An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna
Department of Education and Skills
Subject Inspection of Geography
REPORT
Sacred Heart Secondary School
Clonakilty, County Cork
Roll number: 62170B
Date of inspection: 10 March 2015
REPORT
ON
THE QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING IN GEOGRAPHY
______________________________________________________________________________
INFORMATION ON THE INSPECTION
Date of inspection
10 March 2015
Inspection activities undertaken
• Review of relevant documents
• Discussion with principal and teachers
• Interaction with students
• Observation of teaching and learning during three
class periods
• Examination of students’ work
• Feedback to principal and teachers
MAIN FINDINGS
•
The quality of teaching and learning was very good in the lessons observed.
•
In all lessons students were on task, were actively engaged in their learning and were
developing a wide range of geographical skills.
•
The school management is very supportive of the geography department.
•
Individual and collaborative planning were of a high quality across the geography
department.
•
Geography teachers work well together as a team and they avail of many opportunities
for both formal and informal contacts, meetings and communications about their subject.
MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS
•
Geography teachers should develop a homework and assessment policy for the
department which would encompass all learning activities which geography students
engage in, both inside and outside the classroom.
•
The department should now focus on developing strategies for the use of information and
communication technology (ICT) as a learning tool in the Geography classroom.
•
The department should have teaching and learning as a permanent item on the agenda for
formal meetings.
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INTRODUCTION
Sacred Heart Secondary School is a girls’ voluntary secondary school under the trusteeship of the
Catholic Education, an Irish Schools Trust (CEIST). The school has a current enrolment of 538
students. The school offers the Junior Certificate, the established Leaving Certificate, the Leaving
Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP), the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) and a
compulsory Transition Year (TY) programme.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
•
The quality of teaching and learning was very good in the lessons observed. Lessons were
well prepared and appropriate links were made to previous learning through homework
and targeted questioning. Learning intentions were clearly outlined at the beginning of
lessons and were usually consolidated at the end of lessons. In all lessons students were
on task, were actively engaged in their learning and were developing a wide range of
geographical skills.
•
Classroom atmosphere was positive and supportive, which allowed students to be
purposeful and on task during their learning activities. Students were motivated by
appropriate teacher praise which contributed to a shared sense of purpose in a wellorganised learning environment. Opportunities for students to deepen their learning
experience were maximised when students worked together in pairs and in small groups.
A range of questioning strategies was used in lessons which allowed learning to be
structured at a pace which facilitated all students.
•
Homework was set and checked regularly, and was often used as a bridge to previous
learning. However, there is scope for making more use of formative teacher comment in
order to consolidate learning. The department follows general, whole-school guidelines
on homework and assessment. Geography teachers should develop a homework and
assessment policy for the department which would encompass all learning activities
which geography students engage in, both inside and outside the classroom.
•
ICT resources were used appropriately in geography lessons and teachers are making
good use of the Scoilnet maps resource. The department should now focus on developing
strategies for the use of ICT as a learning tool in the Geography classroom. The
department should consider ways in which they could share lesson content with their
students by using a collaboration platform, blog or geography website. The increased use
of a visualiser could be considered by the department, as could the potential benefits of
the interactive technologies already available in the department.
SUBJECT PROVISION AND WHOLE SCHOOL SUPPORT
•
Subject provision and timetabling for Geography are in line with syllabus
recommendations, with three periods per week in the junior cycle and five periods per
week in senior cycle. Geography is an obligatory core subject at junior cycle while almost
half of the students study Geography at senior cycle. All students follow the TY
programme where Geography is a core subject, with an allocation of two periods per
week. The programme content for TY Geography is mainly focused on social and
historical geography themes. The TY geography group has also produced a glossary
based on geographical terms for first-year students. The department should review the
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content of the TY geography programme to ensure that TY students have an appropriate
skill-set and knowledge-base with which to bridge the study of Geography at junior cycle
and senior cycle levels. A Geography notice board in the school foyer provides a
communication platform for the subject, with a specific focus on local issues from a
geographical perspective.
•
Students are taught in mixed-ability classes and levels of achievement in Geography in
certificate examinations are consistently good. The department uses a geography room
which allows for displays of students’ work. The department could consider a new reconfiguration of the geography room which would facilitate collaborative work and
presentations. The department has built up a wide range of teaching resources and initial
steps have been taken to share these resources electronically on the school server. Remote
access to these resources from outside the school would facilitate this collaborative
process.
•
The school management is very supportive of the geography department and teachers in
the department are affiliated to the local professional association which provides an
important link to new developments and curriculum change in the subject. This link will
become even more important as the department begins the planning process for the
subject in the new junior cycle.
•
There is a good support network and mentor system for new staff and for Professional
Master of Education (PME) student-teachers in the department.
PLANNING AND PREPARATION
•
Individual and collaborative planning were of a high quality across the geography
department. Students with additional learning needs were supported in the geography
classroom and important links have been made and maintained by geography teachers
with specialist support teachers. The subject plan for each year group is based on a
statement of objectives and a scheme of work with content headings. An earlier planning
template for the junior cycle also included assessment criteria for the subject. The
department should widen the scope of the subject plan to include areas such as content,
skills, resources used, learning outcomes, cross-curricular opportunities and review.
Whole-school planning initiatives in literacy have been reflected in the subject plan and
work has now begun on planning for numeracy opportunities in the subject. Opportunities
for cross-curricular planning have been identified by the department and this should have
a positive influence on fieldwork options and team-teaching possibilities.
•
Geography teachers work well together as a team and they avail of many opportunities
for both formal and informal contacts, meetings and communications about their subject.
The department meets formally twice in an academic year and usually discusses
administrative issues such as examinations and fieldwork organisation. A template record
of each meeting is kept on file. The department should have teaching and learning as a
permanent item on the agenda for formal meetings. This would allow teachers to focus
on pedagogic planning for the subject which could include areas such as ICT, teaching
methodologies and curricular change.
•
Fieldwork activities are organised for almost all year groups. This year, all third year and
sixth year students visited Northern Ireland on a geography fieldwork trip. The
department should develop an integrated, systematic fieldwork programme across all year
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groups. In this way, fieldwork could be planned to support the learning objectives
specific to geographical study at all levels.
The draft findings and recommendations arising out of this evaluation were discussed with the
principal, deputy principal and subject teachers at the conclusion of the evaluation. 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.
Published October 2015
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Appendix
SCHOOL RESPONSE TO THE REPORT
Submitted by the Board of Management
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Area 1 Observations on the content of the inspection report
The Board of Management (BOM) of Sacred Heart Secondary School wishes to acknowledge the
positive findings regarding the very good quality of teaching and learning, and high quality of
planning in the Geography department.
It is highly satisfying to read the inspectorate’s recognition of the commitment of school
management to the geography department
The board is pleased that the high level of collaboration and cooperation of the teachers in the
Geography is acknowledged.
The BOM commends the hard work of the Geography Department and in particular the time and
effort that they put into organising field trips in their department.
The Geography department welcomes the positive inspection report. It affirms the important role
of geography as a subject at both senior and junior cycle.
Area 2 Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection
activity to implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection.
The school is in the process of developing a whole school policy on assessment.
Work in on-going at whole school level on advancing the use of ICT as an appropriate learning
tool in the classroom.
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