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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Miss E Cox Headteacher Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School Tongue Lane Meanwood Leeds LS6 4QE

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Ofsted 2011–12 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and students, during my visit on 5 and 6 October 2011 to look at work in citizenship.

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Ofsted 2011–12 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

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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Ofsted 2011–12 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and students; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of students’ work; and observation of 11 lessons and two assemblies.

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Ofsted 2011–12 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

The overall effectiveness of citizenship is satisfactory.

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Achievement in citizenship

Achievement in citizenship is satisfactory.

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Achievement in citizenship

 Students have good knowledge of human rights and responsibilities, ethnic diversity and sustainability. Some have satisfactory understanding of issues such as parliamentary democracy, the economy, the European Union and global institutions. For others, their understanding of these issues is limited. Few have knowledge of the criminal justice system.  Students are generally interested in citizenship topics and welcome lessons and extra-curricular activities where they are encouraged to debate and discuss current affairs and issues they see as having a direct impact on their lives.  Some students, such as those in the ‘diversity’ group linked to the Steven Lawrence Award, have good opportunities to develop their skills in critical thinking, enquiry and advocacy. However, this is less the case for the majority. Plans are in place to enhance the voice of the student council although this is at a very early stage of development.

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Achievement in citizenship

 The lack of assessment data makes it difficult for the school to ascertain students’ progress within and between key stages.

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Quality of teaching in citizenship

The quality of teaching in citizenship is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching in citizenship

 The quality of teaching is variable. In the better lessons citizenship learning objectives are clear; teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge; the work is well matched to needs and questioning helps to develop students’ thinking.  The weaker teaching is characterized by a lack of understanding of the requirements of the citizenship programme and too few opportunities for students, in particular the most able, to reflect on their own and others’ opinions.  While there is some evidence of assessment in lessons, and marking of students’ work, there is no consistently implemented policy for assessing learning.

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Quality of the curriculum in citizenship

The quality of the curriculum in citizenship is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum in citizenship

 The curriculum is delivered through a mixture of discrete lessons and within subjects such as religious education, English and information and communication technology. There is a core of learning activities, although some key concepts are delivered more substantially than others. Rights and responsibilities are covered well but less attention is given to other areas such as the role of government or the legal system.  Some contributions from other subjects support the citizenship curriculum well. For example, in a geography lesson students explored the trends in migration to Britain by reflecting on a range of case studies and the experiences of class members and their families, including the teacher herself. However, not all subjects fully understand the citizenship requirements and none assess students’ progress to citizenship assessment criteria.  The extra-curricular activities such as the debating society, diversity group

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Quality of the curriculum in citizenship

and Fair Trade fortnight serve to enrich whole-school opportunities for citizenship. However, while many students are aware of these activities, many are passive rather than active participants.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in citizenship

The effectiveness of leadership and management in citizenship is satisfactory.  The monitoring of teaching in citizenship does not inform opportunities for professional development effectively. As a result, some staff lack the necessary confidence and expertise to deliver the subject effectively.  Target-setting in citizenship is not used effectively to raise expectations and improve outcomes.  Self-evaluation overestimates the current strengths; development planning has been insufficiently robust to effect rapid improvements in outcomes. However, senior leaders have reviewed provision, understand the requirements for citizenship and are supportive of its aims. With their continued support the capacity to improve is satisfactory.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 ensuring that the curriculum is coherent and comprehensive across both key stages  improving the quality of teaching and learning through appropriate monitoring and evaluation  ensuring that students’ progress is rigorously assessed and effectively reported on  improving staff training.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

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

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As 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. A copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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