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Parental Consultations page September 2010
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Celebrating Achievement - draft paper below
Outcomes for Pupils
Gaining recognition for a range of achievements and for the skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work that are developed through these achievements, benefits all young people. Recognising and celebrating achievements of young people both in and out of school can increase their confidence, raise their aspirations, improve their motivation for learning and keep them engaged in education. In addition the process of planning, recording and recognising achievement can help young people to reflect on their learning and development and can be valuable starting points when it comes to articulating themselves in applications to and interviews with employers, colleges and universities.
Introduction
Encouraging and recognising learning beyond the outcomes of the formal curriculum has been a theme of such policies as Assessment is for Learning, Determined to Succeed and More Choices, More Chances. It is now being taken forward through Curriculum for Excellence and, as such, is relevant to all ages and stages from 3 to 18.
Achievement
There is no universal definition of the term achievement. The following features constitute achievement:
• Meeting certain standards of performance or targets linked to personal learning planning. This could be an improvement on past performance. • An achievement should have a degree of challenge or effort in it, often with a clearly measured end product such as a medal or award and is often broader than the school context. • Seen as a personal challenge which really stretches the individual, regardless of how it compares with the achievements of others or of how easily the individual finds success in other fields.
Wider contexts for achievement range from:
• The four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence • Skills demonstrated in the classroom and supported by active teaching and learning • Positive results from inter disciplinary experiences or experiences formerly thought of as extra-curricular activities • Achievements generated in structured youth settings out-with school • Achievements demonstrated in the individual’s personal use of time including success in meeting personal or family challenges both known and unknown to the school. • Achievements in the workplace through part time employment
Recognising Achievement
The following principles should govern recognising achievement:
§ Many learners develop skills and capacities in a range of activities within and out-with school § Achievements should be as valuable as qualifications; § The focus must be on learning and reflection, not just activities; § Learners must have ownership of their achievements and what they choose to include; § Recognition of achievement must involve talking with and supporting young people; § Any approach must support young people at risk of disengagement and in need of more choices, more chances and must not widen the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged; Celebrating Achievement
Examples of how achievement can be recognised and celebrated include:
§ Recording on plasma screens in the school entrance hall and on other visual displays such as achievement walls and boards; these can be ‘pupil owned’ § Praising through positive referrals from staff leading to merit awards, praise postcards to learners, phone calls home; § Assemblies and award ceremonies and achievement ties/T-shirts; § Nomination for achievement award by other pupils; § A word of praise in the corridor; § An added section on achievement in the school report to parents; § Certificates of achievement, commonly under Curriculum for Excellence four capacities; § SQA awards such as Intermediate 2 unit Working with Others; Youth Achievement Awards; Duke of Edinburgh award etc; § Public award ceremonies with certificates presented by the local authority. § The achievements of pupils leaving school will be acknowledge as a Leavers’ Evening. § A “Celebration of Achievement” Evening will acknowledge excellence. § Achievement prefects to encourage celebration of success
Recording Achievement within the classroom
To achieve a measure of consistency, Click and Go can be used to record achievements within class on a weekly basis (see Appendix 1). The pupils would be able to accumulate these Merits and used against entry to whole school activities / events. These Merits would also be used by teachers when discussing pupil progress with parents.
Merits would be recorded in 3 categories:
It is vital, for the system to work in a positive and meaningful way for all pupils, that staff are consistent in the use of Click and Go to record merits.
You should record merits on:
· a weekly basis – for all subject classes If a pupil has worked hard all week then ‘effort’ merit should be awarded. If a pupil has worked well for part of that week then you do not have to issue a merit. A review of the week can be built into the final lesson of the week and the merits awarded.
· a weekly basis – in registration Register teachers should encourage routines when pupils arrive in the morning - pupils should take outdoor jackets off and have their homework diary on their desk for checking on Tuesdays.
· a one off basis – to recognise achievement in meeting certain standards of performance lor targets linked to PLPs. This may vary between departments but should take place at least termly.
The discussion with learners about their achievements is the most important part in recognising them. Helping learners to go through a process of reflection leading to an understanding is the essential issue rather than recognition in itself.
Recording Wider Achievement
It is important to provide quality opportunities to develop skills and qualities which might contribute to achievement. Following a task or interdisciplinary work e.g. electives, learners should reflect, record and recognise skills.
Under A Curriculum for Excellence, wider achievement can be related to the 4 capacities. These could be recorded using SEEMIS (see Appendix 2). We currently capture wider achievement by asking registration teachers to complete a pro-forma which is then circulated to PTGs and DHTs. This would be replaced by entering information into SEEMIS.
Within SEEMIS, there is an opportunity to record successes at any time. Classroom teachers could input successes as and when they arise. For example, a successful presentation from a pupil who is generally nervous can be recorded as a confident individual, contribution to groupwork can be recorded as effective contributors, a marked improvement in the quality of writing or essay can be recorded as successful individuals, and a pupil who develops an informed, ethical view of a complex issue can be recorded as a responsible citizen.
Achievements should focus on the skills acquired by the pupil. They should be linked to quality discussion with the pupil regarding their achievements and the impact it has had on them including links to learning. This can be particularly difficult for some learners who find it a challenge to reflect on what they have learned, skills they have developed and how these can be used and transferred to other contexts.
By the end of a pupil’s school career, they should all have the entitlement to “a personal statement of their achievements which is suitable to present to an employer or to use for entry to further education establishments”. This could be in the form of a DVD, powerpoint, certificate summary statement of achievement, electronic portfolio, virtual scrapbook (music, text, pictures, vox pop).
Merit Certification
Click and Go will show a cumulative total of the merits awarded to each pupil. Certificates will be presented to pupils, at special awards ceremonies 4 times during the year (October, Christmas, Easter, and June). Pupils need to meet a certain quota of merits to achieve a certificate. This quota may become higher over the session.
Parents will be informed at each stage (see Appendix 8a / 8b). At the end of the year the House with the highest net figure will be awarded the House Trophy at the annual awards ceremony. Departments will also be asked to nominate one student per level for a special subject award in June. Departments will be able to put forward a student for Standard Grade, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Higher and Advanced Higher. This appears on SEEMIS as ‘attainment’ merit. The student will be presented with a subject specific badge at the Special Awards ceremony in June.
Summary
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