/ 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
Knockevin Special School
Downpatrick
Inspected: May 2003

CONTENTS

SectionPage

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

1.SCHOOL CONTEXT1

2.SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS1

3.AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT2

  1. ACHIEVING BEST PRACTICE2
  1. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION2

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STATISTICAL INFORMATION (SPECIAL SCHOOLS)

1.1 i. School: Knockevin Special, iii.Date of Inspection: 12/05/03
Downpatrick

ii.School Reference Number: 431-6516 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused

1.2

School Year /
1998/99 /
1999/00 /
2000/01 / 2001/02 /
2002/03
Total Enrolment /
89 /
91 /
93 / 92 / 84

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.

1.3Number of Pupils in Outreach Programme:0

1.4Average Attendance for the Previous School Year:94%

1.5 i.Number of Teachers in School: 13 on Outreach Programme: 0 (including the Principal and p/t teachers)
(f/t equivalent = 25 teaching hours)

ii.PTR (pupil/teacher ratio):7.0

iii.Average Class Size:7.8

iv.Number of Classroom Assistants:24

v.Ancillary Support:

Number of Hours per week:

Clerical Support:68.5

vi.Number of Families in School:83

vii.Percentage of children in receipt of free

school meals:28

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1.SCHOOL CONTEXT

1.1Knockevin Special School is a school for pupils, aged 3-19 years, with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties. The pupils come from Downpatrick and the surrounding towns. There are currently 84 pupils on the roll of the school, including 27 pupils who have autism. The staff consists of the principal, 12 teachers and 26 classroom assistants. The extent of support from speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy is good. Attendance is consistently high, ranging from 89-95% over the year.

1.2The inspection focused on the quality of provision to meet the pupils’ individual needs and the arrangements for pastoral care and child protection.

2.SCHOOL EFFECTIVENESS

2.1The school has effective arrangements in place which enable all the pupils to make progress in relation to their special educational needs (SEN), as indicated in their individual education plans (EPs). The school is particularly effective in developing the pupils’ personal and social skills, including their ability to communicate and relate to others, and in preparing the pupils for life after school. Provision for pastoral care, including child protection, is very good and in keeping with Department of Education (DE) circular 1999/10. The governors and parents expressed strong support for the school; arrangements to deal with complaints and concerns are well understood and followed. Discussions with the pupils revealed their sense of security and confidence while in school. It is clear that the pupils enjoy their time in the school.

2.2The main strengths of the school are:

  • the strong sense of effective team-work between the teachers and the classroom assistants in which the pupils are valued and respected;
  • the good relationships among the pupils within classes and as they circulate in the school; the openness, good manners, and behaviour of the pupils is very impressive;
  • the staff’s expert knowledge of, and sensitivity for, the pupils’ unique needs;
  • the staff’s efforts to encourage the pupils to take responsibility in the school; for example, collecting numbers for lunches or helping a pupil who is less able;
  • the sensible strategies which are in place to respond to more challenging behaviour; the use of autism-appropriate methods and the skills of the staff members aid this process;
  • the pupils’ ability to participate in lessons at their point of understanding and to demonstrate their skills and knowledge;
  • the calm atmosphere evident in the classes and learning situations; eg the drama session in the sensory unit was most effective in relaxing the pupils and encouraging their responses to a range of resources and teaching activities;
  • the well-structured and practical lessons with an appropriate balance of independent learning and, where possible, whole-class and one-to-one support;
  • the excellent use made of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance learning across the subjects: notable examples of good practice using ICT are the quality of the talking books produced by the staff, the use of the white board to provide for individualised work and the integration of the music lessons and ICT;
  • the careful and detailed recording of planning and progress at all levels; in particular, the writing of pupil profiles to inform and personalise the teaching approach to ensure consistency of practice from class to class and across departments;
  • the quality of the teaching observed which ranged from good to excellent.

3.AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

3.1Given the evident strengths of the school, the inspection team finds that the school is well placed to develop further its practice of home-school diaries to inform parents of the type of work which could be continued at home.

4.ACHIEVING BEST PRACTICE

4.1It is the view of the inspection team that the procedures for planning to meet the pupils’ individual needs are thorough and rigorous. The experience gained in carrying out the inspection should provide encouragement and confidence in self-evaluative working. The qualities noted above and, in particular, the potential of ICT to enhance the pupils’ learning experiences are areas which should engage further the staff’s ability to monitor and evaluate its own practice. Current self-evaluation strengths include:

  • staff openness and commitment;
  • good quality leadership at all levels;
  • areas of strengths in individual planning and cross-curricular work; programmes for the pupils with more complex learning difficulties and ICT.

5.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

5.1The quality of provision provided in this school is of a high standard. The individual needs of the pupils are being well met.

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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:

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