St Mary's Primary School, Greenlough

Overview

This sustaining improvement inspection was significantly constrained by industrial action, as teachers refused to cooperate with the process. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) was unable to fully evaluate the quality of education or assure stakeholders of the standards provided. The report concludes that the school is a "high priority for future inspection with no further notice."

Strengths

• Year 6 pupils report that they "enjoy the wide range of learning and extra-curricular opportunities," including Spanish, Gaelic games, music, and STEM.
• Children appreciate the "newly introduced ‘House System’" and have "very good opportunities to develop their leadership capabilities."
• Leadership roles through the "school- and eco-councils and the prefect system" are valued by students.
• Senior leadership cooperated with the inspection regarding safeguarding responsibilities.
• Children report that they "feel safe in the school" and are "well informed about keeping safe online."

Areas to improve

• The school needs to "maintain its schedule of policy review, ensuring the policies reflect the Department of Education’s current requirements."

Safeguarding

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