Setting

Mr Milne Headteacher Tylers Green Middle School Cock Lane Tylers Green High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP10 8DS

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Education (PSHE)

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff and pupils, during our visit on 18 October 2006 to look at work in PSHE.

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Education (PSHE)

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

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Education (PSHE)

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 should we wish to cite specific aspects of practice we will contact the school first. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half-term.

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Education (PSHE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with the headteacher, the coordinator of PSHE, a member of the leadership team, school council and Year 6 pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of four lessons, playtime, lunchtime and an assembly.

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Education (PSHE)

The overall effectiveness of Personal, Social and Health Education was judged to be good.

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Achievement and standards

Pupils have good knowledge and understanding about PSHE.

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Achievement and standards

 Pupils know about healthy eating and what is meant by a balanced diet. Older pupils understand the changes that happen at puberty and know about the effects on the body of smoking and alcohol. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6644 www.ofsted.gov.uk  They understand why it is important to take regular exercise, and put this into practice at break and lunchtime, engaging in many different sporting activities.  The personal development of pupils is outstanding. They can engage constructively in debate about quite profound issues such as, whether it is right to kill in war. They are very articulate and confident to express their views clearly.  Pupils take on a range of responsibilities around the school as house captains and members of the school council. This experience of active citizenship has not yet been developed into the more theoretical aspects of how democracy works.

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Achievement and standards

 Pupils have been taught clear moral standards and know the difference between right and wrong and what the consequences of their actions can be. They have developed marked qualities of tolerance and empathy, and as a result participate enthusiastically in raising money for charity and community activities.  They have positive attitudes to PSHE and circle time and would like to spend more time on this.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PSHE

The quality of teaching and learning is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning of PSHE

 Teachers have high expectations of learning and behaviour, and act as excellent role models.  Teachers know the pupils very well and have very good classroom control and discipline.  The range of activities undertaken in PSHE lessons is fairly narrow and work tends to be teacher directed, which limits personal initiative and collaborative work.

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Quality of curriculum

The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory overall with some outstanding aspects.

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Quality of curriculum

 An outstanding feature of the curriculum is the opportunities for physical activity provided, and the wide range of extra-curricular activities including swimming, residential trips, links with the community, visits and speakers into school. This provision enriches the experience of pupils and enhances their learning and enjoyment of school.  The school council and class councils have an excellent impact on the whole school and provide an experience of active citizenship for all.  The school tackles sex and relationships education well in Year 4 and the pupils appreciate being honestly informed about changes that will happen to them.  PSHE and citizenship are embedded across the curriculum and have recently been allocated discrete time on the curriculum. However, the curriculum is rather fragmented. The school is aware that different elements need to be synthesised and mapped across the curriculum

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Quality of curriculum

into coherent schemes of work.  The SEAL materials have just been introduced and teachers now need to adapt these to their own classes and to extend the range of methods they use to suit different types of learning.

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Quality of support and guidance

 Pupils report feeling safe and secure and would all go to a teacher for help and support if needed.  Extra support is accessed, for pupils who need it, through a local outreach centre.  Assessment for PSHE is informal and in need of further development.  School meals are not provided, but guidance is given to parents about healthy packed lunches. This has had limited impact and many pupils eat crisps and sweet snacks at lunchtime.

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Leadership and management of PSHE

The quality of leadership and management of PSHE is satisfactory. The relatively inexperienced coordinator is well supported by senior managers.

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Leadership and management of PSHE

 The PSHE coordinator has made a good start by liaising with a local authority advisor to devise an appropriate action plan to take the subject forward.  The use of the SEAL materials which have just been introduced are to be monitored.

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Inclusion

The lessons observed were inclusive and all the pupils enjoyed answering questions and offering their views in discussion.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 bringing together the different aspects of the curriculum to ensure coverage of all aspects  introducing more formal tracking and evaluation of progress in PSHE  encouraging more personal initiative and collaborative work in PSHE lessons  giving more guidance to parents on the healthiness of packed lunches. I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop PSHE 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 the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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