Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 www.ofsted.gov.uk enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs J Brennan Headteacher Castle Hill St. Philip's CE Primary School Hereford Road Hindley Wigan WN2 4DH

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 17 April 2008, to look at work in ICT.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on the impact of ICT on whole school improvement.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

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 – ICT

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 three lessons involving ICT.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – ICT

The overall effectiveness of ICT was judged to be satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards in ICT

Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall.

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Achievement and standards in ICT

 The majority of pupils at Key Stage 1 and 2 attain satisfactory standards and some exceed them.  The resources and training provided mean that there is good use of the interactive whiteboards across the curriculum, which is helping engage and motivate pupils. However, pupil use of ICT to raise standards in other subjects is at an early stage and currently only barely satisfactory.  Pupils are clear about how they can stay safe online and say that they feel safe using the internet for research. Personal development within ICT is satisfactory, although pupils do not yet feel confident to use ICT outside of tasks provided by teachers.  You recognise that more needs to be done to encourage pupils to use their ICT skills more independently.

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Quality of teaching and learning in ICT

Teaching and learning in ICT are satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching and learning in ICT

 Teaching and learning were satisfactory in the lessons observed.  Well focused training and support have improved staff confidence in delivering ICT lessons across all aspects of the programme of study.  Within ICT lessons, tasks provide sufficient challenge for most pupils, apart from the more able. Pupils who find work more difficult are well supported by the teachers or assistants and tasks are adapted appropriately.  Pupils enjoy participating in using the interactive whiteboards and the online resources the school provides. However, they are not routinely expected to review and evaluate their work in ICT.  Teachers assess whether pupils have achieved the aims of the task at the end of each unit. They do not set pupils targets or provide feedback to show pupils how to improve their work.  Within other subjects, use of ICT tends to be at a low level and teachers have low expectations of what pupils can do.

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Quality of teaching and learning in ICT

 The limited availability of computers outside of ICT lessons also hampers the development of ICT skills in other subjects.  Assessment of pupils’ work is not evaluated to show what levels they are working at. Consequently the school does not have a clear view of the progress being made by individuals.

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Quality of the curriculum for ICT

The ICT curriculum is satisfactory and statutory requirements are met.

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Quality of the curriculum for ICT

 Careful planning ensures all aspects of the ICT National Curriculum are covered. Suitable software and resources are provided to support this.  The strong focus on covering the statutory requirements means there is insufficient emphasis on developing skills necessary to improve learning in other subjects. The school have begun developing a new skills-based curriculum to address this need.

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Leadership and management of ICT

The leadership and management of ICT are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management of ICT

 The deputy head leads on ICT development and has made some effective changes to improve the confidence of teachers and the delivery of ICT in lessons.  The current vision for ICT has been focused on providing staff with the tools and skills to use ICT to increase engagement and motivation. It is in the process of being developed further to encourage more independent use by pupils and greater use in other subjects.  Evaluation of ICT provision has not sufficiently considered the outcomes for pupils. This is beginning to be addressed through the planning of a skills-based curriculum.  Despite the challenges facing the school, satisfactory improvements in ICT provision have been made and you have clearly identified future priorities for development.

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Impact of ICT on whole school improvement

 ICT is having a satisfactory impact on whole school improvement. The provision of laptops for staff, interactive whiteboards and suitable training to raise the confidence of staff have helped to engage pupils and raise motivation, particularly in mathematics and science.  This has helped raise standards at Key Stage 2 in particular.  Pupils have low expectations of their work using ICT which reflects the low expectations their teachers have.

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Inclusion

 Well trained teaching assistants provide additional support for those who need it, within ICT lessons, which enable these pupils to make satisfactory progress.  There is satisfactory provision for specific learning needs, including mathematics and spelling support.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 raising teachers’ expectations for pupils’ use of ICT so that pupils can become increasingly independent users  improving assessment so that progress can be tracked and targets set which help pupils move to the next level of learning  increasing the use of ICT to improve work in other subjects to raise standards  increasing the number of computers available to pupils, to enable more independent use.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

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