Full Lisneal report

Included - at the end of the report by the Education and Training

Inspectorate - is a summary of its main findings and its conclusions.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 CONTEXT

Lisneal College is an 11-18 co-educational school. The College was founded in September 2004 as a result of the amalgamation of Clondermott and Faughan Valley High Schools, and is situated on a spacious site on the Crescent Link in Londonderry.

The school draws its pupils from a number of primary schools in the city and surrounding, rural areas; the enrolment has declined steadily over the past three years from 940 in 2007 to the current figure of 892.

Over 95% of the pupils entering year 8 obtained either a Grade D or did not participate in the Transfer Procedure.

Approximately 27% of the pupils are entitled to free school meals; and the school has identified 22% of the pupils in years 8 to 12 as requiring additional support with their learning.

1.2 THE VIEWS OF THE PARENTS, TEACHERS, SUPPORT STAFF, GOVERNORS AND PUPILS

The arrangements for the inspection included the opportunity for the parents, teaching staff and support staff to complete confidential questionnaires prior to the inspection.

In addition, meetings were held with representatives from the Board of Governors (governors) and groups of pupils from years 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

One hundred and eighty questionnaires were issued to parents; 57 (31%) were returned to Inspection Services Branch of which 23 contained additional written comments.

The responses from the questionnaires and most of the comments from the parents indicated good levels of satisfaction with the work of the school.

In particular, the parents mentioned the good arrangements for transition from primary to post-primary school.

The governors expressed their strong support for the work of the school, particularly during the amalgamation process.

They raised concerns in relation to the pupils' attendance and the disappointing standards achieved in public examinations.

Over three-quarters of the teaching staff and almost half of the support staff completed a confidential questionnaire, with ten teaching staff and five support staff providing additional written comments.

A majority of the teaching staff who responded raised concerns relating to aspects of leadership and management and communication within the school.

The support staff appreciated the help for pupils with special educational needs and their opportunity to contribute to this work, but otherwise reported that they were not sufficiently included in the educational work of the school.

In discussions with the pupils, they talked about the extra-curricular opportunities that are available to them within the school, and their appreciation of the hard-working teachers.

A small number of pupils expressed concerns about what they regarded as poor behaviour by some pupils in the playground areas during the lunchtime period; that said, they indicated that they know who to turn to if they are worried about their work, personal safety or well-being.

The Education and Training Inspectorate (Inspectorate) has reported to the Principal and representatives of the governors the matters emerging from the parents', teachers' and support staff questionnaires.

1.3 FOCUS

The inspection focused on learning and teaching, leadership and management at all levels across the school and, in addition, on the provision for English, mathematics and science; as an additional evidence base for the inspection, lessons were observed across a range of other subjects.

The provision for pupils requiring additional support with their learning and the arrangements for the inclusion of these pupils in all aspects of school life were also inspected.

Furthermore, the provision for careers education, pastoral care and the arrangements for child protection were evaluated, as was the school's approach to promoting healthy eating and physical activity.

A summary of the main findings for the subjects under focus can be found in Appendix 1.

2. THE QUALITY OF THE PUPILS' WORK

2.1 ACHIEVEMENTS AND STANDARDS

The levels of attainment in public examinations are inadequate. In 2009, most of the pupils in year 12 were entered for five or more subjects at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) level, with over one-third achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C. These standards are well below the average for similar non-selective schools in Northern Ireland (NI).

Over the same period, the proportion of pupils obtaining five or more subjects at GCSE level A*-C including English and mathematics has fluctuated and, in 2009, was well below the NI average for similar schools.

The standards achieved at A*-C in just over half of the GCSE subjects over the past three years are more than ten percentage points below the corresponding three year NI averages.

During the past three years, the proportion of pupils achieving three or more General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced (A) level grades at A-C is well below the NI average for all schools.

While there are strong performances at A-C in a minority of the vocational subjects on offer, over half of all the subjects are more than ten percentage points below the corresponding NI average.

The school accepts the need to improve achievement in public examinations; the inspection findings confirm that raising standards is an issue which should be addressed as a matter of urgency.

At key stage (KS) 4, the school offers a comprehensive range of general and applied qualifications including additional options provided by the school's collaborative arrangements with the North West Regional College.

In recent years, several vocational options have been introduced into the post-16 curriculum and useful curricular links have been established with local schools and colleges as part of the Foyle Learning Community.

However, the curriculum on offer at post-16 remains limited and the school needs to broaden the choice of options available to the pupils at this level.

