Setting

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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Mrs Riley Headteacher English Martyrs’ Catholic Primary School Evelyn Road Birmingham B11 3JW

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Education (PSHE)

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on Tuesday 05 February 2008 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 meets the specific needs of pupils in your local area, and how progress is tracked and assessed; and  the contribution made by PSHE to the future economic wellbeing 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 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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Education (PSHE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included interviews with you, the PSHE, inclusion and EAL co-ordinators, scrutiny of relevant documentation, discussion with two groups of pupils, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of three lessons, an assembly, a school council meeting, a peer tutor session and an EAL group.

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Education (PSHE)

The overall effectiveness of PSHE was judged to be good.

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Achievement

 Pupils have a good knowledge and understanding of health-related issues, especially sex and drugs education.  Pupils develop good personal and social skills. They take on leadership roles well and enjoy the responsibility. They are polite, well-mannered and engage enthusiastically in conversation with visitors.  They are developing a good understanding of democracy, both locally through their school council, and nationally. They know the names of key political figures and understand how laws are made.

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Quality of teaching and learning in PSHE

The overall quality of teaching and learning is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning in PSHE

 Teachers plan extensively for a wide range of activities in PSHE, often linked to other areas of the curriculum such as science and religious education (RE). Work is assessed in these areas.  Relationships are very good in all lessons observed. Pupils are keen, attentive and enjoy the different learning tasks, such as paired discussion; debating and the use of persuasive language; and predicting events, such as rules for keeping them safe.  In some lessons, learning objectives are too broad and insufficiently consolidated throughout the lesson to ensure that all pupils have made progress.  There are many individual opportunities where aspects of PSHE are measured in other subjects, for example in science, RE and in the special educational needs department. However, there is no centralised system for pulling all these PSHE assessments together.

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Quality of the curriculum

 The PSHE scheme of work is carefully mapped across the whole school curriculum with key areas such as sex and relationship education and drugs education being delivered in substantial units at appropriate times as pupils get older.  Good use is made of high quality external professionals such as theatre groups, the Life Caravan, a physical education coach and other members of the local community to stimulate and enrich the curriculum.  The curriculum has been appropriately expanded with opportunities for additional physical activities organised at lunchtime to ensure that all pupils develop a more active lifestyle.

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Leadership and management of PSHE

The leadership and management of PSHE are good.

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Leadership and management of PSHE

 The conscientious and committed co-ordinator has successfully led staff meetings to ensure that PSHE is mapped carefully across the curriculum and throughout the school. As a result of this training, staff are more confident to teach PSHE.  The co-ordinator has monitored teaching and learning in PSHE and supports colleagues well with appropriate resources and through sharing good practice.  The management has an accurate view of its PSHE provision.

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Subject issue: The contribution made by PSHE to the future

PSHE contributes well to pupils’ economic well being. Their impressive personal and social skills and developing confidence prepares them well to take their place in society. Pupils are also well prepared to take the next step in their education when they transfer to secondary school.

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Inclusion

The Christian ethos of English Martyrs’ ensures that every child is enabled to feel special: staff work hard to raise the confidence and self-esteem of all pupils. Even the most hard to reach individuals are provided with purposeful opportunities to take on a responsibility and to give something back to the school community. The peer tutoring programme is an outstanding example. Here, targeted Year 5 pupils work to support Year 1 pupils experiencing difficulties with their English and mathematics work using resources they have made themselves. New arrivals in this country with no English are also well- supported, settle quickly and make a positive contribution to the school community.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 ensure that all lessons have clear and measurable learning objectives that are regularly reviewed and consolidated in every lesson  pull together the existing good PSHE assessment practice across the school into a central system against which pupils’ achievement and progress in PSHE can be tracked.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

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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