/ Providing Inspection Services for
Department of Education
Department for Employment and Learning
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
Education and Training InspectorateReport of a Focused Inspection
Holy Rosary Primary School
Belfast
Inspected: May 2004
CONTENTS
SectionPage
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
1.INTRODUCTION1
2.THE QUALITY OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK1
3.CONCLUSION5
APPENDIX7
BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS
A. i. School: Holy Rosary Primary, iii. Date of Inspection: W/B 17.05.04
Belfast
ii.School Reference Number: 103-0327 iv. Nature of Inspection: FI/English/ICT
B.
School Year / 1999/00 / 2000/01 / 2001/02 / 2002/03 / 2003/04Year 1 Intake / 46 / 43 / 48 / 40 / 43
Enrolments
Primary / 400 / 379 / 360 / 329 / 320
Reception / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Nursery Class/Classes / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
Special Unit / 0 / 0 / 0 / 1 / 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%
Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit
D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):16.3600
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)
ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):19.5 NI PTR: 19.9
iii.Average Class Size:22.9
iv.Class Size (Range):18 to 30
v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:30
ii. Official Making A Good30
Start Support:
iii. Making A Good Start funding40
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:26.9%
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1Holy Rosary Primary School is situated just off SunnysideStreet in southBelfast. Many of the children who attend the school come from the immediate vicinity, although a significant number travel from outside the area. Just over 25% of the children are entitled to free school meals.
1.2In common with nearly all of the primary schools in the area, the enrolment has declined in recent years. At the time of the last focused inspection in 1993 the enrolment was 420 children; the current figure is 320.
1.3The inspection focused on the quality of the children’s experiences in English and information and communication technology (ICT), and on the school’s arrangements for pastoral care, including child protection.
1.4As part of the inspection process, meetings were held with the Board of Governors, and with a small group of children in year6. The parents’ views on aspects of the life and work of the school were also sought by means of a questionnaire. Approximately 110 questionnaires were sent to parents by the school; 62% of these were returned to the Department of Education (DE), half of which contained additional written comments. Nearly all of the responses in the questionnaires were very positive. In particular, the parents highlighted as significant strengths: the caring family ethos created by the staff; the good links with the parents; the many extra-curricular activities provided for the children and the hard-working staff. In addition, the Board of Governors commended the leadership of the Principal. The inspection team endorses all of these views. A small number of parents raised concerns about the manner in which alleged incidents of bullying were handled; this matter is dealt with in the main body of the report. The very few other areas of concern that were raised by the parents were discussed with the governors and the Principal.
2.THE QUALITY OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK
2.1The school is characterised by its welcoming atmosphere. The children are friendly, courteous and are very willing to talk about the school and their work; learning takes place in a secure, happy environment. The standard of the children’s behaviour throughout the school is excellent.
2.2Relationships in the classrooms are very good; the teachers are strongly committed to the children and are considerate of their welfare.
2.3The bright, interesting displays of the children’s work enhance the appearance of all areas of the school. The standards of caretaking and cleaning are excellent.
2.4The comprehensive programme of extra-curricular activities is a feature of the school and provides the children with enriching opportunities to develop further their interests, particularly in music and physical education. The children’s learning and social development are also enhanced through the regular visits to places of educational interest. These activities help to develop the children’s confidence, sense of inter-dependence and self-esteem.
2.5Parents are welcomed into the school at any time. The school reports that a small number of parents, who have undertaken a training course organised by the school, regularly assist the teachers in the teaching of reading to the younger children. There is an active Home-School Association which provides opportunities for the parents to meet regularly. Through a number of well-organised fund-raising activities this association makes a significant contribution to school funds.
2.6A comprehensive range of policies relating to pastoral care and child protection has been developed; these have been communicated effectively to parents. Many of the policies have been reviewed and updated recently. There is a need to monitor the impact of these newly revised pastoral policies, including the procedures for handling alleged incidents of bullying. The children benefit from Circle Time and aspects of a personal and social development programme which have been integrated effectively into classroom practice. An appropriate and helpful series of school rules has been developed, in consultation with the children. Personal safety notices are displayed prominently in each classroom and the safe use of the Internet is promoted. The children report that they take pride in their school, enjoy their learning experiences and are aware of the procedures to follow if they have a problem. The school is implementing the guidance outlined in the DE Circular1999/10, “Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection.”
