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 J Slater Headteacher Lanesfield Primary School Newman Avenue Lanesfield Wolverhampton WV4 6BZ

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and communication technology (ICT)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 21 May 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 pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; and observation of three lessons.

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and communication technology (ICT)

The overall effectiveness of ICT is good.

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Achievement in ICT

 Children begin the Early Years Foundation Stage with ICT skills below those expected for their age. They make good progress as they move through the school and leave Year 6 with standards broadly in line with the national average. This represents good progress from their starting points. Different groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are well supported and make the same good progress as other pupils.  Pupils were observed making good progress in developing their ICT skills. They are enthusiastic users of ICT and their good progress is underpinned by strong relationships with each other and by good behaviour. For example, in a Year 2 ICT lesson, a small group of pupils worked together as a ‘film crew’ developing skills in recording and manipulating video clips. The pupils spoke passionately about how well they had worked in a team to produce the material.

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Quality of teaching in ICT

 Teachers use a broad range of software with increasing confidence to support learning, and demonstrate good technical ability in using ICT.  Teachers use effective questioning in ICT lessons to check pupils’ understanding. Careful lesson planning ensures that work is sufficiently challenging for different groups of pupils. Lessons also run at a good pace and these factors, when combined, support pupils’ good behaviour, attention and focus in lessons.  The relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Teachers have high expectations of pupils and ensure that pupils develop the necessary skills and confidence to use ICT independently to support learning.  The use of assessment and monitoring of pupils’ progress over time is at the early stages of development. The school has developed appropriate systems but acknowledges that more work is needed to ensure that the progress of different groups of pupils is monitored in sufficient depth.

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Quality of the curriculum in ICT

The quality of the curriculum in ICT is good.

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Quality of the curriculum in ICT

 The ICT curriculum is broad, balanced and well planned to meet the needs and interests of pupils. Coverage of all strands of the ICT curriculum is good, with the exception of ‘monitoring events’, where some opportunities to use data logging and sensor technologies are missed in Key Stage 2.  Good links are made between ICT and other subjects because coverage of key ICT skills in each subject, including physical education, is carefully mapped.  Firm plans are in place to re-launch the school’s virtual learning environment (VLE) to further extend pupils’ learning into the home.  Pupils have a good awareness of how to stay safe at school and at home when using new technologies. This is because the curriculum provides good coverage of ICT safety awareness and visitors, including police community support officers, reinforce important safety messages effectively.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

The effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT is good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT

 The 'subject leader for e-learning'’ has very good subject knowledge and has successfully worked with you and other senior leaders to ensure that pupils achieve well in ICT. Self-evaluation is accurate and the school has good capacity to improve further.  A comprehensive range of ICT policies underpins the consistency with which staff and representatives of the governing body approach the subject and apply safety measures.  The school acknowledges that there is more room for innovative partnership working in ICT-related projects. This would enable pupils to gain a deeper understanding of how ICT is used in a range of contexts, and further raise their aspirations.  The school has a good range of ICT resources and the maintenance of hardware is effective in ensuring that systems are reliable and functional.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 sharpening pupil assessment monitoring systems to enable increased focus on the progress made by different groups of pupils, to better inform teachers’ future planning  improving the ICT curriculum by building in further opportunities for pupils to use data logging and sensor technology  using ICT more innovatively through increased partnership work with others, to broaden pupils’ experiences, raise their aspirations and further increase their awareness of the value of ICT.

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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 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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