Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr M Gough Headteacher Instow Community Primary School Rectory Lane Instow Bideford EX39 4LU

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children’s economic well-being in primary schools

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff and pupils, during my visit on 27 May 2010 to look at work in developing children’s economic well-being.

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children’s economic well-being in primary schools

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 settings will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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children’s economic well-being in primary schools

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff, parents/governors and pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ work; and observations of two lessons and several lunchtime activities.

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children’s economic well-being in primary schools

The overall effectiveness of the provision to develop pupils’ economic well- being is good.

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Features of good practice

 Pupils have very good attitudes to learning. They are polite, supportive of each other and work well collaboratively.  Pupils have many good opportunities to take responsibility, make decisions, work in teams and engage in solving practical problems. This is the case both within formal lessons and through the extensive extra- curricular and enrichment activities on offer. They develop self-confidence through taking part in these activities. Pupils also have many opportunities to develop enterprise skills and are being encouraged to record these.  Pupils develop a sound understanding of basic economic and business ideas and money management appropriate to their age. Although personal finance education is less well developed than other aspects of economic well-being, work on budgeting and costing is good.  The school’s innovative curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of economic issues. In one lesson

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Features of good practice

observed, a Year 5 and 6 class considered the possible impact of oil exploration in Bideford Bay from different viewpoints. Pupils also acquire a growing awareness of important global issues, such as poverty and fair trade. Through a developing partnership with a school in The Gambia and, for example, a project on a village in Mexico, they understand important economic differences between life in England and developing countries.  Pupils have a strong sense of citizenship and understand the importance of maximizing sustainability of resources. They demonstrate this in practical ways including helping to reduce the school’s energy costs, recycling and growing food which can be used by the school kitchen. The school council plays an effective role in raising funds for charities and other good causes and improving the environment and other aspects of the life of the school.  Links with businesses and adults other than teachers provide pupils with

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Features of good practice

good opportunities to learn about the different jobs that people do. A wide range of visitors is used very well to help the pupils develop a good understanding of different career choices and raise their aspirations.  Every attempt is made to differentiate learning activities, enabling all pupils to participate fully, whenever possible.

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Areas for development, which we discussed, include:

 conducting an audit of the school’s current work in promoting economic well-being, with a view to developing a more coherent plan for embedding key concepts across the curriculum  identifying and agreeing the learning outcomes appropriate to promoting economic well-being and further developing methods of assessing pupils’ progress as they move through the school.

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Areas for development, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful for the future development of work in this area.

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Areas for development, which we discussed, include:

As I explained previously, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on Ofsted’s website under the URN for your school. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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