Welcome to Wellfield Community School

WELCOME to the brand new Wellfield Community School web site. We hope you will find it useful and easy to use. We see this web site as another small step on the road to making Wellfield an even better school. As a whole school we are totally dedicated to ensuring all our pupils are safe, healthy and happy. We have a strong focus on working with each child to ensure they reach and exceed their potential. We are proud to be the first Maths and Computing College in County Durham and have additional resources and staff to support us in this area. We have been allocated £10.5m to improve the school’s facilities through the Building Schools for the Future programme and this will greatly improve our learning environment. As an extended school, we offer a wide range of activities beyond the school day for our young people, parents and other members of the community. Feel free to have a look round our website and please get in touch if you have any comments or suggestions to make. Mrs J.F. Elliott, Headteacher

Homework Rationale At Wellfield, we believe that homework can reinforce and extend learning for our students. Through setting homework regularly, we hope to encourage independent learning, forge a strong partnership between home and school and help our students to fulfil their potential. Purposes To state the amounts of time students should spend on homework in each year group. To encourage independent study and learning. To extend all students, particularly the more able and talented. To encourage students to develop their skills, confidence and motivation. To outline the procedures for monitoring the completion of homework. To state the roles and responsibilities of staff when pupils are recording homework in their planners. To state the roles and responsibilities of staff when setting and monitoring homework. Guidelines All subjects are required to build homework tasks into their schemes of work. Homework tasks may include Written work – essays, stories, notes etc Drawing – sketches, plans Problem Solving – calculations, constructions Reading – books, articles, accounts, newspapers etc Learning/Revision Research Project work/coursework Students will be expected to spend the following amounts of time on their homework – Years 7 and 8 – 1 hour per day Year 9 – 1 hour and 30 minutes per day Years 10 and 11 – 2 hours and 30 minutes per day. In setting homework, subject staff will take into account the aptitudes and abilities of the students in their groups. They will refer to the specialist information and data available to them eg SEN matrices and MATS information. Subject staff also need to ensure that homework tasks are recorded in planners or on separate homework recording sheets. A homework timetable will be published for each year group. Students will record homework in their planners. This will be supervised by class teachers. Subject teachers will keep a record of all homework set according to subject policy. In addition, colleagues are asked to keep records on separate sheets(Appendix A).These are passed to the AHT with responsibility for the Learning Area on a fortnightly cycle for monitoring purposes. Staff must submit separate sheets for every subject area in which they teach. Form Tutors will check student planners on a weekly basis to check that homework is being set and that students are recording tasks. If there are problems with this, the Year Leader is informed. The Year Leader will liaise with the appropriate subject leader. Form Tutors will sign the planner every week. Parents should also sign the planner on a weekly basis. Form Tutors will also check pupils’ planners every day to ensure that they have them in school. If they do not, tutors will issue a replacement homework recording sheet. Students who consistently complete homework on time will be recognised and praised in subject areas. All homework tasks are marked in line with the school policy. All staff are encouraged to make constructive comments and set targets for improvement. Any student may complete homework in the LRC after school. Transport is provided to outlying villages. Monitoring and Evaluation By Form Tutors on a weekly basis. By Subject Leaders through subject monitoring systems. By AHTs on a fortnightly basis. By the Leadership Group on a fortnightly basis By the Headteacher and Governing Body on an annual basis.

