The Folkestone School for Girls

The Folkestone School for Girls aims to set challenging but achievable targets for students.

Targets set are always based on the latest national information available. The Department for Education has one of the largest educational databases in the world to facilitate this. This records how students achieve at various stages of their journey through school. Levels achieved at the end of primary school are compared with the GCSE results achieved by the very same students years later. This allows estimated grades to be produced for students currently preparing for GCSE based on their results at end of primary. Of course, there a range of possible grades for any ability group nationally! Students who all scored much the same in tests at the end of primary school achieve a range of outcomes: Some will achieve a grade 9, some 8, some 7, some a 5, some might falter and some might ‘fail’ etc but it is possible to calculate the average grade that students of a particular ability attain.

The word ‘target’ though, of course, suggests a level of challenge – rather than simply achieving in line with similar students, rather than just getting the average! That said, it is equally true that not everyone can be ‘above average’. We seek to make targets challenging but achievable. So, if your daughter is targeted a grade 7 in History, for example, this is for one of two possible reasons.

either

1) because most students who achieved the exact same levels as she did at the end of primary school went on to achieve a grade 7 in History

or

2) whilst her most likely grade is 6, she stands a pretty good chance of being able to achieve 7 because in the past a significant number of similar ability students nationally have gone onto achieve grade 7.

In this way targets set, we believe, strike the correct balance between challenge and achievability. Not everyone will achieve their targets – otherwise they wouldn’t really be targets! Or perhaps they’ll achieve them in some subjects but not others. Some students may, for instance, be focussed entirely on a career that requires maths and sciences; they might be less interested in other subjects and might decide that for their ambitions and aspirations, Maths and Sciences hold the key. They won’t want to do badly in the others, for sure, but they will really want to excel where they believe it’s needed. So, whilst they may have a target of Grade 8 across the board, they may ‘settle’ for a 7 in English to prioritise going for gold and grade 9 in their Maths and Sciences!?

Students and parents are encouraged to discuss targets – for some they will be something to aim for, for others they may be something to beat!

We set targets for the girls to give them an idea of what we believe they are capable of.

They are pretty accurate because they are based on people just like them and what they went onto to achieve - but they are by no means perfect! They certainly know nothing about the girls as individuals; their individual strengths and talents and interests and passions and aspirations. They are just a mathematical formula; just probability; just statistics! They don’t show how they can paint a picture with their choice of words; they won’t show talent or tenacity for problem solving or ability for critical analysis.

They don’t see talent to transport us to a different world with compositions in dance, music, art, photography; ability on the sports field; talent on the stage…….

For some, targets will be something to aim for and for some they’ll be something to beat. Whilst the national media obsesses about grade 9s we recognise and celebrate all of our girls and all of their achievements. For some, a grade 5 or 6 may have been just as hard fought and hard won as a Grade 8 or 9 for others. However, we do try to push our students to be the best that they can be. We do therefore try to set targets that stretch and challenge. That’s because we believe and see and know that they are capable of great things. The alternative, low aspirations, is much worse; ‘you’ll never amount to anything!” That’s not us. That’s not the FSG way; we know our students are capable of more than they know; we just try to help them see that themselves.

So, targets (and results) are important, but so is balance.

Do we set targets of Grade 9 at GCSE or A* at A-level?

Brief answer is no! We don’t want students who achieve Grade 8 or Grade A appearing as red on reports! It is inconceivable that a student achieving 10 x Grade 8s should be seen as anything other than a triumph!

We certainly feel that students and parents should celebrate that sort of level of achievement for what it is – stunning! However, we also don’t want to limit ambition and so student targets at this sort of level are set as ‘8 or above’. In fact we extend this logic to all targets; we don’t want to limit anyone’s ambition so targets are set as 7 or above, 6 or above, 5 or above etc.

Do targets set change over time?

As a general rule we try not to continually adjust student targets. We all need a clear goal to aim for, and if it is constantly changing it can be disruptive.

However, we have been in the midst of considerable change in education with fairly new specifications, new grading structures, new performance tables and the absence of any public exam information over the covid years to contend with. As schools have been adjusting to this there has been considerable turbulence over the past few years in terms of exam results nationally. This is likely to continue to be the case for the next few years too. So, targets may change – based on the latest and last set of public examination results achieved nationally.