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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
Christian Brothers’ Primary School
Armagh
Inspected: October 2001
BASIC INFORMATION SHEET (BIS) - PRIMARY SCHOOLS
A.
i.
School: Christian Brothers’ Primary
Armagh
iii.
Date of Inspection: W/B 08/10/01
ii.
School Reference Number: 503-1110
iv.
Nature of Inspection: Focused
B.
School Year
Year 1 Intake
Enrolments
Primary
Reception
Nursery Class/Classes
Special Unit
1997/98
52
1998/99
44
1999/00
56
2000/01
41
2001/02
53
381
6
0
0
354
13
0
0
353
1
0
0
338
5
0
0
341
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):
94.27%
Primary &
Reception
D.
i.
Number of Teachers
(including the principal and part-time teachers):
(Full-time equivalent = 25 teaching hours)
ii.
PTR (Pupil/Teacher Ratio):
19.4
iii.
Average Class Size:
21.3
iv.
Class Size (Range):
17-30
v.
Ancillary Support:
Number of Hours Per Week:
i.
ii.
iii.
Nursery
Unit
Special
Unit
-
-
17.6
NI PTR: 19.9
Clerical support:
Official Making A Good
Start Support:
Making A Good Start funding
additional hours and other
classroom assistant support:
33.75
20
50
vi.
Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs:
6
vii.
Number of children who are not of statutory school age:
0
viii.
Percentage of children entitled to free school meals:
30.8%
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Armagh Christian Brothers’ Primary School is located just off the Monaghan Road on
the outskirts of the City of Armagh. The school comprises a boys’ primary school and a coeducational Irish-medium unit. Of the 341children enrolled in the school, 100, (almost 30%),
attend the co-educational Irish-medium unit. Approximately 30% of the children in the
school are entitled to free school meals.
1.2
The Irish-medium unit is self-contained in a block of five classrooms in the
permanent building; it is an integral part of the school, but at the same time, it has its own
distinctive sense of identity and Irish language ethos. Staffing comprises five teachers, two
of whom have been employed in the last two years, as the enrolment of both boys and girls
continues to increase.
1.3
Prior to the inspection, a sample of the parents received a confidential questionnaire
seeking their views of the school; just under 40% of the questionnaires which were issued
were returned to the Department of Education (DE) and some parents included additional
written comments. The vast majority of responses were positive about the life and work of
the school. A few parents raised issues in their responses and these are addressed in the main
body of the report. There is evidence that the school, which is long established in the
locality, is well respected in the local community.
1.4
During the inspection, inspectors held separate meetings with representatives of the
Board of Governors and with the parents to hear their views of the school; all expressed
confidence in the school although some concerns were expressed by the governors about lack
of equipment for information and communications technology (ICT) and the parents made
comment about the match of work to the age and ability of the children. In addition the
inspection team held discussions with small groups of children in years 4 and 6; these
children said that they felt safe and enjoyed their experiences at school. The children know
the school rules regarding behaviour and discipline and they show a responsible attitude to
one another.
1.5
The inspection focused on English, provision for children with special educational
needs (SEN), ICT and pastoral care, including child protection; in the Irish-medium unit the
work in language through the medium of Irish was also inspected.
2.
THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS’ WORK
2.1
The school provides a secure, supportive environment in which the children are
valued and can feel at ease. Children from differing backgrounds are well integrated into the
life and work of the school. Relationships between the teachers and the children and amongst
the children themselves are good. The vast majority of the children are well behaved,
courteous and welcoming to visitors; they have a pride in the school. The teachers work well
together and the classroom assistants provide good support for the teachers and the children.
Throughout the school there are well-established routines and a good sense of order. A merit
system rewarding positive behaviour has been introduced and badges are awarded to children
to acknowledge their achievements. Morning assemblies are well-planned and include the
active participation of many of the children in their presentation.
1
2.2
The interesting and attractive displays of children’s work are a particular feature of
the school; the display of the children’s written and artistic work has a high profile in
classrooms and corridors. The library facilities are excellent and are well used.
2.3
The quality of pastoral care provided for the children is a significant strength of the
school. A suitable range of policies on pastoral care and child protection, setting out clear
procedures and guidelines, has been developed; additional information is included in relation
to discipline and anti-bullying. The designated teachers are aware of their roles and
responsibilities and almost all of the staff have received appropriate training. In general,
clear procedures for child protection have been established, in line with the DE Circular
1999/10; the decision to implement a personal safety programme for the children, within the
curriculum, is timely.
