An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta

 

Department of Education and Science

 

Subject Inspection of Physical Education

REPORT

 

 

The Teresian School

12 Stillorgan Road, Dublin 4

Roll number: 60892G

 

 

Date of inspection: 9 May 2007

Date of issue of report: 6 December 2007

 

 

 

 

Subject inspection report

Subject provision and whole school support

Planning and preparation

Teaching and learning

Assessment

Summary of main findings and recommendations

School Response to the Report

 

 

 

Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Physical Education

 

Subject inspection report

 

This report has been written following a subject inspection in The Teresian School. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in Physical Education and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of this subject 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 teachers, 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 of the school was given an opportunity to comment in writing on the findings and recommendations of the report, and the response of the board will be found in the appendix of this report.

 

 

Subject provision and whole school support

 

The Teresian School is a private lay Catholic school for girls with a current enrolment of 187 students. The level of support for Physical Education, sport and the promotion of a physical activity culture in the school is highly commended. Physical Education is a core subject for all students. The school values the holistic development of each student and this is reflected in the time allocated for Physical Education and a strong emphasis on participation and physical wellbeing. The time allocation for the subject in first and second year is in line with the recommendations in the Rules and Programmes for Secondary Schools, whilst the time allocation in third, fifth and sixth year is slightly below the recommended time but is sufficient to implement a comprehensive Physical Education programme. Management is encouraged to review the timetabling of single periods, as these may be too short for in-depth study of the subject given its practical nature. It is preferable that students have at least one double period per week in order to fully explore and experience the key concepts of lessons, whilst the additional single period may be used to reinforce and consolidate learning. The Transition Year (TY) programme is mandatory in the school and TY students receive four periods of Physical Education per week, which is exemplary provision.

 

Management supports the continued professional development of teachers and the Physical Education department has attended inservice for the revised Junior Cycle Physical Education Syllabus. The Physical Education department consists of two teachers, one of whom holds recognised qualifications to teach the subject. The deployment of teachers has been organised to ensure that the qualified Physical Education teacher oversees the implementation of the programme and has contact with all students, as classes are timetabled concurrently for each year group. It is recommended that management review the deployment of teachers for Physical Education as it is best practice that teachers be deployed in the subject areas for which they hold qualifications. This will ensure that students receive the best possible Physical Education as outlined in the syllabuses.

 

There are good facilities to support the subject in the school. The outdoor facilities are excellent as there is a full size astroturf pitch, two basketball courts and a small grass area. The indoor facilities are somewhat restrictive with only a small general-purpose hall and a prefabricated room available for the subject. Management has plans to provide a new indoor hall adjacent to the existing general-purpose hall. This proactive approach and strategic planning to improve the indoor facilities is highly commended. A very good range of equipment and resources has been compiled to support the Physical Education programme. A budget system is in operation for the purchase of small items, whilst a requisition system operates for the purchase of larger items of equipment. This system appears to work well and there is an appropriate range of equipment to support most strands of the syllabus. Access to the computer room is available for classes upon request and there is also access to a digital video camera if required. There is also access to computers in the staff room to facilitate research and planning. The Physical Education department would benefit from the addition of a whiteboard in the sports hall to help record key tasks and techniques and to reinforce students’ learning.

 

The school generously supports a wide variety of extra-curricular games and physical activities including athletics, basketball, hockey, tennis and rounders and also facilitates students to compete for the school in golf and sailing. The sports club programme is organised by the Physical Education department and boasts exceptionally high participation rates with 100% of first-year students involved in at least one extra-curricular physical activity. It was reported that almost ninety percent of fifth-year and over sixty percent of sixth-year students are involved in after school physical activity. These statistics are praiseworthy as they contrast favourably with the national trend for participation in physical activity by adolescent females. It is also commendable that students act as sports secretaries in some sports, such as hockey and basketball, to support the organisation and administration of the sports activities in the school. Support for the organisation and implementation of the extra-curricular programme is testament to the importance given by the school to sport and physical activity as a valuable and enriching component of students’ education. Achievement at regional and national level in some of the activities is also noteworthy. The school won the All-Ireland Under 19B basketball cup in 2006, which is a remarkable feat given the size of the school and the lack of suitable indoor training facilities.

 

Planning and preparation

 

The planning and organisation of the Physical Education programme is shared between the members of the Physical Education department. This works well due to the small number of students and class groups. Management supports formal planning through the provision of scheduled meetings at the end of each term. In addition, it is reported that regular meetings between teachers take place to facilitate the organisation of student groupings and the change over of activity modules. The process of setting an agenda and recording the main points arising from formal meetings is good practice, as it provides documentation of achievements and sets out clear goals for the development of the subject.  

 

Extensive planning documentation was presented during the inspection. This documentation reflects the comprehensive process that has been engaged in by the Physical Education department. There is good strategic planning in place for the subject, with plans to restructure the present programme in line with the revised Junior Cycle Physical Education Syllabus, which is highly commendable. The planning framework for the implementation of the revised syllabus has been completed and is ready for commencement in the autumn term.  It is recommended that the structure and format of the planned activity modules strive to include as many of the strands of the syllabus as possible. This will help to ensure a balance between individual and team activities, which should give greater breadth of experiences to the students, whilst expanding the range of concepts and principles underpinning engagement in physical activity, exercise and sport.

 

Attention to detailed micro planning is exemplary. An extensive subject plan has been developed, with each activity module supported by well-structured schemes of work and associated individual lesson plans. It is commendable that schemes of work and lesson plans contain references to the most suitable methods of supporting teaching and learning for each aspect of the focused activities. This detail in planning illustrates the degree to which teachers have reflected on their practice and its impact on student learning. The TY plan includes a diverse range of leisure and recreation activities that address some very important principles related to wellbeing. The inclusion of certified courses contributes to a sense of achievement, whilst planned trips to off-site leisure and recreation facilities contribute to students’ experience, knowledge and skills related to opportunities for physical activity in their area.

 

Annual fundraising events are organised by the Physical Education department in consultation with the students. Such activities include the “Kellogg’s jump for joy” event to raise money for the National Children’s Hospital as well as hockey, basketball and table-tennis tournaments. Students take responsibility for the running of tournaments to support these fundraising events. This is commendable as students learn to relate their efforts as worthwhile for both themselves and the wider community.

 

The development of resources from relevant websites to support planning is highly commended. There were some good examples of worksheets produced, such as a workbook to reinforce the concepts of health-related physical activity including word-searches, crosswords and additional information sheets. There is some scope for the introduction of additional stimulus for students such as criterion reference video clips, posters and interactive websites. The Physical Education department is encouraged to identify areas in the Physical Education programme where the use of digital media and information and communication technology (ICT) may be used to support teaching and learning.

 

 

Teaching and learning

 

There is a very good standard of teaching and learning in Physical Education in this school. Students assembled quickly and in an orderly manner to facilitate a roll call. This short administration time was purposefully used to provide students with information related to an upcoming fund-raising physical activity event, and to divide the class into their working groups for the lesson. This class organisation, together with the prior preparation of equipment and resources, ensured that all lessons started promptly.

 

In the lessons visited, the topics taught were throwing events in athletics, and tennis. The topic of the lesson and the order of planned tasks were shared with students prior to the commencement of the physical activities. Sharing the intended learning outcomes with students is good practice as it helps them to remain focused at each stage of the lesson as well as providing achievement goals for their learning.

 

All lessons commenced with a thorough and relevant warm-up. Questioning was used to very good effect during this phase of the lesson to recap on previous learning and to help students develop their knowledge and understanding of the targeted activities of the lesson. In all cases, students were addressed by name and questions were rephrased to ensure that the student was successful in finding the answer. This is very good practice as it affirms students by developing their confidence to answer questions and serves to differentiate for cognitive ability.

