An Roinn Oideachtis agus Eolaíochta
Department of Education and Science
Subject Inspection of
Materials Technology (Wood) and Construction Studies
REPORT
St. Flannan's College, Ennis, County Clare
Roll number: 61920N
Date of inspection: 11 December 2008
Subject provision and whole school support
Summary of main findings and recommendations
Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Materials Technology (Wood) and Construction Studies
Subject inspection report
This report has been written following a subject inspection in St. Flannan's College, Ennis. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in Materials Technology (Wood) and Construction Studies and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of these subjects in the school. The evaluation was conducted over one day during which the inspector visited classrooms and observed teaching and learning. The inspector interacted with students and teacher, examined students’ work, and had discussions with the teachers. The inspector reviewed school planning documentation and teachers' written preparation. Following the evaluation visit, the inspector provided oral feedback on the outcomes of the evaluation to the principal and subject teachers. The board of management was given an opportunity to comment in writing on the findings and recommendations of the report; a response was not received from the board.
Subject provision and whole school support
Materials Technology (Wood) (MTW) and Construction Studies (CS) are very well provided for in St. Flannan's College, a very large, urban, co-educational voluntary secondary school.
MTW and CS are optional subjects. Students study MTW as part of the Junior Certificate (JC) and senior cycle students study CS as part of the Leaving Certificate (LC) or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP). Transition year (TY) students study CS as part of the programme.
Incoming first-year students have an open choice of optional subjects and choose their subjects following attendance at an information evening prior to entering the school. Parents and students are supported by subject teachers, the guidance counsellor and the senior management team when making their final optional subject choices and option bands based on students' choices are then formulated. These bands are refined to ensure that the needs of individual students are accommodated. These arrangements are commended. Students entering senior cycle are similarly supported when making optional subject choices and are given an open choice of available optional subjects. Option bands based on these choices are then developed and modified to ensure that students' choices are accommodated.
All MTW classes are of mixed ability and students sit State examinations at the level appropriate to their abilities. Separate higher and ordinary level class groups are occasionally formed for CS in senior cycle but access to both levels is accommodated within classes, with students sitting State examinations at the level appropriate to their abilities. While junior-cycle MTW classes contain a small number of girls in each year group it is noteworthy, even when the approximately 2:1 boy-girl ratio of the school's enrolment is considered, that there are no girls currently studying CS in fifth or sixth year. This is the case despite open access to the subjects and the provision of a TY programme where CS forms part of the curriculum. It is recommended therefore, that the subject department should explore alternative ways to encourage more girls to study the subjects, especially CS.
Time allocation for MTW and CS is appropriate and the allocation of double and single class periods reflects good practice.
The MTW and CS department comprises four teachers. Three of these teachers are currently deployed to teach MTW and CS and the fourth teacher is deployed to teach TG and DCG. In order to ensure that teachers remain familiar with issues concerning the delivery of the various syllabuses it is recommended that they be deployed to teach all their subject specialisms in future years, where possible. This is particularly important in current circumstances where two new technology subject syllabuses, Technology (TECH) and Design and Communication Graphics (DCG), have been introduced for Leaving Certificate and where two additional syllabuses, in Architectural Technology (AT) and Engineering Technology (ET), are being prepared for implementation.
MTW and CS are taught in two specialist woodwork rooms which are used exclusively for the delivery of the subjects. These rooms are large, well-organised, appointed, equipped and maintained and are eminently suitable for the delivery of the MTW and CS syllabuses. The rooms are decorated with displays of colourful wall charts on a variety of topics related to MTW and CS and examples of students' work and provide stimulating visual learning environments for students of the subjects.
The school's health and safety statement contains specific references to the woodwork rooms and MTW and CS teachers were involved in its development. This statement is reviewed on an annual basis. There is a very strong emphasis on health and safety in the woodwork rooms and safety signage is displayed. This is commended. It is recommended however, that the Review of Occupational Health and Safety in the Technologies in Post-Primary Schools should be used to inform and supplement the recommendations made in the school's health and safety statement when health and safety practices and procedures are being formulated or reviewed in the future.
