merrion street

New school inspection arrangements, introduced as part of Minister Bruton’s Action Plan for Education, are now providing better information for parents and schools about the quality of education in schools

One year on after implementation, Minister Bruton welcomed the results of changes to how inspections are conducted in our schools.

A number of changes were introduced as part of the Minister’s Action Plan for Education in September 2016. It has now been a full year on after implementation and only now can the improvements that were made be seen. Changes include:

· New standards that describe effective practice and very effective practice in schools. These have made it clearer for both parents and teachers to understand what best practice should look like.
· Stronger emphasis on school self-evaluation. The Department has invested significant time and resources in helping school leaders use the self-evaluation tools available to them effectively.
· A suite of revised inspection models. These models allow the Department to carry out different types of inspections e.g. some inspections are short unannounced inspections, while others focus on specific aspects of the work of a school, such as the teaching of a single subject.
· New inspections of special education provision in primary schools. These complement the new arrangements for the allocation of special educational needs resources to these schools. A similar model is under development for post-primary schools.
· Inspection reports that are more meaningful for parents and teachers. The Department has made inspection reports, which are all available on the Department’s website, clearer and more accessible to read.
· Quicker issue of inspection reports to schools after an inspection. The Department has reduced significantly the time it takes to provide reports to schools. This can help schools to implement the recommendations in reports more speedily. Inspectors continue to give detailed oral feedback immediately at the end of a visit in addition to the printed inspection reports
It is planned that over 1400 inspections of primary and post-primary schools will be carried out this year, about 450 of which will be unannounced short visits, about 500 will evaluate specific subjects, curriculum areas or specialised provision, 220 will be whole-school-type evaluations, and about 260 will be follow-through inspections. In addition, it is expected that inspectors will conduct around 400 advisory visits to support schools’ self-evaluation and improvement work in schemes such as the Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme.

The Department’s Inspectorate has also begun to work with schools in different ways, focusing specifically on trying to drive innovation within schools. It will be working on a number of experimental trials during 2017 and 2018 to test these developments.
Inspectors are taking this approach to support the implementation of the Gaeltacht Schools Recognition scheme (to improve Irish-medium schooling in the Gaeltacht) for example and have begun to work in a similar way with some DEIS schools that are willing to try new innovative approaches. The Department plan to extend the trials into other priority areas in due course.

“In order to be the best in Europe, we must constantly review and improve every aspect of the educational system. I’m delighted that the new school inspection arrangements, introduced as part of the Action Plan for Education, are now providing better information for parents and schools about the quality of education in our schools.” said Minister Bruton today.

“The Department worked hard to simplify the inspection process for schools. Last autumn, we published a single clear guide which clarifies inspections for teachers, school leaders and boards of management. We also published the first set of standards for schools that shows what exactly the Department means by best practice. This quality framework makes clear the standards that we want our schools to aspire to achieve,” said Minister Bruton, “and it supports both the school’s own self-evaluation and the work of inspectors.”

“Probably the biggest change for parents and teachers is the new inspection reports that have begun to be published over the last year. The new inspection reports contain clearer statements about the quality of the school’s work that is examined in each inspection. They also include information that helps readers understand the judgements that inspectors make.

“Inspection of schools and the advisory work that inspectors carry out with school leaders and teachers will make an important contribution to ensuring that Ireland has one of the leading education systems in Europe,” continued Minister Bruton. “I am delighted that the Inspectorate is expanding its advisory work in schools also. It is working with schools in the Gaeltacht to support them to improve Irish-medium provision and supporting other schools to implement effective school self-evaluation.”

Notes to Editor
· Standards that describe effective practice and very effective practice are available in Looking at Our School 2016: A Quality Framework for Schools. Available in primary and post-primary versions, Looking at Our School contains standards for teaching, learning, leadership and management of the school. These are the first ever comprehensive standards for Irish schools and are available in the links below.

https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Inspection-Reports-Publications/Evaluation-Reports-Guidelines/Looking-at-Our-School-2016-A-Quality-Framework-for-Primary-Schools.pdf

https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Inspection-Reports-Publications/Evaluation-Reports-Guidelines/Looking-at-Our-School-2016-A-Quality-Framework-for-Post-Primary-schools.pdf

· Regarding changes to school inspection reports that make them easier for parents and schools to read, each inspection report now contains:
o A short description of the type of inspection used and what elements of the school’s work the inspection is reporting on. For example, the reader is told that a whole-school type evaluation will be reporting on
§ the quality of leadership and management for learning
§ the quality of teaching and learning
§ the implementation of recommendations from previous inspection reports; and,
§ the school’s self-evaluation process and capacity for improvement

This is intended to help the reader understand the sort of report that they have and what it will tell them. The report itself is structured around these headings.

o A short description about the type of school in which the inspection has been completed – for example, details about the school’s size, whether it is for boys, girls or a mixed school, its patronage, enrolment, etc. This can help the reader to understand the background to the report. It may also confirm for a prospective parent that this is the sort of school in which they are interested.

o A summary of the findings of the inspection. The findings contain clear sentences about the quality of the school’s work under each of the headings in the report.

o When inspectors write their findings and judgements, they use evaluative words from a standard quality continuum. This quality continuum (below) is included in each inspection report, so that readers can understand what the standards in the school are.

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;


o The recommendations for improvement are listed. These focus on the areas of the school’s work that the inspectors believe should be priorities for improvement. Further detail about these is provided orally to the staff and board of the school during the inspection. In some of the inspections, the chairperson of the parents’ association also attends the feedback from the inspection team. The main part of the inspection report also contains further details and sometimes additional advice and suggestions.

o The main part of the report contains a detailed account of the work of the school under each of the headings. This part of the report is probably more often read by teachers and those involved in leading and managing the school, but it also contains a lot of useful information for parents about how well the school is working, how effectively it is led and what standards are being achieved by students. Inspectors use the same language from the quality continuum in this section.

o The school has the option of providing a written school response to the report prior to publication. This is an opportunity for the school to show how it intends to use the inspection report to improve its work and implement the recommendations in the report.