In Conversation With… Rob Jones, Llantwit Major School

At Alps, we love hearing how schools are using our platform to drive meaningful progress for their students. In this edition of ‘In Conversation With…’, we sat down with Rob Jones, Director of Sixth Form at Llantwit Major School, an English-medium, 11-18 mixed comprehensive school in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Rob shared how the introduction of Alps Connect ran hand-in-hand with a new mentoring programme he designed. Together, these initiatives have transformed the way data is used at Llantwit Major, helping staff and students work more strategically to achieve their goals.

What impact has Alps had for Llantwit Major School?

“I’ve personally noticed it being an absolute game-changer. It’s allowed for students to be able to be a lot more in control of their own development, because they’re a lot more aware, and it’s helped staff to be aware of progress throughout the academic year as well.’

‘I particularly like the new attainment monitoring tool, where staff can look at how the attainment changes from half term to half term throughout the year, which also helps predicting grades throughout the academic year.’

What impact has Alps had for your students and staff?

“Introducing it, I’ve noticed it has improved attainment.’

‘It has also improved academic retention this year.’

‘As a sixth form this year, we’ve gone from having an average of about 74% retention from Year 12 into Year 13. Just before exams now, we’re currently at about 96%, and the reason I think that is, is because we’ve been able to track every half term.’

‘We’ve been able to put students into targeted mentor groups, and we’ve been able to get students back on track. Whereas previously, students might have got to their exams, failed their exams and therefore had to drop out, whereas we’re acting now a heck of a lot earlier than we would have previously.’

‘Staff are also able to more rigorous tracking subject by subject, so our Line Managers now in their meetings with Heads of Department will talk about Alps data on a regular basis and be able to link attendance to attainment as well.’

Do you have an example of how Alps has made a positive different for a student?

“One example I’ve got in particular, there is a student in Year 12 who was identified in half term one as underachieving in two subjects. So, we put targeted mentoring in place so that the student not only had mentoring from the subject but also had mentoring for myself to be able to organise their free time for them.’

‘As it’s progressed throughout the academic year with mentoring, they were still in mentoring for half term two. But coming out of half term three, that student only required mentoring for one subject because they were one grade below.’

‘Now, going towards exam season, that not only fills them with confidence, but it fills staff with confidence as well to be able to have accurate predictions going into the summer exam season.”

To see more information on the tangible impact Alps has had for Llantwit Major, read the full case study here.

You can also watch the full video with Rob here:

End note from Alps:

We currently work with over 1,200 schools and colleges and 95 Groups and MATs in the UK and internationally, offering our high-quality analysis at both KS4 and KS5.

If you do not use Alps, but are interested in how Alps could support you to improve your outcomes, do not hesitate to contact one of our friendly team at [email protected]. You can also call us 01484 887600 and we will be delighted to speak to you, or you can book a demo with one of our knowledgeable team here.