Attainment Tracking
The Lancashire Pupil Tracker Hub is intended to track children's attainment rather than progress.
Attainment is the snapshot outlining the academic standard at which a child is performing at a given point. It informs schools of the 'what', not the 'how' or the context of what learning has taken place.
Progress is not tracked because it is a subjective term and has no national comparison. The only nationally recognised progress measure is currently from the end of KS1 to the end of KS2, and details of how to calculate this are released annually in Primary Accountability. Tracking progress can lead to an artificial creation of expectations at different terms or an ordering of skills and knowledge that is decided upon in each school and therefore cannot be applied to different schools in different contexts.
Furthermore, there is a risk that focusing on progress can lead to less depth and breadth of understanding of concepts as pupils are pushed to move forwards and make 'progress'. Ofsted no longer wish to see tracking systems that show progress over time, instead the focus is firmly on what pupils know, how the school knows that they know it and what they are doing if the children do not know it.
If you would like to discuss this further in relation to your own school and the systems that you have in place, then please do get in touch with the Lancashire Assessment Team on 01772 531555.
Kind Regards
Pupil Tracker Team