Ashfield Boys' High School

Overview

This follow-up inspection confirms that Ashfield Boys’ High School has successfully addressed the significant areas for improvement identified in 2016. The report states that the school “demonstrates the capacity to identify and bring about improvement in the interest of all the learners,” with outcomes, provision, and leadership now evaluated as “good.”

Strengths

• Learner outcomes are “good,” with attainment in public examinations remaining above or in line with Northern Ireland averages for similar schools.
• The “quality of provision is now good,” with two-thirds of observed teaching rated as “very good” and staff actively sharing best practice.
• Leadership and management are “good,” featuring “well-defined roles and responsibilities” and an “over-arching culture of self-evaluation.”
• Pastoral care is more “child-centred,” with positive behaviour policies leading to reduced detentions and suspensions.
• Parents and staff responded affirmatively, appreciating the school’s commitment to positive learning experiences and professional development.

Areas to improve

• The ETI will monitor how the school sustains improvement by “developing further a curriculum that is tailored to the abilities and aspirations of the pupils.”

Safeguarding

The report states that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding “reflect the guidance from the Department of Education,” and pupils reported that they “feel safe in school.”