1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Kircubbin Integrated Primary School is in the village
of Kircubbin on the shores of Strangford Lough. The school
became a controlled integrated school in September 1998. The
majority of the children come from the village and the immediate
surrounding area, with a significant minority travelling from
other villages in the Ards Peninsula. Twenty-two per cent
of the children are entitled to free school meals. At the
time of the inspection, three of the teaching staff had just
taken up their first post.
1.2 As part of the inspection process, meetings were held
with the Board of Governors and with children in year 6. The
parents’ views on aspects of the life and work of the
school were also sought by means of a questionnaire. Nine
governors attended the meeting with the inspectors, and just
over 80% of the questionnaires were completed and returned.
Nearly all of the responses expressed strong satisfaction
with the work of the school. No major issues were raised.
The parents and the governors commended particularly the approachable,
caring and dedicated staff, the welcoming family ethos within
the school, the effective use of resources and the fact that
their children enjoy school. The findings of the inspection
endorse these views.
1.3 The children in year 6 reported that they feel safe and
secure in the school. They spoke articulately about what they
enjoyed in school and the effect of the integrated ethos on
their attitudes.
1.4 The inspection focused on the process of transformation
and the outcomes for the school, and the school’s arrangement
for pastoral care, including child protection. At the school’s
request religious education was part of the inspection’s
focus on the implementation of the transformation process.
2. THE QUALITY OF THE CHILDREN’S WORK
2.1 Relationships at all levels are excellent; the principal
promotes a family ethos and is supported fully by all the
staff. The teachers are hard-working; they know the children
well and are committed to their social and academic welfare.
The children are encouraged to value one other and to develop
self-confidence in a caring and supportive atmosphere. They
are open and friendly, and the vast majority co-operate well
with their teachers and with one other. There is a strong
sense of a school identity. The level of caretaking is good.
2.2 The parents and governors appreciate the dedication of
the staff and are fully supportive of the work of the school.
There are useful curricular and extra-curricular links between
the parents and the school, including instances where parents’
expertise is used well. For example, several parents give
good support to those children who need additional help, while
others support curriculum projects and, in one instance, a
parent will help to update the school’s website.
2.3 The teachers have created a stimulating learning environment
throughout the school; the children’s achievements are
celebrated through colourful displays of work, while the history
of the school is recorded through an interesting range of
photographs and artefacts. There is a good range of extra-curricular
activities, some of which have been expanded to reflect the
inclusive ethos of the school. The school participates in,
and is regularly successful in, a range of sporting and other
competitions.
2.4 The school is implementing effectively the guidance outlined
in the Department of Education (DE) Circular 1999/10, “Pastoral
Care in Schools: Child Protection”. There is a range
of well-conceived policies to support the pastoral care of
the children and to promote the integrated ethos of the school.
The good quality of the pastoral care is a major strength
of the school. The children are encouraged to develop a sense
of personal responsibility through an effective reward system
and there is evidence that these policies are successful in
developing the children’s self-esteem well.
2.5 The school has developed a comprehensive programme of
personal, social and health education (PSHE) which allows
the children to talk about topics which affect them directly.
The teachers make appropriate use of circle time to discuss
matters of personal health and safety. As they progress through
the school the children are given the opportunity to develop
and refine their opinions, and to share them with others.
2.6 Whole-school planning for the core areas of study is
thorough and sets out the appropriate lines of progression
within each year group. The teachers’ individual planning
is detailed and includes an opportunity for regular evaluation
and consequent adjustments. The teachers share the anticipated
learning outcomes with the children and there is detailed
and regular assessment of each child’s progress; these
assessments are beginning to inform future planning. The school
is also developing self-assessment sheets with the children
to help them set personal targets for improvement.
2.7 The quality of teaching is always satisfactory. In a
minority of the sessions observed, it was excellent. The teachers
use a good range of teaching strategies, practical activities
and resources to support the children’s learning. The
work is generally well-paced and provides suitable challenge
for the range of abilities within each class. Effective support
arrangements, including Reading Recovery, are in place to
help children who are experiencing difficulties in aspects
of their learning. There are appropriate opportunities to
involve the children in developing important skills of enquiry.
Many of the children are confident orally and express their
opinions well. In several of the sessions the teachers used
imaginative and innovative approaches to encourage independence.
For example, in year 4, the children make regular individual
presentations to the class on topics of personal interest.
In addition to an oral presentation, each child prepares a
related activity sheet for the rest of the children to complete;
these sheets, in turn, are collected, marked by the child
and subsequently returned to the class.
2.8 The vast majority of the children respond well to the
teachers and enjoy their work. They are enthusiastic and apply
themselves readily and most of them finish their work to a
satisfactory level or better. The school is focusing appropriately
on developing further the children’s listening skills.
Much of the children’s learning is achieved through
shared activities such as paired and group tasks; they co-operate
well and support one another in this type of work. In year
3, for example, the children increased their understanding
of the concepts of more and less through an imaginative paired
dice and coin game. In year 4, during a group mathematics
task, led by a child, the children effectively consolidated
their subtraction skills through a competitive activity.
