An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta
Department of Education and Science
Subject Inspection of English
REPORT
Saint Vincent’s Secondary School
Saint Mary’s Road, Cork
Roll number: 62590A
Date of inspection: 12-13 February 2007
Date of issue of report: 6 December 2007
Subject provision and whole school support
Summary of main findings and recommendations
Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in English
Subject inspection report
This report has been written following a subject
inspection in
Subject provision and whole school support
A system of banding operates in junior cycle. In first year, there are two bands with an additional class group being created in the second band for English lessons. This arrangement facilitates the teaching of a smaller literacy-support class. This arrangement is also replicated in second year and in third year. Students are assigned to English classes based on the results of an assessment test and on comments from their primary school teachers. Placement of students may be reviewed based on requests from teachers or parents. Classes in senior cycle are set for English. There is some use of concurrent timetabling for English classes in junior cycle. This is positive. While it is recognised that all levels are available to students in classes in junior cycle, the school is encouraged to expand the use of this approach in order to facilitate greater ease of movement between classes where necessary. All classes in senior cycle are timetabled concurrently and this is sound practice. English teachers are assigned to cycles and levels on a rotating basis. This is good practice, ensuring the development of a wide skills base across the English department. English classes retain their teacher from fifth year through to sixth year This is also the case in junior cycle, in almost all cases. This arrangement is to be praised as it allows teachers to develop consistent pedagogical strategies with particular class groups.
There is a school library. Due to building work, teachers’ ability to access the library has been somewhat limited. Some regular classes are also held in the library, which has also impacted on its availability. There are displays of students’ work on the library walls and teachers have organised for a visiting writer to call to the library as a means of encouraging reading among the student body. A number of teachers have organised mini-libraries in their rooms, allowing for weekly library sessions with junior-cycle students. ‘Mobile libraries’ have also been created. This is commendable. The library should be viewed as a key tool in enhancing students’ literacy development. Consequently, it is recommended that library services should continue to be developed and expanded. Potential areas to explore in this endeavour might include: the use of mobile libraries to aid in provision of occasional DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time in junior-cycle English classes; the development of an English department library policy; the purchase of ‘readalong’ texts for use with reluctant readers; the development of a ‘cosy corner’ with, for example ‘beanbags’ stored in the library and student council involvement in the choice of library books. A useful resource from which more ideas in this area might be garnered is Room for Reading: The Junior Certificate School Programme Demonstration Library Project which is available from the Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP) Support Services. Equally, the establishment of a link with the School Library Association Republic of Ireland (SLARI) may be worth pursuing. Current moves, on the part of the home school community liaison (HSCL) teacher and the English department, towards organising a shared reading programme with parents, are to be praised and strongly encouraged. It is suggested that the possible involvement of Transition Year students in this programme might also be explored. Such involvement would not only support younger students in their continued acquisition of literacy skills, but it would also enhance Transition Year students’ awareness of their future roles as active citizens.
There are allocated baserooms for some English teachers. This is worthwhile, allowing for the creation of an ‘English atmosphere’ in these rooms. The school is encouraged to continue to expand the assigning of baserooms to English teachers, where practicable and with the inevitable physical limitations of the building to be kept in mind. Senior-cycle English resources are stored in a room near the library, while junior-cycle resources are stored in a teacher’s room.
Teachers report that there is a good level of access to audio-visual facilities through a booking system. This is positive, given the role played by film in the Leaving Certificate syllabus and the powerful impact visual resources can have in junior-cycle classes when used appropriately. The provision of audio-visual facilities in English baserooms should be pursued as a further worthwhile expansion of the good provision which already exists.
There is limited access to the two information and communications technology (ICT) rooms for English classes. There are two ‘floating’ laptops for general staff use with a booking system in operation. It is recommended that wider use of and access to ICT for English classes should be pursued by management and the English department. The potential for the language laboratory to be harnessed in this endeavour is highlighted, particularly with regard to those students who require extra support in developing their literacy skills. Access to ICT will aid these students and, indeed, all English classes, in terms of motivation for written work. In particular, in the case of those classes in need of literacy support, it will allow for significant improvement in the presentation of written work and will garner greater status both for the class group and for the subject. ICT, if used appropriately, will also enhance students’ awareness of the drafting and redrafting process which is central to all good writing. A further development in the area of ICT would be the creation of a ‘favourites’ list of web-based English resources, on the school network, for use by the English department. Beyond this, the occasional use of webquests as a focus for project work might serve to increase students’ technological literacy and awareness.
