An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna

Department of Education and Skills

Whole School Evaluation Management, Leadership and Learning

REPORT

Ainm na scoile / School name

St. Killian's College (Coláiste Chilleáin Naofa)

Seoladh na scoile / School address

St. Killians College Cnoc Breac New Inn, Ballinasloe County Galway

Uimhir rolla / Roll number

71310P

Date of Evaluation: 25-04-2018

WHOLE-SCHOOL EVALUATION – MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING

Whole-School Evaluation – Management, Leadership and Learning reports on the quality of teaching and learning and on the quality of management and leadership in a school. It affirms good practice and makes recommendations, where appropriate, to aid the further development of educational provision in the school.

How to read this report

During this inspection, the inspectors evaluated and reported under the following headings or areas of enquiry:

1. Quality of school leadership and management 2. Quality of teaching and learning 3. Implementation of recommendations from previous evaluations 4. The school’s self-evaluation process and capacity for school improvement

Inspectors describe the quality of each of these areas using the Inspectorate’s quality continuum which is shown on the final page of this report. The quality continuum provides examples of the language used by inspectors when evaluating and describing the quality of the school’s provision in each area.

The board of management of the school was given an opportunity to comment in writing on the

findings and recommendations of the report, and the response of the board will be found in the

appendix of this report.

CHILD PROTECTION

During the inspection visit, the following checks in relation to the school’s child protection procedures were conducted: 1. The name of the DLP and the Child Safeguarding Statement are prominently displayed near the

main entrance to the school. 2. The Child Safeguarding Statement has been ratified by the board and includes an annual review

and a risk assessment. 3. All teachers visited reported that they have read the Child Safeguarding Statement and that

they are aware of their responsibilities as mandated persons. 4. The Child Safeguarding Statement meets the requirements of the Child Protection Procedures

for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 2017. 5. The records of the last three board of management meetings record a child protection oversight

report that meet the requirements of the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary schools 2017.

6. The board of management has ensured that arrangements are in place to provide information to all school personnel on the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools, 2017

7. School planning documentation indicates that the school is making full provision for the relevant aspects of the curriculum (SPHE, Stay Safe, RSE, Wellbeing).

8. Child protection records are maintained in a secure location. The school met the requirements in relation to each of the checks above.

WHOLE-SCHOOL EVALUATION – MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING

Dates of inspection 12 - 18 April 2018

Inspection activities undertaken

Meeting with board of management

Meetings with principal and deputy principal

Meetings with key staff

Review of relevant documents

Student focus-group interview

Meeting with parents

Analysis of parent, student and teacher questionnaires

Observation of teaching and learning

Examination of students’ work

Interaction with students

Feedback to senior management team, board of management and teachers

School context

St. Killian’s College is a co-educational school with an enrolment of 168 students. The school services a small rural village and a large rural geographical area with a catchment of ten primary schools. While there are nine other post-primary schools in a 22km radius of the school, St. Killian’s numbers are growing. The school operates under the auspices of Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB). As well as junior cycle programmes, the school offers an optional transition year (TY) programme, the established Leaving Certificate, and the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP). The principal is in the position since 2007 and the deputy principal was appointed in September 2017. Summary of main findings and recommendations:

Findings

The quality of school leadership and management is good and the board of management and the senior management team provide informed and effective leadership to the school; a more strategic focus is now required.

A wide range of subjects and programmes is on offer in the school, supported by the fact that all teachers teach extra classes on a voluntary basis to ensure TY can be offered; the sustainability of these arrangements warrant investigation.

While a positive and caring atmosphere is evident in the school and the care given to students is of a high quality, aspects of the support provided to students with special educational needs (SEN) in relation to the full utilisation of allocated SEN resources and subject department planning for SEN students need to be improved.

The quality of teaching was good or very good in all lessons, with scope for improvement in the areas of assessment, in-class planning, and support for students with SEN.

The quality of student learning was good or very good in almost all of the lessons observed; the effectiveness of student collaborative activities should be developed to encourage peer discussion and peer learning in a meaningful and worthwhile way.

The school has good capacity for change and improvement based on its ongoing school self-evaluation (SSE) work and the highly committed staff.

Recommendations

The board of management should oversee the formulation and implementation of a strategic plan for future school development, to be driven by senior management, in consultation with staff, parents and students.

A curriculum review team should be established to review the sustainability of current curriculum and timetabling arrangements, to ensure the utilisation of all SEN resources for

the purposes intended, and to ensure appropriate provision for Physical Education (PE), Guidance provision, and planning for Wellbeing.

All teachers should develop strategies associated with assessment for learning (AfL) and teachers should give regular written formative feedback to students.