2.4
Procedures need to be put in place to take account of the particular needs of girls in
the Irish-medium unit, and in particular the need for a designated teacher to whom the girls
can turn for advice and help on personal matters. In addition, the school should adopt more
formal procedures for recording and dealing with complaints from the parents.
2.5
The school is committed to maintaining and extending links with the parents, and in
particular, there has been an emphasis on informing them about curricular matters. The staff
were disappointed with the lack of response of some of the parents to a planned programme
for shared reading. A few parents indicated in their responses to the questionnaires that they
would like more information about how to help their children with their learning. The school
would benefit from developing further its links with the parents and from encouraging them
to become more involved in their children’s education.
2.6
The school currently has 40 children on the register for SEN. The special educational
needs co-ordinator (SENCO), along with the teachers, has drawn up detailed education plans
with specific targets for improvement. A sound diagnosis is made of the children’s particular
needs, and individual programmes of support enable each child to benefit from the additional
help they receive. The key stage (KS) 1 teachers are deployed imaginatively three afternoons
each week providing language support for older children. In the withdrawal sessions
observed, the children responded positively to a range of appropriate activities. The
children’s progress is monitored closely, and shared with the other teachers and with parents.
The SENCO has worked diligently to ensure that provision is well matched to the children’s
needs and that withdrawal work is carefully linked to work in the classroom. At the time of
the inspection, the SENCO was supporting the school on a temporary, part-time basis. It will
be important for the principal to monitor and evaluate new arrangements for supporting
children with SEN, as these become established in the school.
2.7
The teachers are conscientious; they work hard and prepare well for their lessons.
The quality of the teaching ranges from satisfactory to some which is of a particularly high
standard; in most instances it is good. In the best practice observed during the inspection, the
pace of the lessons was brisk, the children were motivated to learn and there was a good level
of engagement between the teachers and the children. In a few lessons, some of the children
did not concentrate as well as they might and the tasks were not sufficiently well matched to
the ability levels in the class. The teachers are supportive of individuals and groups within
the classes and often encourage the children by positive and helpful responses to their work.
The children’s written work is marked regularly and often with helpful comments.
2
2.8
The teachers are currently engaged in the support programme for literacy, organised
by the Southern Education and Library Board. This work is beginning to influence the
planning for English; in order for the teachers to have a shared understanding of a wholeschool programme for English, they need further support in planning for progression and in
implementing activities which are matched, more closely, to the ability levels. At present, in
some of the KS1 classes, too much time is being spent on a structured programme of work in
English and consequently time for learning through play has been diminished.
2.9
The school places a strong emphasis on the children’s development as competent
readers. Reading is taught systematically and many of the children have an interest and
enjoyment in reading. Good use is made of the excellent library facilities to encourage the
children to read widely and to take an interest in both fiction and non-fiction books. Many of
the children are making satisfactory progress in reading and for some their progress is very
good; there are, however, a number of children, at various stages in the school, who continue
to experience difficulties with basic skills in reading. The school needs to monitor, more
thoroughly, the progress of all of the children in reading with a view to improving the overall
levels of attainment.
2.10 In the early years, a careful emphasis is placed on extending the children’s oral
vocabulary and on personal writing. The children are keen to contribute to discussions in
class and they answer willingly questions posed by their teachers. Within KS2 many of the
children continue to contribute well in class and to engage with others in group tasks. Some
of the work in other subjects, for example, in science and history, provides a useful context
for developing the children’s oral and writing skills. The standards of written work vary
across the school; many of the older children write with reasonable accuracy and fluency and
some can write extended pieces with considerable flair and imagination; a significant
minority, however, have a limited facility for expressing their ideas in writing.
2.11 The school has identified the need to raise standards in English and, over the past
year, specific targets have been set for improvement and some of these have been met. New
resources to support the teaching of English have been acquired and these have helped to
extend the range of experiences provided for the children, particularly at KS2. The results of
the end of key stage assessments indicate that there is wide variation in the standards of
attainment in English within the school and, while some children attain satisfactory or good
standards, a number are not attaining the standards which would be expected for their age.
