No alarms and no surprises? Inspection Report ICT Comments

Comments from the report are detailed under the headings from the report.

Inspection

CC licence from flickr user pasukaru76

The school did very well overall. There was no ICT specialist on the inspection team. The document is now public. The question is, what does this mean for ICT in the school. No alarms and no surprises? However, opportunities are presenting themselves to consolidate existing good practice and expand the use of technology throughout the curriculum.

Pupil’s Learning and Achievements

‘Although proficient and sometimes highly skilled in the use of ICT, they under-employ this skill in their lessons.’

‘Some are skilled users of ICT. In a graphic design lesson, pupils in Y8 manipulated and altered images using a range of software tools to create a soft drinks carton, and in an English lesson pupils in Y11 produced high callibre posters using composite images and symbols from the internet.’

‘Despite the good ICT skills that most have acquired, pupils do not fully exploit these skills to assist their learning, nor do they make much use of the school library as a learning resource, relying instead on their teachers and text books as their sources of information.’

The Quality of teaching (including assessment)

Often pupils who use ICT well for independent study do so of their own volition rather than directly as a result of teacher suggestion, although good use is made of specialist software in music and design.’

RE teachers: ‘Many are also skilled users of technology to enhance their teaching.’

‘Although teaching frequently makes use of the interactive whiteboard, its full potential is not universally realised across departments.’

Conclusion and next steps

‘Develop the library as a significant educational resource that encourages pupils to make greater use of both books and the extensive ICT resources that are available to facilitate their independent learning.’

Your thoughts, as always, are welcome.

Inspection Report comments on ICT

Pupil’s Learning and Achievements

‘Although proficient and sometimes highly skilled in the use of ICT, they under-employ this skill in their lessons.’

‘Some are skilled users of ICT. In a graphic design lesson, pupils in Y8 manipulated and altered images using a range of software tools to create a soft drinks carton, and in an English lesson pupils in Y11 produced high callibre posters using composite images and symbols from the internet.’

‘Despite the good ICT skills that most have acquired, pupils do not fully exploit these skills to assist their learning, nor do they make much use of the school library as a learning resource, relying instead on their teachers and text books as their sources of information.’

The Quality of teaching (including assessment)

Often pupils who use ICT well for independent study do so of their own volition rather than directly as a result of teacher suggestion, although good use is made of specialist software in music and design.’

RE teachers: ‘Many are also skilled users of technology to enhance their teaching.’

‘Although teaching frequently makes use of the interactive whiteboard, its full potential is not universally realised across departments.’

Conclusion and next steps

‘Develop the library as a significant educational resource that encourages pupils to make greater use of both books and the extensive ICT resources that are available to facilitate their independent learning.’