St Brigid's Primary School Tirkane

Overview

This sustaining improvement inspection was conducted while the school was participating in industrial action involving "action short of strike." Consequently, the principal and teachers did not cooperate with inspectors, preventing the evaluation of teaching quality or self-evaluation. The report concludes that the Education and Training Inspectorate is "unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the children."

Strengths

• The previous inspection in February 2015 evaluated the school as "good."
• Children reported that they "feel safe and happy in school."
• Pupils stated they "know what to do if they have any concerns about their safety or well-being."
• Safeguarding arrangements were found to "reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education."

Areas to improve

• The school must address health and safety risks, as recommendations from a prior review regarding "access and security arrangements" have not been implemented.
• Specifically, the "installation of perimeter fencing" remains outstanding, though three minor works applications have been submitted.
• The school needs to demonstrate its capacity for improvement, as the current inspection could not evaluate this due to non-cooperation.

Safeguarding

The report states that while safeguarding arrangements broadly reflect Departmental guidance and children feel safe, the ETI was "unable to evaluate fully the outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding in the school" due to the industrial action.