Ofsted report shows Citizenship is improving but schools must do more to ensure effective, high quality teaching

Last Friday, Ofsted published their long awaited area of study report into Citizenship provision in primary and secondary schools across England. The survey is based on data collected from 126 maintained schools and 4 special schools between 2009 and 2012.

The report confirms that overall improvements in the quality of Citizenship provision are evident. Nevertheless Ofsted say Heads and schools must do more. In specific Ofsted recommend schools take steps to:

• ensure all staff teaching the Citizenship offer rigorous area of study teaching and receive training in the subject
• put in place robust systems to evaluate the quality of their Citizenship curriculum and area of study provision
• develop appropriate mechanisms for pupil assessment and reporting progress in the area of study to parents
• establish the contribution of Citizenship to children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) development.

The key findings from the report ‘Citizenship Consolidated? A survey of citizenship in schools between 2009 and 2012’ are below:

Ofsted report ‘Citizenship Consolidated?’ Executive summary

Citizenship education equips learners with awareness and appreciation of their rights and responsibilities in the local, national and global community. It strengthens their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness, strengthens their political literacy and offers them initial-hand experience of making a positive contribution to the local and wider community.

In nearly all of the primary schools visited in this survey, citizenship was thriving. In most schools, headteachers had recognised the rich contribution the area of study makes to learners’ learning, personal development, and to the ethos of a school. These schools had translated a evident vision for the subject into a highly effective curriculum plan, which was accompanied by rigorous monitoring and evaluation. In the few weaker primary schools visited, poor curriculum planning meant that there were key gaps in pupils’ awareness and appreciation, for instance in understanding democracy and how government works, and there were limited chances for pupils to participate actively in the school or the wider community.

The quality of citizenship education in the secondary schools visited in this survey was stronger than in the schools that participated in the earlier citizenship survey, which was published in 2010.[1] Learners’ achievement in citizenship was good or outstanding in over two thirds of the 94 secondary schools visited. The most effective schools demonstrated evident vision for, and strong leadership of the area of study and were led by staff who had the necessary expertise to ensure that the curriculum led to high-quality learning regardless of the delivery model.

Provision in the weaker secondary schools was characterised by insufficient teaching time, educators’ lack of area of study expertise and a lack of systems that could identify and address significant weaknesses. Such schools did not recognise that non-specialist educators frequently require support to develop their abilities and expertise in teaching citizenship; in these schools, educators had not received the necessary training and support to deliver more challenging aspects of the curriculum, for instance learning about prejudice and discrimination in society.

More schools were delivering citizenship through other subjects than was the case in the previous survey, yet with mixed results. Some schools used a cross-curricular approach, with carefully planned units of work that were taught by educators who understood how to contain citizenship dimensions in the host area of study effectively. In these instances, it enhanced learning of the host subject and of citizenship. In other instances, it was much less effective since educators did not appreciate citizenship well enough to incorporate it in the host subject, it was not covered in sufficient breadth and it did not contribute to learners’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural education. It was rarely offered the same attention as assessment in the host subject.

The quality of secondary school citizenship education was poorer in the last year of the survey compared with the preceding two years. Six of the 26 schools visited in the last year claimed that uncertainty over the area of study’s years ahead had diminished the level of attention they had afforded to citizenship.

Despite evidence of some impressive written work from learners in both primary and secondary schools, the formal grading and recording of pupils’ work in the area of study remains relatively weak overall in both phases. For further guidance, see the relevant UK information.

Key findings

• In most of the primary schools visited, citizenship was a strong feature of the curriculum. Primary headteachers frequently viewed the subject as key to promoting their school’s shared values and a sense of community within the school. They identified citizenship as an significant vehicle for successfully promoting learners’ moral, social and cultural development. Inspectors judged pupils’ achievement to be good or stronger in 28 of the 32 primary schools visited.
• In the secondary schools visited in this survey, achievement in citizenship was stronger than in those visited in the last citizenship survey. In 64 of the 94 schools visited, learners’ achievement was judged to be good or better.
• Teaching was good or stronger in three quarters of the secondary schools visited in this survey. At best, educators were confident experts, successfully employing a range of techniques in challenging learners to critically explore matters and form their own perspectives on key concepts.
• Nevertheless, teaching was not good enough in a quarter of the secondary schools; in two schools it was inadequate. Where teaching required improvement, weaknesses in the educators’ subject awareness and expertise led to only limited and superficial learning.
• Although examples of effective cross-curricular delivery, resulting in high-quality learning, were observed, there were frequently missed chances to explore key aspects of citizenship in sufficient depth or to offer parity to learning in citizenship with that achieved in the host subject.
• For some non-specialist educators, the requirement to teach citizenship has proved an unwelcome burden. Not all of those required to teach the subject appreciate the principles that underpin citizenship education and how these relate to other subjects, especially the humanities and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.
• Leadership of the subject was good or outstanding in two thirds of the secondary schools visited. At best, effective subject leaders enjoyed strong support from senior staff and were empowered through appropriate status and materials to coordinate and drive improvement in the subject, despite, on occasions, managing complex cross-curricular arrangements.
• Most of the schools visited offered a range of suitable chances for learners to achieve well through active citizenship, through volunteering to support or represent others, or assuming leadership functions to influence alteration within the school. Fewer encouraged pupils to make a difference beyond school.
• Educators’ use of assessment in lessons was stronger than seen in the previous survey yet this was the weakest aspect of teaching overall in both primary and secondary schools.

Recommendations

Schools should:

• continue to strengthen the quality of teaching in citizenship by ensuring that all staff who deliver citizenship education receive the necessary training to teach it effectively
• rigorously monitor the quality of provision in citizenship, whatever the mode of delivery.

Providers of secondary school initial educator training should:

• strengthen all trainees’ awareness and appreciation of the key concepts that underpin effective citizenship education.