No, it is not some 80’s reference to win ‘Dusty Bin.’ It is an update to the letters and meetings that followed the ATL 3,2 and 1 band letters sent home this week. The letters, available if you want them, clearly indicated how the bands are constructed, why we sharing this information and the opportunity to address the low band scores with parents and carers.
There were three typical outcomes to the Band 3, 2, and 1 letters.
The most common outcome was that parents or carers contacted the school to gain further information about the banding; what that mean but more important what exactly does it meant for their son / daughter. In a moderate number of cases, parents or carers were unaware of the way their child was presenting themselves and their attitude to learning.
Answer – Thank you for getting back in contact. We are very keen to support <<name>> and their learning. The first point I wish to share with you is that ATL is this context, is not impacted by <<name>> academic ability. What ATL bands shows us, that across all subjects, <<name>> places them in band 3,2 or 1 when compared to their year cohort. Or, another way of looking at it, there are xxx (usually 160+) students with a better attitude to their learning than <<name>>. In particular, <<name>> ATL in <<subject>> <<grade>> and <<subject>> <<grade>> in having a significant impact on their learning.
Parents and carers contacting the school were most likely to come from the parents and carers of ATL bands 3 students. In Y7 and Y8 students may have only present one subject as a ATL grade 4, with predominantly 3s. Of course, these students still ended up in band 3 because they were some distance from the mean. This conversation typically led to individual appointments with subject teachers where a grade 4 or 5 for ATL was awarded. A few students went onto general report mainly at the request of parents, a few went onto subject report.
Few parents and carers for ATL bands 1 and 2 students contacted the school, of course statistically, there were few students, however the Community Leaders also contacted home. In almost all cases, where contact was made, a private 30 min conference was scheduled. Most upper school parents and carers were aware of the position, this was just a good opportunity to share with them the impact it was having on their child’s learning. Speaking to our Community Leaders the following day I learnt that these appointments were generally positive, that the ATL band and indeed the year range were ‘hugely powerful.’ Conversations fixed on attitude and not ability were somehow less contested and having a years breaths of data meant conversations were not hung on individual subject relationship between teacher and student. Interestingly, some Community Leaders held appointments with families; where more than one child had recorded a band 3, 2, or 1. Again, holding these group conversations were considered ‘efficient us of meeting time.’ On the flip side, these meeting also lead to considerable follow up and monitoring tasks. It was suggested that the Community Leader input might need to focus on ATL 2 and 1.
The third common outcome (if you can call it an outcome) was a ‘non-response.’ Despite a letter and a phone call, a number of parents or carers have not followed up our communications.
The Community Leaders and our Director of Progress have themselves been positive and each has been been able to reference a number of positive conversations. These conversation have most commonly come from the parents and carers of Band 3 students, appreciative of the early notification. Of course, one impact of the sharing of ATL bands with students, parents and carers, will hopefully be a rise in mean ATL grade. In turn, it will require ‘more’ or an even better attitude to learning from students to maintain their grade. I hypothesise that this process will encourage a upward behaviour trends, with similar numbers of students rewards stars and bars (see previous post).
One other point to mention, since sharing the stars with students, I have been able to recognise and commend more of our ‘dedicated students’ during the school day. See students with stars at Parent and Carers Meeting events, has enabled to engage with them on a very positive note. Sadly, it has also taught me that there were too many ‘dedicated students’ who were flying just under the radar that I just did not know. One final unseen ‘benefit is that where a class or group has been reported, I have been able to call upon key ‘star students’ to fulfil particular tasks knowing that they are highly regarded by the staff body.
The revised letters will also include a statement that explains that ATL band and academic ability are mutually exclusive.