/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education and Training Inspectorate
Report of a Focused Inspection
Glastry College
Inspected: November 2004
CONTENTS
SectionPage
1.INTRODUCTION1
2.THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ WORK2
3.MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS6
4.CONCLUSION7
APPENDIX 19
APPENDIX 210
APPENDIX 312
CONTENTS
SectionPage
1.INTRODUCTION1
2.THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ WORK2
3.MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS6
4.CONCLUSION7
APPENDIX 19
APPENDIX 210
APPENDIX 312
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1Glastry College is a co-educational non-selective school situated in a pleasant rural setting, one mile outside of the village of Ballyhalbert. The pupils are drawn from a wide area of the Ards peninsula including Newtownards, Bangor, Donaghadee and Portaferry.
1.2The current enrolment is 598 pupils of whom 16% are entitled to free school meals. Over the previous three years, approximately one-tenth of the pupils enrolled in year 8 received grades A or B in the transfer procedure and a further one-fifth received grade C. The attendance rate is just above the Northern Ireland (NI) average for non-selective schools.
1.3This report is based on the outcomes of the inspection of all four subjects in the environment and society area of study, that is business studies, geography, history and home economics. In addition, the College’s arrangements for pastoral care, including those for child protection, were also evaluated.
THE VIEWS OF PARENTS
1.4Prior to the inspection, through a confidential questionnaire, the parents were invited to comment on the work of the school. Approximately 55% of the questionnaires were returned to the Department of Education (DE). By a very substantial majority, the parents praised features of the College’s provision, for example, the College’s high standing in the community, the teachers’ care of and commitment to the pupils, and the quality of the induction programme for the pupils in year 8. Just over 35% of the questionnaire returns contained additional comment; these highlighted mainly strong expressions of support for the work of the College; a small minority of concerns and suggestions for improvement were also raised. The latter comments related mostly to the extra-curricular activities, to the need for greater security at the main entrances to the school and to aspects of teaching and learning. All of these matters have been discussed with the Principal.
MEETINGS WITH THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND WITH THE PUPILS
1.5Members of the inspection team also met with four representatives of the Board of Governors (BoG) and with groups of pupils from year 8, year 12 and the sixth form. The BoG were strongly supportive of the commitment of the Principal and teachers and of the work of the school; concerns were expressed about aspects of the accommodation which affect adversely the work of the College and these are dealt with in the main body of the report and in Appendix 1. The pupils spoke positively about their school experiences and were aware of procedures to follow in the event of a concern. The positive views expressed by the parents, the BoG and the pupils in relation to the work of the College are endorsed by the findings of this inspection.
WHOLE-SCHOOL EXAMINATION RESULTS
1.6Between 2002 and 2004, the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results obtained by most of the subject departments at grades A* to C and at A* to E are sound or better. In 11 of the 17 GCSE subjects, the proportion of the pupils obtaining grades A* to C was within or above five percentage points of the NI average for non-selective schools; all but two subjects achieved a similar outcome at grades A* to E. A year-by-year analysis of grades obtained at A* to C indicates that following a period of sustained progress, the standards achieved by the pupils in most subjects have declined from 2002 to 2004. There is a similar pattern evident in the results achieved at GCSE grades A* to E. It will be important that the College investigates the reasons for these changes in its pattern of attainment at GCSE and, as a priority within its Development Plan, identifies and implements strategies to address the situation. Details of GCSE results for individual subjects are provided in Appendix 3.
2.THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ WORK
ETHOS
2.1The College has a strong caring ethos, and has a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. In the area under focus, the pupils learn in a secure, orderly and supportive environment. The teachers are hard-working, know the pupils well and demonstrate a commitment to promoting their welfare. The pupils are well behaved, respectful to their teachers, welcoming to visitors, and quick to settle to their work. The relationships amongst the teachers, the pupils and the ancillary staff are good. Morning assemblies are conducted in an atmosphere of mutual respect and set a positive tone at the beginning of the school day. Despite some significant deficiencies in the accommodation the school environment is well kept.
