Introduction

Prior attainment –

Yr 13 fine Photography fine art

Challenge targetsThe lack of A grades as set out in the students challenge targets is frustrating as the majority of the students were working at an A grade through out the A2 course. However the lower grades that they received for their AS pulled their grades down at least one level. Eddie Amos, Leo Thompson, Bronte Marwick all working at an A grade through out yr 13 but all ended the year on a B. This was also the case with the C grades Casper Courtney Thompson worked consistently at B grades through A2 but his grade D at AS meant that he finished with a grade C. The table clearly shows that at present there is a discrepancy between WAGS A prediction and the actual grade achived at the end of the course.

Value addedThe value added of 17 is very pleasing and would have been significantly higher if the A2 grades had been consistent and not brought down by the AS grades. The student who underachieved considerably was frequently absent, late and arrived poorly prepared . The student had also made a commitment to improve and renter his As unit however he did did not for fill the requirement of the work needed for his re-entry. He clearly struggled with the work required for A2 and would cover up his lack of work with excuses. It is clear that the department must take a stronger line with the lack of commitment some students show and refer to school policy regarding subject contracts earlier on.

GenderThe male students out performed the female students in the top A* to A bracket with 32.05% against the females 16.67 %. However this figure is very disjointed when you look at the make up of the groups the females out numbered the males 13 to 6. The main area for concern is the high number of Bs achieved by the female students who nearly all had the capability to achieve an A grade and once again the result achived at As stopped them from doing so. In the D to E bracket the male students are above in percentage with 16.67 against the female 7.69. The reason for this is the boys reluctants to develop their ideas and the tendency to focus on the end product rather than document the process.

The number of students who are not White British are comparatively very small which may have skewed the figures. There does appear to be to have been a relative underperformance by students who are white British. This is a negligible figure that does not represent any particular trend or cause for concern

SEN – Leo Thomson was the only statmented student within the cohort. He did well and did not let his condidtion hold him back at all. Sadly for Leo he would have achived an A if not for his low AS mark.

FSM - NACARE – NA

13B out performed 13A, no student from 13b achieved less than a c. However this group was much smaller in size having only 6 students with 13B having double that number 13. This smaller number clearly had an effect on the quality time that the teacher was able to give to individual students. The students within 13A were generally a more commitment group of individuals often arranging photographic trips outside of school independently to the teacher.

13B A+ A B C D EAll 16% 50% 34%Girls 1 2 1Boys 1 1

13A A+ A B C D EAll 15% 8% 39% 15% 15% 8%Girls 1 5 2 1Boys 1 1 1 1

Trend

A new teacher with new ideas about how to teach the subjectA much greater emphasis has been placed on the assessment objectives students stated that previously they had not really been taught about these objective and how they specifically relate to marks achieved . am is to achieve 70 % Astar - b

Achievement The change in personnel within the department has been a relatively smooth one and the influx of fresh ideas along with the persistent teaching of assessment criteria has seen a large jump in the A – B percentage from 48 to 63%. The downward trend that had been consistent since 2010 has stopped and clear steps have been taken towards taking the department back up into the 70 % region. The growth in the use of multi media in particular the rise of final pieces presented in film format is an exciting trend and one which will be pushed as the year progresses.

WeaknessThe large contingent of students who were working at an A grade at A2 but were pulled back to a B in extremely concerning. The department must look at the AS course and make the necessary changes to it which would push students to achieve higher grades at AS.

Strategies

Restructure the AS course allowing students time to develop their work to a greater degree. The current AS course is to teacher led and not focused enough on giving the students time to develop and refine their own ideas. Previously there has been a heavy bias towards technology and web based products I feel that this form of creativity does not work for all students. The department will implement areas within the curriculum to let the more art based students the encouragement to be more creative within the medium.Allow the current AS students to re-enter the AS coursework, they will be given a set amount of time to improve the work and so hopefully will raise their grade.A specific equation will be created with help from the maths department that will show the students exactly how many marks they need to achieve a higher grade.

Clearer and tougher strategies in line with school policy to deal with failing students.Open studio for students who fail to work adequately outside of lesson.