Governor Training
DATA
The importance of data
It is important that each member of the Governing
Body understands the following :
• How school data is acquired
• The data we have in schools
• How to use the data to bring about school
improvement
The importance of data
•There is a legal requirement to include data in
annual report to parents and school prospectus
•Governing Bodies are required to set performance
targets for pupils and in the secondary sector to set
targets for pupils’ unauthorised absence.
•Data is useful to improve our understanding but
fundamentally it must be used to raise standards
All Wales Core Data Pack
• In existence since 2009 and contains more
information than ever before;
• Data based on PLASC and end of Key Stage
Teacher Assessments.
Two groups of similar schools:
1.Family of schools
2.Free School Meals (FSM) group.
School families
Each school has been placed in a family of similar
schools based on:
• medium of study
• % FSM
• WIMD
• % SEN
• % English as additional language (EAL)
Family comparisons
• Performance in the CSI, core subjects
and non-core subjects
• Performance in expected level +1
• Gender comparisons for all indicators
• 5 year trends
Free School Meals
Each school has been placed in an FSM
group based on their (weighted) average over
3 years.
UWCHRADD / SECONDARY
1
<FSM≤
10%
2
10%
<FSM≤
15%
3
15%
<FSM≤
20%
4
20%
<FSM≤
30%
5
30%
<FSM≤
Expected levels
• At the end of KS3, pupils are expected to reach
Level 5 (L5) in the core subjects Welsh,
English, Mathematics and Science;
• If a pupil has reached the expected level in
each of the core subjects (Welsh OR English),
he will have achieved the Core Subject
Indicator (CSI).
Expected levels
Key Stage
Age
Expected level
End of Foundation Phase
7 (Y2)
Outcome 5
End of KS2
11 (Y6)
Level 4
End of KS3
14 (Y9)
Level 5
FSM Benchmarking
A school’s performance is
placed in one of four
quarters (1-4). If the
school’s performance is
among the top 25% of
schools in the same
group, then the school will
be in quarter 1.
25%
1
25%
2
25%
3
25%
4
FSM Benchmarking
SECONDARY
2.4%
20.0%
20.1%
4.2%
1
<FSM≤
10%
2
10%
<FSM≤
15%
3
15%
<FSM≤
20%
4
20%
<FSM≤
30%
5
30%
<FSM≤
FSM Benchmarking
100%
1
100%
90%
85%
85%
2
80%
80%
75%
3
70%
65%
60%
4
Benchmarked indicators - KS2/3
•
•
•
•
•
•
Core Subject Indicator;
English;
Welsh (First Language);
Mathematics;
Science;
Non-core – KS3 only.
Benchmarked indicators – FP
• FPI - Foundation Phase Indicator;
• LCE - Language, literacy and communication
skills (English);
• LCW - Language, literacy and communication
skills (Welsh);
• MDT - Mathematical development;
• PSD - Personal and social development, wellbeing and cultural diversity.
Benchmarked indicators – KS4
• L1 threshold - 5A*-G;
• L2 threshold - 5A*-C;
• L2EWM (L2+) threshold - 5A*-C, including
English/Welsh + Maths;
• CSI - A*-C in English/Welsh + Maths + Science;
• Capped points - total score of best 8 GCSEs;
• Individual subjects - A*-C.
Health warnings
• Cohort size. What’s significant?
• You need to look at data over time, not a
single year. However, if the data is poor in
consecutive years, then it raises questions.
Targets
• What’s realistic?
• What would be challenging?
• Which quarter should we be aiming towards?
• What were last year’s boundaries?
Remember…
• Be careful not to place too much
emphasis on individual indicators – far
better to consider the complete picture in
order to reach judgements;
• Data represents pupils’ achievements, not
merely a series of numbers on a page.
Finally…
• Ask for the data;
• Analyse it;
• Ask questions about it. Remember – data
only raises questions, it doesn’t answer
them;
• Get to know the story behind the data.
Useful Links
Governors Wales
www.governorswales.org.uk
Welsh Government
http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/fundingschools/
school-governance/?skip=1&lang=en
My Local School
www.mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk
ERW
www.erw.wales