A presentation to complement the Ofsted report: 'The most able students: an update on progress since June 2013' https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-most-able-students-an-update-on-progress-since-june-2013

1. Introduction
Hello and welcome
Bradley Simmons
5 March 2015

2. Add presentation title to master slide | 2
Potential run of the day
10.00: Welcome Bradley Simmons Regional Director Ofsted SW
10.15: Introduction Sir Michael Wilshaw Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
10.45: The most able students 2014 survey findings Joan Hewitt HMI
11.30: Coffee and market place
12.00: Sutton Trust
12.45: Lunch and market place
1.30: NACE
2.15: Cotham School
3.00: HMI / local authority / schools action planning
3.45: Conference summary and close

3. 5 March 2015
Introduction from HMCI from here onwards
Sir Michael Wilshaw
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector

4. The most able students:
An update on progress since June
2013
Joan Hewitt HMI
March 2015

5. Add presentation title to master slide | 5
 To deliver key messages from 2014 survey
 To understand the reasons behind key
findings
 To share with colleagues what works well
Key objectives

6. Add presentation title to master slide | 6
Many students fail to reach their potential
One quarter of pupils who achieved Level 5 in
English and mathematics at the end of Year 6 did
not make the progress expected of them
Consequently they failed to achieve at least a B
grade at GCSE in English and mathematics
The most able students June 2013

7. Add presentation title to master slide | 7
 Are leaders challenging their most able students and
encouraging their ambition?
 Has the achievement of the most able students improved?
 Has the transfer and transition from primary schools
improved?
 Has the quality of teaching, learning and assessment of the
most able students improved?
 Is work, including homework, for the most able in Key Stage 3
challenging and demanding?
 Are school leaders helping their most able students to
overcome financial and cultural obstacles to university
applications, including applications to the Russell Group
universities?
The most able students 2015

8. Add presentation title to master slide | 8
Key findings 2014
Improvement has been slow. Achievement of most able
students remains a concern.
Differences in outcomes between:
Disadvantaged most able students and their better off peers
schools where most able students make up a very small proportion of the school’s
population and those schools where proportions are higher
the most able girls and the most able boys
Too many students fail to achieve the grades they need to get into top
universities and jobs

9. Add presentation title to master slide | 9
Key findings 2014
Leaders have not embedded an ethos in which academic
excellence is championed with sufficient urgency.
Learning too frequently affected by low-level disruption in Key Stage 3
Not enough effective training for staff
Monitoring and evaluation of teaching and students’ work was prioritised at Key Stage 4
Not enough schools have a dedicated senior member of staff or governor responsible

10. Add presentation title to master slide | 10
Key findings 2014
Schools were rarely meeting the needs of students who are
most able and disadvantaged
Not enough done to widen the experience and develop broader or social and cultural
awareness in Key Stage 3
Funding not targeted with precision or evaluated effectively
The gap at Key Stage 4 between the progress made by most able disadvantaged
students and their peers is too large and not closing quickly enough

11. Add presentation title to master slide | 11
Key findings 2014
Secondary schools are not always using transition
information from primary schools effectively to get the
most able off to a flying start in Key Stage 3.
 In 16 of the schools visited, transition arrangements were not well developed
 Information gathered tends to be more sophisticated but not always used to spot
gaps in learning or identify potential
 Few schools had enhanced arrangements for the most able students
 Leaders did not see the need to do anything differently for the most able
 Information from tracking not used to improve the curriculum and teaching strategies

12. Do you know what has been
taught in the Key Stage 2
curriculum?
How do you find out if
the most able students
have met their
targets?

13. Add presentation title to master slide | 13
Key findings 2014
Too often work was not hard enough in Key Stage 3
 Improvement focused in Key Stage 4 and 5; little has changed for students
in Key Stage 3
 In over the half the schools visited students confirmed the work was too
easy
 Schools recently inspected rarely offered a bespoke curriculum for the most
able in Key Stage 3
 Conversely half the schools visited had a curriculum tailored for the most
able at Key Stage 4
 Only one fifth of schools adapted homework for the most able

14. Add presentation title to master slide | 14
Key findings 2014
The quality of teaching for the most able is too variable in
Key Stage 3.
Expectations not high enough
Quality of work across subjects is patchy
In almost half the schools visited work was not challenging enough in English and
mathematics this increases to two thirds in other subjects
Typically – extension work, challenge questions and differentiated tasks in only 8/40
schools had provided specific training
In 25 / 40 schools visited students report their learning being affected by low level
disruption
To contrast this, three quarters of school teachers said that disruption of the most able
was rare

15. How challenging is the curriculum
in your school? Is teaching
variable, especially in foundation
subjects?
How do you know?

