An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta

 Department of Education and Science

  

Subject Inspection of Home Economics

REPORT

  

Saint Goban’s College

Sheskin, Bantry, County Cork

Roll number: 70930R

  

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

 

Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Home Economics

 

Subject inspection report

 

This report has been written following a subject inspection in St. Goban’s College. 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 teachers, examined students’ work, and had discussions with the teachers. The inspector reviewed 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

 

Home Economics is an extremely popular choice subject amongst the junior cycle girls attending St. Goban’s College. In senior cycle it is also a reasonably popular subject for the female students, although the uptake levels are somewhat disproportionate to those noted in junior cycle. Currently none of the boys attending St. Goban’s is studying Home Economics, either in junior or senior cycle. The fact that first-year students are required to choose the subjects they wish to study prior to their entry to the school, and that Home Economics, often seen to be a ‘girls subject’, is offered in a band with what are traditionally perceived to be ‘boys subjects’, namely Technical Graphics, Woodwork and Metalwork, are undoubtedly contributing to this identified trend. Both practices indirectly limit students’ access to each of these subjects and, when combined with general impressions, are bound to have an impact on overall and specific uptake levels in any of the four subjects. Therefore, three recommendations follow on from the findings previously identified. Firstly, it is suggested that the members of the home economics department give some consideration to the introduction of a range of strategies that are designed to increase uptake levels, both amongst senior cycle girls and amongst boys generally. Secondly, management should explore the feasibility of introducing a formal taster programme for first-year students, as this would greatly assist them in the making of more informed subject choices. Finally, it is recommended that management give serious consideration to providing junior cycle students with an open system of subject choice which would reflect what is already, very commendably, operating in the school for the senior cycle students.  

 

The time allocated for the delivery of Home Economics, both in junior and senior cycle, is noted as very helpful. In junior cycle, creative timetabling allows access to an additional class period, providing, as required, five class periods as opposed to the more usual four. In senior cycle, six class periods are allocated, thereby providing one extra period over and above the more usual allocation of five class periods. It is positive to note too that timetabling ensures the provision of triple or double periods, as this greatly facilitates the delivery of the practical components of both syllabuses. Students’ contact with the subject is also very evenly spread over the weekly timetable. In the interests of health and safety, management is cautioned in relation to timetabling class groups which exceed twenty-four students. The home economics room also occasionally doubles as a general classroom. This is far from ideal as subjects with a practical element often require preparation and clear up time that can extend before and/or after the timetabled period. When the room is timetabled for general use it therefore restricts the home economics teachers’ access to the room for both of these purposes. Management is strongly encouraged to plan for the avoidance or minimisation of this practice. Classes are organised on a mixed-ability basis and all students are encouraged to aim for high academic standards. This is nowhere more evident than in the high number of students who have, in the past, opted to take a higher level paper in the state examinations.

 

The subject is appropriately resourced and requests made by the home economics department to management for additional resources are rarely, if ever, refused. In addition to the standard equipment required for Home Economics, the room also houses a television and a video recorder. Furthermore, because of the limited access students currently have to information communication technologies during home economics classes, plans are in place to ensure that students will eventually have room-based access to such technologies. This is highly praised.

 

Safety cut off valves have been installed in the room for the gas and electricity supply. While the floor covering in the room is not non-slip, the inspector was assured by the department that the ventilation system in the room, both mechanical and natural, ensures that the flooring does not present a slip hazard. Continuing on the theme of health and safety, it is very positive to note that there is a school policy in relation to health and safety. It is, however, recommended that a safety audit be completed in the room. This should include an identification of any hazards attached to working in the room, the degree of risk associated with each hazard and then the control measures that either need to be put in place or must be followed in order to reduce the likelihood of a hazard occurring. The members of the home economics department should be involved in the compilation of this audit. Classroom rules should find their basis in the outcomes of the audit and the resulting health and safety statement.            

 

The provision by management of formal time, at the beginning and at the end of the school year, for the purpose of subject department planning is highly commended.      

 

Planning and preparation

 

The home economics department in St. Goban’s College has adopted a team approach to the co-ordination of subject department planning and all related matters. This is working very well in the department in question, whose size very much supports this style of subject co-ordination. In addition to the formal planning time provided, the members of the department also meet informally on a very regular basis, usually fortnightly during non-timetabled class periods. This additional commitment is applauded and fully encouraged. Agendas are set and minutes are maintained for each of these planning meetings. This is noted as best practice. A diagnostic window has also been completed by the home economics department and the outcomes of this have informed the department’s long-term plans for the development of the subject in the school. This is applauded as excellent practice. It is suggested that the department consider the prioritisation of some of the items outlined in the long-term plan for the development of Home Economics in St. Goban’s College. The home economics planning documentation also contains copies of an exercise whereby each member of the department has documented three strategies that she has found successful in the teaching of the subject to first-year students. This information is openly shared with all department members. Such an approach, which inspires individual teacher reflection and evaluation as well as pedagogical dialogue between department members, is most progressive and is, in essence, what should lie at the heart of subject department planning. Once again, this is highly praised and further encouraged for the contribution that it can make to enhanced teaching and learning. The department is progressing well in the development of a subject plan.

