Inspections and subject Schemes of work

peanuthead

Hi there

Just wondering about something that has been on my mind.

If a school were to get an inspection, obviously one of the things they would look at is the subject schemes of work and whether or not they are being followed.

Now I'm just wondering by following a scheme of work, does this mean that you

1. Have to go by the order that the scheme is in? I appreciate that some schemes go in a logical order, but I'm talking about a 5th yr scheme for languages which is laid out topic by topic. Would I be looked upon unfavorably by an examiner from deviating from the order a little?

2. Have to do everything that is on the scheme. Say for example in each 'block' or topic there are 10 exercises, ie: a letter, a diary entry a personal opinion piece, a comprehension, a listening piece etc...


Surely so long as adequate time is being spent on the four skills during each class/week, I don't have to do every single exercise that is laid out in the scheme??

I will speak to my Head of Dpt, but I know that he is newly appointed and is just finding things out as he goes himself, I would like to see if any of the more experienced teachers or HODs here would know.

Thanks

gaeilgebeo

I've lived through an Irish inspection.
Once the inspector saw the schemes(privately in his own time), they were was happy enough.
At no point did he check if we were rigidly sticking to exactly what was on it for that particular week! We follow the scheme but teachers can dip in and out and mix and match topics/exercises.
The inspector came and sat in some of our lessons and discussed said lessons as opposed to the scheme. It is not something I would massively worry about.

Toto Wolfcastle

I've survived 3 bloody inspections and I've only been teaching for 3 years.

As gaeilgebeo said, I wouldn't worry massively about it. It's expected that things will change as the year progresses. Try to follow the scheme as you normally would, and just go with the usual natural changes that happen depending on the class. Tbh with the amount of time inspectors spend in the school and the amount of information that they have to go through there isn't really time to inspect schemes thoroughly.

solerina

I have had two inspections and in both cases they looked to see that I had a scheme, and that was about it....they also attended classes and in one case the Inspector actually got up at the end of class and asked my students questions about stuff we had done the previous week....calculations.....they nearly died !!! But we all survived fine

peanuthead

Thanks for the replies.

Well that's good to know, but does anyone know anything about the MLL inspections? They are Management Leadership and Learning inspections?

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=32818&ecategory=35645&language=EN

They seem to be more focused on the Admin and paperwork side of things.

Toto Wolfcastle

Yeah, they were piloting that type of inspection when I was inspected. The reports from the pilot inspections aren't online though. In terms of schemes of work what I said above still applies.

There's an emphasis on management, including heads of LCVP, TY, etc. They also survey the school community and ask them stupid questions. As far as I can remember they also met with a group of students, but the school could choose the students.

rossean

Will there be an over-emphasis on admin and paperwork in these new inspections? To me, this is a backward step. Too much paperwork detracts teachers' attention from teaching and assessment. Excellent planning documents do not reflect what really goes on in a classroom. Good planning documentation does not necessarily equal good teaching...

peanuthead

rossean wrote: »

Will there be an over-emphasis on admin and paperwork in these new inspections? To me, this is a backward step. Too much paperwork detracts teachers' attention from teaching and assessment. Excellent planning documents do not reflect what really goes on in a classroom. Good planning documentation does not necessarily equal good teaching...

Well you see I agree completely with you here. Here I am spending time going through the admin sides of things like "Have they a date on that page?" When I feel that I could be spending that time on working on differentiated material or planning more interactive/engaging lessons.

2011abc

Powers that be here blindly following 'English'/British system when they themselves cant get rid of it fast enough-kids clamouring to get into private education over there...grim future ahead !