Setting

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Mrs C Shortt Headteacher Broughton Primary School Cransley Hill Broughton Kettering NN14 1NB

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education (RE)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and pupils, during my visit on 14 October 2010 to look at work in RE.

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education (RE)

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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education (RE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; and observation of two lessons.

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education (RE)

The overall effectiveness of RE is satisfactory.

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Achievement in RE

 The standards reached by pupils by the end of Key Stage 2 are in line with the expectations set out in the Northamptonshire agreed syllabus. Pupils can describe the key elements of religions they have studied, especially Christianity.  Pupils’ achievement is satisfactory. They appreciate the importance that religion and belief play in many people’s lives. However, pupils’ ability to investigate, analyse and apply religious concepts is limited because of weaknesses in planning. Pupils have insufficient opportunities to ‘learn from’ religion.  The contribution of RE to pupils’ personal development is good. They have positive attitudes to learning about different religions and beliefs and cultural diversity. Behaviour in the lessons observed was good.

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Quality of teaching of RE

The quality of teaching of RE is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching of RE

 Teachers use a broad range of stimulus material to engage pupils and enliven learning. For example, in one of the lessons observed, good use was made of artefacts from the Jewish traditions. Information and communication technology is used well as a tool to promote learning.  Much of the learning is well-organised and enjoyable. However, the range of skills that pupils are required to use does not always fully extend to investigating religion and belief.  Lesson plans identify learning objectives which are used by teachers to assess pupils’ progress. However, as yet there is no systematic way to monitor pupils’ progress or inform teachers’ planning in the light of ongoing assessment.

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Quality of the curriculum in RE

The quality of the curriculum in RE is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum in RE

 Reasonably detailed long- and medium-term plans are in place, supported by other guidance material which helps to provide structured lessons.  Planning overemphasises the subject content at the expense of making each unit of work more challenging in terms of developing the skills of enquiry, investigation and evaluation.  Visits to local churches and the use of visitors to school help to enrich RE.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in RE

The effectiveness of leadership and management in RE is satisfactory with good capacity to improve.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in RE

 The subject leader brings enthusiasm and vision to the role and subject.  Senior leaders have a clear view of the strengths and areas for improvement and have a clear action plan to raise standards further.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 improving planning to secure a clearer focus on the development of learning skills in RE, including ‘learning from’ religion  developing a more structured approach to the monitoring of pupils’ progress to help teachers make secure assessments about standards reached by the pupils. I hope that these observations are useful as you continue to develop RE 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 sent to your local authority and SACRE and will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection.

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