PASTORAL CARE
2.2The quality of pastoral care within the College is very good. A comprehensive pastoral care programme is in operation and is supported well by a range of relevant policies, structures and procedures. There has been a recent re-organisation of pastoral roles and responsibilities and these arrangements are currently under review. Following consultation with the staff, priorities for pastoral development for this academic year have been identified clearly and include positive behaviour and assertive discipline, a merit system for Key Stage (KS) 4, and drugs education. The procedures for reporting discipline matters are clear and the pupils agree that they are implemented fairly. Opportunities are provided for the pupils to attend a range of extra-curricular activities which include, for example, sporting and musical activities, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
2.3Daily registration sessions are used appropriately for monitoring attendance, organising the pupils’ academic work and supporting work experience arrangements. As part of the school’s health education programme a smoking cessation group is in operation for those pupils who wish to become involved; within Personal Social and Health Education, modules on employability, citizenship and health-related issues are available to KS4 pupils. There is scope for progression within the health education programme and in other relevant areas of College life, for example, the further promotion of healthy food choice and lifestyle. An experienced vice-principal co-ordinates effectively the pastoral care arrangements; he is supported ably by the KS3 co-ordinator, year heads and group tutors. Members of the pastoral care committee and the group tutors meet regularly to plan and to review current provision.
CHILD PROTECTION
2.4The College is implementing the guidance outlined in the DE Circular 1999/10, ‘Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection’. The recently re-allocated duties for child protection, as a result of a job-sharing arrangement and the recent appointment of a new vice-principal, have led to the establishment of a team of four designated teachers. Concerns raised in relation to child protection matters are dealt with sensitively and thoroughly by the experienced designated teacher. It will be essential for senior management to monitor and evaluate carefully the new arrangements for child protection to ensure that training is on-going for all staff, including the newly appointed designated staff, and to enable effective action to be taken in the event of a concern. A useful summary leaflet of the College’s anti-bullying policy has been communicated to the parents. Pupils report that bullying incidents are rare but, when they occur, they are dealt with appropriately by the staff. As the College develops its positive behaviour policy it will be necessary to consult further the views of the parents and the pupils, as specified in the DE Circular 2003/13, “Welfare and Protection of Pupils”. The lack of a security system at the main entrances to the College urgently needs to be addressed.
THE QUALITY OF TEACHING
2.5The quality of teaching observed was always satisfactory and often good. During the inspection, in addition to discussions with staff and pupils and the detailed consideration of a wide range of the pupils’ written work, a total of 41 lessons were observed involving just over two-fifths of the teaching staff. Some 29% of these lessons had many significant strengths; in an additional 42% of the lessons, the strengths outweighed the weaknesses. In just over 29% of the lessons the weaknesses outweighed the strengths. No lessons were observed with significant weaknesses. In the best practice the teachers used a range of appropriate strategies to engage and interest the pupils effectively, and there was good pace and sufficient challenge within lessons. In the less successful practice few opportunities were given to develop the pupils’ oral responses and over-emphasis was placed on whole-class teaching.
SUBJECT REPORTS
BUSINESS STUDIES
2.6The College provides an extensive programme of business-related subjects. The year 10 pupils take a module in business studies which offers them good opportunities to develop money-management skills and to develop an understanding of basic concepts in economic awareness, business organisations and citizenship. At KS4, the pupils have a choice of GCSE business studies, and GCSE business and communications; the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) course in word-processing and multi-media presentations is also taught and is available to the sixth form.
2.7A satisfactory range of single award and double award Advanced Vocational Certificate in Education (AVCE) courses in business, information and communication technology (ICT), science, and travel and tourism is offered at sixth form. Nearly all of the pupils supplement the equivalent of a double award course with a part or single award AVCE in another vocational area.
2.8The ethos within the department is excellent; the teachers take a pride in their lessons and ensure that the classrooms project a positive image of business through imaginative displays of work and learning resources. The department is well led and the teachers work effectively, often with much good humour. The quality of teaching and learning ranges from satisfactory to excellent; it is good or better in most of the lessons. The teachers are well prepared and have developed a good range of learning materials and case studies. In a significant minority of the lessons, skilful and enthusiastic exposition is supplemented with a good range of teaching methods, including well-planned practical group work activities. In the majority of the lessons whole-class teaching is the norm, and the pupils are not challenged sufficiently in their oral and written responses. Although the pupils make good use of ICT in their work, the teachers’ use of ICT to support teaching and learning is underdeveloped.
2.9Assessment by the teachers is sound; the pupils’ work is marked carefully and they receive good written guidance to improve their work. The assignment briefs on the AVCE in business provide the pupils with good opportunities to undertake relevant research. The teachers are well qualified in business-related subjects, although their expertise in travel and tourism falls short of the requirements in this vocational area.
2.10The pupils are well motivated and respond effectively to their teachers. The standards of work in business studies range from satisfactory to excellent; they are mostly good. The standards of work on the AVCE in travel and tourism are satisfactory; the pupils require a more in-depth understanding of the main trends in the industry.
