/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and LeisureEducation and Training Inspectorate
Report of a Focused Inspection
Downey House and Fullerton House
Preparatory Department, Belfast
Inspected: October 2001
BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS
A. i. School: Downey House and Fullerton Houseiii.Date of Inspection: W/B01.10.01
PreparatoryDepartment
ii.School Reference Number: 162-0022 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused
B.
School Year / 1997/98 / 1998/99 / 1999/00 / 2000/01 / 2001/02Year 1 Intake / 69 / 62 / 72 / 71 / 63
Enrolments
Primary / 560 / 534 / 537 / 521 / 513
Reception / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Nursery Class/Classes / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Special Unit / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
The enrolment for the current year is the figure on the day of notification of inspection.
For previous years it is the figure in the annual return to the Department of Education.
The calculations at C and D should be based on the total of the primary and reception enrolments only.
C.Average Attendance for the Previous School Year
(expressed as a percentage):95.93%
Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit
D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):32--
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)
ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):16 NI PTR: 19.9
iii.Average Class Size:18.3
iv.Class Size (Range):13-25
v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:48.75
ii. Official Making A Good0
Start Support:
iii. Making A Good Start funding0
additional hours and other
classroom assistant support:
vi.Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs:2
vii.Number of children who are not of statutory school age:0
viii. Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:Nil
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1The preparatory department of Methodist College consists of Downey House and Fullerton House, which are located some five kilometres apart from each other, in east and south Belfast, respectively. Fullerton House lies within the main grammar school campus of Methodist College; Downey House occupies a spacious site within Pirrie Park, off the Ravenhill Road.
1.2The enrolment in the preparatory department has declined in recent years; at the time of the last general inspection in 1994 it stood at 592; the present enrolment is 513.
1.3The inspection focused on English, pastoral care, and information and communications technology (ICT).
1.4The arrangements for the inspection included the completion of questionnaires by a sample of the parents, as well as meetings with the governors, parents and children. Members of the inspection team met with representatives of the Board of Governors of Methodist College, and with groups of children from years 4 and 6 on each of the two sites; 13 parents attended the arranged meeting. The comments from the governors and the parents were strongly supportive of the work of the department. Almost all of the questionnaire returns also indicated a high degree of satisfaction with the work of the teachers. The few issues raised by the parents, regarding aspects of the provision for pastoral care and special educational needs, are dealt with in the body of the report. The children report that they feel safe and secure in the department.
2.THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ WORK
2.1Relationships throughout the department are generally good or very good. The atmosphere is purposeful and the children work co-operatively with their teachers.
2.2In most of the classrooms and corridors, displays of the children’s work, and posters showing various school activities, are used to celebrate achievement and create interest.
2.3The children are well behaved. When given the opportunity, they interact confidently with one another and are supportive of one another’s efforts. More such opportunities could usefully be provided.
2.4The teachers are conscientious and committed to their work and to the children; they know the children well and demonstrate care for their welfare. They have high expectations of what the children can achieve in several respects. The quality of the teaching observed was always satisfactory; several lessons showed significant strengths.
2.5The children, almost invariably, are well motivated to learn. They work diligently on the tasks that they are set. The vast majority take pride in producing their best work.
2.6The department has established strong links with the parents, who are encouraged to become involved in a number of ways. For example, the children benefit substantially from the fund-raising activities of the parents and from active parental involvement in the leadership of various school-based uniformed organisations.
2.7Appropriate policies for pastoral care and child protection are in place; these are linked closely to those of Methodist College and are in line with the Department of Education Circular 1999/10. Records are maintained of any incidents relating to pastoral care, including comment on the follow-up action taken. The children with whom discussions were held commented positively on aspects of the pastoral care system.
2.8All of the children in key stage (KS)1 have access to a programme of structured play, although the experiences of the children are sometimes narrow and the range of resources available is limited. In the best practice, the adults encourage the children to observe and think, and engage them in useful discussion about their play. Too often, however, the children do not have sufficient opportunities to use or develop language in stimulating situations during structured play. Many of the children co-operate well during play; others are unsettled and do not engage fully with the activities or with their peers. There is a need to review and develop the programme for structured play to ensure that the children’s experiences are sufficiently challenging and that there is increasing opportunity for them to make progress in the activities provided.
2.9The whole-school planning for English outlines the areas and activities that the children should experience in each year group. The planning would benefit from further guidance on possible teaching and learning activities and on how these can promote linkages amongst the three attainment targets in the English programme.