2.7The teachers are very hard-working and conscientious; they are well-prepared for their lessons and they often have realistically high expectations of what the children can achieve. The overall quality of the teaching observed during the inspection was good; in approximately one-third of the lessons there were many significant strengths. In the best practice observed during the inspection, the teachers had taken account of the wide range of abilities within the classes, had edited the available materials to match the children’s needs and employed teaching strategies which motivated the children and encouraged them to do their best.
2.8The children settle quickly to the tasks set and they work steadily. Many are very articulate and the vast majority show interest in their learning. When given the opportunity, they discuss their work with considerable enthusiasm and ability. By year 7 the children have made good progress and most achieve good standards in many aspects of their work.
2.9The work of the school is supported by useful whole-school planning documents which ensure that all children study a good range of topics across the curriculum. The teachers in each year group meet regularly to prepare their work; the plans provide a useful overview of the content and activities to be covered at each primary level. A feature of the teachers’ planning is the increasing emphasis being placed on the identification of clearly defined learning outcomes and how these are to be achieved. The teachers have identified in the School Development Plan (SDP) the need to develop further their approaches to planning, in particular, the need to identify more clearly how the needs of the less able children are to be met within the classroom.
2.10The planning for structured play has been reviewed recently; it is comprehensive and is designed to provide a broad and balanced programme of learning activities for the children. Suitable resources are identified clearly and the children’s access to the wide range of planned activities enables them to develop important social skills and to experience success in their learning. The programme reflects various themes and supports the development of, and progression in,the children’s learning. Appropriate emphasis is placed on the systematic development of talking and listening skills and on the consolidation and assessment of the children’s learning through play.
2.11The school has participated recently in the Belfast Education and Library Board (BELB) Literacy Strategy. The teachers, in conjunction with a BELB Curriculum and Advisory Support Service (CASS) officer, have devised an action plan for reading, which identifies appropriate priorities including the development of shared, guided and modelled reading strategies. The action plan has clearly stated outcomes and outlines the processes through which these can be achieved. The English co-ordinator has worked energetically, with good support from the Principal and from the other members of staff, to implement this element of the Literacy Strategy. Good progress has been made in meeting the targets identified in the action plan.
2.12The teachers have undertaken an appropriate review of their approaches to the teaching of reading. Parents are provided with good quality, practical advice on developing and supporting their children’s reading skills. Reading is developed systematically by the selective use of commercial reading schemes throughout both key stages. Skilful use is made of a good range of teaching strategies designed to encourage the children to read and enjoy books. By the end of key stage (KS)1 the majority of children have acquired a good level of independence in reading and they engage in extended discussions, with their teachers and their peers, on questions relating to their favourite characters and stories. In KS2 the children enjoy reading a range of carefully selected fiction and non-fiction material. Book areas in the classrooms are well-stocked and the teachers have been building up an accessible supply of dictionaries and thesauri and other reference materials. The children make appropriate use of these materials when working independently and in small groups.
2.13The development of talking and listening skills is promoted effectively in all classes. These skills are linked effectively to appropriate reading and writing activities. In the early years, a careful emphasis is placed on extending the children’s oral vocabulary. The children are keen to contribute to discussions in class, they respond enthusiastically to their teachers’ questions and listen attentively to the contributions made by their peers. Within KS2 the children contribute enthusiastically to class discussion, expressing their opinions clearly and confidently. On occasion, however, the oral exchanges are over-directed by the teacher.
