Whole-School Evaluation Management, Leadership and Learning REPORT. Saint John Bosco Community College Kildysart, County Clare Roll number: 76075K

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1 An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna Department of Education and Skills Whole-School Evaluation Management, Leadership and Learning REPORT Saint John Bosco Community College Kildysart, County Clare Roll number: 76075K Date of inspection: 14 October 2013

2 Whole-School Evaluation Management, Leadership and Learning A whole-school evaluation of management, leadership and learning (WSE-MLL) was undertaken in October, 2013 in Saint John Bosco Community College. This report presents the findings of the evaluation and makes recommendations for improvement. During the evaluation, the inspection team met with the school s board of management, in-school management, and groups of teachers, parents and students. Inspectors also reviewed a range of school documentation and responses to questionnaires and examined other data in relation to the operation of the school. As part of the evaluation, a range of lessons across a number of subject areas was inspected. 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. Introduction St John Bosco Community College was formed in 1999 by the amalgamation of Kildysart Vocational School and Cahercon Secondary School, then run by the Salesian Sisters. The school community moved into a new ultra-modern school building in This coeducational school operates under the auspices of Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (ETB). It is the sole provider of second-level education in the local area and is an integral part of the community. The enrolment currently stands at 183, including twelve students enrolled in an adult and continuing education course. While functioning as a community college, the Salesian ethos, based on the teachings of St John Bosco, is an integral feature of the College. A positive school environment based on the provision of a holistic education, respectful relationships and the affirmation of students and teachers is central to the school s inclusive ethos. The school with the active support of the ETB caters well for the needs of all its students. The school continues to examine the potential for increased enrolment. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT Key Findings The board of management is very supportive of the school and is engaged in policy development and review. The parents association supports the school actively. All stakeholders demonstrated an agreed vision for the school and articulated agreed priorities during the evaluation. Increasing the enrolment figures and maintaining a broad curriculum are key priorities to ensure sustainability. The principal and deputy principal form a hardworking and effective leadership team. The generous and diligent commitment by staff to the provision of a broad curriculum as well as various extracurricular activities is laudable. The post of responsibility structure is in need of review. The developmental section of the school plan requires further improvement. A commendable range of student support structures and various interventions to support student welfare is in place. The quality of teaching and learning was good or very good in most of the lessons observed. 2

3 The school has engaged in various school self-evaluation (SSE) activities and demonstrates good capacity for change and improvement. Recommendations for Further Development A strategic time-bound plan to include specific action plans to advance the school s developmental priorities should be formulated and implemented. Each school policy should include a review date. A review of the duties assigned to posts of responsibility should be undertaken. The school should develop procedures for regular review of its health and safety statement in line with current guidelines and legislation. Greater use should be made of a variety of active learning methodologies to support students engagement. Assessment for learning (AfL) practices should be further implemented by all teachers and the homework policy should be further developed into a whole-school homework and assessment policy to reflect this. 1. QUALITY OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP 1.1 School ownership and management The ETB provides an enabling and supportive framework for the school. The board of management is very supportive of the school. Educational expertise, strong community links, and long-serving commitment are key features of the board s membership. The board is committed to the school s ongoing development and oversees school planning and policy development. Since some policies have not been reviewed for a number of years a cycle of review and update should be devised for all policies. The board has a broad overview of the quality of teaching and learning in the school through general reports on certificate examination attainment and updates on subject evaluations provided by the principal. In order to further increase the board s focus on teaching and learning, it should seek inputs from subject departments that contextualise attainment and developments within subjects. The board should also seek progress reports from subject departments on the implementation of recommendations from previous evaluations. There is good communication between senior management, the board and the ETB and good informal communication between the board and other stakeholders. There is scope to improve the minutes of board of management meetings so that they reflect the true depth of discussions and key decisions made at board meetings. As a means of communicating the school s priorities and its progress in their achievement, the principal s reports to the board should be further developed into a more comprehensive annual report on the operation and performance of the school and be made available to the school community. Communication with the various stakeholders could be further enhanced by means of an agreed report following board meetings. To further support partnership and school developments it is recommended that formalised meetings among the board and student council and the parents association be scheduled occasionally. The parents association is very active, well-informed and works in partnership with senior management. It demonstrates good capacity to support school developments into the future. Responses from student and parent questionnaires, administered as part of the WSE-MLL, indicate positive attitudes towards the school. The various stakeholders expressed an agreed vision for the school and collectively they have identified a range of developmental priorities: promoting the school profile, increasing enrolment figures, maintaining a broad curriculum including Transition Year (TY), 3

