KEY STAGE 3
In Key Stage 3 students are between 11 and 14 years of age. Most join us in year 7 when they transfer from a mainstream or specialist primary school. Our department is organised into five classes so students from years 7, 8 and 9 are placed within the most appropriate group for their learning needs.
All classes follow the National Curriculum suitably adapted to provide opportunities for young people to achieve success. Whenever possible we look for opportunities to learn outside the classroom in interesting and innovative ways.
Our classes are:
3W - Miss Chisnall
3L - Mr Mullen (Key Stage Leader)
3C - Mrs Appleton
3H - Mr Balson
3S - Mrs Seery (Assistant Key Stage Leader).
Students are supported by;
Mrs Bradshaw
Mr Ledson
Mrs Thorpe
Mrs Cuff
Mrs Johnson
Miss Brannigan
Mr Brierley
Mr Croft
Mr Machaj
Miss Cooper
Mrs Swords
Mr Stewart
Ms Lucschan
Ms Winstanley
Mrs Mercer
Miss Croft
Our experienced team of teaching assistants are based in the above classes but will move around within the department to ensure the students benefit from their expertise
WELCOME TO KEY STAGE 3
Key Stage 3 is gateway to all students joining West Lancashire Community High School. The journey that they begin in Key Stage 3 will prepare them for their next steps towards Key Stage 4 and then to either Key Stage 5 or provision beyond West Lancashire Community High School. Our goal is to support our young people on their journey and guide them along their pathway so that will achieve their outcomes and reach their goals and aspirations.
We are a department of 5 classes and we have students coming from a range of schools both special and mainstream.
Before coming to West Lancashire Community High School, many processes will have already occured as part of our transition process. All Transition Review meetings will have been attended by our staff and additional school visits undertaken if necessary. You will have been invited to a range of transition days both during the school day and after school and these normally take place in the Summer term. Our staff will have also begun to colate vital assessment information for English, Maths and Boxall Profiles. All of this information helps us to determine which classes the students will be allocated.
PASTORAL GROUPS
Our Pastoral Groups are organised through our Boxall assessments. These assessments highlight social and emotional development needs and allow us to group students with similar needs so that these can be addressed across the curriculum.
CORE LEARNING GROUPS
Core Learning Groups are the English and Maths Groups for Key Stage 3. It is vital for progression that students are in a group that is delivering teaching and learning at the right stage for the students. These groups will change each term as we undertake further assessments and adjust the groups based on the current needs of the students.
REWARDS
We take a positive stance towards behaviour and reward positive interactions, choices and engagement in learning rather that sanctions. We work on a token system across the department with a focus on money. Each class has a variant on this theme and is right for the students in those classes. Students earn money for achieving the 4 expectations on our shield (please see below). At the end of the week, the money is totalled and they can spend their money at the Key Stage 3 shop.
Money is never removed as a consequence but would not be given out when reflecting on the expectations. All students do have chances to gain extra coins for going 'above and beyond'.
HOME/SCHOOL BOOKS
Communication is important to us and all parents have access to teacher email addresses. Home/School books are a valuable method of communication but it is impossible to have a book for every student. This can be discussed directly with the teacher of your child. All of our teachers are accessible through email. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if an issue arises.
PROMOTING GOOD ATTENDANCE IN KEY STAGE 3
In this section, we will keep you updates as to how each class is doing each week with attendance.
Attendance at school is vital for the development of our students. Not only does school provide the academic and cognitive development that enables progress but also the social, emotional and communication development. School is the best place for a young person to be.
As a school we set ourselves a target percentage to work towards. We have taken into consideration the needs of our students and allowed flexibility for medical appointments or interventions. This year our benchmark is 92%. Students falling under that percentage across a half term will receive a letter asking you to make contact with school.
We also recognise that our students may have medical needs or a range of other issues that may impede their ability to access school. In these situations, we cannot mark them as present but we can work together with parents to develop Attendance Care Plans that recognise the wider needs. Please speak to your class team or contact Mr. D Mullen for further advice.
School has a robust Attendance Policy and procedures for absences. Click here
PARENT INFORMATION
Below is a copy of the parent guidance for attendance at West Lancashire Community High School and includes a breakdown of the procedures used in school. Ultimately, as a school, we want to work in collaboration. If you are to receive an attendance letter, please do not worry, just make contact with the class team to arrange an informal meeting to discuss how we can support or what plans need to be put in place.
HOW WE CELEBRATE GOOD ATTENDANCE
In school we celebrate in a number of ways. We want to recognise when there has been a significant improvement. It isn't always about the 100%. Smaller steps are as valid and worth praise as much as the 100%.
We do recognise the 100% attendances every week in our class assemblies. Each student receives a certificate in recognition of their weekly attendance.
As a school, all 100% are recognised every term. Students are presented with a reward and a special certificate to recognise their achievements. Those students are also entered into a Grand Prize Draw for a special prize.
Evidence For Learning
Why Evidence for Learning (EfL)?
How do we show progress?
Our learners are hardworking and amazing at what they do every day in school. Whilst we celebrate this individuality it does mean that there is no-one else like them to compare their progress with. We overcome this by comparing them to themselves and what they have shown us previously. This is an approach called “Ipsative Assessment”.
Evidence for Learning (EfL) allows us to capture examples of what learners can do and the range of circumstances they are able to do it in.
Evidence for Learning (EfL) allows us to track the progress each individual student is making towards their Personal Learning Goals (PLG’s)
A conversation about learning
Being able to share what we are seeing with parent/carers allows us to create learning conversations. It means that we can send home reports at the touch of a button and keep parent carers up to date on the latest of their child’s successes. It allows us to capture and share several “firsts” or “significant learning moments” with you.
