Extras: additional material and references
The extras have been grouped to make it easier for you to find the material that you want. Please select from the categories below.
- For parents, carers and mentors
- Leading and managing intervention
- Intervention programmes
- Materials from training
- Identifying pupils
- Progression Maps
Note: When you select a hyperlink the associated website may take time to download depending on the site you are visiting.
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For parents, carers and mentors
Progression Maps
The Progression Maps for English and mathematics are designed to focus teaching and support on a pupil's crucial next steps in learning. In addition to ideas and examples for teachers, they contain advice for parents and other adults who are supporting children's learning in and out of school. For further information you can read a summary (will open a new window) about Progression Maps or go to the website (will open a new window).
I can explain! Helping your child at school
This is a multi-media resource that has been designed particularly to help parents who have children at secondary school and is available at:
The DCSF Standards site/ helping parents (will open a new window).
Working together: Teaching Assistants and AfL
This publication deals with assessment for learning (AfL) and is available at:
The DCSF Standards site / KS3 Publications (AfL) (will open a new window).
Teaching Assistants and learning mentors
Three recommended websites, offering guidance and support, include:
The Training and Development Agency (TDA) site for support staff (will open a new window).
The DCSF Standards site for learning mentors (will open a new window).
The teachernet site / managing adults working in pupil support (will open a new window).
Weblinks: The Learning Conversation (will open a new window).
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Leading and managing intervention
Intervention audit
This audit is designed to:
- assist schools in identifying underperforming pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 who would benefit from additional support;
- help schools to identify the specific areas where underperforming pupils need support;
- contribute to schools developing an intervention plan.
The audit is available at:
The DCSF Standards site for KS3 audit (will open a new window).
Intervention toolkit
This booklet contains brief accounts of the various intervention programmes and resources published and promoted by the Secondary National Strategy. Use the booklet as a 'toolkit' - choose from it materials and other ideas to help address patterns of underachievement in your school. The flexibility it offers allows you to tailor what you do to the needs of your pupils, bearing in mind local circumstances.
You can view/download this publication at:
The DCSF Standards site / the intervention toolkit (will open a new window).
Intervention key messages
This is a useful summary of the approach adopted by the Key Stage 3 Strategy and is available at:
The DCSF Standards site / intervention key messages (will open a new window).
Grouping pupils for success
This guidance is designed to raise awareness of the implications of different approaches to pupil grouping and setting, so that schools can review their current policies and develop their approaches in ways that contribute to personalised learning. It encourages schools to move on from the old 'for and against' debates about grouping to a more sophisticated understanding of what it means to group pupils for success.
The DCSF Standards site / grouping pupils for success (will open a new window).
Funding
- Additional funding (£120m in 2006-07 and a further £215m in 2007-08) is being distributed to schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). These funds support personalisation through intervention teaching, meeting the needs of specific groups and individuals, ethnic minority achievement, gifted and talented, and study support.
- Local authorities are required, with their School Forums, to decide how to distribute its DSG increase between individual schools. All schools should receive something but it is expected that those schools facing the greatest challenge (according to the formula) will receive the most funding.
- In addition, each local authority has an allocation of funding designed to enable it to focus funding and support on underperforming pupils. This funding will be directed to schools which have the highest number of pupils who have fallen behind in English and mathematics. Schools can use it to access training for expert/lead teachers and teaching assistants in 'tailored support' - for example, intervention, booster, mentoring and transition matters.
For further information on funding, go to:
The teachernet site / the White Paper 2005 (summary) (will open a new window).
Pupil tracking
Guidance is available in a document called Tracking for success (Ref: DfES 1545-2005FLR-EN). Copies available from DCSF publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60.
Schools White Paper
Go to :
The teachernet site / the White Paper 2005 (will open a new window).
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Intervention programmes
Learning Challenge
The Learning Challenge is a Wave 2/3 programme which will fit with the other aspects of intervention programmes to help support learning and raise achievement. The main aim of the Learning Challenge is to help pupils improve organisation of themselves and of their learning. Through this they will be better equipped to take advantage of what is offered to them in lessons.
Challenge materials are available at:
The DCSF Standards site / the learning challenge toolkit (will open a new window).
Literacy Progress Units
Pupils who enter Year 7 at level 3 need additional support if they are to develop the literacy skills that can unlock learning and enable them to reach the national expectation at the end of Key Stage 3. Literacy Progress Units have been developed to offer this support.
