CONTENTS
SectionPage
1.INTRODUCTION1
2.MAIN FINDINGS2
3.CONCLUSION3
APPENDIX 1
APPENDIX 2
1.INTRODUCTION
1.1CONTEXT
Loreto Grammar School is a voluntary girls selective post-primary school, situated in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone. Approximately 37% of the pupils come from the town itself and the rest travel from the surrounding rural area within a radius of approximately 25 miles. The enrolment has varied in recent years and is currently 920; approximately 13% of the pupils are entitled to free school meals. Over the previous three years, 89% of the pupils transferring obtained grades A and B in the transfer test. The school has identified 1.8% of the pupils as being in need of special educational help with their learning.
There are plans for a new school building which will be funded through a public private partnership.
1.2FOCUS
The inspection focused on leadership and management at whole-school level and also in the subjects of careers, information and communication technology (ICT) and physical education. The inspection also considered the school’s pastoral care provision, including child protection.
1.3THE VIEWS OF PARENTS, GOVERNORS, PUPILS AND TEACHERS
The arrangements for the inspection of pastoral care and child protection included the completion of questionnaires by a sample of the parents, as well as meetings with the Board of Governors (governors), and with groups of pupils from years 8, 12 and 14. Prior to the inspection, confidential questionnaires were sent to 189 parents and 44% of them returned completed questionnaires; in addition, a minority of parents took the opportunity to write additional comments. Eighteen teachers also completed confidential questionnaires. The responses from the questionnaires, and the comments from the parents and governors, indicated, in nearly all cases, their complete satisfaction with the work of the school. In particular, they mentioned the high esteem in which the school is held in the local community. The pupils reported that they felt happy and secure in the school. The inspection findings confirm that the confidence expressed in these aspects of the school’s work is well placed. The very few matters raised through the questionnaires were discussed with the Principal and governors. The governors also reported that they were well-informed about the work of the school and involved fully with the formulating of relevant policies and practices.
1.4THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR CHILD PROTECTION
The school has procedures in place which enable the staff to implement the guidelines outlined in the Department of Education (DE) Circular 1999/10 ‘Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection’, and in Circular 2003/13, ‘Welfare and Protection of Pupils Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order’.
1.5EXAMINATION RESULTS
Overall, the standards achieved by the pupils across the subjects at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level, General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced (A2) level and Vocational Certificate of Education (VCE) level are good. In 2005, approximately 95% of pupils achieved grades A* to C in at least seven GCSE subjects; approximately 78% of pupils achieved grades A to C in at least three GCE A2 level subjects. Both of these percentages are above the Northern Ireland (NI) average for similar schools and show an improvement on the previous two years. Over the previous three years, in most GCSE subjects the proportion of pupils obtaining grades A* to C was above or within five percentage points of the corresponding NI average for girls in selective schools; in a majority of GCE A level subjects the proportion of pupils obtaining grades A to C was above or within five percentage points of the corresponding NI average for girls. More details about the examination results are provided in appendices 1 and 2.
The year 13 pupils undertake courses leading to qualifications in the three key skills of Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology. In 2005, most pupils achieved at least one key skill and a minority achieved all three key skills.
2.MAIN FINDINGS
2.1The strengths of the school include:
- the excellent ethos which is founded on the Loreto Education tradition;
- the exemplary behaviour of the pupils;
- the pupils’ confidence and self-esteem;
- the support of the parents, the governors, the non-teaching staff and the wider community;
- the hard-work and commitment of the teachers and, in particular, of those who hold positions of responsibility;
- the good quality of the teaching in a majority of the lessons observed and the excellent quality of the teaching in a significant minority of the lessons seen;
- the significant strengths in the provision for careers and ICT;
- the excellent provision for physical education and pastoral care;
- the school’s strong commitment to the development of the pupils’ key skills;
- the opportunities provided for the pupils to develop their leadership skills;
- the high quality of pupils’ work and the standards they achieve in public examinations;
- the good start to the development of a culture of monitoring and self-evaluation across the school;
- the effective use made of the analysis of statistical information to monitor and evaluate the progress of the pupils at individual, class and whole-school levels;
- the effective management and administration of the school by the Principal, the Vice-principals and the senior teachers as individuals and collectively as part of the senior management team (SMT); and,
- the outstanding vision and leadership of the Principal, Vice-principals and SMT.
3.CONCLUSION
The quality of education provided in this school is outstanding. The educational and pastoral needs of the pupils are being well met.