 

Programmes of work have been agreed and drawn up for each year group. These are time-bound and outline topics to be covered as well as some details relating to methodologies and resources. It is very fair to say that certain facets of the programmes are impressively well developed. Nevertheless, in seeking avenues for further planning, it is recommended that, in time, the programmes be further developed to include the integration of theory and practical work and the provision of details relating to homework and assessment. A marrying of teacher records with programmes of work would effectively give rise to such a document. The expansion and development of the methodologies and resources sections of the programmes is also fully encouraged. Best practice is where these documents are ‘working’ in nature. This is best achieved by providing space for evaluative comment following delivery of each topic or lesson. This, in turn, would inform the review process. Finally, it is recommended that, in planning for the textile section of the Junior Certificate syllabus, provision be made for the completion of a simple item in clothing in addition to the household item already planned for.   

 

It is very positive and very praiseworthy to see evidence of effective planning for the establishment and development of co-curricular activities that have the potential to enhance students’ experience of Home Economics. Currently, for example, first-year students are in the process of designing and compiling a cookery book. It is commendable too that some of the co-curricular activities organised provide scope for forming cross-curricular links between Home Economics and subjects such as Art, Civic, Social & Political Education (CSPE), French, Gaeilge, Information Technology (IT) and Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). For example, during Seachtain na Gaeilge the home economics department organises a ‘Lón le Cómhra Gaeilge’ for sixth-year students. Other events which have been organised by home economics students and their teachers include: five-a-day smoothie Tuesdays, Hospice coffee mornings and Down Syndrome Ireland ice-cream sundae events. Students are also taken on trips out to local supermarkets and restaurants and are encouraged to enter cookery competitions.

 

Students with special educational needs attending the school are, in the main, accommodated in a special class. Students placed in this class do, however, join their mainstream peers for practical classes in Home Economics. If required, a special needs assistant is made available during these times. Strong lines of communication have been established between the members of the home economics department and the special needs teacher. This ensures an effective interchange of information regarding the students’ needs and the planned programme of work. Teachers differentiate worksheets to accommodate the needs of these students.

 

Teaching and learning

 

There was evidence of high quality teaching and very effective student learning in all classes observed on the day of the inspection.

 

To begin, lessons delivered were consistent with the work set out in the planned programmes of work. The calibre of short-term planning for lessons delivered was very good. This was nowhere more evident than in the impressive range of resources that had been prepared and collected for use in lessons. This included pre-prepared acetates, handouts, worksheets, banks of questions, equipment and literature for the completion of the triangle test in a senior cycle sensory-analysis lesson and for the carrying out of a plaque test in a junior cycle lesson. Teachers’ files and folders also suggested that this level of planning is the norm. Each lesson demonstrated a clear purpose and best practice was where the lessons’ aims and objectives were openly shared with the students in the class. This practice is encouraged in all lessons. Careful planning also ensured that lessons were very well structured, suitably paced and appropriately pitched according to students’ levels and abilities.

 

Teachers were highly informed in relation to the topics being explored and in relation to the relevant and interrelated areas. This manifested itself in a most impressive non-reliance on the textbooks, although they were used appropriately to support teaching and learning. Teacher instruction was very thorough, accurate and clear. Significant efforts were made to make the information being presented more relevant and more meaningful to students.   

 

