Setting

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Mr P Scull Headteacher Giles Brook Primary School Holborn Crescent Tattenhoe Milton Keynes MK4 3GB

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education (PE)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, during my visit on 11 November 2009 to look at work in PE.

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education (PE)

As outlined in my initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on the identification of an area of best practice in the subject and its impact for pupils.

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education (PE)

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 (PE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements included interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ reports and observation of three lessons and other activities.

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education (PE)

The overall effectiveness of PE is good.

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Achievement

Achievement and enjoyment of learning are good.

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Achievement

 Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and achieve well. All children assessed in 2009 were achieving at or above the expected level in physical development. This is because they experience a good range of indoor and outdoor activities designed to help them develop a full range of physical skills.  The school’s assessment records show that pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 continue to make good progress as they move through the school. Despite having their PE learning programme disrupted by extensive building work in the last two years, attainment in Year 6 is a little above average. Pupils do particularly well in games and athletics activities and benefit from specialist coaching in these areas. Standards in swimming are above average, most pupils manage to swim 25 metres by the end of Year 4.  Pupils who are less well-coordinated or lack confidence in PE are given targeted support in lessons and some take part in sports partnership

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Achievement

workshops. Those who are talented are identified and provided with additional challenges in team sports and extension activities.  Pupils’ personal development and well-being are enhanced by their involvement in PE and sport. The Year 6 pupils interviewed were able to explain the features of a healthy lifestyle and why exercise is important to keep fit. They also knew about the safe use of apparatus and why they wear suitable clothing for PE. Attitudes and behaviour in the lessons observed were very positive and pupils engage in physical activities with enthusiasm and enjoyment.

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Quality of teaching

 There were a number of strengths in the lessons observed. Teachers managed pupils well and had high expectations for pupils’ full participation. Teachers’ planning included clearly focused learning objectives. There were good opportunities for pupils to acquire and develop their skills; this was particularly evident in the games lesson taught by the sports coach. Teachers encouraged pupils to discuss their performances and evaluate how successful they were and what they might do to improve. Support provided by a teaching assistant in one lesson was good and enabled all pupils to take part successfully.  Staff observe pupils well in lessons to assess their performance and then give good advice on how they might improve. They also provide helpful demonstrations to show pupils the skills and responses they are aiming for. Teachers also make periodic assessments of pupils’ attainment and record the outcomes on individual profiles. These assessments inform

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Quality of teaching

well-written and personalised annual reports on pupils’ achievements, which are written for parents. Currently, little use is made of information and communication technology (ICT) to support teaching and learning.

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Quality of the curriculum

 A detailed curriculum map indicates how the areas of learning are planned for each year group throughout the year. Teachers use a published scheme of work to plan their lessons. One term’s swimming is included for Year 4 and pupils in Years 5 and 6 take part in a good range of outdoor and adventurous activities, including orienteering, during residential visits. Pupils confirm that they have up to two hours of timetabled PE each week. This is supplemented with good opportunities to be active during lunchtimes and through participating in after-school activities. Learning in PE is linked well to some other subjects, such as science, with pupils studying the effects of exercise on their pulse rates and the features of healthy lifestyles.  Involvement in the school sports partnership has helped enhance provision with coaches deployed to introduce different sports activities and pupils attending festivals and tournaments. Pupils also have the opportunity to

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Quality of the curriculum

compete with other schools in netball, football and athletic competitions. The partner school sports coordinator has been engaged to lead a professional development session in gymnastics to strengthen teachers’ subject knowledge. There is also a very good proposal to set up a dance studio and employ a dance specialist for school and community dance projects.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management

The effectiveness of leadership and management is good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management

 PE and sport receive a high profile. They are seen by leaders as important features of pupils’ enjoyment of school and for promoting the Every Child Matters outcomes. Displays around the school encourage involvement in physical activities and making other healthy lifestyle choices. There are well-established systems for ensuring effective subject leadership and management. Curriculum leaders write annual subject evaluation reports which are shared with staff and governors. There is also clear direction from senior leaders setting out what is expected in the role of the subject leader.  A good start has been made on introducing a practical system for assessing outcomes in PE and this is to be strengthened further to improve the accuracy of the assessments. Leaders acknowledge that monitoring the progress of the subject would also help the subject leader to keep a closer watch on pupils’ progress. Subject leaders undertake bi-

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Effectiveness of leadership and management

annual monitoring and evaluation programmes, which include observing lessons, but recognise that this could occur more frequently using the time available through the sports partnership programme.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 developing further the use of ICT to support teaching and learning, including assessment  continuing to improve teachers’ assessment and recording of pupils’ attainment and setting up a manageable system for monitoring progress  drawing up a plan for the use of primary link teacher time to include a proportion allocated for monitoring and evaluation activities.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop PE 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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