Setting

Miss Margaret Smith Headteacher Richard Alibon Primary School Alibon Road Dagenham Essex RM10 8DF

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

I am grateful to you, your colleagues and the pupils for your help during my visit on 14 September 2006.

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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 impact of ICT on whole-school improvement.

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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.

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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 and observation of ICT lessons in Year 1 and 4.

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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

 Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 is good although the rate of progress in ICT is not equally good for the youngest and oldest pupils in the school.  The school is developing a good portfolio to exemplify standards.  Expectations of what pupils can achieve in ICT have increased in most classes since the time of the last inspection. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6644 www.ofsted.gov.uk  The informed use of ICT is contributing to raising standards particularly in science and geography, but there are missed opportunities of reinforcing basic skills in English and mathematics.  Opportunities of using ICT to help raise standards are not sufficiently explicit within the school’s documentation.

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Quality of teaching and learning of ICT

The quality of teaching and learning is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning of ICT

 The quality of teaching and learning in ICT is good overall. Although there are some minor weaknesses, there are also pockets of outstanding practice.  The majority of staff possess good subject knowledge. This enables them to use ICT as a resource to make learning enjoyable and captivating.  Where learning is particularly successful teachers ensure there is sufficient time for pupils to complete their work and there are planned opportunities for them to share and discuss ideas before answering questions in front of the whole class.  Teaching assistants provide pupils with good additional support during lessons and encourage them to think for themselves and apply their existing knowledge.  Pupils work well together and provide each other with effective peer support. They would welcome more opportunities to use ICT independently and undertake appropriate activities of their choice while supervised by a member of staff.

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Quality of teaching and learning of ICT

 Teachers assess pupils’ progress at the end of every unit of work. This progress is tracked and monitored by the ICT co-ordinators, but pupils are not tracked as different groups. Furthermore, pupils are not always sufficiently involved in the evaluation of their learning and progress.

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Quality of curriculum

 The school is beginning to make good use of the new scheme of work for ICT and this is promoting greater levels of continuity and progression.  While the application of ICT is developing well in most subjects it is not yet fully embedded across the whole curriculum. Control and Data Logging require further improvements.  Although curriculum co-ordinators now have ICT included as part of their remit they do not provide sufficient information about helpful websites and suitable software to support learning.  The school is beginning to identify links between ICT and other subjects, but this is still in the early stages of development.

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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 quality of teaching and learning as well as planning for ICT is effectively monitored and evaluated and this is helping to raise standards in ICT.  The roles and responsibilities of the ICT co-ordinators are clearly defined and they have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement.  The school has evaluated how effectively ICT is used and produced a detailed action plan.

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The impact of ICT on whole-school improvement

The impact of ICT on whole school improvement is satisfactory overall.

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The impact of ICT on whole-school improvement

 The school investment in updating its hardware is enabling greater use of ICT to be made to help raise standards and support school improvement activities. An increasing amount of the school’s work is being done electronically.  Although the senior management team recognises the potential for ICT to contribute to whole school improvement this vision is not shared by the whole staff.  Not all subject leaders take sufficient responsibility for developing and promoting the application of ICT as a tool to help raise achievement and standards.  Action plans and documentation, which make reference to ICT, do not always include a sharp enough focus on the intended outcomes for learners.

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Inclusion

 The development of ICT to support underachieving and vulnerable groups is good and a particular strength of the school.  The school makes very effective use of large monitors, word processors and specialised programmes to support the needs of vulnerable pupils including those with learning difficulties and disabilities.  The informed use of ICT is helping some pupils to access the curriculum in a way they would otherwise not be able to do.  ICT is helping to engage and motivate some pupils who can at times display poor attitudes to learning.  Pupils state that when they use ICT it helps to make learning easier and more enjoyable.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 improving the rate for progress made in ICT by the youngest and oldest pupils  reinforcing basic skills during ICT lessons  ensuring that ICT is identified more explicitly within school documentation as a tool to help raise standards and that where references to ICT exist, there is a clear link to the expected outcomes for learners  encouraging pupils to reflect more on what they are learning during lessons  increasing pupils’ understanding and skills of Data Logging and Control technology  ensuring that information about ICT resources to support teaching and learning across the curriculum is readily available including useful websites  developing a curriculum overview map to identify and further develop links between subjects  helping staff to recognise the ways in which ICT can contribute to whole school improvement.

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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 also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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