Depth of Learning - Pupil Progress Tracker (Web-based system)

Can I just say that I really appreciated the support that Zach offered when I rang to speak about DoL recently. He was polite, friendly and very efficient at providing me with the information that I needed. I have been extremely impressed with the level of support that you, Zach and every other member of your team deliver each time that I need to contact you. Thank you.

As a member of an academy we had six primary heads, a secondary headteacher and our CEO spending the day in our school last week. They saw our children working in all their classes and different learning environments. The feedback from headteachers bowled me over - they could see how our curriculum engaged the children; promoted deep learning and how the learning behaviours were embedded across the school. They were particularly interested to know how we use the Essentials curriculum and Secrets of Success from ages 3-11 and have embedded our pedagogy over a few years. The team also went away understanding how integral Depth of Learning was to us in both identifying gaps in learning and tracking progress. Everybody agreed a trip to Kippax North was truly inspirational.

“My experience of the new Ofsted framework in relation to Depth of Learning Tracker was very positive. The inspector thought our assessment system was robust and that we had ‘forged ahead’ with assessment across subjects since our last inspection. The inspector particularly liked the Lines of Good Progress charts which were easy and quick to use in getting an overview of attainment and progress. The bespoke tracking of each individual child was also seen as really important as it gave the true picture of an individual in terms of strengths and weaknesses. I am very pleased that we have been working with the Depth of Learning practices and principles as well as the tracker as this has helped us tremendously on our journey of developing our expertise as teachers. I thought Depth of Learning was a good thing, two years ago when I attended Chris’ conference, I now know it is a great thing! Thank you to the Quigley team for the continued excellent CPD opportunities.” Jeannette Little, Feckenham First School

I now have a good idea of how to use the Depth of Learning within school and can share this effectively with the staff.

I hope you don’t mind me getting in touch to share the great news of our recent Outstanding Ofsted report with you. A huge part of our move from previous (2010) Good judgement to Outstanding here at old Hutton CE Primary was due to our curriculum and assessment system – both of which are fully based on the CQ Essentials and Milestones/Depth of Learning tracking. In particular, our report comments on our ‘exceptional’ quality of assessment which ‘has a substantial impact on the progress pupils make in their learning’ & states that ‘The curriculum is inspiring...a strength..creative and exciting, which results in all pupils being highly motivated to be involved in their learning’ & ‘consequently...pupils thrive.’ There are many more related statements! I do feel I needed to say a huge thank you to Chris & his team for their inspiring ideas which have in turn inspired us to achieve great things with our children here.

The Depth of Learning system provoked an overwhelmingly positive reaction at our most recent parent consultations.

Thank you for your continuous support through the early stages of getting to grips with the DOL assessment tool. All the staff at Copthorne Primary are getting used to it and feel it is a fantastic way of supporting learning while assessing progress too. I have found all your team really helpful at every moment I have struggled (of which there has been a few!) and problems have been explained and resolved quickly at all times. We have used the system whole heartedly and I have been producing reports for the schools teachers, SLT and governing body throughout this year which have all been well received. Thanks again.

Yours is the only programme I have come across that is positively better - every other seems to be levels by another name.

We love the system: our staff have completely changed the way in which they look at and plan for children's learning. They understand and have embraced the idea of deeper learning and, although we have obviously spent a great deal of time training them to use the system effectively, this has made the staff more willing to focus on the things that really matter as regards children's progress and attainment.

Quite a big change for us about three terms ago was trying to really understand how to plan in opportunities designed to show a child has a masterful (deep) understanding around a concept. The idea of tracking how well a child understands their learning can be tracked through DoL and makes it easier for teachers to see where gaps in understanding are.

We have put in place half termly pupil target setting mentoring meetings. Children meet individually with their teacher with a drink and a biscuit to discuss their learning, teachers share the individual report screen from DoL and identify the one target to be high profile in ‘nudging’ learning forward for each child. This is recorded on the target card. We do this for maths, reading and writing. Prior to this the pupil completes their CQE Secrets of Success reflection and self evaluation sheet and comes ready to suggest the one thing that should be their ‘learning to learn’ target. This is discussed and agreed. The targets are signed and laminated and can be used to set a context for learning.

It was extremely useful for the staff to hear from Chris the rationale behind the changes both in government and behind the tracker. A reminder that this approach is actually based on sound research was also a good message for us. The whole approach and linking with the Essentials makes for a sound approach to learning It was helpful too that the small numbers enabled Chris to adapt to our needs.

We had our inspection this week, thankfully it remained a one day! Having our DoL analysis certainly helped.

We have now been using the Depth of Learning tracking and assessment package since January and it has already had a very positive impact on the teaching and learning in our school. The tracking is straight-forward to use and allows teachers to clearly see next steps for the children and incorporate this into their planning, as well as making accurate summary assessment against the milestones. Analysing the data is made straight-forward by the clear charts and graphs the system produces. We now feel in control of our data and assessment again in this 'life after levels'. Thank you!

We now have a system which provides staff with a manageable system to assess in every subject across the curriculum. This system allows staff to share the depth of learning with the children so that they know what they are doing well and those areas which need some further work. From a data analysis point of view, we can easily run a variety of reports (including group comparisons) with just a click of a button, showing attainment and progress over time. The technical team are excellent and any questions or problems are resolved swiftly. I would strongly recommend this system to another school (without hesitation).