Positive inspection for Glendermott Primary School

Overall the inspection found that in most areas inspected the quality of education provided was satisfactory and the strengths of the school outweighed the areas were improvement was needed.

The report - published last week - followed an Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) inspection in March.

The inspection focused on the children’s achievements and standards in literacy and numeracy; the quality of provision for learning; and the quality of leadership and management.

The strengths of the school included the very good quality of the pastoral care provision; the well-behaved children who have a positive disposition towards their learning; the hard-working teachers and support staff who collectively, are committed to the well-being of the children and the future development of the school; and

the good range of experiences provided through ICT which helps to enhance the learning experiences of the children.

Equally, the very good leadership provided by the Principal in the short time she has been in post was commended as was the good start made in developing a culture of self evaluation throughout the school, particularly with regard to using quantitative data to develop monitoring, evaluating and target setting.

But the report did say improvement was needed.

“The areas for improvement include the need to: develop and disseminate those aspects of the good teaching identified to enhance the learning experiences for all the children and raise further the standards they attain; and establish and develop the role of the co-ordinators in planning, monitoring and evaluating the provision and outcomes,” it stated.

It continued: “In most of the areas inspected the quality of education provided in this school is satisfactory; the strengths outweigh areas for improvement in the provision.

“The inspection has identified areas for improvement in achievements and standards, learning and teaching, and leadership and management which need to be addressed if the needs of all the children are to be met more effectively.

“The Inspectorate will monitor and report on the school’s progress in addressing the areas for improvement over a 12-24 month period.”

The nursery inspection was also largely positive with listed strengths including “the settled atmosphere in the nursery unit and the exemplary behaviour of the children; the good learning opportunities provided in all areas of the pre-school curriculum; the skilful interactions of the staff which help to promote the children’s self-confidence and independence; the good support provided for the children who require additional help with aspects of their learning; and the good teamwork among the teaching and support staff.”

But again room for improvement as identified. The reports stated: “The priorities for further development include the need to: align the planning of the programme more closely to the pre-school curricular guidance and outline progression in the planned activities, and develop a more concise, systematic and manageable system of assessment,

“In the areas inspected, the quality of education provided by the nursery unit is good. The nursery unit has important strengths in most of its educational and pastoral provision. The inspection has identified areas for improvement which the nursery has demonstrated the capacity to address. The Inspectorate will monitor the nursery’s progress on the areas for improvement.”