/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education and Training Inspectorate
Report of a Focused Inspection
Broughshane Primary School
Inspected: January 2003

BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS

A. i. School: Broughshane Primary iii. Date of Inspection: 28.01.03

ii.School Reference Number: 301-3310 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused

B.

School Year / 1998/99 / 1999/00 / 2000/01 / 2001/02 / 2002/03
Year 1 Intake / 50 / 41 / 41 / 45 / 35
Enrolments
Primary / 301 / 310 / 320 / 325 / 304
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):97.34%

Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit

D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):14--
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)

ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):21.7 NI PTR: 19.9

iii.Average Class Size:25.3

iv.Class Size (Range):16-31

v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:28

ii. Official Making A Good30

Start Support:
iii. Making A Good Start funding83.5

additional hours and other

classroom assistant support:

vi.Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs:3

vii.Number of children who are not of statutory school age:0

viii. Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:5%

1.INTRODUCTION

1.1Broughshane Primary School is situated in the village of Broughshane, about three miles to the east of Ballymena. The vast majority of the children live in the vicinity of the school. The enrolment increased steadily from 301 children in 1998/99 to 325 children in 2001/02; the current enrolment is 304 children. About 5% of the children are entitled to free school meals.

1.2The arrangements for the inspection of pastoral care included the completion of confidential questionnaires by a random sample of the parents, as well as meetings with the parents, the governors and groups of the children. Nearly all of the responses from the parents were supportive or strongly supportive of the school. A few parents indicated their concern about their knowledge of child protection procedures, class sizes and composite classes. These issues are dealt with in paragraphs 2.2 and 2.13 below. The governors expressed strong support for the work of the school.

1.3The inspection focused on English, information and communication technology (ICT) and pastoral care, including child protection.

2.SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS

2.1The children are courteous, mannerly and welcoming to visitors; they are well behaved and co-operate readily with their teachers. The relationships at all levels in the school are very good. The children’s achievements are celebrated by attractive displays of their work in the classrooms and corridors. The bright, colourful and stimulating environment is a feature of the school.

2.2The teachers create a secure, supportive environment in which the children feel at ease and valued. An effective peer support system promotes the children’s sense of personal responsibility towards others. There is a comprehensive range of pastoral policies relating to positive behaviour, drugs misuse, anti-bullying and boys’ underachievement. The parents receive helpful information about the school’s child protection procedures. The provision for the pastoral care of the children is a strength of the school. The guidance outlined in the Department of Education (DE) Circular 1999/10, “Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection” is being implemented.

2.3The planning for teaching and learning is thorough and the teachers are well-prepared for individual lessons. Useful schemes of work, half-termly planners and weekly notes guide teaching and learning. The planning includes effective strategies to improve the achievement of boys.

2.4The standard of the teaching is always good and often excellent. Lessons are conducted at a brisk pace and the teachers’ expectations of the children are realistically high. The teachers use a wide range of effective approaches to promote the children’s learning. There is a good match between the work offered and the needs and abilities of the children. The children are interested in learning and well motivated in classes. They work well in groups and readily share ideas. The ancillary staff make a significant contribution to the children’s learning.

2.5Structured play is used effectively in the early years to establish basic ideas and concepts. The teachers have recently reviewed the programme and are working in close partnership to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision. The children are settled, interested and co-operative during the sessions. They participate with enthusiasm in a wide range of activities. The management of the programme is excellent and the children gain much from the experiences provided.

2.6The school has benefited from inclusion in the Northern Ireland Literacy Strategy. Revised schemes of work for reading and writing have been drawn up following an audit of provision in the school.

2.7Reading is taught systematically in the early years. A wide range of appropriate strategies, such as paired and shared reading, is used effectively to develop the children’s skills. Reading Recovery techniques are used successfully to help a number of children who are experiencing difficulties with reading. By the end of key stage (KS) 1, most children are able to read with fluency, accuracy and understanding. The children’s reading skills are developed further as they progress through the school. Class novels are used effectively and are often the stimulus for good oral interactions. Reading activities are well supported by the wide selection of books within each of the key stage libraries.

