“As an ASN school we needed a more bespoke tracking system to better suit the level of our pupils, pace of progress and likely outcomes. B Squared’s Connecting Steps has given us that ability to show even the smallest of progress for some of our most complex learners whilst also allowing us to track right up to SQA and SCQF senior phase qualification.”
Jim Moore, Principal Teacher – S1 and S2, Sanderson High
***************************
Sanderson High is using
B Squared’s Connecting Steps assessment software with our Steps for Excellence and Senior Phase SQA assessment frameworks.
The Connecting Steps Pre-Early Milestones are based on the Education Scotland Milestones in numeracy, literacy, and health & well being. Pre-Early and CfE Levels 1-3 are broken into 8 levels each, to allow tracking and monitoring of progress at any pace.
SQA in Senior Phase is based on the outcomes of the courses and can be measured at an individual pace.
Evisense, our communication hub for parents and schools, helps demonstrate the learning that takes place. It enables diverse, bespoke gathering of evidence to support assessment and parental engagement.
To find out how B Squared can help your school
Call: 01252 870 133
Email: hello@bsquared.co.uk
Visit: www.bsquared.co.uk
Tracking small steps of progress across the Curriculum for Excellence
Sanderson High is a standalone Additional Support Needs (ASN) Secondary school with a roll of approximately 120 in East Kilbride, Scotland. Its pupils have a wide range of additional needs and depending on ability, work on Milestones through to National 3 and National 4 SQA qualifications within Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence.
According to Principal Teacher, Jim Moore, “All our teaching staff use Connecting Steps to assess our pupils’ progress and Evisense to capture evidence of their achievements. Senior management also use Analytics for data analysis.”
Progress tracking is more robust and meaningful
“Working with B Squared has made our progress tracking more robust and meaningful. The previous system we had in place tracked Experiences and Outcomes which were too large for many of our pupils to achieve in a reasonable timeframe or achieve at all in some cases! We can now use the Benchmarks across all of the assessment frameworks we have in Connecting Steps – taking our pupils all the way through from Primary to Secondary. Being able to go into the minutiae level of achievements means we can better track progress of our pupils, even down to our least able. The level of pupil need has increased even more since choosing B Squared, so it is really important that we can show these small gains which the old system didn’t allow us to do.”
Clearer outcomes help inform planning and lesson delivery
“Tracking progress with Connecting Steps means outcomes are clearer, which helps our teachers to better inform their planning and how lessons are delivered. This has a positive knock on effect in the learning and teaching that our young people receive. Using B Squared’s Analytics, our management team is also better equipped with regards to data and analysis – so they can pick up on gaps or areas of strength, and respond appropriately.”
Visually seeing progress made is highly motivational
“Many of our staff use Connecting Steps to keep the pupils motivated and involved with their learning. I’ve personally used it as a plenary in lessons to show pupils what they’ve managed to achieve and they really enjoy seeing it in a very visual manner. Some teachers also use it to demonstrate progress at parents night which has impressed them.”
Evisense helps celebrate achievements with parents and pupils
“Using Evisense, we can quickly and easily capture and share video and photo evidence to celebrate achievements with parents and pupils. This enables us to put the pupil at the centre of their learning. It’s really great to see the teacher and parent comments about skills being developed in the classroom and also out in the community.”
Jim Moore, Principal Teacher – S1 and S2, Sanderson High.
Want an easy way to show pupil progress?
Book a FREE online meeting to find out how we can help make assessment easier for your school