The six Literacy Progress Units provide a programme of support materials for teachers of pupils who attained below level 4 at the end of Key Stage 2. The six units and the main areas they cover are:
- writing organisation: organising and shaping writing effectively;
- information retrieval: extracting and evaluating information from a range of non-literary sources;
- spelling: spelling accurately, as a result of knowing the conventions and having strategies for improving spelling;
- reading between the lines: using inference and deduction in interpreting literary texts;
- phonics: applying knowledge of phonics in their own writing;
- sentences: having a repertoire of sentence structures and using them effectively.
Weekly overview sheets are also available for each of the six units, covering pupil activities, key terms, and the suggested follow-up.
Schools can customise these to their own needs and are available for download in Ms Word, from:
The DCSF Standards site / Literacy Progress Units (small groups) (will open a new window).
A version of five of the Literacy Progress Units adapted for whole-class use is also available at:
The DCSF Standards site / Literacy Progress Units (whole-class) (will open a new window).
Reading Challenge
Reading Challenge is a Wave 2/3 programme designed to help pupils whose reading skills are about two years below expectations. They might be Year 7 pupils who have been assessed at level 3 in reading at the end of Key Stage 2, or Year 8 pupils whose reading skills were shown to be at level 3 to 4 by the Progress test or by teacher assessment at the end of Year 7.
Reading Challenge is available to view/download at:
The DCSF Standards site / Reading Challenge materials (will open a new window).
Writing Challenge
Writing Challenge is a Wave 2/3 programme designed to help pupils whose writing skills are about two years below expectations. This might include Year 7 pupils who have been assessed at level 3 in writing by the test at the end of Key Stage 2 and Year 8 pupils whose writing skills were shown to be at level 3 to 4 by the Progress test at the end of Year 7.
Writing Challenge is available to read/download at:
The DCSF Standards site / Writing Challenge materials (will open a new window).
Targeting level 4 in Year 7: English
This is a Wave 1 programme consisting of three units of 12 lessons designed to support the teaching of Year 7 pupils operating at level 3 and needing to make swift progress to level 4. The lessons are planned and resourced so that they may be taught to whole classes.
The collection of units is called Targeting level 4 in Year 7: English. The three units are:
- preparing for the progress tests
- narrative writing
- reading for meaning and information.
The lessons follow the teaching sequence of the Literacy Progress Units and the Year 9 booster materials. Homework opportunities are built in at appropriate points. Each unit stresses key skills, pupil self-evaluation and use of individual reading and writing targets and are available at:
The DCSF Standards site / targeting level 4 in Year 7 in English (will open a new window).
Targeting level 5 in Year 9: English
This is a Wave 1 programme designed to support the teaching of reading skills and writing responses to reading.
The DCSF Standards site / targeting level 5 in Year 9 in English (will open a new window).
Targeting level 4 in Year 7: mathematics
This is a Wave 1 programme. The lessons form a single publication including nine 'Number' and 'Algebra' units, six 'Shape, space and measure' and 'Handling data' units, and twelve 'Consolidation' lessons.
The DCSF Standards site / targeting level 4 in Year 7 in mathematics (will open a new window).
Springboard 7 - a mathematics catch-up programme for pupils entering Year 7
Springboard 7 is a catch-up programme for Year 7 children who achieved level 3 rather than level 4 in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. It is designed for teaching in the autumn and spring terms of Year 7.
The DCSF Standards site / mathematics catch up programme (will open a new window).
Mathematics Challenge
The main aim of Mathematics Challenge is to provide targeted one-to-one support to help those Year 7 pupils currently achieving level 3 in mathematics to attain level 4. Some pupils working at level 4 may also benefit from parts of the programme to address particular weaknesses. Pupils in other year groups might also benefit from this type of support using these materials. Go to:
The DCSF Standards site / the Mathematics Challenge programme (will open a new window).
Year 9 Booster kit: English
The Key Stage 3 National Strategy aims to improve standards in all subjects. This guidance is designed to help teachers enable pupils to maximise their achievements in English at the end of Key Stage 3. Pupils will then enter Key Stage 4 confident and better prepared for GCSE and other courses.
The DCSF Standards site (will open a new window).
Year 9 Booster kit: mathematics
The Key Stage 3 National Strategy aims to improve standards in all subjects. This guidance is designed to help teachers enable pupils to maximise their achievements in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 3. Pupils will then enter Key Stage 4 confident and better prepared for GCSE and other courses.
The DCSF Standards site / mathematics booster kit (will open a new window).
GCSE booster packs and Key Stage 4 Learning Challenge
The GCSE booster packs and Key Stage 4 Learning Challenge provide a set of materials offering guidance for teachers and school leaders on organising a revision programme and preparing students for the GCSE examinations.
