Outcomes for Pupils

At Thornton we keep a close eye on pupil progress throughout the year and we use an assessment system called Target Tracker to record children's achievements.  This programme enables teachers to analyse the gaps in children's learning and plan carefully for the next steps in their learning.  It also enables us to put in additional support for children who need an extra bit of support to catch up.  Teachers meet with a member of the leadership team every half term to discuss the progress and attainment of children in their class and to identify how the school can help those children who may be falling behind or losing momentum in their learning.  We also use NFER tests twice a year to give us more finely tuned information about children's learning so that we can tailor or teaching to meet the needs of pupils.

In addition to this on-going assessment there are two statutory assessment points each academic year that the school is required to carry out by the Department for Education.

In Year 6, during the second week in May, the Year 6 children take reading, mathematics (arithmetic and reasoning) and Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling tests (GPS).  The test papers are externally marked and teachers' assessment evidence is not taken into account, except in writing where there is no test and teachers' evidence is used to judge a child's achievement.   The National Curriculum objectives for each year group are broken down into steps that build towards the ‘end of year expectations’ for that year group. This enables children to make progress towards the end goal.  If pupils are ‘working at greater depth’ in an area, they are working beyond the year group expectations. If they are ‘emerging’, they are working towards the end of year National Curriculum expectations. If pupils are ‘expected’, they are meeting expectations. for that year group.  They are given a scaled score between 80 and 120, with 100 being the expected level for a Year 6 child and 110+ being 'working at greater depth'.

You can follow the link to the School performance tables to look at the school's performance in comparison to all school's nationally and also similar schools. This is updated in the middle of October each year.

You can also find out how Thornton is doing in comparison to other schools by following this link to the Government comparison site: