Basic Skills Quality Mark

The Basic Skills Agency is a national organisation committed to improving standards of basic skills in English and Maths.

In January 1999 we received the Basic Skills Quality Mark in recognition of our whole school commitment to raising standards in English and Maths. We were delighted to be the first school in Southampton to receive the revalidation of this award for the third time in January 2005. Our particular focus for the Quality Mark has been to raise the National Curriculum level of the lower attaining pupils in the school. In order to do this, we provide focused basic skills teaching of small groups or individuals for English and Maths.

Through our teaching, we aim to motivate all children to improve their basic literacy and numeracy skills. We regularly review the progress of all children in the school through our target-setting work, which is an important aspect of our teaching. You will receive half-termly information about your child's targets. These targets focus on improving skills in English and Maths.

To be awarded the Quality Mark we have to be able to show evidence of all of the 10 areas below.

1. A whole school strategy, including an action plan, to improve performance in basic skills.
2. An assessment of pupil performance in basic skills in the school.
3. A target for the improvement of the school’s performance in basic skills.
4. Basic skills improvement plans for pupils under attaining in the school.
5. Regular review of the progress made by each pupil under-attaining in basic skills.
6. A commitment to improving the skills of staff in the school to teach and extend basic skills.
7. The use of a range of teaching styles to improve basic skills.
8. The use of appropriate teaching and learning material to improve basic skills.
9. The involvement of parents in developing their children’s basic skills.
10. An effective procedure for monitoring the action plan and assessing improvement in performance in basic skills.