Bloomfield Collegiate

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning only senior leadership cooperated with inspectors. Consequently, the report states the ETI is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the pupils.” The inspection focused on the school’s capacity for self-evaluation and improvement planning rather than a full evaluation of teaching quality.

Strengths

• The school is “identifying underachievement... at the earliest opportunity” and implementing intervention programmes to enhance outcomes.
• Attainment in GCSE English Language at grades A* to B is “on an upward trend” and now aligns with the Northern Ireland average for similar schools.
• Mechanisms such as Continuously Improving Practice sessions have been established to “disseminate the best practice in planning, teaching and learning.”
• Pupils reported they “feel safe and secure in school” and spoke positively about teachers fostering a “caring community environment.”
• Pupils highlighted how the integration of Information and Communication Technology improves their “engagement and motivation.”

Areas to improve

• Attainment at GCSE is an area for improvement, with the proportion of pupils achieving seven or more grades A*–C (including English and mathematics) remaining “below the Northern Ireland average.”
• Outcomes in a majority of individual subjects at GCSE grades A* to B are “below the respective three year NI average.”
• The school must “monitor and evaluate the impact” of its current improvement strategies and intervention programmes.

Safeguarding

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