/ 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 Mary’s Primary School
Cargan
Inspected: November 2001

BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS

A. i. School: St Mary’s Primary iii. Date of Inspection: W/B26/11/01
Cargan

ii.School Reference Number: 303-0625 iv. Nature of Inspection: Focused

B.

School Year / 1997/98 / 1998/99 / 1999/00 / 2000/01 / 2001/02
Year 1 Intake / 7 / 8 / 16 / 10 / 15
Enrolments
Primary / 88 / 77 / 77 / 75 / 82
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):94.3%

Primary &NurserySpecial Reception Unit Unit

D. i.Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):4.2--
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)

ii.PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):19.5 NI PTR: 19.9

iii.Average Class Size:20.5

iv.Class Size (Range):19-24

v.Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week: i.Clerical support:15

ii. Official Making A Good10

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:-

vii.Number of children who are not of statutory school age:-

viii. Number of families in school:55

ix.Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:17.1%

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VP/IR/WATSON/3 – 12.12.01

1.INTRODUCTION

1.1StMary’s Primary School is situated in the village of Cargan, between Ballymena and Cushendall. The majority of the children live in the village. The enrolment has fallen slightly over the last five years and currently stands at 82. About 20% of the children are entitled to free school meals. The school identifies approximately 12% of the children as requiring special help with their learning.

1.2As part of the inspection process, the parents’ views on the school were sought by means of a questionnaire. The vast majority of the respondents to the questionnaire were supportive of the work of the school. The inspectors met with the governors, the parents and groups of children. The governors and parents expressed satisfaction with most aspects of school life. The children indicated that they feel happy and secure in school. A few parents expressed concern about the support for children with special educational needs. This issue is dealt with in the body of the report.

1.3The inspection focused on the work in English, information and communications technology (ICT) and the arrangements for pastoral care and child protection.

2.THE QUALITY OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK

2.1The atmosphere in the school is pleasant and conducive to learning. The relationships within classes are good; the teachers actively seek to raise the children’s self-esteem through praise and positive comments about their achievements. The children are friendly, well behaved and interested in learning. The classrooms and the corridor are enhanced by displays of the children’s work; on occasions, the displays are used well as a teaching resource.

2.2The school complies with the requirements of the Department of Education Circular1999/10, “Pastoral Care in Schools: Child Protection”. All of the parents have received details of the school’s procedures for child protection and pastoral care.

2.3The teachers are industrious and generally well prepared for individual lessons. Aspects of whole-school planning require review and further development. Much effective teaching was observed during the inspection; for example, work was often well matched to the children’s needs and abilities, challenging and appropriate questioning stimulated the children’s thinking, suitable resources were used well to enhance the children’s learning and lessons were carefully structured. In a small number of lessons the work provided insufficient challenge and stimulation for the children.

2.4The scheme of work for English provides useful guidance on teaching approaches but lacks details on progression in talking and listening, reading and writing. There is a strong emphasis on talking and listening in the junior classes and language development is promoted though structured play and classroom activities. This good start is often built upon in key stage(KS)2 classes where the teachers’ skilful questioning promotes accurate and extended responses.

2.5The teaching of reading is always sound and sometimes good; for example, the young children are taught useful skills to read and pronounce new words. There is good use of supplementary reading materials, and novels are used well as the basis of the older children’s reading. All of the children borrow books from class libraries and many enjoy independent reading. The majority of the children read well and in some cases with fluency and expression.

2.6The school has identified writing as an area for development; this is appropriate as the practice is inconsistent across the year groups. There are some excellent examples of children’s writing in the earlier years, where a range of interesting stimuli and discussions is used to fire the children’s imagination. The writing covers a range of genres and includes some excellent poetry writing in years4 and 5. While the children have a variety of experiences of writing, a minority, particularly in years6 and 7 are not developing sufficient competence in written expression. All of the children have too few opportunities to develop their writing skills in subjects such as history, geography and science.

2.7The school is an early stage of development in ICT and, appropriately, has identified the use of ICT as an area for development in learning and teaching. The quantity and quality of ICT resources available to the teachers impose constraints on integrating ICT into the subjects of the curriculum; for example the children have no access to the Internet or to electronic mailing. A new co-ordinator has recently taken up post and a staff development programme is helping the teachers gain competence and confidence. During the inspection, there was evidence of the use of ICT in most classes. The activities included the use of word processing for presentational purposes, the use of graphics packages to record information and the use of mathematical modelling software. The children’s ICT skills vary within and across classes; in general, their skills are not good enough.

2.8There are currently ten children on the special educational needs register, only one of whom, at present, is receiving any help additional to that which the class teacher is able to provide. While the teachers often match the work to the ability of the children and provide some one-to-one support, the particular needs of those few children with significant language problems are not being met effectively.

2.9The principal is hard-working, caring and concerned for the welfare and progress of the children. He administers the schooleffectively and has comprehensive policies in place for all aspects of the school’s work. The School Development Plan provides a useful mechanism for improvement and highlights suitable areas for action, including the development of writing and use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning. The deployment of the teachers and the distribution of curricular responsibilities need to be reviewed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the school.

3.CONCLUSION

The strengths of the school include the:

  • good relationships between the teachers and the children;
  • friendly, courteous and co-operative children;
  • well-ordered and pleasant environment;
  • caring and industrious staff;
  • high quality of much of the teaching.

The areas for improvement include the:

  • use of ICT to enhance learning and teaching;
  • development of the children’s writing in all curricular areas;
  • support for children with special educational needs.

The school has many strengths in important aspects of educational provision. The areas for improvement need to be addressed if the school is to meet, more consistently, the needs of all the children.

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 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2002

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