Dear parents and carers

We would like to start by saying how proud we are of Year 7s and how they have settled into academy life. They are already impressing their tutors, teachers and heads of year in lessons. 

As an academy, we are keen to ensure that we can support all our students with their learning needs in the best way possible. As part of this process, all students will sit a Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4) this half-term.

CAT4s are made up of a series of short tests which assess a student’s reasoning abilities in a range of key areas that support educational development and academic achievement. While many other tests focus on a child’s attainment in core subjects, CAT4 is designed to give schools a much broader, more rounded view of each child, their potential and how they learn.   No preparation is required for these tests. Each student will sit 3 tests which will assess their ability to reason using words, numbers, symbols and patterns. Each test lasts no more than 45 minutes.

Alongside the CAT4s, pupils will also sit an Access Reading Test (ART). This is an online reading assessment which allows us to see how well our students perform in four key areas (Literal comprehension, inference, analysis and vocabulary). It will also give staff a reading age for your child which, again, will help teachers to support them effectively in the classroom. Further information about the CAT4s can be found by following this link.

CAT4 Information for parents and carers

These assessments will take place for all year groups over the next two weeks, starting Wednesday 4 September. They will all take place during the school day and within lesson time. 

We do not want your child to become anxious about this process. Please reassure your child that no pre-learning or knowledge is required to complete these tests. However, we do ask that you speak to them about trying their best. These assessments will help us identify students’ strengths and also provide us with some feedback with suggestions about how pupils can develop in certain areas. This could be strategies to use in the classroom or use of intervention groups where necessary. 

Once the assessments have been completed, we will send home a brief report which highlights how your child has performed and some detail about what that means.

If you have any questions, please contact myself or use the year group email.

Kind regards
 

Ms O'Connor, Assistant Vice Principal
Mrs Antrobus, Assistant Vice Principal