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 K Downham Headteacher Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Roman Catholic Primary School Holmbrook Close Blackburn Lancashire BB2 3UG

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – E-safety

Thank you for your hospitality and co-operation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 14 May 2009 to look at work in E-safety.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – E-safety

As outlined in my initial letter, this visit looked at:  the extent to which schools teach learners to adopt safe and responsible practices in using new technologies  e-safety training for staff.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – E-safety

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 – E-safety

The evidence used to inform the judgements made included interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation and meetings with a local authority representative.

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Ofsted survey inspection programme – E-safety

The overall effectiveness of e-safety was judged to be good.

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Outcomes for learners

 The pupils are safe when they are using new technologies. This is because of the good teaching they receive in school which enables them to make responsible judgments about their use of new technologies. The pupils make these responsible judgements both at home and at school.  You have decided to operate a managed ICT system. This means that the pupils have access to many sites, however, they were very clear that they only accessed the sites which were relevant to the work they were doing at that time.  The pupils are also very clear about what they need to do if an incident happens, this is because of the good policies and procedures you have in place.  The pupils have good knowledge and understanding of how to stay safe. This is age related. Pupils in Year 1 have particularly good knowledge and this is directly linked to the teaching they have received about how to use their laptops.  Teaching assistants are confident about supporting pupils when they

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Outcomes for learners

are using new technologies, and there are effective strategies in place to make sure that pupils are safe.

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Quality of provision

 The ICT scheme of work you have in place ensures that all pupils receive good teaching and learning about how to stay safe when using new technologies.  All members of staff take the opportunity to reinforce the simple and well known e-safety rules whenever pupils are using ICT, during informal conversations and at circle time.  However you have recognised that the curriculum would benefit from developing links with outside agencies, such as the police, to give the pupils a different perspective on the dangers and benefits of using new technologies.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of e-safety are good.

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Leadership and management

 You have in place a comprehensive ICT policy and acceptable use of the internet policy. Both of these have been ratified by the staff and governors. The ICT policy was reviewed and updated to include the use of the learning platform and school website in November 2008.  There is an action plan for e-safety which highlights areas you wish to develop, however it does not always link how the activities will improve outcomes for pupils.  The rules about how to use new technologies have sent been to parents and are signed by parents, pupils and staff.  Although you have worked with some parents to enable them to support their children you recognise that this is area which you want to develop.

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Quality of training

 All members of staff are trained in e-safety. The training provided is linked to an audit of staff needs and is bespoke to the member of staff. The training has ensured that members of staff feel confident about allowing pupils to use the managed system.  The training has also enabled staff to permit pupils to do more open- ended research tasks. This is because the staff are aware of the dangers, and the advantages of using new technologies and know and understand how to keep the pupils safe.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

 linking with outside agencies, such as the police, to enhance the curriculum provision  developing opportunities for parents to develop their knowledge and understanding of e-safety to enable them to better support their children  reviewing the action plan to ensure that all activities improve outcomes for pupils.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, included:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop e-safety 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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