Securing outstanding leadership in history

Michael Maddison HMI National Lead for History, England SHP 25 th Annual Conference 6 July 2013

Outline

Securing outstanding leadership in history

 summarise the national scene: strengths and weaknesses of teaching and learning in history in schools  analyse the components and characteristics of highly effective leadership, including     highly effective teaching and learning in history highly effective curriculum in history highly effective leadership and management in history illustrate best practice with examples from some of the good practice case studies in history and other subject inspection work.

National scene: Ofsted’s evidence

Overview: a mixed picture – a successful subject in school but under pressure and some significant aspects in need of improvement

Primary headlines



Primary strengths

:   pupils have better knowledge and make better progress where history is discrete teaching is generally good but variable 

Primary weaknesses

:   pupils’ knowledge is episodic pupils’ chronological understanding is variable and their ability to make links across the knowledge they have gained is weak

Secondary headlines – successes



History is successful

because it is in most of the secondary schools visited   well taught by very well-qualified and highly competent teachers well led.

 The National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 (11-14) has led to much

high-quality teaching and learning

in history.



Attainment is high

in the secondary schools visited and has continued to rise, particularly at GCSE and A level 

Entries at GCSE and A level are also rising

GCSE Entries 1997-2012

600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Art and Design French IT Business Studies Geography Media/Film/TV Drama German Music English Literature History

Figures from 2005 onwards are for end of KS4. Figures prior to this are for pupils aged 15

GCSE History Entries 1997-2012

GCSE History Entries 220,000 200,000 207,500 35% 180,000 160,000 140,000 120,000 100,000 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 32% 31% 202,900 40% 31% 33% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 % of end-KS4 pupils Full GCSE History

Figures from 2005 onwards are for end of KS4. Figures prior to this are for pupils aged 15 *2011 rev includes accredited iGCSE history courses

0%

A level and AS level History Entries 1997-2012

70,000 65,000 60,000 55,000 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 36,100 1997 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

 59,670 students were entered for AS-level in 2012

2011 45,630 2012

Secondary concerns – Key Stage 3

       increasing

non-specialist teaching

– 28% no relevant degree

variabilty in teaching time

for history – average: 60-90mins a week

whole-school curriculum changes in KS3

– e.g. two year KS3; cross curricular teaching; competencies rather than subjects

misuse of levels of attainment poor planning for progression

in the developments of students’ knowledge, understanding and subject-specific thinking the

failure of some subject leaders to provide a rationale

for the curriculum they had put in place

Result

  in some schools history has become marginalised standards are too variable and progress is not fast enough

Secondary Concerns – Key Stages 4 and 5

 Some students continue to be

restricted in their subject options at GCSE



Lower ability students are not served well at KS4

– does the current reform of GCSE offer an opportunity?



Assessment at GCSE

: formulaic teaching leading to formulaic responses. 

The growth of the one-year GCSE

 Most students who take history beyond KS3

study modern world topics

at GCSE and at A level

Securing outstanding leadership in history

Securing outstanding leadership in history

  

History in the Primary and Secondary Years: An HMI View

(1985)

History from 5-16 – Curriculum Matters 11

(1988)

Good teaching, effective departments

(2000/01)    As a subject leader, do I … As heads of department, working with subject teachers, do we … As headteacher and senior management, do we …

Securing outstanding leadership in history

History survey visits

Generic grade descriptors and supplementary subject-specific guidance for inspectors on making judgements during visits to schools

 Ofsted, 2010; revised January 2013

Overview: the constituents of highly effective teaching



Subject expertise

   knowledge dynamic subject

Learning

  rooted in rigorous historical enquiry

Historical thinking and understanding



Assessment

 enabling teachers to refine their practice and pupils to build securely on prior learning

Highly effective historical thinking and understanding

 The best learning in history took place when teaching developed pupils’ historical knowledge and historical thinking through well-focused enquiries  Historical thinking = ability to investigate, consider, reflect and review the events of the past.

 Teaching makes pupils alive to changing views of the past and helps them to understand    how and why interpretations and representations change over time why history matters and why the particular topics they are taught are worth knowing about.

Case Study: Developing historical thinking - Fox Primary School

  Context: a group of pupils in Years 2 and 3 were studying the diary of Samuel Pepys.

Discussion: when asked how they would deal with another diary which told them something different, their response was unequivocal. ‘That’s ok’, said a Year 3 pupil Pepys had written’.

, ‘because we would be able to check what Samuel Another pupil added, ‘ We would have another point of view. You know someone who perhaps lived in another part of London and so lived life differently ’.