There are good subject induction procedures for student teachers. An experienced teacher is appointed as a mentor and the student teacher meets with the mentor on arrival in the school. The mentor observes the student teacher and offers advice and support. There are then regular contacts between the mentor and the student. These approaches are mentioned in the senior-cycle subject plan. It is suggested that this section of the plan should be expanded to include a subject induction policy for English. This might profitably include a section setting out the need for student teachers to observe mentors in their classrooms as well as mentors observation of student teachers. This would ensure the maintenance and consolidation of the very good practice which already exists in the English department. Beyond this, the creation of an induction policy would serve to bolster the good induction procedures which have been developed. It is further suggested that the induction policy should extend, not alone to student teachers, but also to newly qualified teachers (NQTs) who arrive in the school.
The school is supportive of teachers’ continuing professional development (CPD). This is positive. Teachers have availed of professional development opportunities in the past and the English department maintains links with its subject association. The department is encouraged to expand its accessing of inservice training courses organised by the Second Level Support Service (SLSS) or other providers, wherever practicable. Material garnered from subject association meetings has been distributed to members of the department and this is very good practice. It is suggested that this approach should be formalised as part of the department’s practice upon members’ returning from all inservice training courses. Input from such training might also, on occasion, form part of the agenda of subject department meetings.
Teachers organise a range of co-curricular and extracurricular activities. Amongst these are included visits to the theatre, drama workshops, participation in literary competitions and visiting speakers. Of particular note is a Transition Year magazine, Wat’s Da Story, which was created in 2006, with the aid of ICT, by Transition Year students. Teachers are to be praised for their efforts in these areas.
Planning and preparation
There is a co-ordinator of senior-cycle English. Currently there is no co-ordinator of junior-cycle English. It is recommended that the position of subject co-ordinator should be appointed on a rotational basis, combining responsibilities for both junior-cycle and senior-cycle English. Such an approach will allow for the development of a much wider leadership skills base, while avoiding the difficulties which teachers report to have arisen due to the lack of a junior-cycle co-ordinator. There are generally three formal departmental meetings per year, along with a number of informal meetings. Senior management is to be commended for facilitating formal meetings and is encouraged to continue to explore means by which the number of meetings might be expanded. Minutes of departmental meetings have begun to be taken and are kept in the subject folder. This is sound practice and should be continued. As part of the development of the subject planning process, action plans with timed targets should be included, in very brief formats, where applicable. A further development which should become part of the departmental planning process is the creation of agendas for meetings.
There is a well-developed senior-cycle subject plan for English which is stored in a subject folder. This is commendable. The folder contains, amongst other items: a statement regarding the role of subject coordinator; a general list of resources; a homework policy; the minutes of recent departmental meetings; the Leaving Certificate syllabus; the list of texts currently to be studied on the Leaving Certificate course; a list of inservice training courses attended by English teachers; a draft policy for international students; a list of texts and differentiated strategies to be used in the teaching of English; the recent DES publication Looking at English – Teaching and Learning English in Post-Primary Schools and common long-term plans. All of this is positive. It is recommended that, building on the very solid foundation of the senior-cycle subject plan, an overall subject plan for English should be developed which incorporates areas of concern for junior cycle. A typical point to begin would be the expansion of the current plans towards common, skills-based, termly plans. While different plans might be expected to be developed for classes of significantly differing aptitudes in English, all members of the English department should be aware of, and involved in, the development of the plans to be implemented at each level and these should be stored as part of the subject plan in the subject folder. These plans should be developed over time, possibly beginning with first year this year, and so on. The development of common plans in this manner should be viewed as a key professional development opportunity, allowing for the sharing of practice between teachers regarding approaches taken with different year and class groups. The subject pedagogical knowledge which might then be shared should benefit all English teachers, particularly in the area of assisting students with literacy-support needs. Other areas which might profitably be explored include: analysis of state-examination results and uptake levels versus national norms; the use of ICT in English; a list of specific resources available for use by teachers in the English department and the development of a common assessment policy for English. A useful resource in this latter area is the assessment for learning section of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) website at www.ncca.ie. While all lessons observed were within syllabus guidelines, a further purpose of the plan should be to ensure that a common understanding of what is required should be discussed and agreed within the department. With this in mind, the delineation of the need for the study of three comparative texts in senior cycle by all English teachers should be clearly outlined in the plan, along with other key areas.
