Board of Education Inspection Report: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
“The House Championship has been corrupt for some time.”
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
This essay was originally published on Peter Wharmby’s blog, Life, Teaching, and Other Distractions.
Inspection Judgments:
The Achievement of Pupils Is Satisfactory.
Pupils at Hogwarts have access to a reasonably wide range of esoteric
qualifications, suited to its key demographic. As an independent
school, it does not have to follow the National Curriculum closely;
however, it is disappointing to note that basic requirements such as
English, Mathematics, and Religious Education are all lacking or
entirely missing from the school's syllabus. This has had adverse
effects on all students, many of whom have never even been taught basic
KS1 or 2 literacy. A few students have attended state or independent
primary schools, and these students typically perform very well in
contrast to their peers.
The majority of students appear to be underperforming, with most
pupils struggling in all their lessons, most of which appear to be set
at too challenging a level. One particular class, which seemed to be
based on A-Level chemistry, proved too difficult for even the most
proficient students. Only one pupil managed to complete the lesson
objectives, mainly thanks to his use of an annotated textbook. However,
certain subjects appear to be either very short-term or far too easy for
the majority of students. An outdoors lesson was observed where
students made very little progress over several lessons, simply
performing the same repetitive tasks again and again, counting and
feeding small maggot-like creatures. Clearly the curriculum requires an
overhaul to bring literacy and numeracy levels up to the appropriate
level for such a prestigious establishment.
Extracurricular activities are well-established at the school, with
chess clubs, animal care groups, and “duelling clubs” all vying for
popularity. There is a definite sense of social responsibility among
some students, with evidence of a student-led campaign to get the
canteen workers more breaks and holiday time. The school library is
underused and often totally empty. The librarian has no idea why this is
the case.
The sixth form is indistinguishable from the main school, as the
students all remain on to study to the age of 18. The subjects offered
remain the same, though with more rigorous examinations. End of KS4
results are generally average, whereas end of KS5 results this year were
disrupted by unforeseen and external events. Students typically go into
government posts, journalism, or remain unemployed.
The Quality of Teaching Is Unsatisfactory.
Teaching at Hogwarts is generally very old-fashioned and lets the
students down considerably. Lessons are formulaic and, other than the
occasional impressive display of skills from teaching staff, are dull
and lifeless. Lessons all too often revolve around tedious rote-work and
use of textbooks. The study of History is particularly poor, with very
little teacher interaction and no group work of any kind. Students were
frequently found to be asleep during these lessons and, on one occasion,
the teacher was also sleeping at a desk. Clearly this is not good
enough and suggests that Senior Leadership need to have far more
rigorous Continuing Professional Development in place for struggling
teachers, alive or dead.
Teachers have very high expectations of their pupils—often far too
high for their age and ability. Again, during chemistry, the teacher was
seen to display entirely unfounded expectations of a Year 7 class who
could barely keep up with his description of various chemicals, poisons,
and antidotes. Students in this class were often punished for their
lack of prior knowledge after knowledge harvests—a worrying trend that
the SLT need to counter as soon as possible.
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