Pupil Progress

What is Pupil/ Student Progress?

Pupils and students are placed at St Dominic’s School because of their Special Educational Needs (SEN).  When we focus on Pupil / Student Progress we must consider the needs of every individual.  Therefore, alongside academic progress, we also monitor ‘social and emotional’ progress.  Our aim is to equip our pupils and students with a holistic education programme which will prepare them for life beyond St Dominic’s and enable them to cope with the challenges and uncertainties of the modern world. To prepare pupils and students for the future we assist them in finding and developing a range of strategies to cope with their individual SEN.

How do we assess?

After referral, we carry out an assessment on prospective pupils and students, and if the school can meet the pupil or student’s needs appropriately, they are offered a place.  On entry we administer a series of informal and formal Baseline Assessments, including academic, therapeutic and care, from which we measure progress.  In Education we use a range of assessments based around Assessment for Learning* (AfL) and Assessment of Learning (AoL).  We benchmark and target set progress using Progression Guidance Data Set 1.

How do we report on pupil progress?

We report termly to parents across all areas of the school (Education, Therapy and Care).  These take the form of National Curriculum (NC) Levels and qualitative summaries of progress.  We report annually to parents through formal Annual Review reports and parents’ afternoons.

*AfL is formative assessment that involves pupil self assessment, peer assessment and teacher assessment to inform progression to the next steps.

AoL is summative assessment where teachers use cumulative assessment to determine levels or grades.