National Priority one states that all schools should strive:
‘To raise standards of educational attainment for all [in school], especially in the core skills of literacy and numeracy, and to achieve better levels in national measures of achievement including examination results’.

Quality Indicator QI 4:4 from ‘How Good is our School’ also states that, in a very good school:
‘Key staff systematically track individual pupils’ progress and regularly scrutinise progress reports. Projected and actual performance is compared at regular intervals and trends [positive or negative] are followed up through interviews with pupils and, when appropriate, parents to agree action’.

As of March 2003, all primary schools within Highland Council have been required to operate a robust National Test/Assessment framework. They have also been required to track individual pupil, class and whole school progress on an ongoing basis each academic session.

This guide is designed to support schools in the implementation and operation of an effective tracking system. Tracking will allow establishments to analyse information relating to pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics in a more efficient way thus enabling patterns of attainment to be identified early and monitored. It enables a school to recognise underachievement and act on this. It will also allow schools to reflect more effectively on the overall quality of pupils’ learning, to identify strengths as well as areas for improvement and to plan for the implementation of a range of strategies to achieve set targets.

The aims of a tracking system
Highland schools are required to record 5-14 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics in a systematic and user-friendly way, with the aim of:

1. Informing:

• promoted staff
• teachers (including Support For Learning teachers)
• pupils
• parents of their children’s individual progress
• the parental community of attainment across the school
• other staff when pupils move school, stage or class, and
• the authority through its Quality Assurance process.

2. Maximising attainment through the identification of individuals or groups where learning can be supported through targeted use of resources.

3. Ensuring appropriate, but challenging, pace of learning for all pupils.

4. Ensuring best practice in learning and teaching which takes account of prior learning, learning styles and the quality of teaching.

5. Promoting effective self-evaluation at both a class and whole-school level

The purpose of an effective system
Maintaining a systematic tracking system allows staff to have a clear picture of the current attainment of both individual children and classes and provides an overview of progress made over a period of time. It allows each school to monitor its progress in attainment against national and local benchmarks. It requires staff to agree next steps in learning for each pupil and to set targets for future improvement. It also acts as a very effective tool in communicating a child’s current level of attainment when he/she moves school, stage or class.

The tracking system will be used by a range of personnel.

• Promoted Staff
  Members of the Senior Management Team will use the information generated from tracking pupil attainment as a basis for monthly reviews of progress against set targets in reading, writing and mathematics and for any discussion/action arising from these reviews. They will also use this information to set whole-school and class targets on an annual basis.
  The head teacher will publish details of pupils who are due to be presented for National Assessment on a termly basis to each class teacher. The tracking spreadsheet will be used as the agenda for termly discussions of individual pupil progress with class teachers as part of their forward planning and evaluation meetings. Priorities for future support provision as well as resources will be identified during these discussions.
  The tracking spreadsheet will be used to provide a termly update of whole school attainment to the collective staff, including Support for Learning teachers, as well as to the parental community via the School Board. It will be used to ensure annual submission of robust information on the school’s attainment to the Scottish Executive and the authority as well as more effective transfer of information to associated secondary school(s) at times of transition.
  The school’s audit statement for Quality Indicator 2:1 will also act as the basis of on-going dialogue with the authority as part of the Quality Assurance process. See the Management Calendar for the timing of analysis of attainment / discussion with staff throughout the academic year.
• Class Teachers
  The tracking system will provide teaching staff with a range of information on pupils’ attainment which will then lead to a more effective evaluation of learning and teaching strategies. Staff should use the information to group children by stage and/or ability. They will also use the information to set meaningful long term predictions/targets in reading, writing and mathematics following a pupil’s successful assessment of a 5-14 level.
  The system allows the class teacher to analyse pupil progress (individuals, groups and the class) against set targets/attainment predictions, thus providing a more meaningful agenda for termly discussion with promoted staff/support for learning staff.
  The class teacher will also use the information on a termly basis to discuss with pupils their achievement as well as progress against set 5-14 targets. This will help them to identify strategies and priorities that will facilitate progress.
  The tracking system provides quality information which can be shared with parents bi-annually e.g. staff can highlight the achievement of high or improving levels of attainment but can also give early warning reports when performance is falling below expectations. It, too, can be used as an effective transition document when a child moves from one educational establishment to another
  .

