Dear all,
Effort is the very special ingredient that students bring to their studies and the consequences of different levels of effort should never be underestimated. Persistent effort in classwork and homework really do make the difference to what students achieve in the long term and I am pleased to be able to say that here at The British School, Warsaw, trying hard in lessons and wanting to do well is the norm.
We have dedicated and determined teachers who know that inspiring students in their subject is a key to unlocking potential and helping the students to be the best that they can be. In lessons that I have seen in the secondary school, I see teachers using a great range of different approaches to inspire interest, curiosity and, in the long term, a love of learning.
This year we are changing the effort grades scale that we use on reports from a 4 point scale to a 5 point scale. This should make it easier for teachers to distinguish differences in levels of effort and give parents a better idea of the different levels of effort that their child is putting into their studies. The effort grades that you will receive on the reports that go out on 16th December will be from 1 to 5, with:
- Outstanding – Often goes beyond expectations in effort
- Good – Consistently meets expectations in effort
- Satisfactory – Usually meets expectations in effort
- Inconsistent – Meets expectations some of the time in effort
- Cause for concern - not meeting expectations in effort
There is a further explanation of what this means in terms of the three sub-categories of homework, classwork and behaviour on the school website: Effort Grades.
The descriptors recognise that student effort can vary and therefore they are mainly based on how much of the time a student exhibits particular behaviours. These are ‘best fit’ descriptions, not minimums, and, like all written criteria, do involve some level of subjectivity.
In the short term, it may be harder for parents to compare current performance with last year but in the long term we hope the new scale will give you a better idea of how your child is doing with the special ingredient, effort.
Louis Bezodis
Deputy Head of Secondary School