Subject Inspection Report

This report has been written following a subject inspection in Patrician Presentation, Fethard. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning in Home Economics 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 with the teacher, examined students’ work, and had discussions with the teacher. The inspector reviewed planning documentation and the teacher’s written preparation. Following the evaluation visit, the inspector provided oral feedback on the outcomes of the evaluation to the principal and subject teacher. The board of management of the school was given an opportunity to comment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response.

Subject provision and whole school support

Home Economics is an extremely popular subject in Patrician Presentation, Fethard. The majority of junior cycle students have chosen to study the subject, while almost half of senior cycle students are studying Home Economics as one of their choice subjects for the Leaving Certificate examination. A good gender balance in uptake is also apparent, with boys accounting for a quarter of the students who have elected to study the subject. When one considers that the school is co-educational, with slightly more boys than girls in attendance, this makes uptake levels in the subject even more impressive. Much credit is due to both management and the home economics department for this trend.

Students’ access to the subject, both prior to and following entry, is quite favourable and, undoubtedly, is something that has contributed to the trends identified previously. To begin with, and as an initiative to assist students in making the transition from primary to secondary school, sixth-class students in the local schools are invited to spend a half day in Patrician Presentation. Over the course of this day, students get an opportunity to partake in Home Economics lessons. On enrolment students are invited to submit a selection of their preferred subjects, from a list which outlines the subjects offered in the school. The outcomes of this exercise are used to determine the subject blocks for September. On entry, first-year students undertake a four-week, taster programme within these subject blocks. Upon completion of the taster programme, students choose the subjects they wish to study for the Junior Certificate examination. In senior cycle, subject blocks are also based on student preference. This very open system of subject choice, which is extremely student friendly, is applauded. All Transition Year (TY) students are required to complete a half year module in Home Economics. This is also noted as very positive.

Home Economics is very well supported and provided for in the school. The timetabling of Home Economics is very satisfactory. In general, adequate time is allocated for the delivery of each syllabus, although, the ‘icing on the cake’ would be the provision of four class periods in first year, as opposed to the current three periods. It is recommended that management seeks to provide for this additional class period. Students’ contact with the subject is very evenly spread over the weekly timetable. This is commended and noted as best practice. The timetable in operation in the school provides for five forty-minute class periods up to lunchtime, followed by four thirty-five minute class periods in the afternoon. It is very positive that all of the double periods, bar one, are timetabled before lunch as opposed to in the afternoon. A continued planning and provision for this is encouraged. Home Economics classes are organised on a mixed-ability basis. An analysis of the number of home economics students who sit a higher-level paper in both of the State examinations, leads one to conclude that students are being encouraged to aim for high academic standards.

The school houses a fine home economics room that is well equipped and maintained, and which provides ample storage space. While the subject is not formally allocated a budget, requests for additional resources are, budget permitting, greeted favourably by management. A room-based, overhead projector has been provided and, as required, there is easy access to a television and video or DVD player. It is also very positive that the room has been networked to broadband. Currently the home economics teacher makes use of her own laptop during lessons but has access to one of the school’s data projectors. While the school’s computer room is available for use by subject teachers and their respective class groups, in time, consideration should be given to installing room-based hardware so that students can access the internet during lessons or as required. This would very much support the independent student research and learning that is espoused in both home economics syllabuses. The department’s openness to the incorporation of such technology also warrants management’s planning for such provision.

Management’s support for planning is evident in the provision that is made for subject departments to meet two to three times over the course of the school year. Periodically arrangements are put in place to facilitate the home economics department meeting with other compatible departments. This practice is praised as it promotes professional dialogue, as well as inter-departmental collaboration and planning, thereby helping to reduce some of the drawbacks that attach to having to operate in a single-teacher department. It is good to note that records are maintained of these meetings and all departmental business.

A health and safety document which includes detailed provision for Home Economics is in place in the school. This document was drawn up professionally by an outside agency. It is important that any planned review of the document includes provision for consultation with the appropriate specialist teacher.