Most Able and Talented Rationale At Wellfield School we recognise that able and talented students have specific learning needs which we must address. By recognising and providing for those needs we will ensure that we develop an appropriate curriculum which creates opportunities for extension, enhancement and enrichment activities and hereby allow our most able and talented students to flourish. We endorse the view that, "if a school looks systematically at its provision for the most able, then overall school standards will rise." (Deborah Eyres, Able pupils in Ordinary Schools, 1992). We believe that a focus on the learning needs of our most able and talented students will enhance teaching and learning across the school and thereby raise attainment Purposes To ensure such pupils are identified and catered for.   To raise aspirations and enable most able and talented students to develop their potential. To provide opportunities for pupils to work at higher cognitive levels. To provide opportunities for students to develop specific skills or talents. To identify, support and improve the motivation and performance of able underachievers.   To support the pro-achievement culture in the school. To provide extension, enhancement and enrichment activities for able and talented pupils. To ensure teachers understand the learning needs of able students and meet those needs in and outside the classroom. Guidelines   1. Definition At Wellfield we identify the top 8 - 10% of our pupils as most able and talented young people and refer to them ‘Most Able and Talented’  (MATs). These are the students who achieve or have the ability to achieve at a level significantly in advance of their peers in many areas of the curriculum or in a more limited range of subjects. The identification process also highlights pupils with specific academic ability in a given curriculum area and those with creative, technical or sporting talents. Pupils who are identified as very able in one or two areas only or who have a particular talent are not identified on the MATs register, but are identified on subject specific lists. We use both generic descriptors which highlight the general characteristics of able and talented students and subject specific criteria. (see Appendices 1 and 2)   2. Identification of MATs We recognise that there is no fool-proof, watertight method for identification and use a wide range of data (cognitive ability tests, attainment data, teacher recommendations, primary school recommendations) to identify MATs, able underachievers and pupils with a specific academic ability or talent in a specific area. The school has a register of MATs for each year group which identifies the top 8 - 10% of the school. The register is reviewed in November at the same time as the MATs in the new Year 7 intake are identified. Each department identifies the most able 10% in that year for their curriculum area, (able underachievers are also identified) and the information is collated by the MAT co-ordinator and is circulated to the DoF and Year Leaders to give them the opportunity for further comment. The MAT co-ordinator then finalises a list of MAT students and able underachievers (see Appendices 3 & 4). All teachers and tutors receive a copy of the register (via the DoF / YL). In addition subjects have their own subject specific list of students who are very able  / talented in their curriculum area only. Able pupils are interviewed either individually or in small groups by the MATs co-ordinator to discuss their particular learning needs and progress. Parents are informed by letter and invited into  school to inform them of the learning opportunities for their child. 3. Meeting the needs of MATs In class provision It is the responsibility of individual subject teachers to ensure they meet the learning needs of the MATs they teach in their day-to day planning (including homework),  providing appropriate extension work and enhancement opportunities.  All curriculum areas identify specific tasks and extension materials either in schemes of work or in a separate document. DoFs and HoDs are responsible for monitoring the work and progress of able students in their curriculum area (see Appendix 5). b. Enrichment activities In addition some curriculum areas provide enrichment activities, in particular music and PE.  Others are exploring opportunities for fast-tracking for some students. In Y9 MATs are invited to embark on the ICT GNVQ offered by the school at KS4 one year early. 4. Monitoring Monitoring progress of individual students In addition to the monitoring undertaken within Faculties via the RATTING system, the MAT co-ordinator and Year Leader or Key Stage Deputy monitor progress on a termly basis using the data provided by the RATTING system. Underperformance is identified and the school systems are used to intervene (either via DoF, tutor or YL depending on whether the underperformance is limited to one or two subjects or is across many subject areas). Parents are involved if the underachievement is across many subjects. A termly progress report is made to the Headteacher. The MAT co-ordinator also  provides an analysis of the achievements of able students in external examinations and assists in the target setting process.   monitoring curriculum / enrichment provision The MAT co-ordinator monitors the curriculum provision by: Ensuring all curriculum areas provide extension and enhancement work in their schemes of work. Ensuring specific learning needs are met by meeting with groups of able students throughout the year and discussing their specific learning needs  and responding to these. Liasing with curriculum areas to promote enrichment activities and to explore possibilities of fast-tracking  / alternative provision. The DoF / HoD monitors curriculum provision in their subject area by: Regularly reviewing the scheme of work to ensure adequate provision is made for able pupils. Monitoring lesson plans to ensure teachers are planning extension and enhancement activities. Monitoring the performance of able pupils are part of the faculty analysis of GCSE and end of KS3 attainment levels. Monitoring by Senior Management The M9 link and M3 monitor provision for able pupils  within the lesson observation cycle of the school. Appendix 3   Identification of MATs In November the MATs co-ordinator (Bev Redfern, Deputy Head KS3) and the SENCO (Kath Whitehouse) identify potentially very able students in Y7 using the following data:   Primary teacher recommendations Cognitive ability tests ( a CATs score of 115 and above in any category or a high average mean (107 and above) Reading ages SATs results (students achieving level 5 and above in two of the core subjects at KS2) Possible underachievers are identified by: Looking for pupils who score high on potential (e.g. high CATs scores) but low on attainment. Monitoring performance to identify a drop off in performance over time. Looking for discrepancies between verbal and non-verbal scores in CATs - students with high non-verbal scores but high non-verbal ability might have weak literacy skills but other talents and abilities. Looking for a correlation between poor behaviour/low self-esteem and under performance. 2. Each subject area identifies the top 10% in their subject area. They use a subject specific definition of most able and talented for their subject area and students attainment levels. They also identify underachievers. Subject areas submit their recommendations and this is collated. 3.   Year and tutors use their knowledge of their students both in school and out of school to identify most able and talented and underachievers. 4. All the information is collated by the MAT co-ordinator and an initial list is drawn up. This is circulated to DoFs, HoDs, YLs and tutors who make further comments and return the information to the MATs co-ordinator. 5. The MATs co-ordinator then re-examines all the information collected and finalises the MATs register for that year group. This list is circulated to all staff. Review of the MATs register At the same time the MATs register for Years 8 – 10 is reviewed by all subject areas, tutors and Year Leaders and amendments made.       Appendix 1 Main characteristics demonstrated by able and talented students. Able pupils will not display all of these characteristics and this list is not intended as a tick list, but as a range of sometimes conflicting descriptors which are used to identify different aspects of ability. learns quickly and easily able to apply and adapt new learning in new situations curious, inquisitive, sceptical excellent memory wide general knowledge and informed in unusual areas beyond their years very articulate, excellent vocabulary and acquires new vocabulary quickly and applies it confidently to their work   exceptional talent and skills in art, music and drama and expressive writing independent worker, often takes the initiative high level of motivation when challenged and interested at the proper level logical, shows good judgement highly motivated and generally sets high standards for themselves leadership qualities and frequently takes the initiative in groups confident and socially adept shows high levels of sensitivity, awareness and empathy, often displays unusual insights persistent, resourceful, able to concentrate for long periods and, self-directed original, creative and imaginative very extroverted / introverted physically able versatile   Remember not all pupils will display all of these characteristics, and importantly able underachievers might hide their abilities and instead display challenging behaviour, lethargy, poor written work and poor motivation.