Ysgol Uwchradd Cathays High School A Guide to Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 and 9) 2015-16 1 | Cathays High School Guid e to Key Stage 3 Courses 2015 - 16 Contact Details School Contact Details School Address Cathays High School Crown Way Cardiff CF14 3XG School Telephone Number 02920 544 400 School e-mail [email protected] School website www.cathays.cardiff.sch.uk Head of Year 7 Mr D Jay [email protected] Head of Year 8 Mr C O’Rourke [email protected] Head of Year 9 Miss K Marriott [email protected] Head of New Arrivals Mrs R Lewis [email protected] Head of School ( Inclusion and Wellbeing) Mr H Picken [email protected] Examinations Officer Ms F Jackson [email protected] Your Contact Details To make sure that you are kept up to date with school events through text messages, letters and phonecalls and can be contacted swiftly in an emergency, please ensure that the school has the correct contact details for you, including mobile phone numbers. Please contact Mrs S Fergusson on [email protected] to update your contact details. Important Dates Mid-September 2015 Year 7 Family Interviews October 15th 2015 Year 7 Open Evening November 26th 2015 Year 8 Parents’ Evening February 4th 2016 Year 7 Parents’ Evening March 3rd 2016 Year 9 Parents’ Evening 2 | Cathays High School Guid e to Key Stage 3 Courses 2015 - 16 Frequently Asked Questions What is Key Stage 3 and what do pupils study? Key Stage 3 covers Years 7, 8 and 9, when pupils study the following subjects: 7 8 9 Art 2 2 2 Drama 1 1 1 English 6 6 6 French 3 3 3 GamesPE 4 4 4 Geography 3 3 3 History 3 3 3 IT 2 2 2 Mathematics 9 9 9 Music 2 2 2 R.E. 2 2 2 Science 6 6 6 PSE/Careers 1 1 1 Technology 3 3 3 Welsh 3 3 3 50 50 50 These are National Curriculum subjects. Pupils also have additional educational experiences throughout the year and the school offers a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs. The summer timetable covers the last six or seven weeks of the school year. During this time the conventional timetable stops and there is a new timetable every week. Pupils have opportunities to experience subjects in a wide variety of ways (in addition to conventional lessons) such as museum or theatre visits, trips, taking part in the school production, day- long or half-day workshops and so on. Pupils in Year 9 start their GCSE courses during the summer timetable. 3 | Cathays High School Guid e to Key Stage 3 Courses 2015 - 16 How do I know how my child is doing in Key Stage 3? There are several ways that we use to keep you informed about your child’s progress: Information giving Frequency When opportunity Family Interviews Once a year Autumn Term of Year 7 Parents’ Evening Once a year Autumn Term of Year 8 Spring Term of Year 7 and 9 Full Report to Parents Once a year March of Year 9 July of Year 7 and 8 Individual Reports Several times a year Each term National Reading and Once a year July or September of each Numeracy Test Results year How is my child assessed in Key Stage 3? Your child is assessed in a number of ways throughout Key Stage 3. The main way of assessing pupils is to give them National Curriculum Levels based on their attainment over a period of time. These Levels range from Below Level 1 to Level 7. Some subjects also use Level 8 and Exceptional Performance. At Cathays High we subdivide the levels into Upper (U), Middle (M) and Lower (L) (e.g. 4M), to give a more accurate idea of performance. Students who are new to English are assessed using Step and Entry Levels e.g. Pre Step, Entry 1 etc and do not study all National Curriculum subjects until their ability in English enables them to access those subjects. How is my child assessed when he or she enters the school? All pupils are assessed in the first weeks of Year 7, 8 and 9 or when they first arrive at the school. They complete a reading test, a test in English, a numeracy test and a test in Maths. We use the results of these assessments, along with Key Stage 2 Levels (Levels given to pupils in primary school) to give each pupil a Baseline Level and a Reading Age. We use the Baseline Levels and the Reading Age to: identify which pupils need more help with reading, English, numeracy and Maths set targets for the rest of the year identify which pupils are More Able and Talented Reading Ages Pupils are assessed in reading throughout Key Stage 3 and are given reading ages. A Reading Age shows a student’s ability to read in terms of years and months. A Reading Age can be higher or lower than a student’s actual chronological age and depends on how good they are at reading. Below 6/8 = a student will have severe difficulties reading simple texts Below 9/6 = a student will have many difficulties accessing reading texts in secondary school 15/0 or 20/0 indicates the top Reading Age. Reading Ages do not go beyond 15 but the school uses 20/0 because many of the students are older than 15. If a student has difficulty with reading or numeracy the school provides help for them through an intervention programme and/or in-class support from their teacher. 4 | Cathays High School Guid e to Key Stage 3 Courses 2015 - 16 How is my child assessed at the end of a Key Stage? At the end of each Key Stage, pupils are formally assessed. At Key Stage 2 (end of Year 6 in primary school) pupils are awarded a Level for English, Maths and Science by their teachers and these are passed on to secondary schools, shared with parents and sent to the Welsh Government. The highest Level they can achieve at this point is Level 5. At the end of Key Stage 3 pupils are awarded a Level by their teachers for every subject apart from Drama, RE and PSE. The highest Level they can achieve at this point is Level 7 in most subjects but some subjects use Level 8 and Exceptional Performance (EP). These Levels are shared with parents and sent to the Welsh Government. Pupils are assessed through GCSEs, BTECs and other qualifications at the end of Key Stage 4. Targets At Cathays High we use Baseline Assessments, FFT estimates and teachers’ professional judgement to set targets for pupils. These targets indicate what a pupil could achieve should they adopt a positive approach to their learning, revise effectively, attend school, act upon advice and take advantage of all the opportunities available to them. When teachers assess pupils at different points in the year, using a Working at Level (WAL), we compare the WAL with the Baseline Assessment and the target Level to see how much progress each pupil has made. In the Autumn Term of Year 7 we are given estimates of performance for pupils which give an idea of the levels that they should be achieving. These are not estimates for specific pupils, they are an indication of typical progress. These estimates are calculated using the levels gained at KS2 (primary school) and other factors such as month of birth and gender. These are sometimes called FFT Targets because they are target grades that have been calculated by the Fischer Family Trust (FFT) organisation based on data collected over many years and in hundreds of schools throughout England and Wales. Not all pupils have FFT targets because FFT have been unable to get their KS2 data from other schools or countries. On the reports given out to parents (Full Report and Individual Reports), Working at Levels (WAL) are given. These show the Level that your child is working at at the time of writing the report. Comparing these Working at Levels with the target Levels gives a good indication of progress. Reports also give a number for effort. The effort grade, ranging from 1-4 is awarded for a student’s effort and interest in the subject: 1. Outstanding effort 2. Good effort 3. Satisfactory effort 4. Unacceptable effort What is the Literacy and Numeracy Framework? The Minister for Education and Skills has made raising standards of literacy and numeracy in schools a priority and has therefore introduced a new National Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) for all pupils aged 5 to 14. The key aims of the LNF are to: help teachers of all subjects to identify and provide opportunities for pupils to apply literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum 5 | Cathays High School Guid e to Key Stage 3 Courses 2015 - 16 help determine pupil progress in literacy and numeracy and provide annual reports to parents/carers based on teacher assessment so that teachers, pupils and parents/carers are all clear how pupils are progressing and what are the next steps. What are the National Reading and Numeracy Tests? The National Reading and Numeracy Tests are tests which are taken by every pupil in Wales at the end of Years 7, 8 and 9 in secondary school. Pupils also take these tests in primary school. Pupils sit one test in reading, one test in numeracy – procedural and one test in numeracy – reasoning.