Dickson Primary School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted in September 2017, following a previous evaluation of the school as “good”. However, due to industrial action involving “non-co-operation” by teachers, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) was unable to evaluate the quality of education or the school’s capacity for improvement. Consequently, the ETI states it is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the children.”

Strengths

• The report notes that arrangements for safeguarding children “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education.”
• The school was previously evaluated as “good” in May 2014, demonstrating the “capacity to identify and bring about improvement.”

Areas to improve

• The ETI was unable to evaluate the “quality of learning and teaching within the classrooms” due to the industrial action.
• The inspection could not assess the school’s capacity to effect improvement through “self-evaluation and effective school planning.”

Safeguarding

The report states that while safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education,” the ETI was “unable to evaluate fully” their outworking in the school due to the action short of strike.