An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna

Department of Education and Skills

Whole-School Evaluation

Management, Leadership and Learning

REPORT

Ainm na scoile /

School name Jesus & Mary Secondary School

Seoladh na scoile /

School address

Salerno Secondary School

Threadneedle Rd

Salthill

Uimhir rolla /

Roll number 63001G

Date of Evaluation: 15 March 2017

WHAT IS A WHOLE-SCHOOL EVALUATION – MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING?

Whole-School Evaluations – Management, Leadership and Learning report on the quality of teaching

and learning and on the quality of management and leadership in a school. They affirm good practice

and make 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.

Whole-School Evaluation – Management, Leadership and Learning

INSPECTION ACTIVITIES DURING THIS INSPECTION

Dates of inspection 7 - 23 March 2017

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

Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Salerno is an all-girls’ post-primary school located in the Salthill

area of Galway city. The school is under the trusteeship of the Le Chéile Trust. At the time of the

evaluation the school had an enrolment of 673 students.

As well as the junior cycle programmes the school offers a very well-subscribed Transition Year (TY)

programme, the established Leaving Certificate and the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme

(LCVP).

The school has a diversity of feeder primary schools and enrolment comprises students of seventeen

different nationalities. Two features of particular contextual significance are the growth in enrolment

from 481 students in 2005 to 673 students in 2016 and the building of a substantial sports hall, which

was ongoing at the time of the evaluation. Both of these have impacted heavily on the workload and

range of responsibilities of school management, especially the principal, deputy principal and board

of management.

At the core of the school is a clear focus on providing a caring and nurturing experience for all students

coupled with the attainment of high educational outcomes. Evidence of the living out of the school’s

ethos was abundantly evident during the evaluation. It was clear that, led by senior management,

there is an environment in keeping with the values of Le Chéile. These values which relate to creating

a family spirit of warmth and security and the guidance of teachers who attend individually and

progressively to students’ development underpin the school’s day-to-day work.

SUMMARY OF MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

FINDINGS

Leadership and management are of very high quality, with students and parents indicating willingness and potential to have greater levels of involvement.

There is an atmosphere of warmth, care, support and high achievement that reflects the school’s ethos and that permeates all facets of the school.

The quality of teaching was, in almost all instances, either good or very good with a significant number of instances where it was exemplary; differentiation, assessment for learning (AfL) and information and communications technology (ICT) have been identified by the school as areas for continued progress.

Students’ attainment is of a very high standard and in almost all lessons the students’ learning was of good or very good quality.

The implementation of recommendations from previous evaluations has been diligently progressed by the school with good success and there is scope to continue building on this success.

The school’s capacity for improvement and its engagement in school self-evaluation (SSE) are of very high quality and would be further supported by prioritising the resourcing of co-ordination and monitoring within the posts of responsibility structure.

At the time of the evaluation, the teachers of English were not fully implementing the school-based assessment aspects of the specification. The reason for this was reported to be industrial action.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Expanding the involvement of and communication with parents and students are areas that the school should develop further, in cooperation with parents and students.

To further enhance the work in implementing recommendations from evaluations and to support the ongoing development of schemes of work, subject departments should ensure that meetings include time to discuss pedagogical matters and that a whole-school shared approach is taken to the learning from previous evaluations.

Further development of the use of assessment for learning and of differentiation is recommended to support the very good quality teaching and learning that is taking place.

The board should oversee the development of a plan for the use of ICT that is centred on students’ use of technology to help their learning.

DETAILED FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. QUALITY OF SCHOOL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

1.1. School ownership and management

School governance is of a very high standard. The members of the board of management are

committed and dedicated to the school. They combine a rich and diverse range of complementary

skills and experiences that benefit the operation of the board.

The board is fully aware of its statutory obligations and board members have received training to

support them in their roles. In addition, the board is very well supported by close links with the Le

Chéile Trust.

The minutes of board meetings provided evidence that the board has engaged extensively with the

development of a new sports hall. As contractual and budgetary matters concerning such a process

are not within the scope of the whole-school evaluation model they were not examined by the

inspection team. However, it was clear the management of the sports hall development has been

diligently overseen by the board in a proactive and progressive manner, and this is commendable.

The development of a school plan, containing the requisite policies, has been a key aspect of the

board’s successful work. While the focus at the time of the evaluation was primarily, and correctly, on

the building project, it is recommended that the board oversee the development of a plan for the use

of information and communications technology in teaching and learning. The planning process should

seek students’ views as well as those of teachers. The development of a plan would assist the board

in deciding how best to spend the funds provided by the Department of Education and Skills for ICT

use in teaching and learning. In addition, a priority for the board should be to examine the school

calendar and to confirm annually its alignment with the requirements of Circular M29/95 in relation

to the number of days teaching that should be available to all classes each year.