The role of the PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT UNIT
The Performance Management Unit will provide schools with a range of information/data to assist schools in the analysis of attainment on an annual basis. Schools will receive the following data by August of the following session:

• a five year overview of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics (by class stage).
• a five year overview of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by gender (whole school and each class stage).
• an overview of the percentage of pupils exceeding appropriate 5-14 levels in reading, writing and mathematics for the previous session.

This information should be used to analyse attainment trends over the last few years and should be used as the agenda for discussion with regards overall school attainment with individual members/collective staff.
Any discrepancies between the statistics detailed within the above reports and the school’s own figures should be discussed with the PMU as soon as possible to ensure accurate attainment statistics are presented to the Scottish Executive by the Authority.

The pacing of levels
Staff are required to set predictions/targets in line with regional and national advice. This states that the majority of pupils will progress through the 5-14 levels at the following pace:

• From enrolment in P1 to Level A 19 months
• From Level A to Level B 12 months
• From Level B to Level C 24 months
• From Level C to Level D 12 months
• From Level D to Level E 24 months

Some pupils will exceed these timeframes whilst others will struggle to attain the appropriate level within the required timeframe. Teachers should adjust their 5-14 predictions/targets to suit each pupil’s ability and aptitude.

The recording process
It is essential that each member of staff promptly and systematically records each pupil’s level of attainment and revised predictions/targets immediately following the successful completion of a National Assessment.
If the school has a network server, an electronic tracking spreadsheet should be accessed by all staff members through their NGfL computer. In this case, each class teacher should be required to record all information relating to 5-14 predictions/targets and attained levels directly within the central tracking spreadsheet [depending upon school policy]. The head teacher, or other members of the senior management team, will be able to maintain an overview of the spreadsheet by accessing their own NGfL computer.
Class teachers in schools which do not have their own server will be required to maintain a paper system to record 5 – 14 targets / attained levels. Each school should have a standardised format for both the transfer of information and recording progress.
Exemplars can be downloaded here for Reading, Writing and Maths.
The PMU has produced an electronic system of recording and tracking 5-14 data which schools may find useful.

All recorded information should be transferred within one working week to the member of staff who has responsibility for collating attainment data within the central tracking spreadsheet. This should be the clerical assistant, the head teacher or another member of the senior management team. This member of staff will circulate the updated data on 5-14 attainment to the head teacher thus ensuring analysis of current data. Updated versions of the class tracking spreadsheet will also be circulated to the appropriate class teacher.

All recorded information should be transferred within one working week to the member of staff who has responsibility for collating attainment data within the central tracking spreadsheet. This should be the clerical assistant, the head teacher or another member of the senior management team. This member of staff will circulate the updated data on 5-14 attainment to the head teacher thus ensuring analysis of current data. Updated versions of the class tracking spreadsheet will also be circulated to the appropriate class teacher.

Analysing tracking data
It is important that staff analyse tracking data closely.
Promoted staff should ask:

• Do forward planning and programmes of work for whole class/groups of pupils take account of pupils' needs in relation to previous successes or failures?
• Which pupils are not meeting predictions?
• Is there a reduction in pace or expectation at specific stages? See tracking data exemplar 1
• Are the needs of pupils who exceed predictions being well met?
• How well does the time factor between levels attained by pupils match or exceed national/local authority expectations? See tracking data exemplar 1
• What is the contribution of each class in relation to overall attainment within school? See tracking data exemplar 2
• What trends, over a 3-5 year period, are emerging? See tracking data exemplar 1
• How does the school compare to other local and national comparator schools?
• Are there any relevant gender issues which need to be addressed? See tracking data exemplar 3

Class teachers should ask:

• How good is each pupil’s pace of learning?
• How well motivated is each pupil?
• Is any pupil making slower progress in one particular area of the curriculum?
• How good is learning support?
• Are learning and teaching approaches appropriate?
• Should I review groupings within the class?
• Is there more information that I need or do I need to speak to someone else about this pupil?
• When is the pupil likely to achieve the next level?
• How does attainment compare with the pacing of levels as described above and in the 5-14 guidelines?