BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS
A. i. School: Millburn Primary, iii. Date of Inspection: W/B 03.04.06
Coleraine
ii. School Reference Number: 301-2264 iv. Nature of Inspection: Short
B.
School Year / 2001/02 / 2002/03 / 2003/04 / 2004/05 / 2005/06Year 1 Intake / 60 / 53 / 60 / 52 / 67
Enrolments
Primary / 421 / 415 / 419 / 412 / 422
Reception / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
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): 95.3%
Primary & Nursery Special Reception Unit Unit
D. i. Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers): 17.67 0 0
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)
ii. PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio): 23.88 NI PTR: 20.0
iii. Average Class Size: 28.13
iv. Class Size (Range): 22 to 34
v. Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i. Clerical support: 30
ii. Official Making A Good 55
Start Support (MAGS):
iii. Making A Good Start funding 32
additional hours and other
classroom assistant support:
vi. Percentage of children with statements of special educational needs: 0.95%
vii. Total percentage of children on the Special Needs Register: 6.64%
viii. Number of children who are not of statutory school age: 0
ix. Percentage of children entitled to free school meals: 17.78%
MILLBURN PRIMARY SCHOOL, COLERAINE
Millburn Primary School is situated in Greenaway Drive, Coleraine. The children come from the general vicinity of the school and the greater Coleraine area. The enrolment has remained stable in recent years. At present there are 422 children attending the school.
Approximately 18% of the children are entitled to free school meals. The school has identified approximately 7% of the children as requiring additional learning support in English and mathematics.
The arrangements for the inspection of pastoral care included the completion of confidential questionnaires by the parents, and meetings with a representative from the Board of Governors (BoG) and a group of children from year 6. Prior to the inspection, 103 families were provided with questionnaires on the life and work of the school. Seventy-two per cent of the parents responded to the questionnaire, with 30 of them providing additional written comments. The majority of the parents expressed strong support for the work of the school; they commended, particularly, the caring ethos and the dedicated Principal and staff. The inspection findings confirm these views. The few matters of concern raised by individual parents have been brought to the attention of the BoG and the Principal.
The school has procedures in place which implement the main guidelines outlined in the Department of Education (DE) Circulars 1999/10, “Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection”, and 2003/13, “Welfare and Protection of Pupils Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order”. In order to comply fully with the DE guidance, the school has identified, appropriately, the need for child protection training for members of the re-constituted BoG. The children report that they feel safe and secure within the school and that they know whom to turn to if they have any concerns.
The school has significant strengths which include:
· the positive and caring ethos which promotes effectively the children’s confidence and self-esteem;
· the bright, stimulating learning environment;
· the good working relationships between the staff and the children;
· the well-motivated children who demonstrate perseverance in their attitude to learning in almost all classes;
· the quality of the teaching observed which ranged from satisfactory to excellent, with most evaluated as being good or better;
· the high quality of the play-based learning in key stage 1;
· the good provision for the children who require learning support;
· the contribution of the classroom assistants and ancillary staff to the life and work of the school;
· the Principal’s effective leadership and clear vision for the development of the school; and
· the commitment of the Principal and staff to the ongoing development of a systematic process of monitoring and evaluation that promotes a culture of self-evaluation leading to continuous improvement.
Areas for improvement
The school’s self-evaluation of the provision has identified appropriately, the need to:
· develop further the children’s language and literacy skills through the other areas of the curriculum.
The inspection also identified the need to:
· develop further the planning for the range of abilities within the classes.
The school has many strengths in most aspects of the school’s educational and pastoral provision; the few areas for improvement need to be addressed if the school is to meet as fully as possible the needs of all the children.
A number of quantitative terms are used in the report. In percentages, the terms correspond as follows:-
more than 90% - almost/nearly all
75%-90% - most
50%-74% - a majority
30%-49% - a significant minority
10%-29% - a minority
less than 10% - very few/a small number.
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