Burntwood is an all girl, 11-18 mixed ability school, located in an inner London LEA with high levels of social disadvantage. Nearly half (47%) of pupils are entitled to free school meals, compared to an England average of 18%. The school serves a multi-ethnic population with over two-thirds of girls drawn from ethnic minority groups, particularly from the Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani communities.

In contrast to many schools in such circumstances, the school achieves high levels of success in GCSE examinations. For example in 1997, 58% of pupils achieved 5 or more A*-C grades (LEA average 35%, England average 45%).

The school figured prominently in the National Commission on Education 1996 report “Success against the odds: Effective schools in disadvantaged areas”. The school was named in the Chief Inspector’s 1997/98 Annual Report in the list of outstanding secondary schools.

The use of the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) by the school

Monitoring the ability of the intake

The school thought that the ability of the intake was changing, but had little hard information to confirm these perceptions. KS2 results varied widely across feeder primary schools, raising some concerns about the consistency and validity of the results. KS2 results were also not available for 17% of the Y7 intake.

The school started using the CAT to gain a consistent picture of the ability of the intake, and to monitor changes in the intake over time. The CAT was first used in September 1996 with both Y7 and Y9. It was administered for the second time in September 1997 and the results confirmed the perception that the ability of the intake was increasing. The school is considering what implications, if any, this may have for the curriculum.

Monitoring for equal opportunities

The school has a strong commitment to monitoring for equal opportunities. It therefore undertook an analysis of CAT scores in relation to students’ ethnic backgrounds. It was apparent from the school’s analysis that an increasing proportion of the Caribbean girls were scoring in the higher ability groups (see Figure 1).

However this increase was not reflected in Caribbean girls’ representation within the school’s programme for Students of Marked Aptitude (SOMA). The school is looking at the identification and support of students in the SOMA programme. For example, following two training days on target setting, CAT results are distributed to all class teachers to assist in a full appraisal of all students.

Figure 1: CAT scores for Caribbean girls over three successive intakes

Realistic and honest pupil targets

In common with many schools, teachers’ reports to parents tend to focus on effort, e.g., “Mary is trying very hard and has improved significantly this term”. Such feedback is a valuable and important part of any pupil report. However, from the perspective of the Senior Management Team (SMT), it was sometimes difficult to determine a pupil’s levels of attainment from the reports. One member of the SMT commented “from reading the reports it was difficult to tell the difference between a student with SEN and a high achieving student”.

The CAT results are provided to all class teachers. Teachers are asked to consider, together with the pupil, targets for the pupil’s attainment at the end of each Key Stage. The school believes the CAT scores, alongside other pupil assessment information, help teachers to focus on the attainment and ability of individual pupils, and to be honest and realistic in their expectations. These targets are reviewed twice a year and are shared with parents. All targets form part of a pupil’s annual report.

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