Tree is an approach to assessment allowing teachers, students, parents and employers to become partners in developing an individualised profile of strengths and weakness in a number of key areas linked to successful progress in school and transition to adult life. By charting these areas of development over the course of a school career it makes transitions smoother and builds the skills and qualities needed for a successful adult life. By making the assessment process more transparent it allows students to monitor their progress and schools to focus their support on individual needs. In doing so Tree can address the challenge of ensuring that the pursuit of excellence is pursued within a context of equity and fairness for all.

Quite simply, Tree is about personalising the learning process and encouraging active citizenship.

Tree has emerged over a number of years from the work of a team of experienced educational professionals involved various initiatives, some of which have been supported by the DfES.

The programme has been the subject of extensive evaluation and in the schools where it has been adopted found to have had a significant impact in areas such as motivation, attendance, and participation.

Tree has proved successful and popular for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's not simply another new initiative requiring staff to take on additional responsibilities but a means of blending current demands with traditional professional values.

The philosophy underpinning Tree is enables schools to meet the many demands on them without losing sight of broader educational goals.. Secondly, it is based on the assessment of a number of qualities and/or attributes valued by employers and accessible to students and parents and the wider community. Thirdly, the Tree programme is backed by sophisticated web-based software making itd attractive to students, easy to use and providing valuable data at individual, group and cohort level. Finally, Tree provides a neutral forum through which adults and students can engage in a constructive dialogue encouraging the sharing of achievements and the identification of future goals.

Tree is not a guidebook to be slavishly followed. Rather it requires the exercise of professional judgement in the adoption of a set of qualities/attributes to underpin the assessment process and to guide dialogue within schools.

These qualities/attributes have been found through trials to be highly effective in supporting the development of students and the creation of effective learning environments within schools. They are:

	Me as a person
	Taking responsibility
	Working with others
	Solving problems
	Organising myself

The attributes are of course open to interpretation by teachers and the school, but experience has shown that by expanding these attributes using the following headings they become easily assimilated and can be used as prompts, both for staff and pupils. Of course not all are assessed at the same time and most schools who use the programme with very young children only use the attribute Me as a Person initially before bringing in the other attributes as the children move through the school.