Banbridge Academy

Overview

The inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning the ETI was “unable to assure... of the quality of education” and could not fully evaluate teaching, learning, or leadership. Despite these limitations, the report highlights “very high outcomes” in examinations and positive feedback from pupils and parents regarding support and extra-curricular activities.

Strengths

• Pupils are described as “articulate, confident” with “high expectations for themselves” and are “well motivated”.
• Attainment in public examinations is a “significant strength”, with results consistently “in line with or well above the Northern Ireland average”.
• Parents and pupils responded positively to questionnaires, praising “dedicated, approachable staff” and “ample opportunities” for extra-curricular participation.
• The school has a “strong tradition in sport and the arts”, with pupils achieving success at provincial, national, and international levels.
• Governors are reported to have an “excellent blend of complementary skills” and provide appropriate support and challenge.

Areas to improve

• Action plans associated with school improvement need to be “streamlined”.
• The extensive range of performance and pastoral data available needs to be “used better to set more specific and measureable targets”.
• Arrangements for class size in Home Economics and Design and Technology at key stage 3 require review, as risk assessments are “not fit for purpose”.

Safeguarding

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