Questionnaires that were completed, as part of the evaluation, by parents of more than 160 students

in the school, revealed that parents are very happy about the school, its atmosphere, how welcome

they feel, how well the school is run, how good the discipline is and how safe their child is in the school.

These views accord with the observations of the evaluation team. In those questionnaires, parents

also expressed views that supported the idea of increasing their involvement in the operation of the

school and of developing further channels of communication between the school and the parent body.

Developing channels of communication is something on which the school has worked diligently to

date, with, for example, a new school app being designed and launched, and the school’s website

undergoing revamping during the evaluation. Some examples of the very good work which has been

done through the auspices of the parents’ council include the involvement of parents in the

development of school policies such as the special educational needs policy, promoting positive

mental health and suggesting improvements for the school. Continuing this work will support the

further involvement of parents in the operation of the school.

Students, in the questionnaires that they completed, expressed very positive views about the quality

of teaching in the school, about feeling safe and cared for, about getting on well with other students,

about being proud to be in the school and about getting opportunities to work with other students.

Themes that emerged that merit further analysis by the school related to students’ feeling of

involvement in the operation of the school, using ICT, and the feedback that students get on how to

improve their learning. Thus, expanding the involvement of and communication with parents and

students are areas that the school should develop further, in cooperation with parents and students.

1.2. Effectiveness of leadership for learning

In managing the organisation, the senior management team, comprising the principal and deputy

principal, lead the school in a very successful manner. The quality of their commitment to the school

is outstanding. The effectiveness of their complementary leadership and management skills is

exemplary and has led to a school that enjoys a profile for high levels of academic success as well as

an atmosphere of caring for students.

The leadership of staff has resulted in a culture where the levels of volunteerism, goodwill and mutual

support are exemplary. The configuration of the staffroom supports open and collaborative

interactions. The atmosphere among staff members is exceptionally positive.

Staff members, in the questionnaires that they completed as part of the evaluation, were

overwhelmingly positive about their experience of the school. The only area where they saw scope

for development was that of further improving the access to, and, correspondingly, the use of, ICT.

The quality of distributed leadership in the school is very good and exemplifies the approach taken by

the school to developing leadership capacity. There is very good quality information about the

structure of the posts of responsibility in this school. Post-holders complete an end-of-year review

report for the board of management. There are weekly meetings of year heads, care team members,

special educational needs team members and other personnel, including senior management. To

continue to support this culture of distributed leadership, as and when posts become available to the

school, the posts structure and roles should be reviewed to ensure that current needs such as SSE and

curriculum planning and administration for the Junior Cycle Framework are prioritised. These goals

are already identified in the school’s documentation and this shows the forward-looking nature of the

school management team.

In-school communication is of very high quality. The staff handbook is a very useful document and

provides very good information about organisational matters as well as information about dealing

with students with special educational needs. The weekly staff bulletin is a very good initiative which

supports ongoing high-quality communication with staff members. Minutes of staff meetings showed

that there is much discussion and consultation in the school. It is particularly positive that staff

meetings include consideration of pedagogical matters.

The positive atmosphere among staff is reflected in the atmosphere among students, with, it too,

being exceptionally positive. Most especially, students’ sense of connectedness to the school is

genuine and palpable. Throughout the evaluation it was noted that students’ behaviour was

exemplary. A hallmark of the depth and quality of the relationships that students and teachers enjoy

in this school was the way in which students supported their teachers and responded so positively

during classroom visits by the inspectors.

The level of care for students is very good, with both effective systems in place and staff members

who have a genuine interest in and care for students. Repeatedly, students referred to the connection

they felt with the school, a connection that was grounded in relationships with staff members, such

as the school chaplain, who plays a pivotal role in the emotional and social care of students, in

collaboration with post holders and other staff members. Indeed, the chaplaincy role is central to the

living out of this school’s ethos. The range of activities undertaken by the chaplain and the contribution

they make to ensuring that students feel safe and cared for are very significant strengths of the school.

Guidance provision in the school is very good, with a very well-developed guidance plan that had,

commendably, ample evidence of reflective practice. Feedback from the questionnaires indicated that

exploring students’ and parents’ expectations around support when choosing subjects, and their

expectations for supports when making choices for first year should be prioritised. The results of this

exploration will help to feed into the way the school supports students and their parents.