Planning and preparation

In keeping with best practice, a subject plan is being prepared by the home economics department. In order to provide a contextual basis for this work, the department is encouraged to carry out a SWOT analysis. The outcomes of this exercise would provide a very clear picture of the subject in the school, identifying its perceived strengths, any possible weaknesses, the opportunities for development and any potential threats to the subject.

Schemes of work have been devised for each year group. These possess many positive features. They are time bound, outlining planned work on a week-by-week basis. This depth of treatment is applauded. In addition to the theory that is to be covered, each scheme details the provision that is also made for practical food-studies work. The assignment-based approach to practical food-studies in the third-year scheme is particularly commended. Provision for the integration of practical and theory is also evident in a percentage of the schemes. For example, the fifth-year scheme highlights how the senior cycle food assignments are delivered in conjunction with the relevant theory. This approach is to be credited and is therefore further encouraged throughout all schemes. Some provision has also been made in the schemes for details relating to suitable, topic-specific methodologies and resources. This approach is consistent with good planning and preparation for effective teaching and learning and therefore deserves full application across all schemes. There is also evidence to suggest that the schemes are regularly reviewed. Teacher notes on existing schemes suggest that, as required, this takes place following the delivery of each topic. This strategy is very deserving of praise. In time, consideration should be given to incorporating into the schemes details relating to homework and assessment. This would eventually feed into the drafting of subject-specific homework and assessment policies. Finally, planning for the textiles section of the junior cycle syllabus should be reviewed, with a view to providing for the completion of a simple item of clothing, in addition to a household item.

A subject-specific resource library has been developed by the home economics department. This, in conjunction with the files of notes and acetates reviewed, are but some of the indicators of the committed, dedicated and professional approach that has been adopted by this subject department to planning and preparation.

The inspector was provided with some very concrete examples of planning for the establishment and development of cross-curricular links between Home Economics and other subjects in the school. For example, during French lessons, TY students, who complete a French cookery module in TY Home Economics, translate the recipes for the dishes they cook in Home Economics from English to French. Similarly designs drafted by junior cycle students in Art, Craft and Design classes are creatively stitched onto fabric in home economics lessons. The department’s involvement in the organisation of a healthy living week has also succeeded in highlighting cross-curricular links with other subjects such as Physical Education, Science and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). The commitment of the home economics department, and all other associated departments, to this level of cross-curricular planning is deserving of a lot of recognition and praise. Planning for co-curricular activities, that extends student learning beyond the four walls of the classroom, was also evident. This included trips out to local shops and supermarkets as well as inviting guest speakers in. Planning for such activities is further encouraged.

Planning for students with identified special educational needs is enhanced through open communication with the special educational needs teacher. This has raised the department’s consciousness with regard to providing for these students and the need to adapt content or methodologies so as to enhance the teaching and interrelated learning experience for these students. Special needs assistants are also employed and made available as required.

The department has fully recognised the contribution that information and communication technologies (ICT) can make to planning and preparation. In order to translate this recognition into practice, suitable training has been accessed and is being availed of by the home economics department. This interest in and enthusiasm for ICT, as well as the department’s obvious commitment to continuing professional development (CPD), is applauded.

Teaching and learning

The quality of teaching in each and every lesson observed on the day of the inspection can only be described as excellent. There was also evidence of very effective student learning. The following paragraphs support these findings.

All lessons began in a style that sought immediate student involvement in lesson content. For example, in a lesson that focused on fruit the scene was instantly set and students were promptly involved when the teacher asked, ‘Did anyone eat a piece of fruit today? What did you have?’ The students responded enthusiastically to the question, while the teacher used the opportunity to note students’ contributions on the board. A short, teacher-guided but student-led discussion ensued. This facilitated a sharing of the lesson’s intended aims and objectives with the students. The discussion culminated in the establishment of a clear link between fruit, the topic of the lesson, and the healthy eating guidelines and food pyramid, two areas that had been previously studied by students. The integration of topics in this manner is an approach that is strongly espoused in the syllabus and is, therefore, highly praised. In such a short time, not only had the scene been set and students’ curiosity been raised but previous work was revised and clear links were established between the new topic to be explored and other relevant areas of the syllabus. This was an excellent way to begin the lesson. A similar approach was used in each of the other lessons observed.

Resources utilised over the course of each lesson were carefully chosen or diligently prepared. Some of the resources used included: a PowerPoint presentation, a large selection of fruit, evaluation sheets for completed practical work, magazines, colour cards and task sheets. The incorporation of these resources into lessons was directly related to the methodologies and strategies utilised in the delivery of lesson content which, very commendably, were highly student centred and predominantly activity based. Some of the methodologies and strategies that were employed included: brainstorming; formal teacher input; demonstrations; independent, pair and group work that included tasks that found their basis in investigative learning. One example of this was an exercise set for individual senior cycle students who were given the task of designing a plan for a living room. Sources of information and ideas were made available to students at the outset. Reminders were also provided in relation to room planning, designing a colour scheme, the use of texture and pattern, wall and floor finishes, window treatment, lighting and heating. Each of these topics had been explored with students in previous lessons but in this instance they were being given the opportunity to apply the learning to a particular scenario or situation. Providing students with the chance to engage with learned information in this manner also prepares them for some of the questions on the state examination paper. This is an approach that is applauded. The element of choice in this exercise, where students could choose who they wanted to design the room for, for example a family with young children, a young single person or even a celebrity, was also a very clever way of creating ownership of the learning for students. All student activity was closely monitored by the teacher, with guidance, direction and support provided as required. It was very clear that, in deciding on the resources and methodologies to be used over the course of lessons, there was a conscientiousness with regard to seeking to provide for the preferred learning style of all students, be that auditory, visual or kinaesthetic. This is worthy of much recognition and praise.

While referenced briefly in the previous paragraph, the visually stimulating nature of all lessons is very deserving of separate and additional mention. This is something that Home Economics as a subject very much lends itself to and it was wonderful to see this being used so well to support students’ understanding and learning. In one lesson, a very impressive PowerPoint presentation sought to, and succeeded in, bringing the supermarket into the classroom. The presentation included a series of very clear and very colourful images of the types of fruits that students may not be very familiar with, fruits that tend to fall into the classification of ‘exotic’ fruit. Students were invited to guess the names of these fruits before the teacher provided some input, another very praiseworthy strategy. The presentation included images of fruits such as blood oranges, figs, kumquats, lychees, mangos, papaya, physalis, pomegranates, passion fruit, star fruit and tamarillo. Students were enthralled and responded in a very inquisitive manner to this part of the lesson. The fact that, following the presentation and discussion, students got to see and taste some of these fruits in the flesh was an added bonus and, needless to say, a very well-received one too. This activity was also cleverly used by the teacher to examine and copper fasten the learning that was initiated during the PowerPoint presentation. Later in the lesson, the nutritional value of fruit was discussed with students. A bar chart was used for this purpose, onto which had been plotted the values for each of the macro and micro nutrients contained in fruit. Instantly something very tedious was translated from text into picture. Furthermore, comparisons were then drawn between the bar chart for fruit, the topic being explored, and foods previously studied by students. Numerous other examples of approaches with visual appeal were seen in lessons. The department’s competence in terms of this approach to curriculum delivery and its obvious willingness to engage with the approach are acknowledged and highly affirmed.