2.9 There is a good programme of purposeful and well-organised
progressive play from the earliest years to the end of key
stage (KS) 2, which allows the children to apply and enhance
their learning in many different areas of the curriculum.
The children have the opportunity to work and plan together,
to solve problems and to talk to others about their learning.
2.10 The children benefit from regular sessions of religious
education with time set aside each week to meet particular
religious needs such as preparing children for the Sacraments.
The school marks the spiritual growth of the children through
celebrating their religious life and there is an evident climate
of mutual respect.
2.11 As part of religious education in KS2, the school has
introduced a programme of church visits to help promote mutual
understanding and to develop further its integrated ethos.
The programme is focused on three local churches and the details
of the worship, customs and the symbols of each individual
tradition. In a lesson observed, the children were able to
compare and contrast what they had learnt about each denomination.
They demonstrated clearly an understanding of the differences
and similarities of worship within the three churches. Through
skilful questioning by the teacher, the children talked knowledgeably
about important elements of worship such as communion and
baptism and the common festivals such as Christmas and Easter;
they expressed maturely their feelings about visiting a particular
church for the first time. In a further follow-up activity,
the children talked about a variety of related personal possessions
such as a bible, a Sunday school record, rosary beads and
a crucifix. The visits and lessons add significantly to the
children’s understanding of what is common and different
within three particular denominations of the Christian faith.
2.12 Visitors and drama activities provide good opportunities
for the children to think about life in other cultures and
in other times. In the year 6 class, for example, a visiting
missionary helped the children gain an understanding of every
day life in Malawi, including an insight into what school
is like there for primary school children. As part of a series
of lessons on early man, the children followed up visits to
sites of historical interest by writing, and performing, short
plays on the theme of life in early times. In discussion the
children were able to talk maturely about the how things change
through time.
2.13 The teachers make good use of the extensive range of
information and communication technology (ICT) resources to
enhance the children’s experiences. The children undertake
the different activities with confidence and enthusiasm. They
are competent in handling a range of appropriate equipment
and programs. The children use ICT well to research, retrieve
and present information on a variety of topics across the
curriculum. The children respond appropriately to the well-planned
opportunities for them to work independently and in collaboration
with others.
2.14 The principal is hard-working and conscientious. She
has a clear vision for the school, is supportive of the staff
and knows the children and the community well. She has successfully
overseen changes in the curriculum and the direction of the
school through the transformation process. Under her clear
and purposeful leadership, the school has expanded in size
and is maintaining, and building on, its good standards. She
has fostered a good sense of team-work and is supported well
in her work by the co-ordinators and the teachers. They have
introduced useful monitoring and evaluation strategies, including
peer observation, to assess the quality of teaching and learning
across the school. There is much useful information to guide
the future work of the school, to inform staff development
needs and to underpin any adjustments to the comprehensive
school development plan.
2.15 The school makes good use of relevant data to inform
target-setting and to measure progress. It has responded positively
to a recent questionnaire to parents by publishing a regular
school newsletter and by providing more frequent opportunities
for parents to meet with staff to discuss their child’s
progress. Good use is made of the school’s website to
inform parents of events in the school.
2.16 The Board of Governors has given high priority to in-service
training (INSET) for the teachers. The teachers have benefited
from a range of INSET in line with the priorities identified
in the school development plan, and there is evidence that
this training is having a positive influence on classroom
teaching. The school is exploring how other areas of the curriculum
can support the integrated ethos more effectively; the inspection
would endorse this priority.
2.17 Kircubbin Integrated Primary School is developing an
ethos of inclusion and an appreciation of diversity through
its pastoral care programme and more especially through religious
education for mutual understanding. Through additional funding
from the Integrated Education Fund (IEF), the school has been
able to employ an additional teacher, and the IEF also provided
partial funding for the library/computer suite extension.
The school has worked successfully towards establishing a
religious balance in the staff, the Board of Governors and
the enrolment. The principal and the governors are pro-active
in marketing the school.
3. CONCLUSION
3.1 The strengths of the school include:
-
the good family ethos and level of caring;
- the excellent relationships;
-
the good quality of pastoral care;
-
the hard-working and dedicated team of teachers;
-
the examples of excellent teaching observed;
-
the strong support from the Board of Governors and the
broader community;
-
the good level of resources;
-
the development of religious education for mutual understanding;
-
the positive approach to developing an integrated culture
within the school;
-
the good leadership of the principal, promoting a collegial
approach among the staff;
-
and the development of monitoring and evaluation at many
levels.
?
3.2 The quality of education provided in this school is good.
The educational and pastoral needs of the children are being
well met.
APPENDIX
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The facilities for assemblies and physical education are
inadequate; the hall is too small for assemblies and it is
a safety hazard because of the kitchen equipment and other
equipment stored in it.
* CROWN COPYRIGHT 2003
This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except
for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus
or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof
are stated.
Copies of this report may be obtained from the Inspection
Services Branch, Department of Education, Rathgael House,
43 Balloo Road, Bangor, Co Down BT19 7PR. A copy is also available
on the DE website: www.deni.gov.uk
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