Ballyclare Secondary School

Overview

The inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning the ETI was “unable to assure the quality of education” and could not fully evaluate provision, leadership, or outcomes. Despite this limitation, the report notes a “welcoming and inclusive ethos” and positive pupil feedback, but highlights that attainment in public examinations “requires improvement at all levels” and remains well below the Northern Ireland average.

Strengths

• Pupils describe a “welcoming and inclusive ethos” and value the “range of subjects” and teacher feedback.
• Senior pupils take on leadership roles that develop “personal, social and employability skills” through mentoring and student forums.
• The curriculum is “broad and balanced,” with strong links to local businesses providing “real-life experiences” for employability.
• Pastoral support is effective, with staff “particularly successful in sustaining consistent levels of pupil attendance.”
• Pupils entitled to free school meals have attained well, with results in some years above the Northern Ireland average for similar schools.

Areas to improve

• The school must “address urgently the widening gender differential” in outcomes between boys and girls at GCSE and A level.
• Action plans require improvement, as targets and success criteria are “not clearly enough defined,” making it difficult to measure progress.
• The curriculum needs better matching for pupils with low outcomes, including access to a “wider range of vocational subjects.”

Safeguarding

The report states that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education,” and pupils reported that they “feel safe,” though the ETI was unable to fully evaluate the outworking of these arrangements due to the industrial action.