4 supporting student and staff welfare, promoting and maintaining continuing education, and further developing the use of information and communication technology (ICT) across the school. Each of these priorities is relevant to the school s needs and collectively, they reflect the ambition of the school to grow. Progress in advancing many aspects of these priorities is evidence of the tremendous goodwill and commitment from staff members. To support the management of change, the board should oversee the development of a strategic time-bound plan to advance the achievement of its identified priorities. This should link together the plans and policies already developed, or in train, and set realistic targets for the achievement of identified priorities within specific time frames. A central focus on teaching and learning should form a key part of this development plan. Furthermore, action plans should then be developed to support the achievement of targets and performance indicators should be designed to monitor progress. This approach would facilitate a more focused process of review and self-evaluation and enable the school community to establish more readily its achievements and areas where further work is required. This work should become a key component in the school s self-evaluation process. 1.2 Effectiveness of leadership for learning The principal and deputy principal are very committed to the school and together they form an effective senior management team. Both discharge an extensive range of duties and they are well established in their management roles. Their involvement as classroom teachers exemplifies the visible role they have in leading learning. Their individual talents and abilities are complementary and their management style is open, collaborative and consultative. They work well in partnership, lead by example and have successfully driven and managed change across a number of areas of school life in the context of significant changes in staff and in resources that the school has recently experienced. They promote good quality communication with all stakeholders. The principal, as instructional leader should further develop her leadership role in order to progress a more strategic approach to implementing the school s developmental priorities through action planning. A key strength of the school is its committed and hardworking staff who are afforded, and avail of, opportunities to lead many initiatives to support school improvement. Teachers demonstrate a strong sense of goodwill and care for students. Good lines of communication have been developed across the school supported by regular staff meetings. A distributed model of leadership is in evidence and the middle management team provide essential support in the running of the school. A collaborative review of the post of responsibility structure is recommended based on school s current needs and developmental priorities. The review of posts should focus on devolving appropriate leadership roles to middle management and should allocate areas of responsibility commensurate with the posts concerned. In line with best practice it is recommended that procedures be developed for structured reporting on the performance of duties to senior management and a yearly report to the board of management. Staff continuing professional development is actively supported and whole-staff in-service training has been provided on a range of topics. Leadership opportunities are embraced and the contribution of non-post holders is very significant and highly valued. The secretarial and caretaking staff as well as the special needs assistant, make highly-valued contributions to the school. The school community is engaged in ongoing collaborative planning at both school level and subject department level. The permanent section of the school plan mainly consists of 4

