Setting

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Mrs P Conway Headteacher St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School Derwent Street Workington Cumbria CA14 2DW

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communication technology (ICT)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 3 November 2009 to look at work in ICT.

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communication technology (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 use of ICT to support learning across the school.

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communication technology (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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communication technology (ICT)

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; joint observation of one part lesson and a whole lesson; two visits to the Early Years Foundation Stage; and a tour of the school by pupils.

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communication technology (ICT)

The overall effectiveness of ICT is satisfactory.

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Achievement in ICT

 Pupils enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with ICT skills below the national average. By the end of Year 6, they make good progress and leave the school with attainment broadly in line with national expectations.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported in ICT lessons with well-trained teaching assistants. These pupils make the same good progress as their peers.  Pupils behave well when they use ICT equipment. They respect the equipment and use it carefully. They enjoy the work and this contributes to their learning. They particularly enjoy being given the opportunity to use ICT creatively.  They have a sound knowledge and understanding of how to stay safe when using new technologies.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching of ICT is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching

 The whole-school assessment and monitoring system for ICT are good. Pupils have individual profiles for ICT which start when they join the school in the Early Years Foundation Stage and end in Year 6. These identify clearly the ICT work each pupil has done. The profiles also feed into the whole-school monitoring which allows all staff to know which pupils are on track, those making better progress and those that are not making appropriate progress. Strategies are then put in place for pupils not making appropriate progress. These strategies and the assessment and monitoring system support the pupils to make good progress. However, the use of the assessment system in teaching is limited, as is the use of day-to-day assessment of pupils’ work. This means that, often, all the pupils are asked to complete the same work in lessons. Additionally, pupils are not always clear about what they need to do to improve their

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Quality of teaching

work.  Teachers are able to use the interactive whiteboards confidently. This means that demonstrations are clear and easy to understand. However, in some lessons, there is too much teacher talk which limits the amount of progress that the pupils make.

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Quality of the curriculum

The quality of the curriculum in ICT is satisfactory.

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Quality of the curriculum

 The curriculum provided is comprehensive and enables pupils to have access to all aspects of the National Curriculum. Pupils have the opportunity to use spreadsheets, databases and data loggers.  You have offered pupils the opportunities to enter competitions based on controlling robots. However, you are fully aware that this area of the curriculum needs to be developed to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to extend their knowledge and understanding of control and sequencing.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management

The effectiveness of leadership and management in ICT is good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management

 You have a clear vision for ICT to enable the pupils to become independent learners and to manage in the world they live in.  You, and your ICT team, are fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of ICT in the school. This is because you have completed a comprehensive and systematic review of ICT and have put in place initiatives to ensure that teaching and the curriculum are developed.  Training has been provided for all staff in the use of ICT and this means that ICT, and in particular the interactive whiteboards, are being used more effectively.

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The use of ICT across the curriculum

The use of ICT across the curriculum is satisfactory.

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The use of ICT across the curriculum

 The curriculum allows pupils to use ICT in all subjects. However, there is greater focus on the communicating and presenting information strand of ICT than on other aspects of the National Curriculum.  Your newly created ICT suite is having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes. They enjoy learning in the suite and they stated that the improved layout enabled them to learn more. However, this suite is the main ICT resource in the school. You have few ICT resources, such as laptops and/or portable devices in classrooms. Therefore, pupils are not able to access ICT when and where it is most appropriate. This is limiting their ability to become the independent learners you want them to be.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 improving teaching through:  the use of assessment  providing pupils with different activities depending on their ICT assessment  developing the ICT curriculum to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to develop their control and sequencing skills  embedding the use of ICT across the curriculum to enable the pupils to have a wide range of ICT opportunities.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

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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