Omagh High School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted during industrial action, limiting the evidence available for evaluation. Consequently, the inspectorate states it is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the pupils.” The report notes that while senior leadership cooperated, most teachers did not, preventing a full assessment of teaching and safeguarding practices.

Strengths

• A “wide range of internal and external data” is used to track pupil progression and inform teaching strategies.
• GCSE outcomes have been “above the corresponding Northern Ireland average for similar schools” in two of the last three years.
• Pupils are described as “respectful of each other” and positive about the support from staff and extra-curricular activities.
• The school actively reviews its curriculum to be “responsive to the needs, abilities and interests of the pupils.”

Areas to improve

• The school must consider “curricular breadth and balance, as well as the currency and duplication of the qualifications offered” at post-16.
• Stakeholders need to plan for the “sustainability of the school provision and the school budget” to assess future needs.
• Controlled access to the school’s main entrance door needs to be reviewed.

Safeguarding

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