2.11Over the last three years, the proportion of the pupils achieving grades A* to C and A* to E in GCSE business studies was within five percentage points of the NI average for non-selective schools. Over the same period, the results in GCSE business and communications have remained steady at grades A* to C and at grades A* to E. The outcomes of the AVCE double award in business are modest with an average of 88% of pupils passing the qualification and 29% passing with grades AA to CC.
GEOGRAPHY
2.12The relationships in geography classes are consistently good or very good. The work takes place in an atmosphere that is ordered and productive. The teachers are hard-working and enthusiastic, strongly committed to the promotion of the subject, and work well together for the benefit of the pupils. The documents prepared by the department are detailed and helpful; they include appropriate aims for the subject that relate to and support the aims of the school. The departmental development plan has identified, appropriately, the need to integrate further the use of ICT into the work of the department.
2.13The quality of teaching observed during the inspection was typically good or very good, with much of it showing significant strengths. The teachers make strenuous efforts to ensure that the intended learning for each lesson is clear to the class and that the lessons are supported by good quality resources. Good links are often made to previous work and to the personal experiences of the pupils. The case studies and exemplars used cover a range of scales from the local to the global. During the inspection, a good range of activities and teaching approaches was observed, with whole-class teaching being the most common. While exposition by the teachers was well informed and generally well paced, in a minority of lessons it was dominant for too long and reduced the opportunities for the pupils to make more extended oral contributions.
2.14Almost all of the pupils in KS3 and KS4 are co-operative and attentive in geography lessons. They work well on the range of tasks that they are set, and are developing important geographical skills and acquiring relevant factual knowledge of the topics being studied. In discussion, many of the pupils could explain, at an appropriate level, the key geographical concepts underpinning their class work or fieldwork. Most pupils present their work well, reflecting the high expectations of the teachers in this regard. The subject is a popular option choice for pupils at KS4. Over the last three years, the proportion of the pupils achieving grades A* to C, and grades A* to E, in GCSE geography was between five and ten percentage points above the NI average for non-selective schools.
HISTORY
2.15Over the last five years, the number of teachers of history has increased from three to five. The department is led by a committed and able head of department and the teachers work effectively together. The subject is well supported in relation to the number of pupils who opt to study history at GCSE level.
2.16Departmental planning, and the planning of individual teachers, are generally sound but too little attention is given to raising standards generally, to catering explicitly for individual differences among the pupils, and to developing - through history - the literacy and numeracy skills of those pupils with special needs. The use of ICT is underdeveloped and requires attention.
2.17The teachers use a suitable range of teaching and learning strategies and much of their work is well organised and effective. While the overall quality of the teaching is sound, this ranges from work which is highly effective, creative and challenging to that which is unduly routine and lacking in challenge and depth. The teachers’ marking varies considerably from that which draws the pupils’ attention effectively to strengths and areas for improvement to marking which is over-generous and which does not address significant weaknesses in the pupils’ written English.
2.18In the main, the pupils respond effectively to the tasks set for them, though many are unduly reticent and lack oral confidence. Their written work demonstrates, in most cases, a sound or better knowledge and understanding of those periods of history selected for study. Their understanding of continuity and change over time, and of broader historical themes and concepts, is much less secure.
2.19Since 2002, the aggregated results in GCSE history at grades A* to C and at grades A* to E have been within five percentage points of the NI average for non-selective schools.
2.20The work of the history department demonstrates a number of strengths, notably the commitment of the teachers, important aspects of their classroom work, and of the pupils’ standards of work, the teachers’ good relationships with the pupils, and the pupils’ interest in history. To improve the standard of teaching and learning in history, the department also needs to address effectively those important areas for improvement identified in this report.
HOME ECONOMICS (HE)
2.21The work of the HE department is efficiently organised and led; a helpful range of resources has been prepared to support the pupils’ learning. There is a comprehensive and appropriate policy document which guides the overall work of the department. The teachers plan systematically and collaboratively for their lessons, and departmental development and action plans are closely aligned to main priorities identified within the College’s Development Plan. (CDP).
2.22The standard of the teaching ranges from satisfactory to very good; overall, it is sound. The teachers place a strong emphasis on imparting information to the pupils and directing their learning. In a small minority of lessons, the work is over-structured and this results in the pupils being unduly passive in their learning. Extensive use is made of whole-class questioning to check and widen the pupils’ knowledge of topics within HE; greater opportunity should be provided for the pupils to make more extended oral responses within lessons. Resources are used skilfully to enliven aspects of the lessons and include video programmes relating to dietary related disorders and the use of the ‘programmed baby’ for simulated parenting activities.