Setting

Mr S Hussain Headteacher John Gulson Primary School George Street Coventry CV1 4HB

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Education (PSHE)

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on Thursday 21 June 2007 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:

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Education (PSHE)

 How the PSHE curriculum met the specific needs of pupils in your local area, and how progress was tracked and assessed; and,  What contribution PSHE made to the future economic well-being of your pupils.

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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 you and the senior management team, the PSHE co-ordinator, six Year 6 boys and six Year 6 girls, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of three lessons, a ‘Wake and Shake’ session, lunch with you and the pupils, and a lunchtime walkabout in the two playgrounds.

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Education (PSHE)

The overall effectiveness of Personal, Social and Health Education was judged to be good. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 0207 4216855 www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Achievement and Standards

 Every child develops tangible skills, knowledge and understanding, despite very low starting points. Their manners, respect, courtesy, confidence and self esteem are impressive.  Individuals develop a secure social vocabulary to enable them to communicate with confidence and understanding about healthy eating, keeping active, global citizenship and the dangers of smoking and alcohol.  They have had the opportunity to practise strategies to say no, especially with smoking, a pertinent local issue.  Pupils show considerable care and support for the many new arrivals in the school and learn to deal with their own feelings well, such as controlling anger.

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Quality of Teaching and Learning

In the taught curriculum the overall quality of teaching and learning in PSHE is satisfactory with some good features.

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Quality of Teaching and Learning

 Within the whole-school ethos, personal and emotional skills are very well taught. All staff have high expectations of pupils’ social skills and are excellent role models, ensuring that pupils develop a secure social vocabulary. As a result, pupils have good manners, and are confident to talk fluently with visitors.  Lessons are planned with a range of activities that allow pupils to work in pairs and small groups. However, learning objectives are not sufficiently sharp to focus on clear and measurable learning gains.  Assessment is satisfactory. The mechanism for formally tracking the progress of knowledge and understanding in PSHE is not sufficiently robust.  The teaching team is very dedicated and hard working. Relationships with pupils are strong. Teachers know their pupils well.

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Quality of curriculum

The PSHE curriculum is good with some outstanding features.

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Quality of curriculum

 PSHE underpins every aspect of the work of the school and this has resulted in the increasing local popularity of the school for the care and the wealth of opportunities it provides for pupils.  The ‘R Time’ social skills programme and SEAL have played a significant part in uniting the staff in their high expectations of pupil behaviour and manners. This aspect of the curriculum is outstanding.  The PSHE taught curriculum is insufficiently focused on mapping clear progressive learning gains. The school is aware of the need to review this aspect of the curriculum.  Activities at playground and after school are extensive and well supported by pupils. Good use is made of activity leaders at lunchtimes and of external speakers to support the curriculum.  The curriculum ensures that pupils are listened to and have a voice. The school council is strong and has had an important impact on whole school developments such as playground markings and rules.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of PSHE are good.

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Leadership and management

 The co-ordinator is very hardworking and dedicated. She is very pro- active in arranging a wide range of external visitors including theatre companies to support the PSHE curriculum. Team work and support for other staff is strong. Evidence is well-collected and supporting documentation is extensive.  The schemes of work are currently satisfactory and require updating to ensure that knowledge and understanding are more clearly mapped to ensure progression. Learning objectives within the scheme are not sufficiently clear.

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Subject issue: Economic well-being

This aspect is outstanding. Pupils are very well prepared to take their place in society through the school’s strong focus on developing social skills. The school is constantly striving to develop the contribution to the promotion of economic well-being further; for example, the recent Behaviour Saving Scheme enhances pupils’ financial capability. The school council also have a £200 budget to spend.

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Inclusion

Inclusion is outstanding and at the centre of the school’s ethos. The school manages the large mobile school population very well. New arrivals from abroad arriving with little or no English settle very quickly and are well supported. All faiths and backgrounds are respected equally. Everyone feels special and proud to be a part of John Gulson Primary School.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 ensuring that all PSHE lessons have clear and measurable learning objectives  reviewing the PSHE scheme of work to ensure that there is a clear and measurable progression of skills, knowledge and understanding. 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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