Good Shepherd Primary & Nursery, Derry

Overview

Good Shepherd Primary and Nursery School is described as having a vision for “high quality, child-centred education” that is “steeped in a well-embedded ethos and values.” The report highlights a “positive and supportive working environment” where staff collaborate effectively to deliver “consistently high-quality teaching.” The school is deemed “well placed to take forward the priorities they have identified” through its own development planning.

Strengths

• The school fosters an “inclusive culture” with “well-planned collaborative learning initiatives” and strong parental engagement.
• “High expectations for the achievement of all children” underpin detailed curriculum planning and a “robust system for monitoring children’s progress.”
• Staff professional learning supports a “collegial approach to planning” and ensures “consistently high-quality teaching.”
• The “health and wellbeing of the whole school community is promoted very effectively,” including through initiatives like the ‘daily mile’ and trauma-informed practice.
• Children’s work is of a “consistently high standard,” and they engage confidently in opportunities to “investigate, reason and problem solve.”

Areas to improve

• The school has identified the need to “further map the skills acquisition across the digital skills provision to ensure greater consistency in children’s digital skills development.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for child protection align to the current statutory guidance.”