up with their peers?


Q. How does your school compare with within the local authority/ national results?


Q. How do actual results compare with the school’s statutory targets? (How achievable/ challenging are the targets)

Q. What are the trends over the last three to five years? Are school standards rising, staying the same or falling?

Q. Are any of the above statistically significant?

Q. Is there a member of staff who has responsibility for assessment/ monitoring results? Who do they report to? How does this feed into the school improvement plan?

Q. How are results communicated to parents/ carers?

Q. How does the school work with parents (particularly of the most vulnerable groups) to help them support their child’s learning?