1
APPENDIX 1
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
1.1 i. School: Loreto Grammar v. Date of Inspection: W/C 06.02.06
ii. School Reference Number: 242-0065 vi.Area of Study: Standard Inspection
iii. Age Range: 11-18
iv. Status: Voluntary Grammar
1.2Intake/Enrolment
Year 8 Intake / 127 / 128 / 135 / 135 / 131
Total enrolment / 921 / 941 / 953 / 920 / 920
1.3Attendance
2004/05 / NI Average
2003/04
% Attendance / 96.5 / 95.5 / 94.2 / 93.4 / 94.5 / 95.3 / 92.8 / 95 / 95
1.4 / i. / Total Number of Teachers: / 61 / iii. / Contact ratio (percentage of
timetabled time in direct
class contact): / 0.761
ii. / PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio): / 15.05
Year 2005/06 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / TOTAL
Enrolment: Girls / 131 / 135 / 134 / 127 / 122 / 136 / 135 / 920
Enrolment: Total / 131 / 135 / 134 / 127 / 122 / 136 / 135 / 920
PTR / 15.9 / 16.4 / 16.3 / 14.9 / 15.1 / 13.3 / 14.2
1.5Staying On Rate (2004/05) (Current year 13/14 as proportion of year 12 from 1/2 years previously)
Year 14 / 104.3 / NI Av Year 14 / 86.4
1.6Leavers Destinations
2004/05 / Year 12 / NI% / Year 13/14 / NI%Total Number of Leavers / 11 / 159
Another School / 27% / 18.3 / 1% / 0.9
Employment / 0% / 7.7 / 3% / 4.7
Full-time Further Education / 64% / 58.2 / 3% / 9.4
Full-time Higher Education / N/A / N/A / 93% / 82.1
Full-time Training / 0% / 10 / 0% / 0.9
Seeking Employment/Unemployed / 0% / 1.8 / 0% / 1.2
Unknown/Long Term Sick/Pregnant / 9% / 4 / 0% / 0.9
1
1.7NAME OF SCHOOL: / Loreto Grammar School, Omagh / SCHOOL YEAR: / 2005/2006GCSE / 2003 / 2004 / 2005
Percentage of Year 12 taking GCSE in at least 5 subjects / 100 / 100 / 100
Percentage of Year 12 obtaining Grades C or above in at least 7 subjects / 94.3 / 91 / 95.3
Percentage of Year 12 obtaining Grades C or above in at least 5 subjects / 100 / 100 / 100
GCE A2 Level or equivalent / 2003 / 2004 / 2005
Percentage of Year 14 obtaining Grades C or above in at least 3 A2 levels / 63.3 / 72.3 / 77.9
Percentage of Year 14 obtaining Grades E or above in at least 3 A2 levels / 94.5 / 94.3 / 97.3
Within this report, when commenting on examination results of individual subjects, the respective CCEA average is used as a proxy for the corresponding average for all pupils in NI taking that subject.
Appendix 2
EXAMINATION RESULTS
Table showing the GCSE and GCE A2 subject results over the previous three years ending in June 2005, in comparison with the respective Northern Ireland (NI) averages
Table 1
More than 10 percentage points above / Between 5 and 10 percentage points above /Within 5 percentage points
/ Between 5 and 10 percentage points below / More than 10 percentage points belowGCSE
A-C
/ Art and Design,
Business Studies,
Design and Technology,
Double Award Science 1st Subject, English,
English Literature,
French, Geography, History, Home Economics, Home Economics Child Development,
Irish, Mathematics, Music, Religious Studies,
Spanish,
Sport/PE Studies / Additional Mathematics
GCSE
A-E / Business Studies, Geography, History,
Home Economics,
Home Economics Child Development,
Mathematics,
Religious Studies / Additional Mathematics, Design and Technology, English, French, Sport/PE Studies / Art and Design,
Double Award Science 1st Subject, English Literature, Irish, Music,
Spanish
GCE
A2 Level
A-C / French, Home Economics, Music, Politics,
Religious Studies,
Spanish / Art and Design,
Business Studies,
Further Mathematics, Geography, History, Information Technology, Mathematics,
Physics / Chemistry,
English Literature / Biology,
History of Art and Design, Irish
GCE
A2 Level
A-E
/ Art and Design, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, English Literature, French,
Further Mathematics, Geography, History,
History of Art and Design, Home Economics,
Information Technology, Irish, Mathematics,
Music, Physics, Politics,
Religious Studies, Spanish
Table showing the spread of the NI subject averages which have been used in the determination of Table 1.
Table 2
100% - 96% / 95% - 86% / 85% - 76% / 75% - 66% / 65% - 0%GCSE
A-C / German / Additional Mathematics, Art and Design,
Double Award Science 1st Subject,
English Literature, Irish, Music / Design and Technology, Spanish / Business Studies,
Computer Studies/Computing, English, French, Geography, History, Home Economics, Home Economics Child Development, Mathematics, Religious Studies,
Sport/PE Studies
GCSE
A-E / Art and Design, Double Award Science 1st Subject, English Literature, German, Irish, Music / Additional Mathematics, Business Studies, Computer Studies/
Computing,
Design and Technology, English, French, Geography, History,
Home Economics,
Home Economics Child Development,
Sport/PE Studies / Mathematics,
Religious Studies
GCE
A2 Level
A-C / Art and Design,
Further Mathematics / Business Studies,
English Literature, French, Geography, History,
History of Art and Design, Information Technology, Irish, Mathematics, Music, Politics, Religious Studies, Spanish / Biology, Chemistry, Home Economics, Physics
GCE
A2 Level
A-E / Art and Design, Biology,
Business Studies, Chemistry,
English Literature, French,
Further Mathematics, Geography, History,
History of Art and Design,
Home Economics, Information Technology, Irish, Mathematics,
Music, Physics, Politics,
Religious Studies, Spanish
Note: The results for Music and Spanish were omitted as the numbers doing them were too low for the purposes of comparison.
The results for Sociology were omitted as there is no NI equivalent for comparison purposes.
The school has recently introduced the AVCE/Applied A Level of Health and Social Care.