BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS

A. i. School: Drumaness Primary iii. Date of Inspection: W/B06/03/00
Ballynahinch

ii.School Reference Number: 403-1328 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused

(English/ICT)

B.

School Year / 1995/96 / 1996/97 / 1997/98 / 1998/99 / 1999/2000
Year 1 Intake / 26 / 28 / 20 / 13 / 25
Enrolments
Primary / 156 / 168 / 171 / 167 / 163
Reception / 11 / 4 / 2 / 12 / 16
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):95.05%

Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit

D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):9--
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)

ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):19.9 NI PTR: 19.9

iii.Average Class Size:22.4

iv.Class Size (Range):13-31

v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:18.50

ii. Official Making A Good15 hrs

Start Support:
iii. Making A Good Start funding105 hrs

additional hours and other

classroom assistant support:

vi.Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs:6

vii.Number of children who are not of statutory school age:16

viii. Number of families in school:120

ix.Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:25.8

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1.INTRODUCTION

1.1Drumaness Primary School was opened in 1939 and was renovated and extended in 1970. The school building includes facilities for disabled children, such as a chair lift and special toilet facilities. The school draws its children from the surrounding area and the village of Drumaness, which is some distance away. Approximately 26% of the children are entitled to free school meals.

1.2.Prior to the inspection all of the parents received a confidential questionnaire from the Department of Education seeking their views about the school; 37% of the families returned the completed questionnaire and in most instances, they added additional comments. Almost all of the responses were very positive about the life and work of the school. The vast majority of the parents expressed their confidence in the education which their children were receiving.

1.3.During the inspection, the inspectors held separate meetings with the Board of Governors and with the parents in order to listen to their views about the work of the school; their spoken comments supported the positive written responses in the questionnaires. The ten parents who attended the meeting were enthusiastic in their support for the school and warm in their appreciation of the work of the staff. In addition, the inspection team held discussions with groups of children in years 4 and 6.

1.4The inspection focused on the work in English and the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) across the curriculum.

2.SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

2.1There is a clear sense of community within the school and relationships are good at all levels. The teachers are caring and committed to the education and welfare of the children. The children who met with the members of the inspection team spoke positively about their teachers and their experiences of school, and were very sure about the support available to them if they had any difficulties. The children are courteous and welcoming to visitors, and work easily with one another and with their teachers in a good humoured manner.

2.2The day-to-day organisation of the school is orderly and every effort is made to ensure the safety and well-being of the children. The close links that the school has established with the parents and the high priority given to the care and welfare of the children enable any matters of concern to be dealt with quickly and appropriately. The school has a suitable policy on Child Protection and has continued to review its policies and procedures in pastoral care in line with the Department of Education Circular 1999/10. The school is currently developing an anti-bullying policy.

2.3The school uses a variety of approaches to develop the children’s confidence and pride in their work and behaviour. The teachers have developed a range of reward systems to motivate the children and to reward effort and achievement; there is evidence that this strategy is having a positive influence on the children’s behaviour and on their motivation in class.

2.4Education for Mutual Understanding (EMU) is evident in the school’s ethos and sense of community; the children are encouraged to be supportive of one another and respect each other’s views. The children also participate in a well-planned programme of joint activities with a controlled primary school. The school organises ‘club’ activities on a weekly basis. The children talk enthusiastically about these sessions, which include cookery, French, needlework, technology, drama and sport.

2.5The school acknowledges the need for a more structured approach to planning and the teachers have begun to work towards this end. English has been a focus for development in the school during the last academic year. The teachers have carried out a literacy audit and, as a result, have added a number of features to the English programme. In addition, they plan their work to a common format that is suitably comprehensive. The plans enable the teachers to be well prepared for their day-to-day work in the classroom, but a number of features need to be developed further. The major focus is on the planning of tasks and activities, and there is insufficient emphasis on planning for the range of the children’s ability in each class, andfor the use of ICT.

2.6During the inspection the majority of the teaching observed was satisfactory, a significant minority was good; in one instance, the teaching was of an unsatisfactory standard. In a significant minority of classes the children worked with enthusiasm and concentration when they were suitably supported or challenged. On those occasions when tasks were inappropriate or unclear, the children displayed considerable perseverance but often became less attentive or passive. Further monitoring is essential in order to ensure that the range of experiences provided adequately reflects the children’s needs and abilities.

2.7Where their teachers expectations are suitably high, the children present their work well; elsewhere many books are untidy. The quality of the teachers’ marking varies from conscientious and supportive, to that which is insufficiently geared towards assisting the children in improving their work. The teachers are currently devising a marking policy.