GCSE booster resources are suitable for all GCSE students, but they are particularly aimed at those who are predicted a grade D and need support to achieve grade C at GCSE.
The Key Stage 4 Learning Challenge provides a set of modules to help students improve the general skills they will need in planning their time and coursework, doing revision and approaching their GCSE examinations.
The teachernet site / booster materials to support targeted Grade D pupils (will open a new window).
Study Plus
Study Plus is a Wave 2 intervention programme for Key Stage 4 pupils. It covers English and mathematics. It began as a developmental pilot programme in 2006 and will be available to all schools in 2007. For a more detailed description of Study Plus there is a resource (will open a new window) for you to read. See Study Plus training module on this site to access all the Study Plus materials.
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Materials from training
How to get more pupils from level 3 to level 5 in English - Part 1
The Key Stage 3 strategy has produced training for English, mathematics and science teachers which is designed to support pupils and promote the expectation that most pupils can make progress of two levels during Key Stage 3.
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / getting pupils from level 3 to level 5 in English (will open a new window)
How to get more pupils from level 3 to level 5 in mathematics
The materials and training have been developed to support mathematics departments in:
- using pupil performance data to improve the tracking of pupils' progress and assessment data to inform teaching and support learning;
- planning an intervention programme in Years 8 and 9;
- planning teaching that engages and challenges pupils, to give them the maximum opportunity to gain a level 5 in the end of Key Stage 3 tests.
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / getting pupils from level 3 to level 5 in mathematics (will open a new window).
How to get more pupils from level 3 to level 5 in English - Part 2
The most important element in securing progress for lower-attaining pupils is ensuring inclusive, interactive and varied teaching strategies in mainstream English classrooms. The key ingredients of effective intervention were identified as:
- rapid analysis of Key Stage 2 data and information from primary schools (progress tests and optional tests)
- careful identification of pupils' specific strengths and needs
- appropriately targeted support
- links and reinforcement in the mainstream curriculum
- regular review of pupils' progress to adjust or withdraw intervention.
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / getting pupils from level 3 to level 5 in English (Part 2) (will open a new window).
How to get more pupils from level 3 to level 5 in mathematics - Part 2
The training consists of three sessions.
Session 1
Examines some mistakes that pupils make in mathematics. Sometimes these mistakes are careless errors but often they are the result of misconceptions.
Session 2
Introduces the publication Teaching mental calculation strategies to level 5 (QCA/04/1358). Many pupils who enter Key Stage 3 at level 3 in mathematics do not have the skills of mental calculation to make real progress.
Session 3
Builds on Securing level 5 in mathematics: Year 9 intervention (DfES 0293-2004 ).
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / getting pupils from level 3 to level 5 in mathematics (Part 2) (will open a new window).
SNS on-line training
Printable lists of the modules relevant to English (will open a new window), mathematics (will open a new window) and an all modules (will open a new window) list is available by selecting the appropriate link.
Other useful sources of general information, particularly learning materials, can be obtained from:
The teachernet site / learning resources (will open a new window).
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Identifying pupils
Assessment for learning materials
Assessment for learning (AfL) is at the heart of the SNS approach to intervention.
A range of AfL materials is available at:
The DCSF Standards site (will open a new window).
Assessment of pupils learning English as an additional language
This document focuses on pupils learning English as an additional language (EAL). It offers guidance to schools on the effective assessment of their EAL learners so that they may make rapid progress during Key Stage 3.
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / assessing EAL pupils (will open a new window).
Assessing pupils' progress in English
To find out more about Assessing pupils' progress in English (APP) (will open a new window) or to read about the materials for APP (will open a new window) then you can select the appropriate link.
For more information and downloads, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / assessing pupils (will open a new window)
Using teacher assessment to track pupils' progress in mathematics
These materials have been developed to help teachers track the progress of Year 7 pupils who achieved level 3 in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. They should be used alongside the sample medium-term plan: Year 7 intervention, which is part of Targeting level 4 in Year 7: mathematics.
For more information, go to:
The DCSF Standards site / teacher assessment in mathematics (will open a new window).
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Progression Maps
This web-based material is designed to be a tool for teachers seeking to improve the progress of underachieving pupils who are attaining below the level expected for their age. It also contains advice for parents, carers and mentors who are supporting these children. Teachers can identify the point where a pupil or a group of pupils is situated on the map and from there, by navigating the website, access a range of materials designed to help them focus their teaching on the critical next learning steps for these pupils.
Progression Maps website (will open a new window)
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