Saintfield High School

Overview

Saintfield High School demonstrates a “high level of capacity” to identify and drive improvement through self-evaluation and effective planning. The inspection highlights successful integration of pastoral care with academic support, resulting in consistent attendance above the Northern Ireland average and improved outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Strengths

• The school has “worked purposefully on streamlining the effective delivery of pastoral care provision with the academic needs of the children,” including the appointment of a ‘Study for Success Co-ordinator’ and creation of ‘Pupil Well-being Teams’.
• Pupils spoke “enthusiastically and positively” about mental health programmes, which they feel assist with their learning, while parents approved of systems for addressing underachievement.
• Attendance has been “consistently above the NI average” for the past four years, supported by a ‘Pupil Alert System’ for tracking and target-setting.
• Standards for pupils entitled to free school meals have risen significantly, with 43% attaining five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C in 2017, a figure “above the Northern Ireland (NI) average for similar schools.”
• Attainment in mathematics improved notably, with the proportion of pupils achieving grades A*-C increasing from 51% in 2016 to 62% in 2017.

Areas to improve

• The school recognises the need to “monitor and evaluate in particular the most recently introduced initiatives to assess the full impact on raising the standards achieved by all of the pupils.”

Safeguarding

The school provided evidence that its safeguarding arrangements “reflect the guidance from the Department of Education.”