Transition Year is a significant feature of the school’s curricular offerings. Examination of the TY plan

and associated documents showed that they were of very high quality and they contained very

detailed notes for TY tutors. In addition, there was ample evidence that parents and students held

very positive opinions about the TY programme and about their experience of it. The idea of having a

few large pieces of project work that span different subjects would be worth considering as feedback

from students suggested that time for homework was sometimes in conflict with the time required

for project work.

Students with special educational needs (SEN) are very well supported in this school, with the co-

ordination of SEN being of very high quality. There is a highly committed core team with an extensive

number of other teachers involved. It would be worthwhile exploring benefits that may accrue from

consolidating the team, especially in the context of the greater flexibility and certainty that schools

have due to the revised model of allocation to support students with special learning needs, as set out

in Circular 14/2017. A range of suitable tests is used with first-year students to identify their needs.

Appropriate plans are then put in place to support students. The SEN plan includes future aims which

include extending the use of testing to include senior-cycle students, repeating testing with first year

students and extending testing with second-year students. This proactive and reflective approach is

commendable.

The student council is the main formal structure for student involvement in the school’s operation.

The roles undertaken by members of the council are fulfilled in a most diligent, committed and

effective manner. While first-year students do not currently have first-year representatives on the

council, the school’s senior management team expressed the view that ensuring the council included

all year groups was a matter they would progress in the next academic year and this is recommended.

Confirmation was provided that the board of management has formally adopted the Child Protection

Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools without modification. The school was compliant with

the requirements of the Child Protection Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools save for the

administrative requirement that the minutes of meetings of the board of management record the

number of child protection cases since the previous meeting, even where the number is nil. This

matter was fully addressed by the school during the evaluation.

The teachers of English, Business Studies, and Science have not attended the relevant training provided by Junior Cycle for Teachers for teachers of these subjects since 2014. The reason for this was reported to be industrial action. Teachers of these three new specifications have prepared schemes for them and, without the benefit of continuing professional development (CPD), are delivering them to the best of their ability. While the teachers of English had not undertaken a subject learning and review meeting, the reason for which was reported to be industrial action, they were correcting the students’ classroom assessment as part of the certificate examination. It is recommended that the teachers plan collaboratively for all aspects of the specifications for the benefit of students.

1.3. Management of facilities

The school facilities are very well-maintained, clean, and bright. They provide an attractive learning

environment. The management of the facilities is very good. However, one of the challenges posed by

the school’s growth in enrolment has been a corresponding need for seating at break times and for

lunch-related facilities. The school management has responded to this by providing outside seating

and by facilitating students as best as possible.

In relation to leading school development, the largest issue relating to facilities at the time of the

evaluation was the construction of a new sports hall. This will add greatly to the school’s sporting

facilities. The work which has been undertaken by the board and the school’s senior management, led

by the principal, is to be highly commended for its dedication and commitment.

Health and safety is kept under continual review by the school authorities. It is recommended that a

risk register be developed for each classroom and area within the school. It is best if this is done by

the staff member(s) who are most familiar with or use the area/room most frequently, provided to

school management, and shared with any staff who use the area/room. In addition, the health and

safety statement requires signatures of staff and the chair of the board of management to indicate

their awareness and acceptance of it. Advice on managing health and safety may be accessed in the

Health and Safety Authority’s publications Guidelines on Managing Safety and Health - Post-Primary

Schools (2010).

2. QUALITY OF LEARNING AND TEACHING

2.1. The quality of learning and teaching

Samples of subject department plans were viewed by the inspectors during the evaluation. The subject

plans were comprehensive and beneficially included general school information, detailed records of

teachers’ CPD, and analysis of students’ attainment in the certificate examinations. More benefit could

be gleaned from the information provided by this analysis to help set improvement targets for

students’ learning.

The schemes of work that were viewed included a range of approaches, from general lists of topics to

student-centred lists of learning outcomes. Good practice was noted where teachers’ reflections were

used to refine the schemes of work. Overall, there was some scope to further improve the quality of

the schemes of work by subject departments sharing and discussing teaching, learning and assessment

practices. This was supported by evidence from the minutes of subject department meetings. It was

noted that mostly organisational details were discussed and that greater scope to develop discussion

on matters related to teaching, learning and assessment would be beneficial. Thus, to support

teachers’ collective and collaborative practice, subject departments should ensure that meetings

include time to discuss pedagogical matters.

The quality of teaching ranged from very good to good with exemplary practice seen in a very

significant number of lessons. Suitably high expectations were set for students and teachers

encouraged their students to achieve to the best of their potential. There was very good use of

appropriate methodologies, with the best lessons ensuring an active approach to learning. Further

developing the use of assessment for learning and of differentiation is recommended as it will

continue to support very good quality teaching and learning.