 

Lessons were very well structured and well paced, especially given the short duration of the single period. Tasks were regularly changed, and in most cases, these changeovers were interspersed with short question and answer sessions and demonstrations. Time devoted to questioning and demonstration was skilfully managed to ensure that time for engagement with the physical activities was optimised. Modelling of sound mechanical techniques by the teacher and individual students was well used to provide the class group with criterion references for their learning. In most cases, tasks progressed incrementally and became more complex until the full movement sequence of the focused skill was learned. In the case of throwing events, there was excellent scaffolding of learning, through a series of well-designed practices, to gradually build the students’ technical competence and execution of efficient biomechanics. In all cases, there was good progression by students in the performance of the focused skills. Teachers are encouraged to use opportunities to engage students in higher cognitive processes such as application, analysis and evaluation related to their own performance, as these processes play an important role in motor learning during the early stages of skill acquisition. There is scope for the development of greater knowledge and understanding of the principles underpinning the focused tasks. For example, teaching students to establish the relationship between the trajectory of an object and lever length as they may apply to serving in tennis or throwing a discus.

 

Peer review of performance was used in some cases, whereby a student in each group was assigned the role of evaluator to provide feedback to the student performing the focused skill. The teacher provided some key performance indicators to the evaluating students, which helped to inform their analysis regarding the quality of the performance. This worked well and some of the feedback from the evaluating students was positive and informative, and demonstrated good application of learning. It is regrettable that the lessons were only of a single period duration, as all students would have benefited from the opportunity to undertake this level of analysis and engagement with the tasks to apply and consolidate their learning.

 

In the tennis lesson, it was noteworthy that students were encouraged to make a judgement about which shot to select from the range of previously learned shots to respond to their opponents return. In this case, students had learnt how to effectively execute a volley at the net and were now required to decide whether it was appropriate to volley their opponent’s return or to select another shot. Challenging students to apply their learning as an integral component of game situations is very good practice, as it involves the student as a decision maker as well as a skilled performer.

 

Resources and equipment to support learning were plentiful. However, the division of students into relatively large groups reduced the number of opportunities that students had to engage in the tasks and to apply the relevant teaching points. It is recommended that students be organised into appropriately sized groups to maximise opportunities to practise their techniques or execute the tasks. The creation of smaller groups will lead to less queueing and increase engagement with the activity especially where there is ample equipment available.

 

Classes were well managed and tasks were well organised and expediently executed. Students who were unable to physically participate in lessons were assigned organisation and peer review tasks. This is good practice as it maintains these students’ involvement in the Physical Education process, although there is some scope for the development of a greater range of resources to support these students. Teachers had established an excellent supportive and affirming rapport with their students. Students were friendly and respectful of each other and their teachers. A fully inclusive, caring and supportive environment was very evident in all lessons and this is highly commended.

 

Lessons concluded by reviewing the main teaching and learning points of the lesson and outlining the topics to be covered in the next lesson. This good practice ensures that students view each lesson as part of a sequence that incrementally develops their learning. Participation rates, work-rate, level of skill attainment and enjoyment in the lessons observed were high and complimented the positive approach of the Physical Education department.

 

 

Assessment

 

A comment on Physical Education is included in reports, which are sent home to parents three times per year, at Christmas, Easter and summer. In addition, Physical Education teachers are available at parent-teacher meetings, which are held once per year for each year group in line with standard practice. Reports contain a comment to inform parents of their daughter’s participation and progress in the subject. In addition, questioning is used frequently in each lesson, and observation of student progress in each activity is used as part of the assessment process. Teachers also maintain detailed records of attendance and participation for each student, all of which helps to inform the student’s end of term comment. The Physical Education department is encouraged to develop a broader range of assessment methods to reflect all aspects of students’ learning. Some of the methods recommended on the junior cycle Physical Education website www.jcpe.ie may provide a useful reference for the further development of this work. The use of self and peer-assessment, as well as the completion of “rich-tasks”, will help to form a detailed portfolio of student learning as they progress through the Physical Education programme. The introduction of the revised syllabus will provide the Physical Education department with the ideal opportunity to introduce some of these assessment methods.

 

Students demonstrated a very good understanding of the concepts taught in the lessons observed and were informative in their responses to questions asked by the inspector at the end of the lessons. They were enthusiastic, enjoyed their Physical Education lessons and are achieving to a good standard in this school.

 

Summary of main findings and recommendations

 

The following are the main strengths identified in the evaluation:

 

 

As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:

 

Post-evaluation meetings were held with the teachers of Physical Education and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix

 

School Response to the Report

 

Submitted by the Board of Management

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Area 1   Observations on the content of the inspection report

 

 

 

 

 

Area 2   Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection

               activity to implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection.