/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department of Higher and Further
Education, Training and Employment
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2001
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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: / FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION
OF
BALLYORAN PRIMARY SCHOOL
PORTADOWN
JUNE 2000
The Chairman of the Board of Governors
Ballyoran Primary School
Ballyoran Park
Portadown
CRAIGAVON
Co Armagh
BT62 1JYAugust 2000
Dear Sir/Madam
FOLLOW-UP TO THE FOCUSED INSPECTIONin BALLYORAN PRIMARY SCHOOL, PORTADOWN
The focused inspection of English and Educational Themes in January 1999 highlighted strengths in: the excellent relationships throughout the school; commitment of the staff; some effective teaching and the quality of the teachers’ short-term planning and identified the need for improvement in the following key areas:
  • the need to extend across all year groups, the effective teaching of reading and writing to enable all the children to make secure progress, resulting in improvement in the children’s achievements in reading and writing.
In the interval since the inspection, the following changes which affect the work of the school have taken place.
  • The Board of Governors’ and staff of the school, in conjunction with support staff from the Southern Education and Library Board have drawn up a detailed Action Plan which covered such areas as planning, teaching, structured play, Information and Communication Technology and the quality of the provision in the nursery unit.
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  • The staff reviewed progress early in the second term and provided a summary of progress for the follow-up inspection (FUI).
The Education and Training Inspectorate carried out a FUI on 6June 2000. The followingare the most important improvements which have been implemented since the original inspection:
  • discernible progress has been made under each area identified in the Action Plan;
  • the staff has reviewed provision in reading; as a result the children experience a wider range of more challenging reading materials;
  • the teachers are beginning to make more use of shared and modelled reading and writing; in key stage 1 there was clear evidence of improving standards in writing, in particular independent and creative writing;
  • morale among the staff is good; a collaborative approach to curriculum development has been more firmly established;
  • the support provided by officers of SELB Curriculum Advisory and Support Service has been valued by the staff and there is evidence of a positive influence on classroom practice.
The school has made good progress in addressing the key areas for action. The parents, pupils and broader community can have confidence in the school’s commitment to improvement.
Yours faithfully
MARION J MATCHETT (MISS)
Chief Inspector