Greenwood Academies Trust

Greenwood Academies Trust

SBS' SIMS Assessment project delivers efficiencies and consistent marking across Multi-Academy Trust

SBS' SIMS Assessment project delivers efficiencies and consistent marking across Multi-Academy Trust

To support pupil progress and facilitate assessment for each school across the trust, the SBS MIS team implemented one assessment tracking system across GAT’s primary academies that could be easily and consistently utilised in each school, creating all aspects, templates and marksheets.

Supporting all stakeholders:

• GAT receive an accurate and up-to-date picture of progress and attainment across the trust
• Schools are rapidly informed to orchestrate self-assessment and improvement planning
• Teachers identify development areas by sharing strengths and next steps
• Pupils receive clear developmental feedback, rather than a level, and understand how they are progressing
• Guardians are informed about the progress their child is making
• Ofsted can be briefed on the school's chosen pupil tracking data by reports generated in SIMS Assessment

"We have worked with SBS on many projects across the trust and we wanted a system across our primary academies that could be easily and consistently utilised in each school. This would not have come to fruition without the coordination and development from Viv and the SBS team. They have gone over and above to help us implement and imbed a system that we can be proud of."

Project Steps

1. Construct templates

SBS constructed SIMS Assessment marksheet templates at Trust level so that all primary schools are now using the same criteria for both summative and formative assessment. The SIMS system of each of the 32 schools has been accessed remotely and the templates and aspects imported for years 1-6 and years 7-11.

2. Create tracking grids

SBS created two tracking grids within SIMS, one for outcomes and one for status, to offer individual schools instant local analysis for the tracking of pupil progress. SBS also created additional assessment analysis grids and were able to show the value of mapping to the SIMS reports.

3. Training for GAT staff

SBS delivered documentation for training purposes on how to use assessment marksheets, how to filter for Pupil Premium (PP), Free School Meals (FSM), English as an Additional Language (EAL) and how to quickly filter, display and analyse the data within a school.

SBS also provided demonstrations for all of the schools to show what SIMS can provide and how to obtain assessment information, along with a variety of additonal data.

"Just wanted to say thank you for the SIMS training this week. It was some of the best training I've had! If you run it again for the Trust in the future, I would like to send more of SLT."

Delivering effective summative and formative assessment

Quick and accurate summative assessment

At trust level, the uniform setup of SIMS Assessment across the trust enables the Assessment Coordinator to swiftly access the marksheets for each subject and year group. By using this data the trust can review the target settings and progress towards target.

Detailed and convenient formative assessment

At teacher level, all GAT class marksheets can be accessed and displayed easily in SIMS Assessment. The marksheets contain columns with a range of pupil information, from Free School Meals (FSM), Gender and Pupil Premium (PP) through to % Attendance.

As the data for the term is entered the colour formatting will be displayed and the indicators against the target. Whilst taking attendance during lessons teachers can also use the tabs to access these marksheets.

Lesson planning

Ideal for lesson planning, SIMS Assessment provides key intelligence for teachers across the trust (in order to make an intervention if required):

• A useful checklist to ensure that they have taught the curriculum
• See where the class and each child’s outcomes are in relation to their cohort across the trust (Developing, Emerging or Secure)

"A clear objective and plan are key to a successful SIMS project, the extent of which will depend upon the size and complexity of the school's assessment requirement and the internal resources available. To support GAT's assessment vision we
assigned an experienced MIS consultant to plan the project, manage the team, allocate the resources, evaluate progress to ensure the system is implemented on time for the autumn term."