Attitude to Learning and Progress

Students with good attendance, punctuality, and a positive attitude to learning (AtL) make exceptional progress and achieve excellent qualifications that open doors to the next steps in life. Ensuring your child attends school regularly, arrives on time, and displays a positive AtL is essential in supporting their learning journey at Summerhill.

The Arbor Parent App allows you to track attendance, punctuality, and behaviour in real time. If you have any concerns or require support, please contact the school as soon as possible using the who to contact link.

In addition to live data on Arbor, we provide attendance, punctuality, and behaviour reports at the end of each term. These reports offer a broader overview of your child's engagement with school life. As part of these reports, teachers also reflect on students' overall Attitude to Learning for the term. This process allows effort and positivity to be recognised, shared, and celebrated. Occasionally, AtL grades may reflect some undesirable behaviours, which can then be addressed collaboratively by staff and parents.

It is worth noting that negative behaviour points will typically be recorded on Arbor prior to the issuing of a low AtL grade. However, when teachers reflect on an entire term's performance, they may determine that a lower AtL grade is the most accurate reflection. We view this as a form of "safety check" to ensure accurate and constructive feedback.

Description of Attitude to Learning (AtL)

5: Well Beyond Expectation: An absolute role model who is an independent and inquisitive learner.
4: Beyond Expectation: An emerging role model who is polite, respectful, and diligent.
3: Meets Expectation: A well-behaved student who is a compliant learner.
2: Below Expectation: An inconsistent or disinvested learner.
1: Well Below Expectation: A student with disappointing behaviour and/or a lack of interest in learning.

Parent Engagement Opportunities

In addition to live Arbor data and termly reports, each year group has a parents' evening during the school year, providing an opportunity to speak with your child's teachers. Please refer to the school calendar for dates.

If you have any concerns or questions, you are welcome to contact the school at any point during the year; there is no need to wait for a parents' evening. Who to Contact

Assessment for Learning

Assessment for Learning (AfL) is the most important type of assessment in schools. This refers to the ongoing, minute-by-minute, and lesson-by-lesson adjustments that teachers make to their teaching to maximise students' learning opportunities. Teachers are not expected to record this type of assessment, nor is it collected centrally.

However, feedback and marking-whether in books or online-along with Arbor data, provides parents with helpful guidance on how to support their child's progress effectively.

Is My Child Making Progress?

Depending on the year group, we send data reports home two or three times a year, summarising teachers' judgements on how well your child is performing in their subjects. For more information about progress and expectations, please click on the relevant link below.

Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8 & 9) KC Assessment

Key Stage 3 (Year 7, 8 & 9) Rank Order Groups - Maths & Science only

If you need any support with the reports, please email us: assessment@summerhill.dudley.sch.uk