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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Mr L Bentley Headteacher The Holy Family Catholic School Spring Gardens Lane Keighley West Yorkshire BD20 6LH

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and communication technology (ICT)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and students, during my visit on 21 and 22 February 2012 to look at work in ICT.

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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 eight lessons.

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and communication technology (ICT)

The overall effectiveness of ICT is satisfactory.

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Achievement in ICT

 Students begin in Year 7 with levels of attainment which are around the national average. By the end of Year 9, they are achieving slightly above the national average and have made good progress. Students who opt to study a vocational ICT in course in Key Stage 4 make good progress but the other half of the year group, who do not follow an ICT course, receive very little ICT teaching and make much weaker progress.  Students with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well in ICT lessons and by teaching assistants at other times. These students make similar progress to their peers.  The relationships between staff and students when using ICT are good and in the best lessons students behave well. They listen to each other and when given the opportunity work well either in groups or independently. In all lessons seen, when using new technologies, they respected each other, the staff and the equipment.

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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 of ICT have good subject knowledge and are confident users of ICT. In better lessons, teachers plan work which engages and motivates students. For example, in one Year 8 ICT lesson students worked in groups to investigate the effects of the digital age on the music industry. The students were keen to begin the task and their excellent progress was supported by good behaviour and highly effective support from the teacher. However, in some lessons, all the students were asked to do the same tasks which at times were set at a very low level. In these lessons, opportunities are missed for group or paired work and learning can become too teacher-focused.  The assessment of work in ICT lessons is satisfactory and improving; students are very aware of their current attainment levels but teachers do not always use this information to plan activities which challenge all abilities. Some students do not know what they need to do to improve

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Quality of teaching in ICT

their work.  The use of ICT to support learning across the school is very variable. Students have satisfactory access to ICT and it is used appropriately in some lessons to develop their learning. However, in other curriculum areas, the use of ICT is limited to simple research and student progress in ICT is not monitored.

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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

 All students at Key Stage 3 receive their entitlement to the statutory ICT National Curriculum during ICT lessons. The curriculum is regularly reviewed and updated to make it more challenging, interesting and enjoyable to the students. The recent addition of a web-based course in Year 8 has increased interest in and enthusiasm for the subject.  The vocational curriculum provided at Key Stage 4 for students who opt to study ICT is appropriate and the school is flexible in choosing contexts which will be relevant and of interest to students. However, few opportunities exist in other curriculum areas for those who do not opt to study ICT beyond the core curriculum to develop their skills. This work is not currently monitored or assessed, and this can lower the expectations of teachers and so limit the progress made.  The school has plans to develop curriculum choice to increase flexibility and better meet the needs of more able students. The school does not

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Quality of the curriculum in ICT

currently have a virtual learning environment (VLE) but plans are in place to give students and staff better access to their work and the schools’ learning resources.  Personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons and assemblies are used to support students in learning how to become responsible users of new technologies. Discussions with students, however, confirm that the school could do more to help them understand how to keep themselves safe.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

The effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT is satisfactory.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

 The subject leadership of ICT is good; the strategic leadership of ICT across the school is satisfactory. No up-to-date and accurate whole-school self-evaluation of ICT is in place and consequently the school development plan does not contain actions that address issues with access to resources and with teaching and learning in order to improve the outcomes for students. The subject leader is aware that the present curriculum does not offer good opportunities for all students and the school is planning significant changes to the curriculum in the next academic year.  The use of ICT to set and monitor students’ targets across the school is very good and well embedded but this information is not always used by teachers to plan their lessons.  The school does not evaluate its work with students on e-safety.  Access to ICT equipment in the school is satisfactory. Technical support is good and ensures that systems are reliable and available when needed.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

The school provides regular opportunities for student support in ICT at lunchtime and before and after school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 further improving the quality of students’ learning and their progress in ICT by:  sharing best practice in teaching, in particular in using assessment information to provide all students with activities and tasks which are suitably matched to their abilities and interests  ensuring that the focus of lessons is more on students’ learning rather than the teacher imparting knowledge and skills  developing the ICT curriculum at Key Stage 4 to better challenge and enthuse students of all abilities  ensuring that the use of ICT in other subjects is monitored and linked to the work of the ICT department  raising the profile of and importance of e-safety education throughout the school. 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 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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