Planning for students with SEN is required at department and lesson level, and a communication policy for sensitive information is required to support the sharing of this information.

DETAILED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. QUALITY OF SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

The overall quality of school leadership and management is good.

Leading learning and teaching

Leadership for learning and teaching in the school is good. The senior management team (SMT) of the principal and deputy principal work very hard to manage and oversee the smooth day-to-day running of the school. They have a partnership approach to their work and communicate very effectively. They both also have a significant teaching workload which impacts on the time they can dedicate to leading learning and teaching.

Senior management encourages and supports teachers to develop and extend their teaching, learning and assessment practices. Teachers are encouraged to share good practice and work together collaboratively in the interest of improving student learning. They are encouraged to attend continuing professional development (CPD) courses to support high quality teaching and improve student learning. Management and staff are committed to the ongoing implementation of the New Framework for Junior Cycle and have engaged fully with training, planning, and subject learning and assessment review (SLAR) meetings.

A wide range of subject and programme options is provided for students, helped by the volunteerism of teachers and senior management to take on extra classes. The long-term sustainability of this arrangement warrants investigation in the context of the curriculum review outlined in the main recommendations of this report.

Classes are generally organised in mixed-ability bands and student progress is monitored effectively.

Currently there is no qualified PE teacher on staff. The PE syllabus is mostly limited to games and no

plan for the subject has been developed. There is a need to include PE in all years and the GRETB,

board of management (BOM) and SMT need to prioritise getting access to a qualified teacher of PE

to ensure this happens. The need for PE provision is also a requirement of Junior Cycle Wellbeing.

A valuable subject-sampling programme is provided for first-year students. As is good practice, students preparing to enter fifth year are offered an open choice of optional subjects with subject bands then generated to accommodate these choices. Both the TY and LCVP programmes are well organised and offer a wide variety of learning experiences for students. The potential in TY for e-portfolios to inform assessment should be investigated.

The care of students is a significant strength of the school. Students, through interviews and surveys, indicated very high levels of positivity about the level of care they receive and the nature of their relationship with other students and with teachers. The care team, which provides valuable support to students, should meet more regularly. Very productive, mutually beneficial relationships have been established and maintained between the school and the wider community. There are strong

links with local primary schools. All teachers in the school visit the local primary schools as a way of helping incoming first-years adopt to life in St. Killian's College.

Overall, the quality of support for students with SEN is satisfactory, with a number of aspects of good practice. The SEN co-ordinator has a specialist qualification, has attended CPD on the new allocation model, and has put good supports in place for students with SENs such as establishing typing courses to aid students in examinations and has introduced Level Two Learning Programmes for a small number of students within a specific range of SEN. However, resources allocated to the school for students with SEN are not fully allocated by senior management in accordance with DES circulars. This underutilisation should be addressed. The school are currently investigating team teaching to deal with this issue and it is encouraging that teachers are positive about the prospect of participating in team teaching and have received training in the area. The development of individual student-learning plans should now be prioritised, and an agreed system of formally and confidentially sharing the key information contained in these plans with teachers, should be developed. This information should aid teachers to differentiate the curriculum and to meet individual student needs in mainstream lessons.

There is currently no qualified guidance counsellor on staff and the deputy principal and other teachers are providing some timetabled provision at senior cycle and junior cycle. Feedback from student and parent questionnaires indicated that career guidance is an area which needs improving in the school. The current school guidance plan refers mainly to the subject Guidance. A balance between the personal, social, educational and career guidance offered to students should be ensured in the plan. The GRETB, BOM and SMT need to work towards providing Guidance in line with the Education Act and Circular 12/05.

Managing the organisation

The BOM, which was appointed in 2015, is highly committed to the school. They have an effective oversight role in leading learning and teaching and are also active in policy formulation and review, development and maintenance of facilities and supporting staff CPD. There is potential to extend this by having teaching and learning as a standing item on each BOM agenda. There are very good links between the senior management and the board.

At the time of the evaluation all the mandatory policies were in place. In response to growing enrolment numbers, the admissions policy needs to be updated to make reference to procedures and criteria for students who wish to repeat a year, and for enrolment into TY.

There is good provision for appropriate use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the school. The senior management team is at the initial stages of introducing a cloud-based service to enhance teacher and student experiences, and all teachers have received training in this area. A “Digital Learning Plan” now needs to be prepared, as per Circular 11/2018, to outline the school’s targeted, incremental embedding of digital technologies in teaching, learning, and assessment. That plan will need to guide the way in which the “Grant Scheme for ICT Equipment” is used to improve learner outcomes for students.

