Target Setting

When a student joins Church Stretton School, they come to us with data that is taken from their previous school. This comes in the form of scaled scores out of 120 and Teacher Assessments in Reading, Writing, Maths and Science. A student’s scaled score is based on the marks they achieve in their KS2 SATs (Standard Assessment Tasks). A scaled score of 100 will always represent the national expected standard.  

We use an organisation called Fischer Family Trust (FFT) to produce subject targets based on performance at Key Stage 2. FFT process in excess of 14 billion pieces of data to arrive at estimates. FFT profiles the student and produces an estimate based on what similar students with similar KS2 scores went on to achieve at the end of Year 11. Similar students are identified by their:  

  • Prior attainment (their Key Stage assessments)  

  • Gender  

  • Month of birth  

The estimates provided by FFT, used by many schools nationally, detail the percentage chance of the student achieving each GCSE grade from 1-9 in each individual subject.   

 Example:  

This student would be set a target of 5 as this is the statistically most likely grade with a 30% chance. However, there is a 36% chance that he/she will get a higher grade and a 34% chance of a lower grade.   

We have used this information to set targets that are aspirational and would represent progress in line with or better than the top 20% of students nationally with similar KS2 starting points. These targets can be viewed by Staff, Students, Parents and Carers on Go4Schools and an explanation of what the 9-1 grades mean can be found here.   

Target Grades allow us to provide updates on student’s progress, using the tracking system in Go4Schools, which uses a traffic light system. Red is for two or more grades below target, amber is one grade below target, and green for on target. There is a fourth colour, blue, that indicates above target (where possible).   

Target grades do not limit progress or the chances of a student achieving any of the GCSE 9-1 grades, it is very much possible for students to be working above their target. This does not mean their target grade needs to be adjusted but that the students in question should be encouraged to continue to always try their absolute best.  

Staff carrying out regular assessments and report currently on track for grades, which are used to indicate the grade students could achieve if they continued to work at their current level. A student’s final GCSE grades could be different to these currently on track for grade, as the outcome is dependent on how a student performs in their final GCSE examinations. Further details can be found in the school’s Assessment and Feedback policy.  

Staff regularly report student’s assessment results, currently on track for grades and an Attitude to Learning grade, which provide Parents and Carers with an insight into how their child is working in lessons. This data is made visible within the subject mark books on Go4Schools when the Head of Department has identified that the data is ready to be viewed.   

The four Attitude to Learning categories are:   

  • Outstanding = He/she consistently displays a thirst for knowledge and love of learning, including independent, group and whole class work, which has a very strong impact on their progress in the lesson.  
  • Good = His/her attitude to all aspects of learning including whole class work, group work or when working on their own are consistently positive and have a good impact on the progress they make.  
  • Requires improvement = His/her attitude to aspects of learning are inconsistent in class, group or when working on their own, which impacts on the progress they should be making.  
  • Inadequate = His/her lack of engagement and persistent low-level disruption of learning contributes to their reduced learning and progress.  

The staff at Church Stretton School are committed to ensuring that all students can achieve the absolute best outcomes, regardless of what their target grade is and do all that they can to ensure students have every opportunity to meet or surpass their target grade in partnership with Parents and Carers.