How Tenby International School Ipoh achieved an average of 92% students making expected or higher progress with CENTURY

Tenby International School Ipoh in Malaysia is part of the International School Partnership group. We spoke to Leigh Holmes-Hill, Deputy Head Teacher of International Primary, about how they’ve been using CENTURY since 2024 to support students reach their full potential and what impact they have seen so far.

What initially prompted you to choose CENTURY for your school?

We were looking for a platform that would do more than deliver content – we needed something that would support independent learning, personalise challenge, and help students engage in meaningful “good struggle.”

CENTURY stood out because it combines adaptive technology with high-quality pedagogy. It supports our focus on responsive teaching and gives students the tools to make their own progress visible. For us, it aligned perfectly with our priorities: High impact teaching linked to deep learning, smart use of data, and developing metacognitive learners.

Impact

How do you monitor progress with CENTURY?

We monitor engagement weekly through dashboards, looking at time on task, accuracy, and completion. This is then triangulated with NGRT, GL assessments, and teacher judgement through Learning Ladders. The platform has become part of how we talk about learning, not just outcomes, but effort, growth, and independence.

What kind of impact have you seen?

We’ve seen both academic gains and stronger learner habits. Students are more willing to persevere with tricky concepts and engage in reflective conversations about their progress. There’s a noticeable shift in learner mindset, with many now expecting to find things challenging, and that’s a huge step forward.

Are there any solid figures that show it’s working?

Yes. We analysed the progress of Year 4 to 6 students using CENTURY regularly from Term 1 to Term 3.

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Year 6: 82% of students made expected or higher progress, with 33% achieving higher or much higher progress.

Year 5: 93% of students made expected or higher progress, with 56% achieving higher or much higher progress.

Year 4: 94% of students made expected or higher progress, with 64.7% achieving higher or much higher progress.

Maths

GL Progress Tests showed:

Year 6: 100% of students made expected or higher progress, with 44% achieving higher or much higher progress.

Year 5: 88% of students made expected or higher progress, with 37% achieving higher or much higher progress.

Year 4: 95% of students made expected or higher progress, with an outstanding 80% reaching higher or much higher progress

This analysis controlled for baseline differences, so we’re confident it reflects a genuine impact.

How has the data reporting provided by CENTURY supported you in this?

The reporting tools are easy to use and visually clear. They’ve helped teachers make evidence-informed decisions and allowed us to have more nuanced conversations with parents and learners about progress, effort, and next steps.

How have you found the ongoing support to achieve your goals and evidence improvement?

The support has been strategic as well as practical. Whether it’s reviewing usage data or working out how to embed CENTURY into our intervention cycle, the team has always been available and solutions-focused.

Implementation

How did you find the onboarding process?

The onboarding was smooth and thoughtfully delivered. The CENTURY team took time to understand our context and trained our staff in a way that felt manageable and purposeful. Teachers were able to get hands-on with the platform early on, which helped build confidence and ensure a successful launch.

How have you found the ongoing support?

Ongoing support has been excellent – timely, responsive, and genuinely helpful. Whether it’s a quick technical fix, a day spent working in school with our staff and parents or a deeper conversation about how we’re using the data to support “good struggle” and learner agency, CENTURY has been a true partner. They listen, adapt, and help us get the most from the platform.

Teacher feedback

What do teachers think of the platform?

Since launching, the feedback has been very positive. Teachers appreciate how CENTURY identifies gaps and provides timely interventions. It gives them greater clarity on where learners are in their journey and allows them to pitch lessons at the right level of challenge. It’s also helping to shift learning ownership to students.

Has CENTURY reduced teacher workload or saved time?

Yes, especially in terms of feedback and planning. With real-time data and automatic marking, teachers can quickly spot trends and plan accordingly, freeing up more time for high-quality in-class support and reflective dialogue with students.

Which CENTURY features do teachers use the most?

Pathways are used extensively to support consolidation and independent practice. Assignments are used weekly to reinforce new learning or pre-teach upcoming content.

Have you found the AI recommendations helpful?

Absolutely. The AI does a great job of pitching work just above the student’s current level, right in the “good struggle” zone. It ensures learners are challenged but not overwhelmed, and that’s been a key driver in developing resilience and motivation.

How have you found the new Y4 NGRT course?

We’ve found it to be a great bridge between diagnostic assessment and responsive practice. It supports students in practising precisely the skills they need, based on real data, and helps teachers target reading instruction more effectively.

Student feedback

How do students find it?

They love the clarity and immediate feedback. There’s a strong sense of ownership, students can see where they’re doing well and where they need to improve. Several have said they enjoy the challenge, which is exactly what we want: students engaging in “good struggle” and seeing that as a positive part of learning.

Are they engaging more with learning?

Yes, particularly in upper Key Stage 2. We’ve seen a rise in self-regulated learning behaviours. Students are beginning to understand that challenge is not a sign of failure, it’s where real growth happens.

Ongoing use

How do you use it in school?

We use CENTURY as a home learning platform from Year 3 onwards and in-school for intervention and consolidation sessions. We’ve also begun trialling it for flipped learning and pre-teaching, especially with higher-attaining students who need challenge beyond the core lesson.

How are you setting work?

Assignments are generally set by class teachers to align with weekly teaching content. We also use school-wide challenges for whole-cohort engagement and community celebration.

Do you set work as a whole year group or by class?

We mostly set work at class level. It allows teachers to pitch the tasks in that “good struggle” zone, stretching learners without tipping into cognitive overload. That’s where we see the best outcomes.

Competitions: How have you used them to encourage students?

The Winter and Spring Challenge results created a real buzz, not just because we came top in our category twice, but because we were number one worldwide in the Spring Challenge. That sense of collective achievement really energised our students and staff.

Do you use certificates, assemblies, anything else?

Yes, we use certificates, leaderboard displays, weekly assemblies, and recognition through our newsletters. We link it all to effort, engagement, and “good struggle,” not just to results. It’s helped embed a culture where challenge is celebrated.

Parent feedback

Do you get any feedback from parents/guardians?

Yes, both through informal conversations and more structured parent forums. We’ve run CENTURY information workshops to explain how the platform supports learning and how parents can get involved at home.

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents say CENTURY gives them clarity, structure, and reassurance that their child is on the right track, especially important in a context where academic progress matters deeply.

Future plans

What are your plans for going forward with CENTURY?

Next year, we plan to deepen its use in our flipped learning model and link it more directly with Learning Ladder objectives and intervention tracking. We also want to use the CENTURY data more strategically within our assessment cycle. Ultimately, our goal is to continue growing a learning culture where “good struggle,” ownership, and personal growth are celebrated, and CENTURY is one of the tools helping us do that.

Book a demo of CENTURY today or find out more about how we support international schools here.