The board and senior management fulfil their responsibility to create and maintain a climate of security and well-being in the school. They are committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for all students and staff. School management has been effective in maintaining existing school facilities and the school has applied to extend its facilities. There is ongoing pressure for space in terms of general classrooms and specialist rooms. The availability of the space for administration and resource education is also limited and the school is currently using rented PE facilities. School management should prioritise upgrading the art room.

A health and safety policy has been developed; however, this policy is outdated. This policy should be reviewed annually in line with HSA guidelines 2010. Risk assessments should also be undertaken annually and areas noted during the evaluation which require attention include the use of the top of

student lockers for storage, the location used to store projects in the Construction Studies room and the lack of supervision of students going to and returning from offsite PE facilities.

Due to the staggered start for various year groups at the outset of the academic year, the minimum 167 teaching days are not provided for. It is recommended that the board of management ensures compliance with Circular Letter M29/95 in this regard.

Leading school development

Those in leadership and management roles are aware of the school’s changing needs, and seek to respond to them; however while a comprehensive ‘know your school’ document has been created, an overarching strategic plan has not been developed. The board of management should oversee the formulation and implementation of a strategic plan for future school development, to be driven by senior management, in consultation with staff, parents and students.

The parents’ association is well established in the school. The parent nominees on the board, interviewed as part of the evaluation, were well informed about the association’s role, as they are also committee members of the association. There is good communication with the school leadership team and the parents’ council is consulted on policy development.

The parent questionnaires suggest that there is a need to enhance the communication on the work of the school. The board should prepare and issue an annual report on the operation and performance of the school, to parents, to staff and to the student council in line with requirements of the Education Act. SSE and school improvement plans (SIPs) and reports should also be prepared and circulated and should include progress in relation to SSE targets. The school’s website, when re-launched, has the potential to be used for improving communications with all partners and for the provision this information.

Developing leadership capacity

School management delegates responsibilities to a middle-management team of three assistant principals and a programme coordinator who give good support to the school. Teachers, both post holders and non-post holders, are encouraged to take on leadership roles in particular initiatives, and to undertake professional development in areas relating both to leadership and to developing classroom practice. Good support structures are in place for the induction of new teachers into the school.

It was reported that senior management operate an open-door policy and communication was described as very good; there are open agenda at staff meetings and very high levels of consultation between senior management and staff.

Those in leadership and management roles value students’ views, and support students’ involvement in the operation of the school; there is an opportunity to strengthen this further. There are some good opportunities provided for students to assume leadership roles such as the student council, peer teaching of primary pupils, involvement in SSE, the Amber Flag project and the 'buddy system'. It is commendable that these opportunities are provided by the school, but the effectiveness of some of these opportunities need to be reviewed.

The deputy principal has rejuvenated the student council this year which is positive. Opportunities to further utilise the student council should be sought; a constitution is required, more regular meetings should be held, and roles within the council need to be assigned.

A 'buddy system' was in use for the past number of years with senior students mentoring first year students. This arrangement was not in place this year with some students and teachers reporting it was not effective. In the context of wellbeing and student leadership, the school is encouraged to

reintroduce this system. The effectiveness of it may improve if the student mentors receive training and the system is promoted within the school.

A code of behaviour has been developed and the inclusion of positive affirmation is commendable. A number of students indicated in the questionnaires and in the meetings that they do not feel the code is implemented consistently and fairly; this merits investigation by school management. There was also a contradiction between the code and what happens in reality in relation to the use of mobile phones. If the school allows the use of mobile phones for educational purposes, then it should be reflected in the policies.

2. QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

The overall quality of teaching was good or very good in all lessons, with good or very good learning in almost all lessons. There was some scope for development in a number of areas. The majority of parents and students who were surveyed agreed that teaching was good in the school. Almost all students who were surveyed also reported that their teachers encouraged them to do the best that they can and that they were getting on well with their school work. Learner outcomes and experiences

A variety of features characterised the best lessons which were student centred, with active-learning methodologies prominent. The quality of student-teacher and student-student interaction in those lessons was very high.

All lessons had clearly identifiable learning intentions. To explicitly develop students’ awareness of those intentions, teachers should communicate them at the beginning of lessons, and check students’ achievement of them during and before the end of lessons. This would help students to assess their own progress while also giving teachers a very good insight into areas that require further development. Homework is frequently assigned and generally provided students with the opportunity to check learning in the lesson. To support this approach, it is recommended that homework be more strategically linked to the lesson intentions and assigned earlier in lessons, so that students can see the links between the homework assigned and the intended learning in lessons.

