Closing the loop between assessment and intervention at King’s College School, Cambridge
May 18, 2024, 12:23 PM
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King’s College School is a coeducational independent preparatory school for children aged 4 to 13 in Cambridge. It is an academic school that prides itself on its kind, creative and community centred approach to education. Their pupils move on to a range of independent senior schools, ranging from schools within the Cambridge area to further afield.
Tom Coe-Hales, Deputy Head, explains how King’s College School, Cambridge uses Atom School to help prepare pupils ahead of their entrance exams.
“We typically send pupils to a range of top independent senior schools, predominantly at 13+, and increasingly need to prepare them for sitting the ISEB Common Pre-Test. Atom School was recommended to me as a resource after discussions with colleagues in London-based schools. It provides us with online practice papers for the ISEB Common Pre-Test, which help our pupils to become more familiar with the format of the test: specifically it’s online, adaptive and multiple choice format. We systematically use the mock tests Atom provides with our ISEB candidates during a weekly after-school club in the Michaelmas Term. I then use the resultant data analysis to set homework tasks for pupils to complete each week based on their areas for improvement.
Pupils' scores improved within the four areas of the test, helping to boost their confidence.
The impact was threefold: pupils' scores improved within the four areas of the test, helping to boost their confidence, and they also enjoyed the experience, too. Even in the half term after completing the ISEB Common Pre-Test, pupils wanted to continue to do Atom activities. Other independent schools that don’t use the ISEB are using Atom for their entrance assessments. So again, we follow a similar pattern of familiarising pupils with the mock tests on Atom School, and using the data generated to set them targeted homework.
From a parental perspective, there’s a real sense that we’re supporting our pupils with Atom.
94% of our ISEB candidates progressed through to the next round of testing at top schools like Eton, Winchester and Westminster, which suggests that the impact of using the Atom resources has been significant. From a parental perspective, there’s a real sense that we’re supporting our pupils with Atom: for example, parents appreciated the differentiated homework that their children received on a weekly basis.
It’s the perfect tool for supporting teachers and pupils in making the intervention process a success.
It’s really easy to get started with Atom School as groups and classes are set up automatically. It’s the perfect tool for supporting teachers and pupils in making the intervention process a success. In our school, it’s been very helpful for supporting different groups of pupils, whether it’s our ISEB candidates, or other groups of pupils preparing for different entrance exams. The platform is intuitive: it challenges a broad range of abilities and so pupils enjoy engaging with it.”
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