2.8The school places a strong emphasis on developing the children’s writing skills. Structured play activities and the children’s own experiences and ideas are used appropriately as a stimulus for early writing and recording. Throughout KS1, the teachers provide a stimulating writing environment; key words are on display, word walls are built up, suitable dictionaries are made available and good opportunities are provided for the children to write independently. As the children progress through KS2 they are increasingly able to write for a range of purposes; they have opportunities to write stories, letters, poetry and factual descriptions. There is some variation in the extent to which the children’s writing is developed across the curriculum. The children, especially the more able, would benefit from more regular opportunities to write in their own words.

2.9The children’s talking and listening skills are well developed and are often appropriately linked to reading and writing activities. Structured play in the early years provides good opportunities to promote the children’s language development. As they mature, the children are increasingly able to talk about aspects of their work; the children in a year 7 class, for example, clearly and succinctly articulated their opinions during a debate on a contemporary environmental issue. By the end of KS2 most children are achieving standards which are in line with their abilities.

2.10The teachers have completed an intensive training programme on the use of ICT as a learning resource and new hardware and software have been installed recently. There is much enthusiasm for the use of ICT in the school; the teachers, for example, use a range of packages to produce attractive resources to support the children’s learning and the digital camera and data projector are used to record and project images of previously completed work.

2.11From the early years, the children, working with increasing independence, write simple sentences and stories on the computer. The children in year 2, for example, used a word-processing package to write about their visit to a local bridge. By the end of KS1, most are able to compose, edit, save and print text. The older children extend their word-processing skills, often enhancing the presentation of their work by adding images from graphics packages. They make increasingly effective use of the Internet to undertake individual or group research. By the end of year 7 the children’s skills in using ICT to communicate are generally satisfactory; they need more opportunities, however, to develop their skills in information handling and control. The ICT resources in the school are managed effectively and the children have ready access to the computers. The introduction of strategies to develop and record the children’s ICT skills in all three strands is a key priority for the school.

2.12The school has developed effective measures for identifying, at an early stage, those children who require additional help with their learning. Appropriate education plans have been drawn up and well-conceived individual support is provided, either in-class or on a withdrawal basis. The teachers employ a wide range of teaching strategies to address the children’s difficulties. Progress is monitored regularly and helpful records are maintained. The special educational needs co-ordinator provides sensitive, thorough and systematic leadership.

2.13There have been significant changes in the senior management team over the last two years and new roles and responsibilities are becoming embedded. The new team are caring and enthusiastic and keen to build on past successes and develop new provision. The management and the staff work well as a team and are highly supportive of one another. The school is well-organised and resources are deployed in ways which benefit all of the children. The principal is thorough in carrying out his duties and responsibilities. The School Development Plan focuses on many important areas for improvement. A revision of the plan is necessary to include; clear priorities and realistic timescales for action, suitable criteria to measure success and strategies to monitor, evaluate and review the improvements being implemented. There are co-ordinators for all areas of the curriculum and they provide good support for their colleagues. They require more opportunities and time to monitor and evaluate the quality of provision in their areas of responsibility.

2.14The accommodation is well kept and the standard of care taking is good. There are insufficient permanent classrooms for the number of children enrolled. There is restricted administrative accommodation, there are few small rooms for individual and/or group work, the storage facilities are inadequate and car parking space is insufficient.

2.15The school has important strengths such as: the good relationships at all levels; the friendly, well-mannered and co-operative children; the high quality of the pastoral care of the children; the industrious and effective teachers; the high quality of the teaching and learning; the programme provided for the development of the children’s skills in English and the provision for children with special educational needs. This report has identified areas for improvement that the school needs to address if it is to meet, more consistently the needs of all the children. These areas for improvement include: the further development of the ICT provision, particularly modelling and information handling at KS2 and the school development planning process, together with strategies to monitor, evaluate and review the provision throughout the learning cycle.

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APPENDIX

HEALTH AND SAFETY

1.Corrosive and poisonous liquids should be stored in locked cupboards which are inaccessible to children.

2.Guillotines should be fitted with suitable safety guards.

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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2003

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.

Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection Services Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House, 43 Balloo Road, Bangor, Co Down BT19 7PR. A copy is also available on the DE website: www.deni.gov.uk