In the lessons that were visited, literacy and numeracy support strategies were noted. The most

frequently noted strategies related to literacy. Using the outcomes of the whole-school evaluation

process provides an opportunity for the school to focus on further developing the use of literacy and

numeracy strategies.

All lessons were very well managed. The relationships between students and their teachers were of

very high quality. The students and their teachers worked cooperatively throughout the lessons

observed. Students’ efforts were encouraged and their answers were affirmed.

Students’ learning was, in all instances, of a good standard and, in many cases, was highly

commendable. Learning intentions were used well by teachers and they helped to frame the lessons

by making it clear what students needed to know or be able to do by the end of the lesson.

Students displayed positive attitudes during lessons. However, feedback from the questionnaires that

students completed indicated a number of areas related to their learning that would be worthwhile

exploring. In particular, it is recommended to further develop students’ learning by focusing on

assessment for learning and developing the use of formative feedback, orally and in writing.

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS

3.1. Management

Recommendations on whole-school and management issues have been diligently progressed.

Evidence provided by the school showed very good progress has been made in relation to whole-

school management issues. Indeed, the school management has established a strong culture of using

the outcomes of inspection to aid ongoing school improvement.

3.2. Learning and teaching

In relation to leading learning and teaching, school management and staff members have engaged

very positively in implementing recommendations relating to teaching and learning. Progress related

to inspections of Business Studies, Irish, English, Mathematics, Science and Chemistry, Geography, and

Spanish was examined. The overall level of progress was very good with only a small number of

recommendations that were still being worked on.

A whole-school focus using the recommendations from previous evaluations would help to ensure

that all subject departments maximise the benefit from evaluations. One way in which this could be

achieved is to set an agenda item for staff meetings where the outcomes of an inspection in one

subject area are shared with the whole staff and as a result each subject department adopts or adapts

the recommendations to suit their own subject.

4. THE SCHOOL’S SELF-EVALUATION PROCESS AND CAPACITY FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT The SSE process has been well established in the school. The school’s improvement plan, that was

developed as part of the SSE process contains well-considered objectives to support future school

development. In particular, the school aims to embed a culture of differentiated teaching. There is

also the intention to promote peer observation and, in relation to numeracy, to gain greater parental

involvement in teaching and learning. These are all worthwhile and beneficial objectives.

To help the school in realising these objectives it is recommended that the SSE process seek to increase

the involvement of parents and students and that staff and subject department meetings be used to

maximise engagement with SSE and to set challenging goals for future development. Strengthening

the management of the SSE process by prioritising the resourcing of its coordination and monitoring

should be considered by the school. This would help to ensure ongoing monitoring and reporting of

progress as well as support for teachers.

Based on the evidence gathered during this evaluation and on the progress that has been made by

the school and its staff on implementing the recommendations of previous inspections there is clearly

very substantial professional capability and excellent leadership in this school that will support and

enable ongoing school improvement and development.

Appendix

SCHOOL RESPONSE TO THE REPORT

Submitted by the Board of Management

Part A Observations on the content of the inspection report

The Board of Management of Salerno Secondary School welcomes the affirming WSE-MLL Report

arising from this inspection and particularly identifies:

● At the core of the school is a clear focus on providing a caring and nurturing experience for

all students coupled with the attainment of high educational outcomes.

● Evidence of the living out of the school’s ethos was abundantly evident during the

evaluation. It was clear that, led by senior management, there is an environment in keeping

with the values of Le Chéile. These values which relate to creating a family spirit of warmth

and security and the guidance of teachers who attend individually and progressively to

students’ development underpin the school’s day-to-day work.

Part B Follow-up actions planned or undertaken since the completion of the inspection activity to

implement the findings and recommendations of the inspection

The Board acknowledges the recommendations made by the inspectors and are committed to acting

on them and to the ongoing development of Salerno.

Work has already begun in a number of areas:

● The Student Council now has representatives from all year groups.

● A regular newsletter for parents, to further expand communication with parents, will be

circulated.

● Subject Departments are looking to include, as part of their agenda for regular meetings,

time to discuss pedagogical matters. Further sharing of strategies will be addressed at whole

school level.

● The Board is committed to further worthwhile engagement in school self-evaluation (SSE)

and will address the resourcing of co-ordination when the new post structure is announced

by the DES.

● The upgrade of ICT is an ongoing part of the school’s development plan

Published November 2017 / Foilsithe Samhain 2017

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 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;