5 school policies. It should also include a comprehensive outline the school s operating procedures. A systematic rolling review for policy development should be advanced. As policies are revised they should be dated and include a timeframe for review. The developmental section of the plan is currently underdeveloped and in future should include the school s planning cycles and should outline baseline data, record targets set and include rigorous action planning and ongoing monitoring and review. The establishment of a school planning team, led by a co-ordinator, would support in directing this work. The maintenance of a broad curriculum is an ongoing priority in the context of a small school. The school has developed creative ways of arranging classes which allows the school to offer a broad curriculum. The curriculum is reviewed regularly with purposeful efforts made to meet students needs. Teachers engage in various levels of extra teaching and they support students on a voluntary basis; this is commendable. The school should explore various ways of using modern technology to support the implementation of a broad curriculum. The school needs to evaluate its capacity to continue to provide such a broad curriculum in the context of the resourcing available to it. Timetable construction is good and includes positive examples of concurrent timetabling of some subjects. Students should have access to a mathematics lesson and an English lesson per day in line with Circular 58/2011 and Circular 25/2012. Provision should be made to plan and deliver an appropriate programme of Physical Education to all senior cycle students, in the context of available resources. There were insufficient numbers of students to form a TY class this year. The school should continue to explore TY as a possible option. A very good variety of co-curricular and extracurricular activities contributes to students holistic development. The spirit of collegiality and volunteerism demonstrated by teachers supports school activities well and the celebration of achievement is valued. Student access to optional subjects in first year and in fifth year is provided by means of fixed option bands. There is a risk that these subject bands reinforce traditional gender stereotyping. It is thus recommended that the possibility of providing a more open subject choice at junior and senior cycle be explored further in the context of school planning and self-evaluation. The school operates an open and inclusive admission policy. Practices in relation to the management of students are generally good and are facilitated through the school s code of behaviour which was recently updated. Good standards of behaviour and respectful studentteacher relationships were evident in almost all cases. Student leadership is facilitated effectively through such mechanisms as their student council, called Dáil na Scoile, the mentoring system, the St Vincent De Paul group, and the Green Schools programme. The existing student council constitution should be reviewed and further developed. Attendance and punctuality are closely monitored and the newly introduced morning assembly has dramatically improved attendance and punctuality. Retention after junior cycle and progression to further studies is very good. Students welfare and educational needs are at the heart of the school and regarded as a responsibility of all staff members. A commendable range of student-support structures exists and year heads, the guidance counsellor and the two chaplains play a pivotal role. This was endorsed by parents and students during the evaluation. Social, personal and health education (SPHE) and relationships and sexuality education (RSE) programmes are appropriately delivered. Chaplaincy plays an integral part in the school s support system, and is effective in focusing on the care of the whole school community. In addition, a range of retreats and liturgical celebrations is undertaken. Regular meetings of the care team, year head meetings and good communication links with staff facilitate a whole-school approach to student care. To enhance supports for students, consideration should be given to further 5

6 developing academic monitoring as part of the year head role and students should have a proactive role in this process. A comprehensive guidance plan is in place. A whole-school approach to guidance is evident and support is provided through a well-developed programme of personal, educational and vocational guidance. There are good supports for students and parents at various transition times. There is evidence of very good planning and communication in the area of additional educational needs. There is comprehensive testing and retesting of students and good work on needs analyses leading to good profiling of students and a flexible model of provision for their needs. This is underpinned by ongoing review and improvement. Very good work is ongoing with regards to classroom support plans for individual students. The coordinator of learning support and special educational needs is also the guidance counsellor. In view of the importance of both of these roles it is recommended that consideration be given to up skilling at least another teacher in the area of special education in order to build capacity for the future. Confirmation was provided that the board of management has formally adopted the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools without modification and that the school is compliant with the requirements of the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools. 1.3 Management of facilities The school building, on two storeys, is spacious, exceptionally well maintained and very clean. A very good range of facilities and resources is available to support teaching and learning. The school also benefits from its spacious grounds, sports hall and playing field. Provision of ICT facilities throughout the school is very good. A good range of student artwork is on display as well as photographs and displays of students achievements. Management of school facilities is very good and maintenance and upkeep issues are addressed as they arise. The school should develop procedures for regular review of its health and safety statement in line with current guidelines and legislation. The Green Flag award reflects the school s commitment to its environmental responsibilities and students are currently working towards a second Green Flag. 2. QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING 2.1 The quality of learning and teaching A perusal of a sample of programme and subject plans revealed that the majority are well developed. However, further development is recommended in some cases where plans have a content-driven focus. Some positive features of subject plans included: the development of both an outline and a detailed scheme of work, support for students with special needs, literacy and numeracy strategies, records of meetings and aspects of self-evaluation. To enhance provision for teaching and learning, collaborative discussion should lead to schemes being further developed, as appropriate, in relation to: student learning outcomes; teaching methodologies; resources; AfL practices and differentiation. There was a very good standard of planning and preparation for the lessons observed and the choice and use of resources were effective. ICT was utilised well as a visual learning 6

