/ 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
St John’s Primary School
Eglish
Inspected: April 2002
BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS
A. i. School: St John’s Primary iii. Date of Inspection: W/B29/04/02
Eglish
ii.School Reference Number: 503-0958 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused
B.
School Year / 1997/98 / 1998/99 / 1999/00 / 2000/01 / 2001/02Year 1 Intake / 4 / 9 / 8 / 2 / 4
Enrolments
Primary / 40 / 42 / 44 / 43 / 43
Reception / 6 / 2 / 0 / 2 / 1
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):95.7%
Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit
D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):3.2--
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)
ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):13.75 NI PTR: 19.9
iii.Average Class Size:6.14
iv.Class Size (Range):2-10
v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:5
ii. Official Making A Good-
Start Support:
iii. Making A Good Start funding-
additional hours and other
classroom assistant support:
vi.Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs:1
vii.Number of children who are not of statutory school age:1
viii. Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:9.09%
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1St John’s (1) Eglish Primary School is located in an attractive, rural setting, about seven miles from Portadown in North Armagh. The children come from the surrounding townlands and most of them travel to school by bus. The enrolment has remained stable in recent years and stands currently at 45; just under 10% of the children are entitled to receive free school meals.
1.2As part of the arrangements for the inspection of pastoral care, separate meetings were held with parents, governors and children. In addition, prior to the inspection, over 80% of the parents completed the confidential questionnaire from the Department of Education (DE) seeking their views about the school. In their responses, the parents and governors alike are satisfied with, and appreciative of, the work of the school. They praised especially the broad range of educational experiences provided for the children and the individual attention they receive from their teachers. The inspection findings confirm these views; the confidence of the parents and governors in all aspects of the school’s work is well placed. Concerns were expressed in the meetings about the small number of children enrolling in recent years and about the number of children in the vicinity who are transported by bus to more distant schools.
1.3The inspection focused on the work in literacy, information and communications technology (ICT) and pastoral care.
2.THE QUALITY OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK
2.1The school is characterised by its strong sense of community and by its friendly, family atmosphere. The teachers know the children well and relationships at all levels are excellent. The standards of behaviour are exemplary. The children are confident and polite; they show respect for their teachers and they co-operate well with one another. They are interested in their work and are motivated to learn. The children who met with the members of the inspection team spoke favourably about their experiences in the school; they were very confident about the support available to them if they had any difficulties.
2.2The teachers and ancillary staff are highly committed to caring for all of the children. They place a strong emphasis on the children’s safety and security. Effective routines have been established for the safe movement of the children to and from the separate sites of the school on either side of a public road.
2.3The classrooms contain attractive displays of the children’s work on a range of current topics; a particular feature of the learning environment created is the high quality of the art and design work. The standard of caretaking and cleanliness throughout the school is good.
2.4In May2000, a group of 19 children, accompanied by the teaching and ancillary staffs, were invited to Washington DC where they gave a performance of Irish traditional music and dance as part of the Millennium Festival.
2.5The staff work well as a team and have a common sense of purpose. The classroom assistants are deployed effectively and make a valuable and worthwhile contribution to the children’s education and welfare.
2.6The teachers have developed a suitable range of policies on pastoral care and child protection which set out clear procedures and guidelines; additional guidance on anti-bullying and discipline are included in the school’s documentation. The children have a sound knowledge of the school rules which are displayed prominently in the classrooms. The designated teachers are aware of their roles and responsibilities; they have attended appropriate training in child protection matters. The parents have been informed of the school’s procedures for child protection. All of the classes have the opportunity to participate in Circle Time activities and to talk about pastoral issues which affect them. The school has in place the procedures outlined in the Department of Education Circular 1999/10, “Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection”.
2.7The quality of teaching throughout the school is consistently good and often it is excellent.
2.8Planning for literacy is comprehensive and covers all of the attainment targets of the Programme of Study (POS) of the Northern Ireland Curriculum (NIC). In addition to the literacy policy, the half-termly schemes of work have a suitable emphasis on the identification of intended learning outcomes and on progression and continuity in the children’s work. Helpful references to the integration of ICT into the literacy programme have been included. The planning is evaluated regularly by the teachers and reviewed appropriately when required.
2.9The school has identified the development of literacy as one of its main priorities. The teachers have set a number of targets for improving the children’s reading and writing. There is a systematic approach to the teaching of reading in the early years. Two members of staff are trained Reading Recovery teachers and they use an effective range of techniques which help the children become independent readers. The children’s reading skills are developed progressively as they move through the school. In each classroom there is a stimulating reading environment; sets of novels have been acquired which allow appropriate gradual expansion from the structured reading scheme. The teachers have prepared meaningful reading and associated writing activities for the children which are based on their novel work. During the literacy sessions, the children work effectively in groups and respond well to the different tasks set. By the end of year 7 the majority of the children are confident readers and many read with expression.
