An observational visit to St. Mary's Roman Catholic High School, Chesterfield, U.K.

Abstract

During the period Monday 1st November 1999 to Friday 12th November 1999, I visited Saint Mary's Roman Catholic High School in Newbold Road, Upper Newbold, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, to observe and reflect upon the administration practice in schools. Mr. Joseph Muscat, who is the lecturer responsible for this experience, gave me a list for what to look for during my stay. 1) Organisation and Management i) Objective setting ii) Planning iii) Decision making iv) Distribution of responsibility and authority v) Evaluation 2) Aspects of the School's Work: i) The Curriculum ii) Pastoral provisions iii) School climate and discipline iv) Extracurricular activities v) Careers and guidance vi) Assessment and record keeping 3) Teachers' Roles: i) The work of the class/subject teacher ii) The work of the form teacher (pastoral) iii) Relationships with the: a) administration b) colleagues c) parents 4) Opportunities for development (professional) My research was carried out according to an interview schedule which the Headteacher Mr. Thomas Moore B.Ed., B.Sc. prepared for me. I had the opportunity of obtaining very useful information from all the Senior Management Team and the teaching staff. Besides, I visited various classrooms, workshops, and the special class for special students. I was invited to attended various meetings with the Headteacher such as the School Governors' meeting, meetings for Senior Management Team and also a meeting for all the Headteachers of the Roman Catholic Schools in the whole of the Derbyshire Area. The school provided me with literature about all aspects of school life and undoubtedly the diploma course in education (administration and management helped me a lot in my research.