In the very good lessons observed, teachers organised highly effective group work where students were assigned a problem that necessitated analysis and application of lesson material. Observed activities were well structured and plenary sessions facilitated and reinforced the learning. In order to consolidate and extend this good practice across the school and to provide appropriate challenge for all learners, it is recommended that whole-school strategies that support differentiation and active learning be further developed.

Assessment practices are satisfactory overall; it is commendable that, through the SSE process, the schools has identified AfL as the next area to focus on. In a small number of lessons there were some excellent examples of teacher feedback to students on test scripts, notebooks and folders which provided clear directions on how students could improve their work. This good practice should be more widespread, with all teachers developing strategies associated with AfL and giving regular written formative feedback to students.

During the evaluation it was noted that a small number of students were disorganised in relation to the filing of worksheets, presentation of work and charging of their tablet devices. Managing myself, a key skill in the Junior Cycle Framework, and general organisation skills, should be prioritised as an area for development.

Teachers’ individual and collective practice

Teachers’ preparation for lessons in almost all cases was very good. There was worthwhile use of demonstration, presentations and well-designed teacher worksheets. The pitch and pace of most of the lessons visited was suitable and enhanced by very good classroom management.

The use of good-quality questioning techniques was evident in almost all lessons. This was characterised by the use of a range of question types from basic recall to questions requiring students to link prior and new learning, or to explain and justify their responses. In many lessons, questioning of named students ensured whole-class coverage. Most differentiation was achieved by teachers moving through the classrooms, evaluating the work of individual students and supporting them as necessary.

Teachers engage both formally and informally in lesson and subject planning. Curricular planning also benefits considerably from collaboration with local schools within GRETB. This collective engagement is particularly valuable for teachers of one-teacher subject departments.

The quality of subject planning ranged between very good and satisfactory across the different subject plans reviewed during the evaluation. The best plans outlined programmes of work in terms of learning to be achieved within a given timeframe. They also included an analysis of certificate examination results as well as evidence of teacher reflection and action planning. Teachers would benefit from having resources hyperlinked for convenient use in classrooms. It is suggested that all plans, which are stored electronically, be informed appropriately by the overall strategic school plan.

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS

Leadership and Management

The school has made very good progress in implementing recommendations from previous evaluations in respect of leadership and management. The inclusion of a sampling programme of the optional subjects in first year has been addressed; it is important to keep this arrangement under regular review in light of changes in junior cycle.

The content and approach to teaching Mathematics in TY has been revised to bring it in line with the objective of TY. A very progressive integrated Mathematics plan has been developed to reflect this development.

It was recommended previously that students should remain in mixed ability classes of English until the end of second year. This change has been implemented but a similar approach to Mathematics should be adopted.

Teaching and Learning

Overall, good progress has been made in implementing recommendations made in relation to teaching and learning in those subjects previously inspected.

There was good progress in most lessons in the use of targeted questioning strategies to enhance the participation of all students. In some lessons, however, there was an over-reliance on global questioning. Very good oral developmental feedback was provided to students on their work. Teachers should give more regular written formative feedback to students.

When the school is devising strategies to support its SSE work on AfL, key areas for consideration should include questioning, the use of learning intentions, and formative feedback.

4. THE SCHOOL’S SELF-EVALUATION PROCESS AND CAPACITY FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

The School’s Self-Evaluation Process

The school’s self-evaluation process is good. The newly appointed deputy principal has made very effective progress with SSE since starting in the role and both qualitative and quantitative data have been collected.

While the SSE and school improvement (SIP) plans are comprehensive, there is scope to monitor more closely the achievement of specific targets and the progress made. It is recommended that the action planning for SSE be more closely monitored in order to assess ongoing progress. The annual sharing of those SIPs with the school community, possibly using the school website, is also recommended. The School’s Capacity for Improvement

The school’s capacity for improvement is good, given that a culture of review, improvement and self-evaluation has been established by school management. Teachers work collaboratively on teams and are committed to remaining upskilled and are open to building collective expertise that supports student learning.

Appendix

SCHOOL RESPONSE TO THE REPORT

Submitted by the Board of Management

Part A Observations on the content of the inspection report St. Killian’s board of management welcomes this very positive report which affirms the good work being carried out in St. Killian’s College. It comprehensively recognises the high quality of teaching and learning in the school, the caring atmosphere and the mutual respect and inclusiveness that is prevailing culture within the school. In addition, it endorses the “informed and effective leadership” provided by the board of management and senior management team. Other positive aspects include;

Quality of school leadership and management is good.

A positive and caring atmosphere.

High levels of positivity among students about the level of care they receive and the nature of their relationships with other students and with teachers.

