Nendrum College

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection evaluated Nendrum College’s capacity for self-evaluation and development planning. Due to industrial action involving non-cooperation from teaching staff, the Education and Training Inspectorate was unable to fully evaluate key areas of teaching and safeguarding. Consequently, the report concludes that the ETI is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the pupils.”

Strengths

• Attainment has improved significantly, with the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C rising from 54% in 2014 to 90% in 2017, which is “well above the Northern Ireland average.”
• Results for pupils entitled to free school meals are “above the NI average,” with 37.5% achieving five or more GCSEs including English and maths in 2017.
• Standards in science have improved, particularly in single award science where “all of the pupils entered attained at grades A*-C” in the last two years.
• The school has established “meaningful opportunities for connected learning” through a collaborative approach, with pupils speaking positively about developing independent learning skills.

Areas to improve

• The school has identified the overall proportion of pupils achieving five or more GCSEs including English and mathematics as an area for improvement.
• The impact of connected learning initiatives on sustaining improvement in teaching standards at Key Stage 3 could not be fully evaluated due to staff non-cooperation.

Safeguarding

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