Setting

Mrs C Barnes Headteacher Sherburn Church of England Primary School St Hilda’s Street Sherburn Malton North Yorkshire YO17 8PG

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Design and Technology

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 10 July 2009 to look at work in Design and Technology (D&T).

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Design and Technology

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 – Design and Technology

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included: interviews with you, the subject leader for D&T, staff and learners, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of lessons.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – Design and Technology

The overall effectiveness of D&T was judged to be satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards

Achievement and standards overall are satisfactory.

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Achievement and standards

 Pupils’ experiences in the Early Years Foundation Stage enable children to make progress in cutting and using scissors. Consequently children have a firm base of general craft skills on entry to Key Stage 1.  Key Stage 1 pupils have basic planning skills and are beginning to identify the tools and materials they might use to make and to identify joints. Some are able to use criteria and the products they make resemble parts of their drawings. They use a range of construction materials and kits confidently and can explain what they like and dislike about their product. Some pupils are making faster progress and are beginning to identify how they might improve their work. Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk  Pupils in Key Stage 2 build upon the earlier work. They use a wider range of equipment and do so safely. They know about different types of

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Achievement and standards

stitches and make appropriate choices for example, when selecting the strongest or decorative for particular features of their puppets. Pupils are making good progress in learning to work more accurately and to work independently. Pupils are beginning to use some specialist terminology but are slow to pick this up despite teachers modelling it. By the end of Key Stage 2 most pupils are working at the levels expected for their age. Pupils with learning difficulties achieved well during D&T lessons.  D&T makes a good contribution to pupils’ personal development. Pupils enjoy D&T immensely. They work with enthusiasm in lessons and are focussed on completing their products. Pupils collaborate very well. They know safety rules and why they are important. Pupils are developing good presentation skills and some pupils work independently with high level of responsibility. Pupils enjoy making and tasting different kinds of food.

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Quality of teaching and learning of D&T

The quality of teaching and learning is good.

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Quality of teaching and learning of D&T

 Teachers’ general teaching skills are good and their classroom management, very good questioning skills and high expectations of pupils behaviour, are effective features in lessons. Teachers’ co-ordinate pupils’ experiences and knowledge from other subjects effectively to support their work in D&T and use criteria well so that pupils understand what is expected of them.  Good use of trips and visits helps to make the learning meaningful: for example visits to local playgrounds and to places further afield act as a stimulus to support pupils designing and making.  Teachers are beginning to differentiate aspects of construction effectively but have yet to do so as effectively in developing pupils design skills. The wide range of resources, such as construction kits, enable teachers to match them well to construction tasks.  Recent work to develop D&T assessment is a promising development.

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Quality of the D&T curriculum

The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory.

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Quality of the D&T curriculum

 The curriculum meets basic requirements. However pupils have few opportunities to design and make the kinds of products they like such as those that move, flash lights and make sounds. The scheme of work is a collection of projects and the school are aware of the need to plan more links from one project to another in order to promote progression in pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills.  The craft curriculum and activities are enjoyed by pupils and they are proud of what they make. For example one pupil said, “When we do D&T we tell our parents: making something makes me smile, I don’t know why, there is just something about making products.”  Effective use is made of competitions and industry contacts to develop food and cooking and pupils value the opportunities provided to grow their own food.

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Leadership and management of D&T

Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management of D&T

 Your support and work as the co-ordinator for D&T has made effective use of the budget to build and develop resources. Opportunities through competitions and participation in local and national initiatives have been used well to extend D&T resources. Value for money is secure.  Informal methods contribute well to monitoring and evaluation and the schools’ self-evaluation is accurate. Regular checking of pupils’ progress is at an early stage of development.  Health and safety is planned effectively.

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of D&T to pupils and parents and carers

 Informal monitoring draws upon pupils views. Most pupils enjoy their D&T work and see it as useful for the development of skills for jobs and life in general.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 making effective use of assessment to inform progression in designing  developing pupils use of technical language in D&T  developing teachers’ professional development to keep pace with pupils expectations for products that make greater use of control and mechanisms.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop D&T in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

As explained in the 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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