2.12 The school has identified ICT as an area for development and a good start has been
made in implementing the first steps of a well-structured and detailed action plan. While new
printers have been purchased, the age and type of some of the computers are affecting
adversely the ICT provision, and during the inspection evidence of classroom practice was
varied. Examples of good practice observed entailed children drafting and editing their work
on screen to produce good quality writing; in another instance, the children used a
spreadsheet to help interpret data collected during a statistical survey in their mathematics.
The school has arranged for the children in year 6 to avail of the computing facilities at the
local secondary school; this is benefiting the children’s progression in ICT.
3
2.13 The staff have updated and extended their own computing skills and have been
accepted as ready for New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training. The policy and planning
needs to be reviewed so that ICT is integrated, more fully, into the teaching and learning
across the whole curriculum. In particular, it will be important for the children to have
experiences in the strands of Modelling and Measurement and Control.
2.14 The principal sets a caring tone and provides sound leadership for work of the school.
In the short time that he has been in post he has identified priorities for action; these include
the development of pastoral care and the setting of targets to improve standards of attainment
across the school. He has had to cope with many new circumstances within the school and
with a significant number of changes in staff. At the time of the inspection, there were four
temporary teachers employed in the school. In addition, the school has had to cope with the
financial constraints of changing enrolment patterns and these have had implications for
staffing and for resources. The principal is well supported by the vice-principal and the
subject managers; he has established a good team approach among the staff and they all work
well together for the good of the children.
3.
THE IRISH-MEDIUM UNIT
3.1
English is the first language of all of the children enrolled in the Irish-medium unit;
they have acquired some initial basic aural and oral skills in the Irish language in the Irishmedium pre-school centre. The teachers place a suitable emphasis on the continued
development of the children’s language skills, and encourage appropriately the use of Irish as
the medium of communication. The classroom assistants interact sensitively with the
children and provide effective language support.
3.2
The teachers have compiled a useful language policy and schemes of work outlining
the intended learning outcomes, the activities for the children and the resources to be used.
3.3
The younger children listen to stories and respond with enthusiasm to the teacher’s
questions. Stories and nursery rhymes are used purposefully to arouse the children’s
curiosity; the association of words with pictures helps the children increase their vocabulary.
The children acquire new language in a rich variety of useful contexts, including role-play
situations and creative opportunities during structured play. Pre-reading and writing skills
are taught systematically and thoughtfully. Early writing experiences include copying and
sentence building; by year 2, the children can compose phrases and short sentences
independently. The children rehearse new sounds and words; most are able to read fluently
and with understanding from an early age; they demonstrate high levels of accurate
pronunciation.
3.4
Throughout both key stages, there is an integrated approach to the acquisition of the
Irish language and the children participate in a range of reading and associated writing
activities. In KS2, the children’s language is developed progressively. The older children
are able to read with expression and fluency. They have many opportunities for personal and
creative writing in other subjects, in particular history and religious education. They write
diary entries and letters; the older children have a pen-pal link with children from another
Irish-medium school. The children are gaining from the shared writing activities they engage
in, and the teachers have incorporated successfully useful aspects of the Literacy Strategy
into the Irish Language Programme. There is a suitable emphasis on the children’s
acquisition of Irish language patterns and structures.
4
3.5
The quality of the marking is very good. The children’s work is neat and wellpresented. The older children spent a weekend in the Donegal Gaeltacht last year
participating in a range of sporting activities and their language fluency has increased as a
result. The teaching is characterised by the active involvement of the children in their
learning and the differentiated activities organised for each group.
3.6
The planning for English within the Irish-medium unit is guided by four-weekly
schemes of work. Beginning in year 4, the children are taught English formally in smaller
groups. Reading is promoted by the use of a commercial reading scheme, supplemented by
novels, and appropriate emphasis is placed on the acquisition of new sounds. The teachers
work as a team and produce their own language and subject-specific resources for reading
and other subject areas. They are well supported by the principal, subject managers and by
the other teachers.
4.
CONCLUSION
4.1
This school has strengths, such as a good system for pastoral care, much good
teaching, sound leadership and an effective programme for Irish-medium education. The
inspection has identified areas for improvement such as the further integration of ICT into
learning and teaching, improved planning and a shared understanding among the staff of the
whole-school programme for English and the need to improve attainment in English among
some of the boys in the mainstream classes.
5
APPENDIX
HEALTH AND SAFETY MATTERS
1.
The principal reports that the ceiling tiles in the corridor in the lower part of the main
school are a fire hazard.
6
 CROWN COPYRIGHT 2002
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: www.deni.gov.uk