2.8The promotion of the children’s oral language skills varies across the year groups. In lessons with the younger children, there were examples of the teachers promoting the children’s confidence in their own ideas and building on their vocabulary during, for example, story reading and practical activity. The children also responded well to sessions of circle time when they had time to talk about their personal concerns and were encouraged to listen carefully to one another. In a key stage 2 (KS2) class, the children responded very positively to their teacher’s open-ended questions during a history lesson, and during a lesson on poetry writing. More generally the children are given insufficient time to explore their own thoughts in discussion, and are required to give only brief responses to the teachers’ questions. There is insufficient opportunity for the children to develop the skills required for group discussion.

2.9The skills of reading are taught consistently across the school, and the majority of the children make satisfactory progress towards independence as readers. The teachers encourage the children to develop personal reading habits through using the school library, and through the half-hourly silent reading period each week for each class. There are attractive displays of a range of books in the classrooms, usually relating to a current class topic. The ways in which the children respond to their reading vary. In some classes they are enabled to respond imaginatively. In one class, for example, the children composed their own questions on a story and these formed the basis of a class quiz that drew an enthusiastic response from them. In some instances, the main response is through set writing tasks which require the children to search the text for various linguistic features with insufficient opportunities for the children to work together and to present their responses to their reading in alternative ways, including orally.

2.10The teachers have made a major effort to extend the variety of forms of writing, including forms of poetry, which the children undertake. The classrooms have displays of words which in some cases reflect current themes. The teachers display the children’s work in the classrooms and in the corridors. The school’s link with another primary school is well exploited by the teachers to enable some of the older children to write for a real purpose in exchanging letters to the children in their partner school. These good examples, however, often sit in isolation, and overall, as the children progress through the school, too much of their writing consists of exercises in comprehension and use of English. In only a few classes do they write in their own words in subjects such as history, geography and science. The progress they make in writing is modest.

2.11Some useful progress has been made in extending the use of ICT during this school year. The school has carried out an audit of the teachers’ competences and needs in ICT; all the teachers have recently attended a basic training course in computers. The children have begun to use computers to support their work in different areas of the curriculum; for example, they handle data, they explore direction and shape in mathematics, and use the CD-ROM to research information for their topics in science and history. They have some opportunities to use programmable devices such as ‘Roamer’. They also use computers effectively to present work for classroom and corridor displays; the children would benefit from more extensive and consistent opportunities to compose and edit text on screen. In general, there is insufficient progress and consistency in the children’s experiences in ICT; it is timely that the teachers have prioritised this area for review in the school development plan.

2.12There are currently fourteen under-age children enrolled in a morning reception class; seven have started since November1999. The current arrangements for enrolling the reception children immediately after their fourth birthday is not in keeping with the advice offered by the Department of Education Circular1990/27. The reception children have settled well into school life and experience a varied and appropriate programme of activities. The deployment of a fully trained Reading Recovery teacher as their class teacher adversely affects the organisation of the school’s programme for children with special educational needs.

2.13A teacher has been nominated to take overall responsibility for the development of special educational needs (SEN) provision in the school. In addition, the reception teacher, the principal and another teacher provide support for thirty-eight children who are withdrawn from class for support in English and/or mathematics. This support is helpful but there are important aspects of the school’s SEN provision which require attention and improvement. These include, in particular: the extent to which the class teachers make appropriate provision for those children considered to have special educational needs; the use made of the results of tests to diagnose the children’s particular difficulties, and the co-ordination of the support for each child. Appropriately, the school has identified the need to review its provision for children with special educational needs.

2.14The school has developed a number of initiatives to involve parents more fully in their children’s education. For example, the parents of children in years 3 to 6 have taken part in a paired reading programme. Some of the parents are supporting their children’s work with computers through their weekly attendance at a ‘Families Together Club’ organised by the East Down Institute. The school keeps parents informed of all events and of their children’s progress through. regular newsletters, annual reports and curriculum meetings. There is an active Parents’ Support Group whose fund-raising activities have augmented the school’s resources.

2.15The ancillary staff make a valuable contribution to the life and work of the school. The school buildings and grounds are tidy and very well-kept; the standard of care-taking is good. The outdoor play area has recently been re-tarmaced and extensively marked for playground games. The corridors, assembly hall and the classrooms are enlivened by displays of the children’s work and photographs depicting the life of the school.

2.16The principal has been in post for just over twelve months. She is ably supported by the vice-principal; the senior management team and the teachers work well together. The principal places a strong emphasis on developing the caring ethos of the school and developing links with parents and the surrounding community. She has devised policies with the staff to cover all the main aspects of school life and has invited the views of the parents through the use of questionnaires. The curriculum audit which the teachers undertook has resulted in a school development plan (SDP) which contains identified priorities for action. This inspection confirms that these priorities are appropriate areas for development.

2.17The school has strengths such as the positive ethos, the good relationships at all levels, the positive approach to discipline, the responsive children, caring teachers and supportive parents. The inspection has identified issues such as the need to develop further the teachers’ planning, aspects of English, ICT and special educational needs provision. These issues need to be addressed if the school is to meet, more consistently, the needs of all the children.

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