Teaching and learning good or very good in all lessons.

Good or very good student learning.

A wide range of subject programme options.

Students’ views valued.

All lessons had clearly identifiable learning outcomes.

Excellent examples of teacher feedback which provided clear directions on how students could improve their work.

The school’s self-evaluation process is good and “very effective progress” has been made in this area.

“St. Killian’s numbers are growing” which is positive for its continuing future development. Part B Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection activity to implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection.

Building on the positive findings in the report and the recommendations made, the board wishes to confirm that it is fully committed to the implementation of the recommendations as follows;

As acknowledged in the report the school has “a comprehensive Know Your School Document” which includes details on every aspect of the school including challenges and opportunities for the future. To complement this document and the very good work already done in this area, the board intends to complete the formulation of the strategic plan by the 2018 October mid-term break.

As a means of improving on the report’s acknowledgement that the school “has put good supports in place for students with SEN” and also the fact that “the school are currently investigating team teaching” as another means of supporting SEN students, the board wishes to confirm that team teaching was introduced at the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year and has received a positive response from staff and students and parents. This team teaching will add further to the supports already being provided for our students. With the support of the GRETB and in collaboration with other GRETB schools, PE is now being provided to our students since the beginning of the 2018/19 academic year and is adding to the positive experience of the students’ wellbeing as highlighted in the report where “the care of the students is a significant strength of the school”. The board is also committed to completing its review regarding Guidance provision during the 2018/19 academic year.

Our SSE process described as “good” and “comprehensive” in the report “given that a culture of review, improvement and self-evaluation has been established” had already prioritised AFL as our next strand and it is re-assuring that the inspectorate concurred with this view. A work group has been set up since May 2018 and the focus is to share best practice among all staff. This process of sharing best practice regarding AFL was included on the agenda at the beginning of year staff meeting in August 2018 and will be an agenda item in future staff meetings.

While the report acknowledges that the quality of subject planning ranged between “very good” (which is the highest grading) to satisfactory, further staff training is planned for the 2018/19 academic year which will supplement the whole staff training already received during the 2017/18 academic year. This training will help staff to further improve planning at both department and lesson level. All SEN students have always had a comprehensive IEP, and those are now being incorporated into student support plans which are securely stored on the staff intranet. Communication regarding sensitive information is currently being stored and shared on staff intranet which is only accessible by the relevant staff through a password protected log-on. A review of this procedure will be completed during the 2018/19 academic year.

Published September 2018 / Foilsithe Meán Fómhair 2018

The Inspectorate’s Quality Continuum

Inspectors describe the quality of provision in the school using the Inspectorate’s quality continuum which is shown below. The quality continuum provides examples of the language used by inspectors when evaluating and describing the quality of the school’s provision of each area.

Level Description Example of descriptive terms

Very Good

Very good applies where the quality of the areas evaluated is of a very high standard. The very few areas for improvement that exist do not significantly impact on the overall quality of provision. For some schools in this category the quality of what is evaluated is outstanding and provides an example for other schools of exceptionally high standards of provision.

Very good; of a very high quality; very effective practice; highly commendable; very successful; few areas for improvement; notable; of a very high standard. Excellent; outstanding; exceptionally high standard, with very significant strengths; exemplary

Good

Good applies where the strengths in the areas evaluated clearly outweigh the areas in need of improvement. The areas requiring improvement impact on the quality of pupils’ learning. The school needs to build on its strengths and take action to address the areas identified as requiring improvement in order to achieve a very good standard.

Good; good quality; valuable; effective practice; competent; useful; commendable; good standard; some areas for improvement

Satisfactory

Satisfactory applies where the quality of provision is adequate. The strengths in what is being evaluated just outweigh the shortcomings. While the shortcomings do not have a significant negative impact they constrain the quality of the learning experiences and should be addressed in order to achieve a better standard.

Satisfactory; adequate; appropriate provision although some possibilities for improvement exist; acceptable level of quality; improvement needed in some areas

Fair

Fair applies where, although there are some strengths in the areas evaluated, deficiencies or shortcomings that outweigh those strengths also exist. The school will have to address certain deficiencies without delay in order to ensure that provision is satisfactory or better.

Fair; evident weaknesses that are impacting on pupils’ learning; less than satisfactory; experiencing difficulty; must improve in specified areas; action required to improve

Weak

Weak applies where there are serious deficiencies in the areas evaluated. Immediate and coordinated whole-school action is required to address the areas of concern. In some cases, the intervention of other agencies may be required to support improvements.

Weak; unsatisfactory; insufficient; ineffective; poor; requiring significant change, development or improvement; experiencing significant difficulties;