Setting

Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

Development (ESD) - three year longitudinal survey.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my recent visit to look at work in ESD in your school.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

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. This is a follow up monitoring visit which is intended to assess the progress the school has made in developing ESD throughout the school since the previous visit.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with staff and pupils including the Eco committee, scrutiny of relevant documentation, observation of one lesson, visits to a number of classrooms and a survey of the school environment.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

The school continues to face delays linked to the proposed new build and the current restrictions on space severely limit what can be achieved. However, since the last visit, the girls’ school has made satisfactory progress towards developing ESD in the school. The overall effectiveness is now judged to be satisfactory with some aspects being good. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Education for Sustainable

Mrs C Myers Headteacher Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate Girls and Boys School Hardinge Street London E1 0EB

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards in ESD are satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards

 Most students have a basic understanding of the sustainability agenda. They understand the principles linked to the need to protect the environment.  Recycling has gained in popularity with a wider range of materials now being collected. However, some individuals are more committed than others.  Students appreciate the ethical reasons behind the drive to promote ‘Fair Trade’. The school actively supports this through the establishment of a Fair Trade action group. Fair Trade products are also on sale in the coffee shop and are available to both students and staff.  Students are actively involved in a number of fund raising activities to support good causes both locally and overseas. This includes the students’ symbolic purchase of a plot in the South American rainforest to confirm their growing commitment to living sustainable lives.  The improved attitudes of the pupils towards looking after the

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Achievement and standards

environment are reflected in the fact that litter is now less of an issue. Murals on recycled boards actively promote the need to recycle, reduce and reuse.

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Quality of teaching and learning of ESD

Insufficient ESD related lessons were observed to make a firm judgement on the quality of teaching and learning in ESD. In some lessons pupils are encouraged to think about interdependence, equity and justice as well as the issues related to global warming. In practical subjects they are encouraged to use recycled materials, consider eco-friendly product design as well as the responsibilities that designers and manufacturers should have towards the environment.

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Quality of curriculum

The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory and good in some aspects.

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Quality of curriculum

 The curriculum better supports sustainability with more subjects planning for opportunities to engage students in the environmental debate. However, as yet, there is no cohesive programme which will progressively build up students’ knowledge and understanding of the issues.  Pockets of good practice exist in some subject areas such as geography where students are able to study climate change and become aware of their own carbon footprint. Through the ‘teenage bag project’ they are introduced to making creative use of recycled products in technology. Reclaimed materials are also being used more frequently in art. The school is also considering using Award Scheme Development Accreditation Network accreditation to promote sustainability work across the school.  The English faculty promotes sustainability through a number of high profile projects which involve groups of students using a variety of media forms. For example, the recycling documentary is now a part of

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Quality of curriculum

the Year 8 Drama unit, the Year 9 poetry competition encourages creative thinking about sustainability and the Year 10 students enjoyed success in the Tower Hamlets public speaking contest.  Messages about sustainability are reinforced through the PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) programme, through assemblies as well as themed events such as ‘Environmental day’ and ‘Green Week’. These enable wider whole school participation than is the norm.  The school is attempting to promote the global dimension through established links with a school in Kenya and a proposed link with a school in the United States. These have limited impact at the moment since they involve small groups of pupils.

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Leadership and management of ESD

Leadership and management of ESD are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management of ESD

 Senior management is supportive of the school developing into a ‘sustainable school’. Progress towards this has been slow because of the delays in building the new ‘Learning Village’. When this is completed the school will have a building which will be low carbon and which will actively promote education for sustainable development.  There is a small group of teachers who are keen to drive the initiative forward. Currently, they are using mainly extra-curricular time to manage initiatives and this limits what can be achieved.  The self evaluation is an honest appraisal of what has been achieved as well as recognition of what still needs to be done. The action plan needs reviewing and more resources, especially time, are needed if more sustained progress is to be made in the future.  The Eco committee provides a small, but motivated, group of students who are keen to make a difference and involve more friends in

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Leadership and management of ESD

improving the environment of the school.  Given the building disruption and limited space available the green areas and small gardens are well maintained and generally litter free.

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Inclusion

The provision with regards to sustainability is satisfactory.

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Inclusion

 The ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda has a high profile in the school and provides a good basis on which future work involving sustainability can be developed.  Although all students are encouraged to become involved, ESD currently remains an initiative which engages only a minority. Individual involvement is often dependent on the subjects chosen for further study and the interests and engagement of individual teachers.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 providing additional time for the teachers in charge of the initiative to enable them to manage and support their colleagues more effectively  formulating an appropriate action plan which identifies clear practical strategies to drive the sustainability agenda forward enabling it to become a wider school initiative  building on the successful projects already established to engage and encourage more students to become involved  ensuring that the subject schemes of work identify more opportunities to promote sustainability and enable clearer progression in knowledge and understanding  expanding the ‘Eco club’ to engage more students so that there is a greater impact across the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

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