Key Stage Three (Years 7, 8 and 9)

In Year 7, 8, and 9, your child’s assessment results will be published to you twice a year. On each report, you will find, for each subject: 

  • An assessment percentage 
  • A teacher assessed grade 
  • An attitude to learning grade 

Together, these give an overview of your child’s progress in each subject. 

Assessment percentage 

This number is the percentage of marks your child received on a single assessment. In Years 7 and 8 for English, maths, science, history, geography and French, the same assessment is taken by all students across Academy Transformation Trust All assessments are designed to show how securely your child has learned the curriculum and how well they can apply their knowledge and skills within each subject. 

Assessments are marked against a mark scheme which varies from subject to subject, but captures skills and knowledge against four key curriculum pillars: 

  • Substantive concepts: These are the big ideas and themes pupils learn about in a subject. They help students understand how different topics link together, rather than seeing lessons as isolated facts. 
  • Powerful knowledge: This is the essential knowledge pupils need so they can understand the world, succeed in exams, and move on confidently to further study or work. It’s knowledge that gives students choices and opportunities beyond their own experiences. 
  • Disciplinary skills: These are the skills pupils use to think and work like experts in a subject – for example, analysing evidence in history, solving problems in maths, or interpreting texts in English. They teach students how knowledge is used, not just remembered. 
  • Subject-specific literacy: This is the reading, writing, and vocabulary needed for each subject. For example, the language used in science or geography is different from English, and we explicitly teach students how to read, write, and communicate confidently in every subject. 

Teacher Assessed Grade 

Your child will also receive a Teacher Assessed Grade (TAG) for each subject. This is based on your child’s learning over time, and is based on all available evidence, not just performance in an assessment. Teachers use a range of evidence, including work in books, contributions in class, homework, cycle assessments (mini-assessments), and the assessment data above to place your child in one of four categories for each subject: 

  • Emerging – working towards curriculum expectations 
  • Developing – working within curriculum expectations 
  • Secure – securely meeting curriculum expectations 
  • Advanced – exceeding curriculum expectations 
Emerging 
  • Your child is beginning to learn the key ideas, but their understanding may still be uncertain or incomplete. They often need reminders, prompts or support. 
  • They can follow instructions, but may not yet fully understand why they are doing something or how to apply it independently. 
  • They are starting to use subject-specific words, but this may be inaccurate or unclear, and they may find reading or explaining subject content challenging. 
Developing 
  • Your child is showing growing accuracy in what they know and can explain ideas more clearly, especially in topics they are familiar with. 
  • They are beginning to use subject skills with more confidence and are starting to understand why particular methods are used. 
  • They usually use subject vocabulary correctly in familiar situations, and their reading and writing are mostly clear, though there may still be some mistakes. 
Secure 
  • Your child has a strong and secure understanding of what they are learning and can explain, analyse, or solve problems confidently. 
  • They choose appropriate approaches and can explain their thinking clearly, showing increasing independence. 
  • They use subject-specific language accurately and consistently, and can communicate their ideas clearly in speaking, reading, and writing. 
Advanced 
  • Your child shows depth, confidence and precision in their understanding, applying learning successfully in new or more complex situations. 
  • They use subject skills fluently and can adapt or combine approaches when tackling challenging tasks. 
  • They communicate with sophistication and control, adjusting their language for different purposes and audiences. 

Attitude to Learning Grade 

For each subject, your child will also receive an Attitude to Learning grade. This shows how consistently your child applies themselves to their learning, both in lessons and with homework. Teachers award one of six statements: 

  • Very poor effort 
  • Poor effort 
  • Variable effort from lesson to lesson 
  • Good effort in most lessons 
  • Excellent effort in majority of lessons 
  • Superb effort in all lessons and outside of lessons 

Combined, these three reporting areas give you an overview of your child’s academic progress. We also strongly recommend you attend our annual Progress Evening for each year group, which allows you to speak directly to your child’s teachers.  

If you have any questions about your child’s progress in a specific subject, please contact their teacher directly. If you would like to discuss your child’s overall progress, please contact their form tutor or Head of Year in the first instance. 

 Key Stage Four (Years 10 and 11) 

At Iceni Academy we set aspirational targets based on the point at which students start with us (Key Stage Two SATS data).  We also use other information such as CAT4 tests which allow us a great picture of the “whole child” as an individual.  In some cases, we also do some subject based testing to ensure that students get a target that is challenging but not unrealistic. 

Students are informed of their target grades at the start of Year 10, and receive grades for their assessments against the GCSE 9-1 framework. 

At Key Stage 4, we also report predicted grades for the end of the Key Stage, based on students’ assessment results and teacher’s professional judgement of the progress students are making. 

 Reporting 

We report on students’ progress twice a year to parents/ carers, but live access to achievement, behaviour and attendance data is also possible via the MyChildAtSchool app. Please contact reception to find out more. You are also encouraged to contact your child’s form teacher, subject teacher or Director of Faculty in the first instance to help support your child’s learning.