7 aid and to illustrate and explain concepts, however, there is scope to make more innovative use of ICT to support student learning. The quality of teaching and learning was good or very good in most of the lessons observed with very good practice predominant. In the most successful lessons learning outcomes were clear and in some cases these were reviewed at the end to consolidate student learning. This practice should be extended to all lessons. Lessons were generally well structured and sequenced in line with the planned learning outcomes. Highly commendable practice was noted in some lessons where a variety of methodologies to promote active student engagement and ongoing assessment of learning were evident. In the instances when questioning showed significant strengths, teachers skilfully distributed lower and higher-order questions and framed questions using a discovery approach. While there were positive aspects in all of the lessons observed there was scope for improvement in a small number of classes. Where whole-class instruction tended to dominate, a better balance between teacher input and active student engagement could have been maintained. In some lessons, the increased use of active learning methodologies would have improved students engagement. There was also scope for some teachers to make greater use of directed questioning throughout lessons. Good examples of various forms of differentiation were evident. However, there was scope in some classrooms for the increased use of differentiated questioning strategies and extension activities to cater for the wide range of abilities evident. There was a good focus on key word strategies and subject terminology was explained, reinforced and integrated in some lessons. However, the potential to further develop students oral literacy skills needs to be utilised in all subject areas. There was a positive and supportive atmosphere in the lessons evaluated. Classroom management was generally effective, students engaged well and demonstrated good behaviour in almost all lessons. In a small minority of instances, there was some low level disruption where students were disengaged. Procedures for dealing with indiscipline should be consistently implemented in line with the school s code of behaviour. High standards were set with regards to the setting and monitoring of homework. Students generally displayed good levels of knowledge, understanding and skills commensurate with their ability. The positive benefits of the new monthly assessments were evident and should be kept under review. Some very good practice was observed regarding the provision of formative feedback to students. It was evident from the presentation and quality of student work that high expectations are set for learning in these cases. The full implementation of a whole-school approach to assessment for learning (AfL), including formative feedback is recommended. The homework policy should be further developed into a whole-school homework and assessment policy to reflect this. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS 3.1 Management 7

8 The school has made very good progress in the implementation of recommendations made in previous evaluations related to whole-school provision. This is indicative of the high levels of support given by school management to subject provision. 3.2 Learning and teaching In most subject areas good progress has been made in implementing recommendations related to teaching and learning. Given the pedagogical nature of many of the recommendations, continuing work is necessary to address them adequately into the future. Therefore areas such as active learning to support varying abilities and the implementation of AfL strategies should be further developed. A whole-school approach to monitoring the implementation of existing and future recommendations and to assessing the impact of their implementation on other subject areas should be adopted. 4. THE SCHOOL S SELF-EVALUATION PROCESS AND CAPACITY FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT The school demonstrates good capacity to initiate change and drive school improvement. It has been progressive in developing its student support structures, subject planning, and its ICT facilities. The school has engaged in a number of self-evaluation activities across various aspects of school life. These include parent and student surveys, end-of-year programme evaluations, staff group discussions, curriculum review, policy review, and some analysis of examination results. The analysis of the data gathered is used to inform the school s developmental priorities. Action planning should be formalised and further developed to support the implementation of the school s developmental priorities. In the context of school self-evaluation, subject departments should evaluate the effectiveness of literacy strategies in each subject area to inform ongoing review of the school s literacy improvement plan. Published May

9 Appendix SCHOOL RESPONSE TO THE REPORT Submitted by the Board of Management 9

10 Area 1 Observations on the content of the inspection report The Board was pleased with the content of the inspection report. Good practice in the school was recognised. Leadership and learning are taking place. Area 2 Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection activity to implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection. The code of discipline is being implemented in a fair and diligent manner. The structure of the posts of responsibility has been reviewed by staff at two one hour sessions. 10