Setting

Mr Jones Headteacher Perton Middle School Gainsborough Drive Perton Wolverhampton West Midlands WV6 7NR

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 14-15 September to look at work in ICT.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of ICT, the visit had a particular focus on the assessment of ICT.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – 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. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work, observation of ICT club and observation of four lessons.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

The overall effectiveness of ICT was judged to be good.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards in ICT are good.

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Achievement and standards

 Standards in ICT are above average. Pupils’ progress is consistently good in Years 7 and 8 and by the end of Year 8, pupils are capable and very confident users of ICT.  There is inconsistency in the amount of progress made by pupils in Years 5 and 6. Whilst many make good progress, the most able pupils tend only to make satisfactory progress overall. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6644 www.ofsted.gov.uk  Pupils work hard and behave well in ICT. They especially like solving problems and are very good at working on their own initiative. Their spiritual development is outstanding.

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Quality of teaching and learning

The quality of teaching and learning in ICT is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning

 Teaching is good and pupils learn well in ICT. Teachers provide very effective instructions and demonstrations to ensure that pupils are clear about what they have to do.  Excellent use is made of the additional support provided by the ICT technician in lessons. Occasionally however, the rapid pace of lessons can leave one or two pupils behind.  A great deal of excitement is generated in lessons, and teachers in Years 7 and 8 have high expectations of what pupils will achieve. Some of the work set for Year 5 and 6 pupils does not demand enough of the most able pupils to ensure that they can reach their full potential.

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Quality of curriculum

 The tasks that pupils are given in ICT excite them and make them want to learn more. They are given many opportunities to be creative in their use of ICT, such as experimenting with combinations of sounds and images.  Most teachers effectively integrate ICT into their lessons to enable pupils to apply their ICT capability in new contexts. Pupils speak enthusiastically about their English, French and mathematics lessons, for example, which are brought to life by the use of ICT.

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Leadership and management of ICT

Leadership and management of ICT are good.

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Leadership and management of ICT

 The ICT manager provides good leadership and is helping to raise standards across the school. Areas for improvement are identified well through annual reviews and plans to tackle them are successful.  Whilst the school has an accurate picture of standards and the progress of pupils in general, the analysis of data does not yet provide a full picture of the progress made by different groups of pupils in ICT.

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Assessment of ICT

 The frequent assessments made in lessons give teachers a clear overview of an individual pupil’s progress and that of the whole class. Pupils assess their own standards well, and this is then used to set realistic targets for their future performance.  The lack of a clear baseline from which to judge standards in ICT when pupils arrive at the school makes assessment of their progress in Year 5 especially difficult.  Over the past year or so, the school has been hit by the unforeseeable absence of some key members of staff. Some assessments were not carried out and some data simply lost. Nevertheless, the good quality of teaching was maintained and pupils’ progress did not suffer.

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Inclusion

The school works hard to ensure all pupils are equally involved in ICT. Pupils with special educational needs receive very good support in lessons and make the same good progress as other pupils. Higher attainers in Years 5 and 6 make slower progress than other pupils. All pupils benefit from opportunities to use the school’s computers outside of lesson times. This ensures that none are disadvantaged when completing homework or research.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 to gain a clearer picture of pupils’ standards in ICT when the join the school  to carrying out more detailed analysis of data from assessments, so as to better track the progress of different groups of pupils  to provide more challenge for the most able pupils in Years 5 and 6.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

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

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As I explained in my previous letter, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on Ofsted’s website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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