Overview: The constituents of a highly effective curriculum

        Acquisition of

knowledge understanding

and development of

chronological

Understanding of key

historical concepts

Development of

historical thinking through enquiries

Clarity of

rationale

and thinking

Assessment

which reveals whether aims are being achieved An increasing level of expectation and challenge to ensure

progression

in historical knowledge, thinking and understanding

Distinctive

and reflects pupils’ needs, interests and aspirations Wide range of

enrichment

activities

How do we know it is highly effective?

Clarity of rationale and thinking



Why when

are we teaching,

what

we are teaching it?

we are teaching,

how

we are teaching it,  What do we want pupils to

know, do and understand

at the end that they didn’t know, couldn’t do and didn't understand at the beginning?

Overview: Characteristics of highly effective leadership

The effectiveness and high profile of history in the school is based on:      

visionary leadership and highly efficient management commitment and enthusiasm

of all history teachers

excellent understanding of current developments

in the subject a sustained record of

innovation and success

in inspiring pupils and improving their achievement constant focus on

inspiring confidence

in pupils and colleagues in and

commitment

to history

critical self-evaluation

- well informed by   exciting practice in history the effective analysis of performance

Gender: achievement of boys and girls

74 75 71 72 70 69 69 70 7 6 6 6 65 5 6 66 67 60 65 64 60 63 63 74 67 7 7 55 53 50 45 40 1997 2005 2006 2007 Boys 2008 2009 Girls 2010 2011 74 6 68 2012

Deprivation: achievement by free school meals

SEN: achievement

Ethnic groups: achievement

100 80 60 58 60 64 64 65 66 64 66 68 58 60 61 50 51 53 54 54 55 81 86 84 87 87 85 77 78 79 79 72 76 77 78 78 62 63 63 57 58 59 64 65 66 67 68 68 40 29 27 43 40 38 25 20 0 African Bangladeshi Caribbean 2007 2008 Chinese 2009 Gypsy / Romany* 2010 2011 Indian 2012 Irish Pakistani White British

Characteristics of highly effective leadership

     robust

quality assurance

leading to prompt, decisive action to tackle relative weaknesses in teaching and learning in history excellent

collaboration

among teachers underpinned by joint planning and the effective sharing of good practice in history

subject-specific professional development needs of all staff

are very effectively and comprehensively assessed and met

ambitious aims

 based on a clear rationale for the subject and its place in the education of pupils  well communicated to staff and pupils, and matched with skilled deployment of resources, including staffing subject makes an

excellent contribution to whole-school priorities

, including consistent application of literacy and numeracy policies

Prompts for improving history

Key question: What can the inspectorate do for you?

Ofsted’s history subject web pages

Keep up-to-date with Ofsted's work in history

Visit the dedicated history web pages on the Ofsted website at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/insp ection-reports/our-expert knowledge/history-0

Take a look at this

: Ofsted’s supplementary subject specific guidance for inspectors on making judgements on subject inspections

Ofsted’s history subject web pages

Good practice case studies History professional development materials to support subject specific school CPD

 Published from March 2011  Published January 2012

Case Studies

       

Meaningful history for all – inclusion central to teaching and learning

( Lampton School Academy, London )

Putting the local community at the heart of the KS3 history curriculum

( Copleston High School, Suffolk ) Ensuring rigorous historical thinking ( Cottenham Village College, Cambridgeshire ) Making the most of local history ( Cape Cornwall School, Cornwall ) Outstanding teaching and learning in history in 100 minutes ( Farlingaye High School, Suffolk ) Outstanding history in a two year KS3 ( Harris Academy Crystal Palace, London )

Making history motivating, memorable and meaningful by inspiring teachers through an effective area partnership (

Hampshire Secondary History Network ) Developing outstanding historical thinking in primary schools ( Fox Primary School, London)

When teaching history remember to …

         

Plan only when you have answered the question

: What do you want your pupils to know, do and understand historically at the end of the history topic/unit that they didn’t know, couldn’t do and didn’t understand when they started?

Teach through

historical enquiries

– provide the means not the outcome Develop pupils’

historical questioning

rather than providing the answers Create time for

historical debate, discussion and reflection

prior to writing Focus on

analytical and discursive writing in history

as well as descriptive and narrative writing Embed the

language of history

– use historical terminology regularly Use

differentiation

by outcome and by task when assessing in history Include a

history comment

when marking a history piece of work Emphasise

historical thinking

whether history is discrete or integrated Use

historical enrichment

regularly to support learning

National Lead: [email protected]