More details of the examination results can be found in Appendices 3 and 4.

2.2 THE QUALITY OF PROVISION FOR LEARNING

2.2.1 QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

The quality of teaching observed ranged from very good to inadequate. While just under half of the lessons observed were good or very good, a similar proportion had room for improvement.

In the more effective practice, teachers and pupils had appropriately high expectations and the questioning was challenging, giving the pupils opportunities to make a sustained, spoken response.

The work built on previous learning and the pupils could participate in active and interesting learning experiences.

In the less effective practice, in just under half of the lessons seen, the work focused too little on developing the pupils' learning and too much on the pupils simply completing tasks.

There was insufficient clarity in the learning objectives and little challenge in the range of activities planned by the teachers. Furthermore, the pupils had few opportunities to interact with each other.

In the majority of classes, the pupils are reluctant to engage in and contribute to the learning process.

Many pupils are content to work with the task in hand and not to ask questions.

Spoken responses were limited and generally the pupils lacked confidence in answering questions or contributing to discussions.

The pupils who receive additional help with their learning are, in the main, more willing to become actively involved in their learning.

The work in special educational needs (SEN) is good and is currently led by a very effective and dedicated special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO).

She leads a team of five teaching staff in the Learning Support Centre (LSC), who are enthusiastic, committed and have very good relationships with the pupils.

The LSC staff provide support and guidance to individuals or small groups, helping those pupils who are having difficulty in the mainstream classes.

The classroom assistants play a significant role in this work and their good relationships with, and knowledge of, the pupils help the pupils to settle to their work.

The pupils make good progress and they gain in self-confidence and self-esteem as they benefit from the small classes, and individual help they receive.

The SENCO provides relevant information and guidance for colleagues across the departments in mainstream classes and has done much to build capacity in teachers across the school in supporting pupils with special educational needs.

However, the senior management team (SMT) need to develop and support the work on SEN at a strategic level and to include it as an integral part of the school development plan (SDP) in order to secure further improvement.

The majority of subject departments need to develop Individual Education Plans so that they adapt the information supplied by the SENCO to customise the targets for subject teachers and for the pupils. There are good examples of effective practice and these should be identified and celebrated by the SMT and shared on a whole-school basis.

2.2.2 PASTORAL CARE

The quality of the arrangements for pastoral care is satisfactory. The strengths include the opportunities provided for the further enrichment of the pupils' learning experiences through the Extended Schools programme; the useful start made in making use of available pastoral data to inform the pastoral provision; the recently introduced mentoring programme for year 12 pupils; the effective links between the SENCO and key pastoral staff to support pupils who are experiencing social and emotional difficulties; and the transition arrangements in place for year 8.

In order to develop the provision, the SMT need to provide clear strategic direction for the development and evaluation of all aspects of the pastoral programme, and ensure opportunities are provided to consult further with the pupils and parents when revising pastoral policies.

2.2.3 CHILD PROTECTION

The school has satisfactory arrangements in place for safeguarding young people and these arrangements broadly reflect the guidance issued by the Department of Education.

However, the school needs to review its policy and procedures for the management of positive behaviour to include the experiences of the pupils in the playground areas.

2.2.4 HEALTHY EATING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

The school gives satisfactory attention to developing aspects of healthy eating and physical activity.

They need to extend their links with external agencies to further promote positive attitudes to healthy eating in the school.

2.2.5 CAREERS EDUCATION, INFORMATION, ADVICE AND GUIDANCE

The provision for careers education, information advice and guidance (CEIAG) is satisfactory.

The school offers a variety of programmes and activities including work-related learning opportunities which contribute to the pupils' knowledge and understanding of local and national employment opportunities.

The head of department has a clear sense of direction for the department both within the school and in the context of the local learning community.

In supporting the ongoing development of CEIAG, the SMT need to ensure a more consistent and coherent approach to the delivery of CEIAG across the school, taking account of all the contributory aspects of the curriculum.

It will be important that this work is linked appropriately to a coherent and systematic programme of staff development.

2.3 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

The Principal has been in post since 2006. During a period of significant disruption, he has overseen the challenging process of amalgamation and the construction and subsequent move to the new school building when the management focus was on structural and organisational matters.

The quality of leadership at most levels is inadequate. While suitable processes for monitoring and evaluating have been introduced and linked appropriately to the delivery of a programme of school-based in-service training to support the implementation of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, these processes have not been adopted sufficiently or applied consistently across all departments.

There is insufficient accountability by leaders and managers at all levels.

The SMT need to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate in a more strategic and collegial way in order to help build the capacity of many of the middle managers and to ensure that all work undertaken has a more positive impact on learning and teaching.

In this work it will be important that the SMT disseminate the good practice which already exists at departmental level within the school. There is a lack of effective communication throughout the school and inspection evidence endorses the concerns expressed by staff on communication in the questionnaires.

The SDP sets out a range of suitable priorities for school improvement and is linked clearly to the school's programme of staff development. These priorities need to be implemented taking account of the areas for improvement identified by the inspection.

In order to meet more fully with the requirements of the Education (School Development Plans) Regulations

NI 2005, the start made to self-evaluation at departmental level needs to be developed further so that the assessment of the pupils' progress and standards of attainment are used more effectively to inform the target-setting process at departmental and whole-school levels.

3. MAIN FINDINGS

3.1 The main strengths of the school include:

* the quality of just under half of the lessons observed during the inspection which was good or very good;

* the good provision in mathematics, in particular, the development of a wide range of teaching and learning strategies which engage the pupils actively in their learning;

* the good quality of learning and teaching for those pupils in the Learning Support Centre and also for those identified as requiring additional support in the mainstream classes;

* the effective links between the SENCO and key pastoral staff when supporting pupils who are experiencing social and emotional difficulties; and

* the structured staff development programme provided for all subjects particularly in relation to Northern Ireland Curriculum and other current educational initiatives.

3.2 The main areas for improvement are the need:

* to improve the standards achieved by the pupils, in their ongoing work, in public examinations and, in particular, in English and science;

* for the senior management team to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate provision in a more strategic and collegial way in order to build the capacity of many of the middle managers and to ensure that all work has a more positive impact on learning and teaching; and

* to review the SDP in light of the inspection findings including the development of an effective communication strategy and building more systematically on the work on target-setting at departmental and whole-school level.

4. CONCLUSION

In the majority of the areas inspected, the quality of education provided by the school is inadequate; the areas for improvement outweigh the strengths in the provision. The inspection has identified significant areas for improvement in standards, learning and teaching and leadership and management which need to be addressed urgently if the school is to meet effectively the needs of all of the learners.

The Education and Training Inspectorate will monitor and report on the school's progress in addressing the areas for improvement. A follow-up inspection will be carried out within 12 to 18 months after the inspection.

SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS FOR THE SUBJECTS UNDER FOCUS

English

The quality of the provision for English is inadequate.

The strengths of the work include:

* the good use made of initiatives such as the Better Reading Partnership;

* in the classes observed, the good level of behaviour and, when given the opportunity, the oral responses of the pupils; and

* in a small number of classes observed, the good or very good teaching.

The areas for improvement are:

* to improve the inadequate standards including those in public examinations;

* to review the short-term planning to focus more sharply on the intended learning; and

* to adopt a more strategic, collegial approach, led by the head of department, to bring about improvement in teaching, learning and outcomes.

Mathematics

The quality of the provision for mathematics is good.

The strengths of the work include:

* the quality of the teaching observed, most of which was good or very good;

* the motivated pupils who learn collaboratively in pairs and groups;

* the appropriately wide range of learning and teaching strategies used which engage the pupils actively in their learning;

* the quality of the medium-term and long-term planning which guides effectively the work of the department; and

* the commitment of the head of mathematics and the departmental team to review and improve classroom practice.

The areas for improvement are:

* to raise further the levels of attainment at KS3 and at GCSE;

* to develop further the assessment processes in order to support the raising of standards; and

* to link more closely self-evaluation with action to promote improvement.

Science

The quality of the provision for science is inadequate.

The strengths of the work include:

* the quality of learning environment which has been enhanced effectively through the display of the pupils' work;

* the good relationships between pupils and teachers in most of the lessons observed;

* the quality of the teaching observed during the inspection which was always satisfactory and in approximately one third of lessons good or better;

* the provision of applied science courses post-16; and

* the extent to which the science teachers provide additional opportunities for some pupils to engage in extra-curricular activities related to science.

The areas for improvement are:

* to improve the standards achieved by the pupils at every level and to have realistically high expectations of what the pupils can do and achieve;

* to plan more effectively for learning and teaching and to ensure this planning is implemented consistently; and

* to provide a wider range of learning activities which engage the pupils more actively in their learning.

Read more at: http://www.denidata.nics.gov.uk/insp/inspection_reports/2010_04/standard-inspection-lisneal-college-londonderry.PDF