Currently, across our school, leaders are holding one-on-one meetings with all our 217 Year 11 students as part of our exam season preparation - after all, it’s really not far away.
This practice, which began in 2019, has been a key part of our work to drive up exam outcomes and has boosted our school’s Progress 8 score to 1.02, placing us in the top 1 per cent in the country and marking the fifth year in a row we have seen an increase.
The idea of these meetings is to help students understand exactly where they are in terms of progress towards GCSEs, using mock exam data and wider progress insights from teachers to demonstrate what they need to do to achieve their ideal grades.
Numerous benefits
The meetings generally last around 15-20 minutes and, for most students, involve a discussion with a member of the leadership team, which means it’s about a five-hour commitment for staff.
Objectives for the meetings are three-fold:
- Reassure students about the exams process and the quality of their preparation.
- Ascertain any concerns - either in terms of confidence with subject matter or wellbeing.
- Identify any final practical actions that can be taken to help their preparations.
We find the impact of doing this is hugely beneficial, not least because students rarely get such a period of dedicated time for themselves.
As such, this personalised approach communicates care and builds confidence in the school because the wellbeing of each student is an absolute priority.
Furthermore, because the meeting is free from any peer influence, we find that students can be more open and honest about their learning and the challenges they face.
From this, a raft of outcomes and ideas often come: some are more obvious, such as a student requiring more intervention on a topic in a subject area, help with revision or a strategy to handle exam worries.
We sometimes follow up with a contact home if we think that’s necessary, too, so parents are aware of how we are supporting their child.
These meetings can also mean other “incidental matters” come to light that can also be significant, often things we as leaders had not considered.
For example, we’ve increased printer credits in the run-up to exams, made our Library a dedicated Year 11 study space at lunchtime, allowed students into lunch first so that they can have more time for study, and even to ensure homework is specifically revision based or linked to past exam paper questions. Small changes - but marginal gains are so important.
Extra meetings for specific students
While the bulk of this work takes place in Year 11, we actually begin hosting these one-on-one meetings in Year 10 for students who need extra support.
This involves a group of around 40-50 students who are making the least progress against their grade targets, based on data analysis of progress that is identified by an assistant head responsible for intervention.
These students will meet with multiple leaders on a one-to-one basis, usually at least once in Year 10 and twice in Year 11, with families also encouraged to attend so they understand their child’s current progress and what work is required to improve.
And why 40-50? Practically, this is optimal in terms of our capacity, and we’ve found it is always about 20 per cent who benefit from this “sharp end” intervention.
We then also work with another tranche of 40 or so students who we have fewer concerns about but we identify as benefiting from some early intervention, for example, where a student is at risk of not making the entry requirements for their post-16 option.
There is no doubt all of this work is a time commitment, and it involves a lot of preparation by staff to ensure they have insights ready for each meeting and then act on what they learn.
But if, as leaders, we really care about unlocking unique potential in all students, then it is vital work - and we think the success our students have achieved that has driven our P8 score is proof of its value.
Jill Silverthorne is headteacher at Bishop Stopford School
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