Changes to School Inspections now provide better information for parents – Minister Bruton

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.”