2.10The vast majority of the children are articulate and can express their thoughts and ideas with confidence and competence. In many of the classes the teachers show skill in framing questions which encourage the children to provide extended answers and engage in whole-class discussion. The children’s oral skills would be further enhanced by more opportunities to generate and refine their ideas.
2.11In the early years, most of the children build a good sight vocabulary of the words from the commercial reading schemes. As they progress through the school they are introduced to an appropriate range of strategies to help them to decipher unfamiliar text. Although the children are introduced to novels at an appropriate stage there is, throughout the school, an over-reliance on the use of commercial reading schemes which do not provide adequate interest or challenge for all of the children. The use of the reading books and novels to provide a starting-point for discussion and independent writing should be further developed.
2.12The children have a number of opportunities to write in a variety of forms and for different purposes; writing in the narrative style predominates and often centres on isolated titles which do not provide adequate challenge or effective links with other subject areas. The enrichment of the children’s independent writing skills is restricted by an emphasis on the completion of work-sheets or textbook exercises on grammar and comprehension. The school needs to review the balance between this practice and the application of the acquired skills to independent writing tasks.
2.13By year 7 the children can read with fluency and expression, complete routine grammatical exercises, write independently with proficiency, and engage effectively in whole-class discussion. On occasions, when the children are challenged by the activities offered, they respond with flair and enthusiasm, and produce work of very high quality. The children would benefit from further opportunities to demonstrate their considerable ability, and more varied contexts to develop and enhance the skills that they have acquired.
2.14Information and communications technology has been identified as a priority for development. The newly appointed co-ordinators, with the support of the head of department (HoD), have a clear vision of how ICT can be used effectively to enhance the children’s learning experiences. Both sites are well resourced, with modern computers located both within classrooms and in specialised computer suites. The departmental policies for ICT have been reviewed and all of the teachers have undertaken in-service training (INSET) designed to extend their knowledge and understanding of the principles that underpin the use of ICT. Further training is planned on the application and use of ICT in the classroom. There is evidence of the children having useful experiences in ICT; for example, the children in year 1 had used a paint software package to generate pictures which were displayed around the room. There were also examples of the use of ICT for word-processing and for display and instances during the inspection when the children used ICT incidentally.
2.15A small number of children are registered as having special educational needs; a few other children are identified as requiring additional help with their learning. The department allocates considerable resources to providing class teachers with time to support these children individually or in small groups. These withdrawal sessions are conducted in a sympathetic and encouraging atmosphere. There is a need now to put in place more systematic procedures to underpin this work, to be more specific in the identification of, and support for, the children’s individual learning needs and to monitor the children’s progress and the school’s provision more closely.
2.16The parents are kept informed of their children’s work and progress through a combination of written reports and parent-teacher interviews. The reports give detailed information about the children’s achievements and areas for development, particularly in English and mathematics; information in other subject areas is less comprehensive. The teachers mark the children’s work regularly and frequently, and often add detailed supportive comments. In the best practice, these comments provide clear guidance as to how work can be improved.
2.17The teachers are appropriately qualified and many are very experienced. There have been a number of significant changes in staffing and in staff responsibilities in the recent past. New co-ordinators have been appointed to take the lead in areas including English, ICT and special educational needs, and to oversee the work at KS1 level. It will be important to ensure that the opportunities for staff development created as a result of these changes are exploited fully to promote a culture of reflection and self-evaluation amongst the staff. A small number of specialist teachers make important contributions to the provision for drama, French, music, physical education (PE) and library skills on both sites. The teachers have been involved in recent relevant INSET in ICT and on the promotion of creative writing.
2.18Since 1991, what were previously two separate preparatory departments have been managed as a unified department of Methodist College. The HoD has oversight of both sites and divides his time equally between them. A deputy HoD is in place on each site. The leadership provided at this senior level is effective in promoting the efficient administration of the department; leadership at all levels needs to continue to focus on the development of the curriculum. The identification, in the school development plan, of the need to review the roles of the senior staff, is apposite. Appropriately, the development plan also notes the intention to improve the communication between the two sites and to widen the experience of the teachers.
2.19While much of the accommodation is adequate, several classrooms have restricted storage space. The Fullerton House site has a very restricted outside play area compared to the Downey House site.
2.20The department has significant strengths among which are the relationships, the conscientious teachers, the supportive parents and the quality of aspects of the children’s work. The inspection has identified issues such as the use of play, some imbalance within the English curriculum and aspects of the provision for special educational needs, which, when addressed, will enable the department to meet, more consistently, the needs of all of the children.
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