Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs Elizabeth Coffey Principal Landau Forte College Fox Street Derby Derbyshire DE1 2LF

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and communication technology (ICT)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and students, during my visit on 31 January and 1 February 2011 to look at work in ICT. Thank you for allowing my colleague, David Brown, to shadow the inspection.

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and communication technology (ICT)

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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and communication technology (ICT)

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and students; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of students’ work; and observation of nine lessons, five of which were joint observations with members of the college staff.

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and communication technology (ICT)

The overall effectiveness of ICT is satisfactory.

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Achievement in ICT

 Students enter the college with levels of attainment which are broadly in line with the national average. However, given the large number of feeder primary schools, the ICT knowledge, skills and understanding of the students in Year 7 vary widely. All students study ICT until the end of Year 11 and take a qualification. The levels of attainment reached at the end of Year 11 are in line with the national average. A larger proportion of students achieved an A* or A in 2010 than nationally and progress for some of these students was good. Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported in lessons by a specialist ICT learning support assistant. Over the past three years, these students have made the same satisfactory progress as their peers. In the sixth form, the levels of attainment vary. However, all students make good progress in the subject during their time in the sixth form. Overall achievement is

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Achievement in ICT

satisfactory.  Students have a satisfactory knowledge of how to keep themselves safe when using new technologies. Links have been made with parents/carers to enable them to support their children’s development in this area and police liaison officers have also provided advice.  Students are given many opportunities to work with ICT to support their personal development. For example, A-level performing arts students use their technical skills and knowledge to support the ‘gatherings’ each day. This work also links to their course.

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Quality of teaching in ICT

The quality of teaching in ICT is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching in ICT

 Teachers have strong subject knowledge. In lessons, students are encouraged to work in groups. This enables them to develop their collaborative working skills.  In an outstanding lesson seen, the students led the lesson. They worked in groups to set tasks based on their A-level work. These tasks engaged, challenged and motivated the students who all made outstanding progress during the lesson. However, the overall quality of teaching is satisfactory. This is because in too many lessons students are all asked to complete the same tasks. Some find the work too easy and some too hard. Also, teachers often do not enable students to develop their answers to questions and to contribute to the development of ideas in the lesson.  Assessment at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form is informative and comprehensive. It clearly shows the students what they need to do to improve and the current standard of their work. The assessment of work

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Quality of the curriculum in ICT

The quality of the curriculum in ICT is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum in ICT

 Sixth-form students have a choice of a range of ICT courses to study, including industry-standard courses. These courses engage the students and meet their needs and interests well. The curriculum in the sixth form is good.  The curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 is satisfactory. It is broad and the students have a range of opportunities to use ICT across the college. However, its use across the college is not monitored or reviewed. The curriculum does not provide a balance of experience in different areas of ICT, and this means that some students are receiving a far better experience than others.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

Leadership and management in ICT are good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

 Leaders and managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of ICT. Development plans are in place. Weaknesses have been identified and positive action taken to eradicate them. For example, the proportion of students achieving A* or A grades at the end of Year 11 and in the sixth form has increased because of the efforts of leaders and managers.  Training is provided for all staff to enable them to support students’ learning. This training means that staff are confident about using ICT. This was seen in a good music lesson where the technology supported the students to make good progress in their musical development regardless of whether they played a musical instrument.  Access to ICT equipment in the college is good. The virtual learning environment (VLE) is used well by the students, especially those studying ICT at Key Stage 4 and in the sixth form. This use of the VLE is enhancing students’ achievement and has contributed to the improving proportion of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

students achieving A* or A grades at GCSE and the good progress made by students in the sixth form.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 improving the quality of teaching so that it is good by:  reducing the amount of teacher talk  providing students with resources which meet their needs and interests and challenge them to make good progress  ensuring that the assessment of ICT work at Key Stage 3 enables the students to know what they have to do to improve

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 enabling all students to make at least good progress regardless of their previous academic attainment  balancing the curriculum, and monitoring and reviewing the impact of ICT usage on outcomes for students.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that these observations are useful as you continue to develop ICT in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As I explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. Except in the case of academies, a copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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