An extensive range of strategies was employed over the course of lessons, all of which sought to support teaching and promote learning. These included: formal teacher input, brainstorming, group work, pair work, worksheet completion, multiple-choice topic test sheets, which were used to either set the scene for the new topic or examine work covered in previous lessons, and questioning. There were also some excellent examples of the inclusion and use of active methodologies. The planned activities that were attached to these methodologies had four distinctive hallmarks. They were purposeful, well organised, effectively managed and, very commendably, carefully evaluated with the students at the end of each activity. This copper-fastened the student learning that each exercise was designed to accomplish. One such exercise was observed in a junior cycle lesson on the teeth, another in a senior cycle lesson on sensory analysis.  As part of the junior cycle lesson in question, students were instructed to carry out the plaque test using disclosing tablets. A worksheet guided them in the task that they were set. This is noted as best practice. Before using the disclosing tablet one group was instructed to eat an apple, the next group was given a piece of gum to chew, and another group was asked to rinse with some mouthwash. The remaining group, the control group, was told to proceed with the use of the disclosing tablet. Following this, and using the diagram of the upper and lower jaw provided for them on the supplied worksheet, students examined their peer’s teeth and noted onto the diagram the areas of the teeth which were red in colour. Students were highly engaged in the task and their responses to questions posed at the end of the exercise illustrated a very good level of understanding and learning. Students, assisted by their teacher, were also able to draw clear findings from a comparison of each groups’ work.  In the senior cycle lesson, where students were required to complete a triangle test, the four hallmarks mentioned previously were also very evident. Each of the students in the class, who were supplied with three food samples and a score card, completed the test individually. Groups were then formed to compare the outcomes on a whole-class level. This ‘hands-on’ approach to the teaching of sensory analysis is applauded and, in this instance, succeeded in personalising the learning for each student in the class. The drawing together of the information and the analysis of the outcomes with the students as the exercise concluded was expertly managed and very thorough. There was clear evidence of student learning and once again, students were focused on and enthusiastic about the task set for them.  

 

Questioning was used very effectively to keep students focused and involved. Questions posed were designed to examine understanding and knowledge of work previously covered as well as to inspire higher-order thinking amongst students. Questions themselves were, generally speaking, well distributed, often to named students. Occasionally, there was a tendency to accept chorus answering from students. This is a practice that should be discouraged, as it makes it more difficult to determine student understanding and learning and can also camouflage the weaker or disinterested student. Questioning might also be employed as lessons draw to a close in order to summarise lesson content and check student understanding and learning of new work.

In all classes, but especially in the examination classes visited, there was an appropriate focus, particularly considering the time of the year, on the style and layout of examination papers as well as on approaches to answering questions. Where appropriate, past questions were explored with students, with an appropriate focus on terminology, marking schemes and depth of treatment. In revision lessons, students were supplied with topic summary sheets. They were instructed to supplement these with additional notes as the class progressed and to highlight key pieces of information. It was clearly pointed out to students that if their sheets had not been added to or enhanced by the end of the lesson it could be implied that they did no work during the class. Students responded favourably to this piece of advice. In order to vary momentum in lessons where work previously taught is being revised, the department is encouraged to explore additional approaches to this type of lesson that would involve students in other ways in the review of topics. An exercise such as the table-mat exercise, as outlined on the day, is one such approach that could be incorporated. Another might be the introduction of note-making. In fact, students were supplied with a worksheet to complete for homework which was designed to assist them in the making of their own notes in relation to the topic being revised. It is suggested that the completion of this exercise in class, under the supervision and guidance of the teacher, might be a more effective approach.

 

A very positive teacher-student rapport was evident in all classes visited and lessons were delivered in a very organised and stimulating classroom environment.   

 

Assessment

 

A comprehensive range of assessment modes is utilised in order to determine students’ progress and achievement in Home Economics. In line with best practice, this also includes the assessment of students’ practical, project and journal work, as appropriate. Furthermore, the grades awarded to students at key times during the school year are aggregate marks which results in the provision of a more accurate indicator of a student’s actual achievement in the subject. This is highly praised. It is very positive too that the issuing of common assessment papers in Home Economics, to classes in the same year group, has been standard practice in the school for a number of years. From the examination papers reviewed, it is clear also that the papers issued to students are consistent with the style and layout of the papers issued during the state examinations. This is noted as good practice.  

 

It is very evident from the lessons observed that a strong homework ethic has been established by the members of the home economics department. It is clear also that students are very aware of teacher expectations in relation to the completion of assigned homework. In circumstances where students had not completed the work assigned to them, these were noted in the teacher’s journal. Homework, which very commendably built on work covered in class, was assigned following each lesson. Time was spent effectively in all lessons monitoring and correcting student homework. Opportunities were used during this time also to highlight problem areas or clarify possible misunderstandings. While this was a worthwhile exercise, in some cases it was very teacher led and therefore the members of the department are encouraged to investigate how student input could form a greater percentage of this part of a lesson. The ‘two stars and a wish’ system, which is applied in the correction of some of the students’ work, is further encouraged as it affirms work well done while challenging them to try harder in certain areas. Student workbooks provide the basis for some of the homework that is assigned to students. Much of the monitoring of this work is done in class where students can call out their answers and note down any additional information that might be missing from the work they have completed. In addition to this approach, the periodic collection, correction and grading of students’ workbooks is encouraged. This would supplement the student corrections carried out in class.    

 

Teachers maintain systematic records of students’ attendance levels, results, behaviour, homework completion and participation levels. Reporting to parents is facilitated through the student journal, the issuing of formal reports at Christmas, during the summer and following the pre exams and also through parent-teacher meetings.    

       

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 Home Economics and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.