St Paul's Primary School Slievemore

Overview

This sustaining improvement inspection was conducted in October 2017, following a previous evaluation of "very good" in 2014. Due to staff participation in industrial action involving "action short of strike," the school did not cooperate with inspectors, severely limiting the evaluation. Consequently, the report states the ETI is "unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the children."

Strengths

• The previous inspection in September 2014 evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school as "very good."
• The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements "reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education."

Areas to improve

• The ETI was "unable to evaluate" the lines of inquiry or the quality of learning and teaching within classrooms due to non-cooperation.
• The inspection could not assess the school's capacity for improvement through self-evaluation or effective school planning.
• The school is designated as a "high priority for future inspection with no further notice."

Safeguarding

The report notes that while provided evidence suggests arrangements broadly follow Departmental guidance, the ETI was "unable to evaluate fully... the outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding in the school" due to the industrial action.