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 G Beeson Headteacher Perry Beeches Infant School Beeches Road Birmingham West Midlands B42 2PY

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Education (PSHE)

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 17 June 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 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 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 yourself, the PSHE co-ordinator, the inclusion manager, school council leader and a group of Year 2 pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of three lessons.

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Education (PSHE)

The overall effectiveness of PSHE was judged to be good.

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Achievement in PSHE

 Pupils make rapid progress in acquiring social and personal skills. They are encouraged in lessons to reflect on their opinions and feelings and share them with the class, and many are able to do this successfully. A minority of pupils, mainly boys, struggle to express their views coherently.  Pupils are friendly and polite. They have positive attitudes to their learning in PSHE and feel safe and secure in school. Mixing with the pupils from the nearby special school teaches tolerance and kindness.  Children in the reception class are able to reflect on and discuss what they have learnt in their first year at school and they listen well to each other.  Pupils have a basic understanding about healthy diet and they are aware of the ‘five fruit and vegetables a day’ message. However, pupils do not apply this knowledge to the packed lunches many of them bring to school.  Pupils have good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For

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Achievement in PSHE

example, they can identify the adults they can trust, they know not to take other people’s prescribed medicine and they know the dangers of smoking.  Pupils from minority ethnic groups are well integrated and achieve as well as others.

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Quality of teaching and learning in PSHE

 The ethos created in lessons is child-centred, inclusive and stimulating and directly supports the teaching of PSHE.  Teachers build good relationships with pupils whilst maintaining strong discipline. Teachers act as excellent role models.  There is a high quality of care for individual pupils and tasks set in PSHE are carefully matched to the ability levels of different pupils so that all are included.  Effective use is made of experienced and skilled teacher assistants to support pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.  Occasionally, in lessons, learning objectives are a little confusing for the pupils and pupils are sometimes kept too long sitting on the carpet.  There is currently no formal system for tracking pupils’ progress in PSHE, although end of key stage statements are being introduced.

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Quality of the curriculum

 At present there is no overall plan or schemes of work for PSHE. Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) materials are used regularly but these are not always consistently adapted to meet the needs of pupils and do not cover all aspects of PSHE. “Circle time” is used on an ad hoc basis and not always effectively.  The Healthy Schools award has had a positive impact on the development of emotional skills, the use of SEAL materials and on the quality of school food.  Very effective use is made of external specialists to contribute to PSHE. For example, the school nurse, Life Education caravan, the fire brigade and the local police officer.  A range of enrichment activities enhances learning in PSHE. These include the school council, international events, visits, and participation in the 11 Million Children project.  There is outstanding provision to meet the needs of vulnerable pupils. Their needs are promptly identified and met through small group work

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Quality of the curriculum

in social skills and gross motor skills and through a group to help boys.

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Leadership and management of PSHE

 The recently appointed PSHE coordinator is enthusiastic and has received some training in her role as a subject leader and on sex and relationship education. She is beginning to map PSHE provision across the curriculum and review policies.  The school improvement plan for PSHE is detailed with appropriate milestones and success criteria.  Some monitoring of PSHE and SEAL lessons has taken place but it is not rigorous enough and needs further development.

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Subject issue: preparation for economic well-being

Pupils are very well prepared for the next stage in their education. Great emphasis is placed on transition skills.

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Subject issue: preparation for economic well-being

 Pupils help to prepare booklets to welcome in new children. Older pupils from the junior school are invited into class to discuss their experiences and are welcomed with delight by the infants. There is a real attempt made to successfully discuss and address the concerns the pupils have about moving up to the junior school.  Pupils are encouraged to take on a variety of responsibilities and jobs around the school, including raising money for charity.  The role play activities, which take place as part of the school’s international curriculum, familiarise pupils with using money, buying tickets and calculating change.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 writing a scheme of work for PSHE to ensure all aspects of the curriculum are consistently covered  developing more formal assessment systems for PSHE.

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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. 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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