Texts are varied at senior cycle to suit class context and interest. There was also evidence of the variation of texts in junior cycle. The department is encouraged to continue with and expand this strategy where practicable. Such variation will serve not only to ensure continued student engagement with the literature element of the syllabus, it will also provide an opportunity for continued professional development for teachers. The website www.childrensbooksireland.com is a worthwhile resource in the area of young adult fiction. Beyond this, the development of the subject plan should serve as a useful tool enabling the synchronising of texts across class groups, where this might prove practicable or useful.
A plan for the Transition Year programme was presented during the inspection. All lessons were diligently planned and, in almost all cases, planning documentation was presented.
There are a number of students in receipt of language support. The school is referred to Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT) as a resource in the area of English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching. The IILT website at www.iilt.ie includes a range of ESL resources. IILT also provides seminars for teachers and principals in the area of language-support in post-primary schools.
There is good informal communication between English teachers and the learning-support/special educational needs (SEN) department. This is positive. The school is currently reviewing provision for students with special educational needs. This is worthwhile and it is suggested that the development of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process should serve to further enhance links between the learning-support /SEN department and subject teachers. The wider adoption of models of classroom support and team-teaching for English should also by pursued. Beyond this, a worthwhile endeavour for the school to explore on a whole-staff basis would be the development of a whole-school literacy policy. This would serve to support the literacy needs of students across all subject departments through consistent pedagogical approaches.
Teaching and learning
A good standard of teaching was observed during the inspection. There were clear learning objectives in almost all classes. Teacher statements at the beginning of lessons, regarding the learning objective to be achieved, were particularly beneficial in this regard.
A range of resources was used in the teaching of English. Among these were included the blackboard, the whiteboard, the overhead projector, textbooks and photocopies. The overhead projector was used effectively as a means of shifting the pacing in a lesson and also achieved the aim of appealing to students on a visual as well as a verbal level. This latter approach was further reflected in the folder of photocopyable resources built up by another teacher, which contained illustrations of different characters from a novel which was being studied. This awareness of the need to use visual strategies in the teaching of English is to be praised. It is suggested that the use by students of a dictionary and thesaurus should be part of everyday classroom practice, particularly for those students for whom English is an additional language.
Writing was a very positive feature of a majority of lessons. In one junior-cycle lesson, an initial spelling test was followed by further explorations into the spelling of keywords to be used in a written exercise. Students were allowed to choose the topic of the exercise themselves and were then asked to contribute the words they felt would be most important to the written piece. This was worthwhile, enhancing students’ ability to engage with the exercise. The use of a spidergram in order to focus the class on possible structures to be followed in their writing with regard to, for example, paragraphs, would have been a further worthwhile addition to this work. The focus on the ‘real world’ genre of advertising language was handled very well in another junior-cycle lesson. Students were shown examples of advertisements used by estate agents and were then instructed to ‘translate’ the language and also to conduct their own written assignments. The use of pair work in this context was especially to be noted, creating a very energetic dynamic and encouraging the successful participation of all students in the exercise. In general, there was a good focus on the use of active methodologies in the teaching and learning of English. The English department is encouraged to continue with this good practice.
There was good classroom management in all cases and a good relationship between teachers and students was evident. Teachers were universally affirming to students. In a number of instances, teachers were especially enthusiastic and dynamic in their presentation of material and, where this was the case, students responded in kind.
Lessons were generally well-paced. This was most obvious where teachers ensured regular shifts in the strategies used to engage students. In the one instance where pacing might have been improved, a more rapid move from a teacher reading of a text to activity-based approaches would have been of benefit. Possibilties might have included a shift to guided reading or a text-prediction exercise. Students answered well in lessons and displayed knowledge of the topics being studied.
There was some evidence of the development of a print-rich environment in classrooms. While it is recognised that the ability of teachers to develop this area is somewhat hampered by the lack of a baseroom in most cases, nevertheless, this should be pursued as a key element in encouraging the advancement of students’ literacy skills. In a number of classrooms, students’ work was displayed, providing a sense of ‘audience’ for their written work and, equally, a clear sense of purpose and affirmation. Further areas which might be explored include the use of keyword displays, the development of character diagrams and the display of motivational posters in some rooms. A point which should be highlighted is the presence of a print-rich environment in some areas of the school corridors. Amongst the items for students to take an interest in was a noticeboard displaying the day’s newspaper and the school’s mission statement. This promotion of casual engagement with the printed word on the part of students is to be praised. The English department is encouraged to include the creation of a print-rich environment as one of the aspirations of the subject plan.
