Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs J Kay Headteacher Westbrook Lane Primary School Westbrook Lane Horsforth Leeds LS18 5AH

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 10 December 2009 to look at work in citizenship.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

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.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

The evidence used to inform the judgements included interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and the observation of two lessons and an assembly.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: citizenship

The overall effectiveness of citizenship is outstanding.

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Achievement and enjoyment of learning in citizenship

Achievement and enjoyment of learning in citizenship are outstanding.

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Achievement and enjoyment of learning in citizenship

 Pupils have excellent understanding of rights and responsibilities, the environment, sustainability and cultural diversity. They have very good skills in debating topical issues and decision-making. Their understanding of the role of MPs, parliament, the law and the media, is more limited.  Pupils enjoy their lessons. They have very good attitudes to citizenship and have developed empathy for those less fortunate than themselves. They have good opportunities to give their opinions on current issues in the news and exercise choice when it comes to researching topics in citizenship.  Through the school council, pupils participate in decision-making on issues that affect them, their school and local community. The council reflects democratic processes which pupils fully understand. Councillors are very proud of their role and take their responsibilities very seriously. Pupils have opportunities to take other responsibilities such as playground and

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Quality of teaching in citizenship

The quality of teaching in citizenship is outstanding.

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Quality of teaching in citizenship

 Teachers demonstrate very good subject knowledge and enthusiasm in citizenship. They use a wide range of approaches including the excellent use of interactive whiteboard technology.  The marking of work is thorough, encouraging and helps pupils know how to improve. End-of-unit assessments indicate clearly which pupils have achieved which unit objectives, who exceeded them, and who requires extra support.  There are good levels of expectation for different groups of learners. Work is matched very well to meet pupils’ needs and support from teaching assistants is most effective. Teachers use questioning very well to develop pupils’ communication and thinking skills.

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Quality of the curriculum in citizenship

The quality of the citizenship curriculum is outstanding.

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Quality of the curriculum in citizenship

 Preparing to play an active role as citizens is an explicit part of the curriculum. The central place that citizenship holds in the curriculum is evident from displays of pupils’ work in citizenship in every classroom and on corridors.  Some aspects of the programme are given more curriculum time than others. For example, diversity, culture, human rights and sustainability are covered throughout the taught curriculum and through a range of extra- curricular visits, visitors and cultural events. These areas are regularly revisited to build a deeper understanding and develop skills. Other aspects, such as the role of parliament, law and the media, are given much less attention.  The programme integrates knowledge, skills and understanding well through the development of pupils’ debating and writing skills. All pupils have opportunities to play an active role as citizens, contributing well to the school and the wider community.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in citizenship

The leadership and management of citizenship are outstanding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in citizenship

 The school has a vision for citizenship that accords very well with the school’s ethos and mission statement. Sufficient resources have been provided in terms of time, staff responsibility, training and materials.  The subject leader has a good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the department and has produced a detailed action plan for improvement. The school has appropriate plans in place to integrate citizenship into the new primary curriculum in 2010.  Planning for citizenship is scrutinised by the subject leader who also undertakes much of the teaching. Provision is evaluated by pupils at the end of modules. Parents, carers and members of the school community are involved in the review and planning of the citizenship curriculum and many contribute to classroom activities and extra-curricular events.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 teaching and learning about the role of MPs and parliament, the law and the significance of the media.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop citizenship in the school.

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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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