16. Add presentation title to master slide | 16
Key findings 2014
Assessment, performance tracking and target setting have
improved but there are still weaknesses.
Stronger in Key Stage 4
Tracking and target setting in Key Stage 3 lacks rigour and ambition
Only one quarter of schools used baseline testing to spot gaps in learning
Targets set from Key Stage 2 are not re-calibrated to reflect or any acceleration in
learning
Quality of teacher assessment variable

17. Add presentation title to master slide | 17
Key findings 2014
Guidance and information to students about accessing the
most appropriate courses and universities were not good
enough.
Careers guidance and support remains fragile
Only one third of the 40 schools employed dedicated staff . Quality is
too reliant on individuals
There remains a minority of teachers who would not encourage their
students to apply for a top university

18. Add presentation title to master slide | 18
Key findings 2014
While leaders made stronger links with universities to
provide disadvantaged students in Key Stage 4 and 5 with a
wider range of experiences, they are not evaluating the
impact sharply enough.
Stronger links with universities developed for disadvantaged students but not
evaluated effectively
One quarter of schools visited offered no additional support to first time applicants
49 of 130 schools recently inspected did not prioritise the needs of the most able
disadvantaged
Regional differences result in some disadvantaged students being badly served

19. Add presentation title to master slide | 19
Most able students are let down too often
and failing to reach their full potential.
 68% of pupils with Level 5 English and maths did not
reach A* or A
 Just over a quarter did not reach grade B
 In 19% of 1667 non-selective schools’ sixth forms not one
student in 2013 achieved two A’s and one B commonly
preferred by our most prestigious universities
 One half of students achieving level 5 in English and
mathematics at Key Stage 2 failed to achieve A or A*
grades at A level in non-selective schools
The achievement of the most able
students

20. Add presentation title to master slide | 20
 Percentage of most able students who previously attained
Level 5 at Key Stage 2 gaining A* to B grades at GCSE in
2014

21. Add presentation title to master slide | 21
 The minority effect
Attainment of most able pupils in GCSE mathematics and
English and the proportion of the most able pupils in
mathematics and English in 2014

22. Slide 11

23. Slide ~

24. Think for a minute. How well
do the most able achieve in
your school? Do they lose
ground in Key Stage 3?

25. What works well?

26. Add presentation title to master slide | 26
 Whilst the overall picture has not
improved, inspectors found examples of
good practice.
Pockets of good practice

27. Add presentation title to master slide | 27
Leadership
Leaders place a strong emphasis on creating the right ethos
in which the most able are inspired and motivated
Pay close attention to detail to ensure they nurture particular talents and gifts
Teachers take every opportunity to bolster students’ self esteem and encourage them to
aim high
Leaders have a clear strategy for setting challenging targets
They make sure teachers and students know what is expected of them
Track the progress of the most able closely
Mechanisms for seeking student views and using the findings
Systems in place to spot potential and tailor support from the outset and continue this to
ensure successful application to university

28. Add presentation title to master slide | 28
The curriculum and teaching
 Key stage 3 carefully structured to take into account
knowledge and understanding of most able
 Strong emphasis on resilience and mastery
 Given equal status with other key stages
 Teachers highly aware of what students can already do
 Plan with high expectations and have a precise understanding of what they want
students to learn
 Bespoke training on how to offer challenge and stretch most able students

29. Add presentation title to master slide | 29
Transition, guidance and support
 Attention to detail
 Joint planning of year 7 curriculum
 Information was used carefully to ensure work was at the right level
 Dedicated staff with expertise on what the top universities are looking for
 Making good use of the widening participation schemes

30. Add presentation title to master slide | 30
Use of pupil premium
 Planned with clear outcomes in mind and evaluated
sharply
 Funding used to target to specific needs of students
 Attend open days or cultural visits
 Help with specific aspects of work to achieve A or A*
 Access to Sutton Trust summer schools successful in motivating students to aspire to
gaining places at the top universities.

31. Add presentation title to master slide | 31
Recommendations
School leaders should:
develop a culture of high expectations
make sure that teachers use information provided by primary
schools about the most able pupils to help manage their
transition to secondary school
appoint staff and governors with responsibilities specifically to
champion the needs of the most able pupils from poorer
backgrounds

32. Add presentation title to master slide | 32
Recommendations
School leaders should:
give Key Stage 3 equal priority with other key stages when
allocating teaching staff to classes
provide training for teachers of all key stages so that their
teaching routinely challenges the most able students
ensure evaluations of curriculum delivery, teaching and
learning in Key Stage 3 are robust and lead to rapid
improvements

33. Add presentation title to master slide | 33
Recommendations
School leaders should:
involve universities in training school staff to provide advice to
the most able
provide training for all teachers so that their teaching
challenges the most able pupils

34. Add presentation title to master slide | 34
Recommendations
Ofsted should:
make sure that inspections continue to focus sharply on the
progress made by students who are able and disadvantaged
report more robustly about how well schools promote the
needs of the most able through the quality of their curriculum
and the information, advice and guidance they offer to the most
able students
ensure thematic surveys investigate, where appropriate, how
well the most able are supported through, for example,
schools’ use of the pupil premium and the curriculum provided.

35. Add presentation title to master slide | 35
Recommendations
The Department for Education should:
ensure that its performance tables, which present key data on
school outcomes, include measures of the achievement of the
most able students.

36. Add presentation title to master slide | 36
Finally
 Urgent action is now required.
 Leaders must grasp the nettle and radically transform
transition from primary school and the delivery of the Key
Stage 3 curriculum.
 Schools must also revolutionise the quality of information,
advice and guidance for their most able students.
 Only with swift and bold improvements can we ensure that
our most able students fulfil their potential.