Assessment
There is an agreed homework policy. Homework was assigned regularly in all classes. There was evidence of the use of comment-based, formative assessment in all classes. Teachers are encouraged to continue with and expand this strategy, where practicable and within time constraints. In the few instances where greater motivation in completing written exercises was required, it is suggested that short-term learning goals with discernible short-term successes might be adopted for some junior-cycle classes. This, combined with an assessment for learning approach, allowing students to choose their homework from a set of different written tasks, along with greater use of ICT, would serve as an incentive to concentrate on achieving the best results possible when completing written work. In senior cycle, the occasional assigning of ‘high-status’ exercises, with an additional emphasis on the drafting and redrafting process, might serve to achieve the same purpose.
There was evidence of the adoption of an integrated approach to the language and literature elements of the syllabus in a number of classes. In one instance, this was of a particularly high standard, with students writing ‘interventions’ based on different types of genre writing, as part of their study of a novel. These pieces were then stored in students’ scrapbooks and were often ‘aged’ in order to add authenticity and the feeling of their having been part of a ‘real-world’ experience. The English department is encouraged to expand its use of an integrated approach to the syllabuses wherever possible, so that literature can act as a ‘springboard’ to the study of language and vice versa.
There are formal examinations at Christmas for all year groups and at summer for first-year, second-year, Transition Year and fifth-year classes. Third-year and sixth-year students participate in mock examinations in February. Common examinations are not normally set by the English department. It is suggested that the department should pursue this goal in the future, where practicable. The setting of common examinations should be aided by the common planning process mentioned earlier in this report. Common examinations not only allow for the comparison of students’ performances across a wider student cohort, it will also serve to avoid the needless duplication of work on the part of teachers.
There is a parent/teacher meeting for each year group once per year. Teachers also make contact with parents should the need arise. Reports on students’ performances are sent to parents at Christmas and summer and for the mock examinations. These arrangements are to be commended.
Summary of main findings and recommendations
The following are the main strengths identified in the evaluation:
- There is a good relationship between students and teachers.
- There is a well-developed senior-cycle plan for English. This is commendable.
- A number of English teachers have baserooms.
- Junior cycle classes have four English lessons per week. The possibility of extending provision for English in junior cycle should be explored. Transition Year classes have three English lessons per week and this is adequate. Fifth-year and sixth-year classes have five English lessons per week. This is good provision.
- Teachers organise a number of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. This is to be praised.
- Due to recent building work, teachers’ ability to access the school library has been limited. The development of mini-libraries in a number of rooms, as well as mobile libraries, to alleviate the impact of this is praiseworthy.
- There are generally three formal departmental meetings each year. The school should continue to explore means to expand the number of meetings held each year. Minutes have begun to be kept of departmental meetings.
- The school is supportive of teachers’ continuing professional development. Teachers have availed of continuing professional development and maintain links with their subject association. The department is encouraged to expand its accessing of inservice training courses wherever practicable.
- There is a coordinator for senior English.
- A shared reading scheme between students and their parents is currently being organised with the involvement of the HSCL teacher. The potential to develop links between this scheme and Transition Year students might also be explored.
- There was evidence of the integration of the language and literature elements of the syllabus. This is positive and the department is encouraged to continue to develop this strategy and set it down in the subject plan as central to the teaching of English.
- There was some evidence of a print-rich environment in classrooms used for English. A print-rich environment is also evident in the school corridors.
As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:
- Wider use of and access to ICT should be pursued. The potential for the language laboratory to be harnessed for this purpose should be explored.
- The post of English co-ordinator should be appointed on a rotational basis, combining both junior and senior cycle English, to allow for a wide leadership skills base to be developed. This is to be particularly highlighted, given the current lack of a co-ordinator for junior cycle English.
- The senior English plan should provide a very sound foundation for an overall English subject plan which incorporates areas of concern for junior cycle.
- Library services should continue to be developed and expanded.
Post-evaluation meetings were held with the teachers of English and with the principal at the conclusion of the evaluation when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.