A collaborative approach
We want to work with you to celebrate your child’s progress. You can login to your Parent Portal on any computer, tablet or phone that can access the internet. Once logged in you will be able to see the evidence that we have shared with you. You can also if you choose to upload pictures and videos and share them with us. We look forward to seeing some of the pictures and videos that you share with us.
The Family App
The Family App is a great way for you to follow the progress of your child. You can keep up to date on daily progress and also have access to progress documents too. The best part of the app is that you can upload your own evidence too. This allows you to capture moments outside of school that link to their learning goals in school. Sometimes you may wish to share a 'wow' moment with.
Guidelines and important things to remember
Photos and videos
Evidence usually takes the form of photographs and videos. We work hard to encapsulate the learning moment so that you can see what has taken place and the outcome we are working towards. All data in EfL is supported by the providers privacy policy and it is a closed system accessed only by our staff and the families of the children who evidence is being captured!
Evidence that we share
Do remember that not all pieces of evidence gathered will be shared. We will share the significant or key moments that we feel is appropriate to share with you. The evidence that we share may be as and when it happens, at regular intervals or within the end of term or academic reports.
Submitting evidence from home
We love to hear and to see how our learners get on when they are not with us, however, please be aware that teachers will not respond to every image or comment as we are busy teaching your children. It is very important that we use Evidence for Learning to celebrate and record the successes of our students. The app is not a home/school link to be used to communicate between home and the teacher about behaviours or other ongoing issues. This will always be done through home/school link books, emails or telephone calls.
Support Booklet
Below is a help booklet for setting up the app. Before you start, you will need to make contact with your class team to ask to be set up and a link and password reset sent out to you. Once you have this, you can download, log in and get started.
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KEY STAGE 3 CURRICULUM STATEMENT |
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CONTEXT |
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Students in Key Stage 3 will access a broad and balanced curriculum that is based on the acquisition of knowledge and the application of skill in functional and meaningful activities. The curriculum is adapted to the needs of the current students and forms 3 main areas, Explorer, Engager and Challenger. For some groups the approach is fluid and will adapt and change to the daily needs of the students. All students will access a curriculum that supports their cognitive development but also their communication and interaction skills, their social and emotional development, and their physical development. They will have opportunities to develop their independence and self-help skills through a range of curricular activities. Students in Key Stage 3 will prepare themselves for their future accreditation studies in Key Stage 4. |
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Key Stage 3 |
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INTENT |
IMPLEMENTATION |
IMPACT |
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What is the intention of teaching and learning? (What do we want for all our students?) To develop a secure foundation of self-regulation and self-management so that each student can develop a strong resilient ethos to learning and life. To develop literacy and numeracy skills through To identify student learning journeys and potential accreditation routes and final destinations. To ensure staff research based CPD is linked to the improvement of teaching and learning for all students in Key Stage 3. To ensure the emotional wellbeing of all students through a consistent approach use the Thrive Approach. To ensure all students are world-ready and can become positive and active citizens within the community and the wider world.
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How will it be implemented? (What does it look like in the classroom?) Students will be ability based for core learning (Communication, Literacy and Language (CLL) and My Thinking - Maths). CLL groups are ability based using reading/spelling and handwriting assessments to allow better targeted approaches to improve SPaG, reading and writing. Maths groups are based upon ‘Stage’ assessment baselines that take place within the first ½ term. ALL students will engage with the Read/Write Inc scheme and phonics programme. Students will have access to a curriculum that allows focus on Personal Learning Goals (PLGs) through allocated time and across the curriculum. Teaching and learning approaches will be based on evidence-based practice and applied consistently across the curriculum including CPA approaches for core learning. All students will have access to universal Thrive approaches that are specifically timetabled. Some students will have individual 1:1 session. All students will have access to a SRE and PSD curriculum that prepares them for the wider world and the roles and responsibilities of being a responsible citizen. |
How will we measure or monitor impact of teaching and learning? (How do we know we are making a difference?) Evidence for Learning and PLG’s will be used measure progress of EHC Outcomes. Assessment systems for Maths and English will measure progress termly. Branch Maps for Communication, Literacy and Language (CLL) and Maths are used to track small step progress for students working through our Explorer Curriculum and beyond. Thrive assessment reviews will measure the impact of social and emotional development. Annual review process and provision maps will be used to measure the impact of interventions and support strategies on students’ access to learning. Staff CPD has a positive impact on outcomes through lesson observations, quality review processes and subject improvement.
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KS3 Curriculum Information For Parents
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Below you will find 'Learning Beyond the Classroom' grids for each class in Key Stage 3. To create further opportunities to apply skills in a functional way and to work towards their Education, Health and Care Plan outcomes, each class teacher has developed a grid of activities that can be done beyond the classroom to develop skills in the main areas of the EHCP
- COGNITION AND LEARNING
- COMMUNICATION AND INTERACTION
- SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH
- PHYSICAL AND SENSORY
- INDEPENDENCE AND SELF-HELP SKILLS
We are asking our families to engage with the grids and choose 1 activity to complete each week. We will be using our Friday assemblies to ask our students about their progress (if appropriate). We are also asking our families to engage with Evidence for Learning and upload a photograph and comment of the activities they have chosen to complete beyond the classroom.
Below are the grids for each class in Key Stage 3.
KEY STAGE 3 CELEBRATIONS
Every Friday afternoon, we sit down with out students and reflect on the week. We spend time celebrating the successes of their own week but also the successes of other students.
Recently we have introduced weekly afternoon tasks that work towards our 'Skills Builder' outcomes.
We also spend time on Friday's focusing on positivity towards themselves and those around them.
Please take an opportunity to explore our weekly celebrations. The PowerPoints we use are a snapshot of progress and achievements across the Key Stage.
2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR CELEBRATIONS
Autumn Term Celebrations 2022