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PARENT
FORUMS

KS3 ASSESSMENT

Summary of Parent Forum Discussion


The parent forum focused on updates to assessment and reporting practices at the school, aiming to enhance transparency and communication. Key points included:

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1. Assessment Reforms:

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  • The school is transitioning to a new, data-driven assessment model to replace subjective grading systems.

  • Scaled scores from Key Stage 2 will now be utilized for benchmarking, with this data used to give more specific baselines for different KS3 subjects

  • Reporting will include 9 "bandings" to objectively reflect a student’s performance across various subjects and identify areas for improvement.


2. Reporting and Feedback:

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  • New interim reports, due on December 11, will provide detailed insights into students’ relative strengths and weaknesses by subject.

  • Students' performance will be compared with their baseline.

  • Teachers will use knowledge organizers and topic-specific feedback to guide both students and parents in addressing learning gaps.


3. Parent Engagement:

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  • Parents were invited to participate in a follow-up forum and provide feedback about the format of reports and reading assessment reporting.


The session concluded with gratitude expressed for parents’ participation and an emphasis on continuing collaboration to refine educational practices. FAQs and further updates are expected after the next parent forum.

Parent Forum - 24th September 2026

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This video is an assembly presentation by Mr. Munro aimed at parents and carers (explaining changes being introduced to students in Years 7–11). The presentation outlines pedagogical updates to classroom instruction designed to maximize student learning by managing cognitive load theory—the principle that learning happens when students think hard, requiring an environment free from unnecessary distractions.

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The key changes being introduced across all lessons include:

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1. "Do Now" Tasks (Start of Every Lesson)

  • Structure: Every lesson (Years 7–13) begins immediately upon arrival with a quick, silent 5-minute task.

  • Purpose: Serves as retrieval practice to strengthen long-term memory access and warm up the brain.

  • Role of Silence: Silence removes external distractions so full cognitive load is focused solely on recall and thinking.

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2. Mini Whiteboards & Active Engagement

  • Purpose: Used as the primary tool to check whole-class understanding and ensure every student is actively concentrating.

 

Overcoming Pitfalls:

  • Hands-Up Strategy: Prevents passive learning where only a few eager students answer while others opt out.

  • Unprepared Cold Calling: Avoids high-stakes anxiety or embarrassment from on-the-spot questioning.

  • Routine: Students think, write their answer, hover the board, and show it simultaneously on the teacher's command (preventing copying).

  • Think-Pair-Share & Oracy: Whiteboards structure thinking before sharing, helping build student verbal communication skills without fear of unpreparedness.

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3. High Quality Attention & "The Gift of Silence"

  • Paying Attention: A standardized countdown system leads to "hands empty, back straight, eyes on teacher."

  • Independent Practice: During "think harder" tasks, students work completely in silence to maintain deep concentration.

  • Reframing Silence: Rebrands classroom silence not as a punishment, but as a "gift" that protects student focus and enables deep thinking.

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Key Takeaways for Parents


Mr. Munro encourages parents to discuss three main shifts with their children:

  • Do Nows: Daily retrieval tasks at the start of lessons.

  • Mini Whiteboards: Total participation and low-stakes assessment.

  • High-Quality Attention: Focused individual work supported by silence.

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