2.14The development of extended and independent writing for a variety of purposes and audiences is promoted effectively in almost all classes. The children are encouraged to express their own ideas and opinions; most of them demonstrate an increasing confidence and fluency in their writing. The children respond with enthusiasm and motivation to the wide variety of opportunities for writing that are presented and they express their ideas clearly and accurately. Some of the work in other subjects, for example history and geography, provides a useful context for developing the children’s writing skills. In many classes the writing tasks are differentiated appropriately, with a range of strategies in place for those who require support, and interesting, open-ended tasks for those children who write creatively on their own.
2.15The school has identified the further development of the programme for ICT as a priority and has included it in the current SDP. This year the work is focused appropriately on increasing staff confidence in the use of ICT and on ensuring progression in the work involving communication and data-handling across the curriculum. A useful school policy for ICT has been drawn up; it links the development of ICT to the school aims and ethos, and to the development of the work across the curriculum. All of the classes have regular access to modern computers and all of the teachers have completed successfully the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training course in ICT. Increasingly, the teachers are identifying specific opportunities to exploit ICT within their half-term and daily planning.
2.16In many of the lessons seen, for example, in English, mathematics and science, the use of ICT was incorporated effectively into the work. The children have good opportunities to draft text and to use software to produce pictures and add graphics. Much of this work is displayed attractively in the classrooms and corridors. The teachers in both key stages are making increasing use of the digital camera to record events and school trips and to manipulate images that can be included in school or class newspapers. In both key stages there is evidence of the effective use of ICT to manipulate, process and present data. The children have many good opportunities to research particular topics using ICT, and to extract information from educational websites. The school recognises the need to assess and to report more systematically on the children’s achievements in ICT; this year, as part of a pilot project, a group of year7 children have been entered for the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) KS2 ICT accreditation scheme.
2.17The school makes good provision for children with special educational needs (SEN). Approximately 20% of the children have been identified by the school as requiring additional learning support. Most of these children have learning difficulties in literacy and numeracy and a small number have special needs in relation to aspects of their behaviour. There is a clear policy statement and supporting documentation to support the work in SEN. The programme recognises the importance of early identification of, and support for, these children. In recent years, considerable additional resources have been allocated to SEN. A part-time teacher has been employed to provide additional teaching for approximately 30 children, either individually or in small groups. The school also has a teacher being trained to work with four year2 children as part of the Reading Recovery initiative. A few children have specific learning needs and they receive regular support in school from outreach centres. All of this work is carried out in a systematic, effective, patient and supportive manner. The school has identified improvements in the children’s attitude, behaviour, self-confidence and self-esteem as a result of the support provided. In addition, there is some evidence of qualitative and quantitative gains in the children’s skills in reading and writing.
2.18The Principal has been in post for approximately two years; he is enthusiastic, committed to the school, and has given clear and effective leadership in many aspects of the school’s work. He has been ably supported in this work by the Vice-Principal.
2.19Clear and effective procedures for monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning and the standards achieved by the children have been introduced. A feature of these procedures is the extent to which a wide range of first-hand evidence is used to make judgements about the quality of the children’s learning and to set appropriate targets for improvement. It is appropriate that the SDP identifies the need to involve the subject co-ordinators more actively in this process.
2.20The school places a high priority to the implementation of thorough, appropriate and systematic assessment, recording and reporting arrangements across years1 to 7. Detailed written reports are issued to the parents once a year and the school reports that most of the parents make use of the opportunity afforded to them to meet with the teachers to discuss their children’s progress. A marking policy has been devised to ensure consistency in the teachers’ marking and to contribute to raising the standard of the children’s work. The senior management in the school is monitoring closely the implementation of the marking policy.
2.21Arrangements for staff deployment are presently under review. The Principal links effectively the staff development programme to the priorities identified in the SDP.
2.22The classroom assistants and ancillary staff are appropriately deployed to support the teachers and to provide additional help for individuals and groups of children in the classes; they make a valuable and worthwhile contribution to the children’s learning.
2.23The school is located on a spacious site; there are good hard and grassed play areas for the children. The school was built in 1966; although it is well-maintained, some aspects of its design limits some aspects of the curriculum. In particular the acoustics are very poor. Sound travels between the classrooms easily; this can be distracting for the children.