Gaelscoil na BhFál

Overview

This inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning teachers did not cooperate with lesson observations. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) states it is “unable to assure... of the quality of education being provided.” The report notes that key areas including outcomes for learners, quality of provision, and leadership could not be fully evaluated due to this lack of cooperation.

Strengths

• Parents and staff questionnaire responses were “wholly positive,” highlighting “high levels of satisfaction” and a “collegial working environment.”
• Year seven children demonstrated they could read “fluently and with understanding” in both Irish and English.
• Year seven pupils showed “good levels of understanding and flexibility in their mathematical thinking,” using appropriate language with confidence.
• Governors are described as “highly committed” and play a “pro-active role in the school improvement process.”
• Year six children reported feeling safe and spoke positively about “friendly working relationships” with staff.

Areas to improve

• The school development plan targets are “not sufficiently focused on the children’s experiences and outcomes.”
• There is a need to review aspects of the personal development curriculum, “in particular, elements of the preventative curriculum.”

Safeguarding

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