Teacher instruction was clear, concise and very highly informed. It is clear from the detail provided previously that every effort was made to make the information being presented meaningful, interesting and most importantly, accessible. Exemplary use was also made of questioning throughout lessons. There was evidence, for example, of the incorporation of a good mixture of global and directed questions. In addition, the questions that were asked provided both for the recall of learned information and the analysis and application of learned information to a particular scenario or situation. Sufficient time was also allowed to ensure that all students got to think about the answer to the question posed before an answer was requested or accepted. Furthermore, on occasions, the use of subtle hints or prompts by the teacher gave rise to a full show of hands from the students in the class or assisted a student to answer the question more correctly than they might have in their initial attempt. All of this good practice is commended. Finally, student answering was indicative of a very good level of understanding of the concepts and facts being explored in each of the lessons observed.

The classroom atmosphere, which was most conducive to learning, can be attributed in no small way to that which has been detailed in the preceding paragraphs. Other contributing factors include the very positive rapport that was evident between teacher and students, the strong sense of mutual respect that permeated these interactions, the teacher’s welcome for and affirmation of students’ efforts and contributions, and the associated comfort amongst students with regard to contributing to lesson content. The cumulative effect of this was that students were highly engaged in lesson content. On the very few occasions that it was required, discipline was sensitively maintained. Students responded very positively to this. In addition to the display of commercial posters, the classroom walls also housed a large amount and variety of students’ work.

The one and only recommendation to be made with regard to teaching and learning in Home Economics in Patrician Presentation, Fethard is to maintain the excellent practice observed.

Assessment

From a review of students’ copybooks and folders it can be concluded that homework is assigned on a regular basis and that this homework is also systematically monitored. The monitoring of students’ work includes some fine examples of comment marking, whereby students are provided with suggestions as to how they might improve their approach to the completion of their homework and to the answering of questions. Comments affirming work completed were also evident in students’ copybooks. On a minor point, some consideration might be given to the periodic grading of students’ homework. This would provide a useful way of comparing work completed in class with that which is completed at home, thereby helping perhaps to identify possible areas of difficulty for students. For students who do not perform so well in class tests it could also provide some positive ‘grade’ affirmation. Students’ application to their homework is also carefully tracked and monitored, and a number of incentives, which have been designed with a view to encouraging students to do the homework assigned to them, have been put in place.

The department has adopted a very comprehensive approach to the assessment of students’ progress and achievement in Home Economics, with a range of approaches being utilised. Topic tests are issued to students on a regular basis, usually following completion of a chapter or section. In recent times the use of ‘spot checks’, unannounced five-minute tests, is proving to be a very effective way of getting students to study work assigned for study. In addition to written work, the practical and project work of second-year and third-year students is also formally assessed. This is an approach that is in line with syllabus recommendations and therefore it is recommended that this good practice also be used with first-year students. On a similar note, it is further recommended that some consideration be given to the grading of the senior cycle food journals, and including students’ achievement in this area as a percentage of the mark awarded to students at key times during the school year. The department is also encouraged to explore the introduction and use of portfolio assessment for TY students.

Summary of main findings and recommendations

The following are the main strengths identified in the evaluation:

Home Economics is an extremely popular subject in the school, demonstrating a good gender balance in uptake. Systems which ensure a very favourable access to the subject support this trend.
Management is very supportive of the subject and provision in terms of timetabling and resourcing is satisfactory.
The department demonstrates an interest in and enthusiasm for ICT, and is committed to accessing the necessary training required to fully avail of what the technology has to offer.
A committed, dedicated and professional approach has been adopted by the home economics department to the area of planning and preparation. This extends to subject planning, programme planning, planning for extracurricular and co-curricular activities, planning for students with special learning needs, and lesson planning.
The teaching observed was of a very high quality, illustrating some fine examples of what can only be described as excellent practice.
A very comprehensive and systematic approach has been adopted to the assessment of students’ progress and achievement in Home Economics.

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

It is recommended that management seek to provide four, as opposed to three, class periods when timetabling first-year Home Economics.
Schemes of work, which possess many positive features, could be developed in time.
Planning for the textiles section of the Junior Certificate syllabus should be reviewed.

Post-evaluation meetings were held with the Home Economics teacher and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.