The MTW and CS subject department has access to a laptop computer and a digital projector for use in the specialist woodwork rooms. Student access to appropriate drawing hardware and software for MTW and CS is provided in the school's Design and Communication Graphics room which is located adjacent to the woodwork rooms in the area of the building where the technology rooms are located. This room has been equipped for the delivery of the new DCG syllabus and is eminently suitable to meet the ICT needs of all the technology subjects provided in the school.
Planning and preparation
St. Flannan's College has a MTW and CS subject department which also encompasses Technical Graphics (TG) and Design and Communication Graphics. The senior teacher currently acts as co-ordinator for the subjects and collaborates and co-operates closely with all his subject-department colleagues. The subject department meets formally as part of planned staff meetings each term but records of these meetings are not currently kept. These formal meetings are complemented by frequent informal meetings of teachers. While these arrangements are generally commended it is advised that the role of co-ordinator should be rotated among all members of the subject department, in order to ensure that all teachers become acquainted with every aspect of subject planning and have the opportunity to increase their range of skills, and that formal records of subject-department meetings should be kept in the future.
Comprehensive MTW and CS subject planning documentation has been developed collaboratively by subject teachers. In order to further enhance this documentation it is recommended that it be regularly reviewed and refined so that it continues to reflect the reality for the subjects in the school during any given school year into the future.
CS forms part of the TY curriculum and an appropriate syllabus has been developed in the school and is detailed in the subject planning documentation. This programme encompasses a health and safety module, a MTW design-and-make project and also introduces students to some of the principles and processes associated with the study of CS. Among these are the development of freehand sketching, three-dimensional computer aided design (3D-CAD) using SolidWorks and the completion of a research project on alternative methods of generating energy for use in buildings. This approach builds on students' existing knowledge and skills, developed during junior cycle, and serves to support their optional subjects’ choice for Leaving Certificate.
A wide range of MTW and CS resources has been developed by teachers, individually and collectively, and is used to support teaching and learning.
Additional resources to support teaching and learning may be accessed, when required, following consultation with the principal and this arrangement is reported to work effectively in the school.
MTW and CS teachers liaise with the school's learning-support team when planning for students with additional educational needs. This includes planning for the integration of special needs assistants (SNA) who accompany particular students during some MTW and CS lessons.
As part of the planning process, students' outcomes in State examinations are analysed and compared to the national averages each year. This process informs planning for the following year.
Teaching and learning
High quality MTW and CS teaching was observed during the inspection.
First and third-year MTW and fifth and sixth-year CS lessons were evaluated during the inspection. All lessons had clear aims and objectives and were suitable for the stage of the programme being delivered. The structure of all lessons ensured continuity and progression through the syllabuses and all activities were well-planned and well-managed in learning environments that were appropriately ordered and safe. These practices are commended.
Suitable teaching methodologies in terms of students’ abilities, needs and interests were employed during all lessons and a range of strategies was used. Lesson aims and objectives were differentiated to meet the needs of class groups which comprised students of a broad range of abilities. MTW and CS principles and skills were incrementally introduced to whole class groups, to smaller groups, and to individual students during teacher demonstrations. These allowed students to observe the proper execution of woodworking and construction procedures, processes and associated skills. During all practical lessons students were being expertly guided through the design and make process as they completed project work. First-year students were engaged in the completion of a housing exercise and all worked from drawings they had prepared during previous lessons. Practical skills encountered in previous lessons were revised at the outset of practical activity and these skills were further developed by the practical activities planned for the lesson. All students demonstrated good working habits and safe practice. Appropriate terminology was used throughout the lesson and accuracy and testing were emphasised. Third-year students were engaged in preparing cutting lists of the materials required to produce their individual artefact for their certificate examination projects. A chalkboard chart outlining a standard method of preparing a cutting list was displayed to support students' work in this area. Students were also challenged with completing an isometric drawing of their preferred solution having been given a handout with an appropriate example to guide their work. This task was completed on isometric grid paper. The majority of students were engaged in completing higher level projects from the project brief issued by the State Examinations Commission. Sixth-year students were engaged in completing scaled models of a range of local buildings, including domestic houses, buildings of environmental significance and buildings of architectural and historic significance, for example several local parish churches, a 'straw house' with exceptional thermal insulation properties and Ennis courthouse. Students had completed their initial research and analysis for their planned projects and had carried out necessary fieldwork by visiting the sites, taking measurements, making sketches and taking digital photographs. All students had completed working drawings and were in the process of making their planned artefacts. Portfolio work associated with the completion of projects was being developed in tandem with the completion of scaled models and work in both areas was well-advanced at the time of the inspection. A checklist of portfolio requirements had been prepared and circulated by the teacher and this was being used by students to self-evaluate their progress. Provision for regular progress reports, used to ensure that the completed artefact would be completed in a timely fashion, was made and these were intended to ensure that the completed model was accompanied by a comprehensive folio for examination purposes. During all practical lessons teachers moved around the woodwork rooms and engaged with individual students, monitoring progress in the completion of tasks and providing assistance to individual students when this was required. This practice is commended. Teachers' organisation, management and monitoring of the complex task of facilitating the completion of individually designed practical projects, including Junior and Leaving Certificate projects, each year is commended.
An integrated approach to the presentation of MTW and CS theory lessons was adopted during the evaluation. The terminology associated with MTW and CS was used continually during lessons. This allowed students to assimilate appropriate terminology and communicate effectively with their peers, the teacher and the inspector using the language associated with the subjects. Although textbooks are prescribed for the subjects these were not overly relied upon during lessons but were used as a resource for students in the completion of class and homework tasks. MTW and CS theory was appropriately related to practical activities being engaged in. A variety of questioning techniques was used during lessons. This included individual and group questions and higher order questions. Adequate 'wait-time' was provided for students to formulate and deliver their answers. Homework was a feature of all lessons. This ensured continuity with previous and future lessons. Excellent use was made of the chalkboard to focus students' attention and support their learning. This allowed teachers to scaffold students' learning. These practices are commended. In keeping with the technological nature of the subjects however, it is recommended that the use of the overhead projector (OHP) and information and communication technologies (ICT) should become more pervasive in teaching and learning in MTW and CS lessons in the future.
The woodwork rooms were well organised and routines were evident during all lessons evaluated. These promote responsibility for creating an ordered learning environment.
Students’ displayed the quality of their understanding of topics in the competencies exhibited when they completed practical and theory tasks and in their ability to answer and ask questions during lessons. Students' MTW and CS theory note copies and drawing portfolios contained work appropriately related to syllabus topics. Their work was well-organised and demonstrated an emphasis on the key theory skills of making of scaled and freehand drawings and supplementary concise, technical information-rich notes. Opportunities for independent and collaborative learning were included in all lessons observed.
A very good teacher-student rapport was evident during all lessons evaluated. This ensured that students enthusiastically engaged with lesson activities and received appropriate guidance and affirmation from their teachers.
Assessment
St. Flannan's College has formal homework and assessment policies and these inform all practices and procedures used in MTW and CS.
MTW and CS students' practical, project and theory work is continually assessed and summative and formative assessment procedures are employed.
Students sit mid-term and formal end-of-term examinations and Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate students sit mock examinations in the second term each year. TY students engage in a self-evaluation process at the end of the programme.
The results of assessments are recorded systematically and used to identify trends in students' achievement. Attainment results are also used to inform future teaching strategies and to address the needs of individual learners.
The nature of students’ progress in MTW and CS is communicated to parents by means of comments on homework, through the students' journal, using formal school reports following end-of-term examinations and during parent-teacher meetings.
Students displayed a high level of enthusiasm for the subjects during the inspection and their subject-specific knowledge and skills, relative to age and ability, were appropriate.
Summary of main findings and recommendations
The following are the main strengths identified in the evaluation:
- Provision for MTW and CS in the school is very good.
- Comprehensive MTW and CS planning documentation has been developed.
- High quality teaching was observed during the evaluation.
- Students' subject-specific knowledge and skills were consistent with the range of abilities in classes evaluated.
As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:
- Ways to encourage more girls to study the subjects, especially CS, should be explored by the subject department.
- Where practicable all subject teachers should be deployed to teach all their subjects.
- Each member of the subject department should assume the role of subject co-ordinator on a rotating basis and records of subject-department meetings should be retained in planning documentation.
- The Review of Occupational Health and Safety in the Technologies in Post-Primary School should be used to complement the school's health and safety statement.
Post-evaluation meetings were held with the teachers of Materials Technology (Wood) and Construction Studies and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.
Published April 2009