Setting

Mr D J Cunningham Headteacher Harrytown Catholic High School Harrytown Lane Stockport Cheshire SK6 3BU

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Citizenship

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 14 and 15 February 2007 to look at work in citizenship.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Citizenship

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on provision for teaching and learning about Britain’s diversity.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Citizenship

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 – Citizenship

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 nine lessons.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Citizenship

The overall effectiveness was judged to be good.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards in citizenship are good.

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Achievement and standards

 Achievement is satisfactory in Years 7-9 and good in Years 10 and 11. Pupils make good progress in understanding most aspects of the citizenship curriculum.  Assessment is satisfactory in Years 7-9 and good in Years 10 and 11. All pupils in Year 11 have the opportunity to take the short course Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 F 020 7421 6855 www.ofsted.gov.uk GCSE examination in citizenship. Attainment in Key Stage 4 is above average.  Pupils have many opportunities in lessons to engage in discussion and debate and to complete extended pieces of work. They develop good enquiry, research and communication skills.  Pupils develop a keen sense of social responsibility. They know that their voice is heard in school but the current lack of a School Council means that pupil voice is limited.

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Quality of teaching and learning

The quality of teaching and learning is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning

 Teaching is characterised by good subject knowledge, good relationships, very good planning and effective assessment.  A safe environment is created for pupils to discuss controversial and difficult issues. Pupils are confident and articulate.

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Quality of the curriculum

 The school has a very accurate picture of what constitutes citizenship and expert knowledge of the National Curriculum requirements for citizenship. Provision is satisfactory in Key Stage 3 and good in Key Stage 4 where all pupils follow the short course for GCSE.  Citizenship is taught through a combination of discrete lessons and a well-co-ordinated approach within other subjects. Links with religious education are especially productive.  There is ample opportunity for participation in a variety of citizenship- related activities.

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Leadership and management of citizenship

 The subjects co-ordinator provides inspiring leadership and effective management which includes comprehensive planning, support for non- specialist teachers and monitoring of teaching, learning and assessment.  You and the senior leadership team put citizenship at the heart of school planning, ensuring it has a high profile in school and you have a clear vision for subject development.  The school has a very accurate picture of strengths and areas where improvements can be made.

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diversity

While there is not a planned programme specifically for teaching about Britain’s diversity all departments can identify areas where such teaching takes place, for example work on migration and refugees in geography, multicultural topics in art and race-relations and equality in English. An entire module in religious education is devoted to social harmony, prejudice and discrimination. The school has an annual ‘One Community Day’ which investigates and celebrates diversity in the local, national and global communities.

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Inclusion

Teachers plan effectively for the range of pupils in school. Good support is provided for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the minority who come from different backgrounds. The school is fully inclusive in its approach to academic and social development. All pupils receive the statutory entitlement to citizenship in both key stages. Regular discos take place for pupils across the entire age range from Years 7 to 11. There are numerous opportunities to engage in active citizenship. The winner of the young Citizen of the year award for Stockport has come from Harrytown High School for the last two years.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 to ensure a more coherent pattern of assessment in Key Stage 3  to re-constitute the School Council.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop citizenship 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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