Shimna Integrated College

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted during industrial action, limiting the evidence available for evaluation. Consequently, the report states the ETI is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality education provided for the pupils.” The inspection focused on the school’s capacity to effect improvement through self-evaluation and development planning.

Strengths

• In two of the last three years, the percentage of pupils attaining five GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C including English and mathematics was “above the NI average.”
• The 2017 results for three GCE A-levels or equivalent at grades A*-C were “slightly above the NI average,” showing an improving trend for pupils entitled to free school meals.
• Priority was given to “collating and analysing regularly a wide range of data” to track pupil progress and monitor intervention strategies.
• Safeguarding arrangements were found to “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education.”

Areas to improve

• Leaders must develop further their capacity to “monitor and evaluate the impact of school improvement on classroom practice, the pupils’ learning and on their achievements.”
• “Robust and consistent monitoring and evaluation by leaders at all levels is required,” specifically regarding quality assurance of departmental target setting and analysis against benchmarks.
• The school needs to “consider procedures, including risk assessing the open access points to the school building” and update pastoral policies to fully reflect relevant guidance.

Safeguarding

The report notes that while arrangements broadly reflect Department guidance, the school must risk-assess open access points and update pastoral policies, though the ETI was unable to fully evaluate the outworking of these arrangements due to industrial action.