2.10The children experience an appropriately balanced programme of structured writing activities, based on aspects of grammar and punctuation, combined with opportunities for the development of their personal and creative writing skills. The children’s ability to write independently develops progressively in the early years. The younger children compose simple sentences; they begin by recording their own ideas and they extend this gradually to their learning across much of the curriculum. Most of the children become independent writers by the end of key stage (KS) 1. The older children write a wide variety of stories, news reports, letters and poems. A notable feature is the high quality of the written work associated with their reading, especially their comments and views about the characters and main events of their novels. In addition to writing for a range of audiences, they carry out small-scale research on topics of their own interest.
2.11In all classes there is a strong emphasis placed on the promotion of talking and listening skills. The teachers use a range of approaches to encourage and involve all of the children in discussion and the use of open questions, in particular, allows the children to explain and voice their opinions in more extended responses. The younger children recount their experiences during structured play to their peers, and the older children have opportunities for in-depth discussion in English and in other subjects. The majority of the children can express themselves confidently and fluently.
2.12The planning for structured play is good. In the area of the classroom designated for structured play, there are appropriate commercial and teacher-prepared displays which support the children’s learning. There is a broad range of activities and resources provided for the children. In the lessons observed, the children settled quickly, made good use of the resources and responded confidently to the questions asked about their activities. Towards the end of the structured play session, the children were given time and the opportunity to talk about their play to one another and, with the help of the teacher they were able to tell about the different activities in which they engaged. The newly appointed classroom assistant works conscientiously with the children during their structured play. The sessions of play are used appropriately to consolidate the children’s language acquisition and to enrich their vocabulary.
2.13The teachers avail of appropriate in-service training (INSET) and use a suitable range of standardised tests to help them diagnose, at the earliest possible stage, the children’s learning difficulties. Two of the staff are trained in using the Reading Recovery programme with the children; this is having a beneficial effect on the individual children who require additional reading support. The teaching approaches used in Reading Recovery are applied effectively to support the other children in their classes. There are comprehensive records kept of the children’s progress over time. Where necessary, education plans are prepared for individual children, suitable targets for achievement are set and there is on-going review of the progress made by the children. The school maintains regular contact with the educational psychologist of the Southern Education and Library Board (SELB), and the teachers speak highly of the level of support and advice which is provided. The needs of the very few children that are deemed by the school to have learning difficulties are well met by the teachers and, in addition, good support is provided by the classroom assistant for special educational needs.
2.14The planning and preparation for teaching the children the skills necessary to make best use of ICT in their work are thorough, carefully planned and implemented appropriately across the curriculum and in all the year groups. Recently, the latest Classroom 2000 technology was installed in the school and the children have access to high quality computers and programmes, and to the extensive learning materials available from the Internet. The teachers make very good use of ICT as one of a range of suitable teaching strategies employed, and the children respond very positively to ICT as a stimulus for their reading, writing, talking and listening activities. Throughout both key stages, there is clear evidence that the children are developing, progressively, a broad range of competences associated with using ICT for a variety of purposes, including the enrichment of their use of language in communication. By the end of KS2, the children are confident users of ICT and they are able to explain how they use different programmes to support and improve their work. Currently, the children in year 7 are preparing portfolios of evidence of their competence in the use of the four strands of ICT for submission to the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), in order to obtain external accreditation for their newly-acquired skills.
2.15The accommodation comprises two temporary classrooms and one permanent classroom; the size of one of the temporary classrooms limits significantly the work of the children. DE has approved the provision of a new temporary classroom and additional toilet facilities. The school is located on two separate sites on either side of a public road; this creates a potential safety hazard. The children are escorted when moving between classroom and dining-hall.
2.16The principal, who has been in post for four years, provides strongleadership and clear direction for the work of the school. He has established a culture of collegiality and a team approach to planning and curricular development. The principal is well-supported by the two assistant teachers. Relationships among the staff are very good and morale is high. The school development plan outlines the key issues facing the school; structures are in place to monitor and review progress, and to promote improvement in all aspects of the school’s provision.
2.17The school has many significant strengths in respect of the quality of learning, teaching and management. These include the exemplary behaviour of the children, the excellent relationships, the strong sense of community, the good standards in literacy and ICT achieved by the majority of the children, the consistently good teaching throughout the school and the effective leadership of the principal. The needs of all of the children are being well met and a high standard of education is provided.
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CROWN COPYRIGHT 2002
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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: