Randalstown Central Primary School

Overview

The inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning teachers did not cooperate with the process. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) states it is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the children.” The report notes that “no performance level available” for outcomes, provision, or leadership, and the school is a “high priority for future inspection with no further notice.”

Strengths

• Year 6 children spoke “enthusiastically about their experiences of school,” particularly valuing the “extensive range of extra-curricular activities.”
• Pupils appreciate opportunities for leadership roles, such as serving as “peer mediators” and members of “school- and eco-councils.”
• Children spoke positively about their learning, noting how teachers make work “practical and enjoyable” and how they are “challenged in their work.”

Areas to improve

• Update child protection and safeguarding policies to “reflect more fully the current guidance issued by the Department of Education.”
• Ensure that current policies are “ratified by the board of governors.”

Safeguarding

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