Cape Town - Despite the “inexperience” of the school management team, a report by the Schools Evaluation Authority (SEA) stated that learners at Goodwood College were active and engaged in most of the classes there.
The SEA independently evaluates Western Cape schools and compiles reports that are published to inform parents and communities about how well the schools in their areas are performing.
The evaluations, which was conducted on 10 and 11 February 2020, provide an independent and external examination of school practices, and include recommendations on what should be improved.
The schools are assessed on:
- Learner achievement - to evaluate the knowledge and skills that learners have acquired, progress made by learners over a period of time and recognition of learners.
- Teaching and learning - to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning.
- Behaviour and safety - to evaluate the level at which a school creates a positive learning culture, good behaviour, and a healthy, safe and secure environment for everyone.
- Leadership and management - to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership and management of a school.
- Governance, parents and community - to evaluate the effectiveness of the governing body in fulfilling its key roles and responsibilities including financial duties, and the effectiveness of the school in building good relationships with its stakeholders.
Goodwood College
According to the SEA report, schools were rated out of 4 according to the above criteria - 4 being outstanding, 3 being good, 2 being ’requires Improvement’ and 1 being Inadequate.
Goodwood College received 3 for learner achievement, 2 for teaching and learning, 3 for behaviour and safety, 2 for leadership and management, and 3 for governance, parents and community.
Overall performance for the school was rated 3.
The report found that all the observed teachers treated learners with respect, but the arrangement of the furniture in most of the classrooms was not conducive to learner group activities.
“Learners were active and engaged in most of the classes. The activities were appropriate in terms of curriculum requirements, but learners were not challenged with higher order questions.
“Very few teachers continuously established the level of learners’ understanding and adjusted their pace. The amount of work in learners’ workbooks varied from very little to sufficient. While learners’ work was marked, feedback was given by the teachers in only few of the classes,” the report stated.
Three of the five school management team (SMT) members were found to be relatively young and inexperienced, “but they show great potential and are eager and committed to learn”.
The report stated the the SMT had a general idea of the school’s vision and mission, and knew the school’s values, and it identified three priorities for improvement, although these were not aligned to the school improvement plan (SIP).
“There is no clear understanding of all the sources of information that feed into the SIP. The SMT has a general idea of the strengths, weaknesses and trends in learner achievement,” the report stated.
“During joint lesson observations, they displayed an accurate judgment of the quality of classroom teaching. They mentioned that the plan to monitor teaching and learning would be implemented soon.“
The recommendations that the SEA made were:
- A deeper analysis and understanding of the WCED Systemic Test results (language) as well as the NSC results will reveal the exact causes for the downward trend. A per question analysis of the 2019 Grade 11 and NSC results as well as the correct interpretation of the analysis of the WCED Systemic Test results will be very helpful in this regard.
- A well-defined monitoring programme of all teaching and learning activities should be implemented earlier in the first term and all SMT members should become more involved as instructional leaders.
- More attention must be given to the marking of learners’ workbooks and feedback from teachers to learners. The pace and level of teaching must be influenced by the assessment of learners’ work.
- More opportunities should be created for learners to participate actively in the learning process, for example, including them in group discussions and challenging them with higher order questions. Only a few of the observed teachers used this effectively.
- The SMT should have a holistic approach to school improvement. They could form task teams to identify strengths and areas for development based on the focus areas of the SIP. This will create opportunities for the involvement of all stakeholders (staff, governing body, parents and learners).
- Opportunities should be created for learners to share their experiences and ideas by, for example, giving learner representatives on the governing body an opportunity to report at least once per term.
The full report can be found here: http://seawc.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/School-Evaluation-Report-Goodwood-College-21-January-2021.pdf
Cape Argus