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Moving from Secondary to Being a Primary Head Showed Me Just how Capable 11 Year Olds Can Be

“Some parents weren't very welcoming; they started a Facebook campaign and threatened to download pictures of my children and post them around the local area,” says Sophie Laing

Elaine Bennett
by Elaine Bennett
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For Little Parndon Primary Academy headteacher Sophie Laing, making sure children are grouped in the right way in the lead-up to SATs is one of her key focuses. In the build-up to May, Y6 pupils at this Essex primary are taught English and maths in smaller ability groups.

These are led by the two classroom teachers as well as Jackie Diggle – the school’s deputy head and KS2 English specialist – and Ben Clark, a senior teacher across the Burnt Mill Academy Trust, which the school belongs to.

Each group is associated with a different character from the animated film The Incredibles. “It’s about creating a culture that says to the children, ‘You’re all incredible and it doesn’t matter which group you’re in’,” explains Sophie. “For the children, it’s not about ability – it’s just about being superstars and having that identity.”

Children who come to school over Easter for SATs booster classes get special Team Incredibles badges, and children are also rewarded with ‘32 Club’ stickers if they get enough points on certain practice papers. “It’s about constantly celebrating them,” says Sophie.

When it comes to SATs week itself, the children in each ability group wear a different coloured rosette featuring their mascot and sit the papers carousel-style, waiting for their turn in a pre-test area. “We don’t do SATs in rows in the hall because we want it to be in a place where the children are comfortable,” explains Sophie.

“Quite often in schools, SATs week means all adults on deck – even midday assistants. We keep our groups small so we can staff the tests with adults that know the children really, really well and who the pupils can feel confident and comfortable with.”

In the run-up to SATs week, the children experience the arrangement by sitting two rounds of mock papers. “On the actual day, we don’t want them to feel any different to how they did in the practice sessions,” says Sophie.

During the week itself, Sophie helps to man the pre-test room, giving children last-minute revision sessions and also providing more relaxing activities. “The whole event is a very extensive exercise because none of the four groups are allowed to meet,” Sophie says.

Steph Galliers – Assistant head & Reception teacher We work well together as a team here. We’re always aware of what other classes are doing because it’s important to know what the children have to achieve by the time they get to the end of Y2 or Y6. We often discuss the barriers that are preventing children getting to that next step so we can start working on these areas much earlier.

“Our learning mentor or SENCO also get involved if any of the children need additional support. We pride ourselves on knowing these children inside out.’

Another key driver for the Little Parndon team is putting the school back at the heart of the community. “For so long this school was at the bottom of people’s lists,” Sophie says. “Parents and children weren’t proud to be part of it. I think we’re changing that culture now and I want to do even more in our local community. I want these children to be proud of where they’re from so when they grow up and go off to university, they bring those skills back to Harlow and make it even better. Ultimately, that’s why I pay a lot of attention to my staff’s wellbeing – after all, happy teachers want to do their absolute best and will go the extra mile for these children and their families.”

“That’s why they wear rosettes – if you saw children wearing different colours badges anywhere near each other, you’d know to intervene. We need to get the best out of these children. They’ve been working hard and have so many skills, so the last thing we want is for them to get nervous and lose all that on the day. Yes, it’s about our results, but it’s also about them.”

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