Minister hails publication of school inspection reports

The publication of the first set of school inspection reports is an important step in providing real information on the quality of the learning environment, it was claimed today.

As the reports were made public for the first time, Minister for Education Mary Hanafin praised them as providing real and meaningful information on schools.

“The Whole School Evaluations (WSE) reports comment on the school’s management, its planning and management of resources, the effectiveness of teaching and learning, its arrangements for student assessment, supports for students, provision for minority groups and home-school links. In this way, a rounded picture of the quality and effectiveness of the school is provided,” she said.

“This will give the entire school community – management, teachers, parents and prospective parents – real information on the quality of the learning environment provided for students in the school.”

In the first batch, 121 reports were published on the Education Department’s website alongside the response from the individual school concerned.

This included 23 WSE reports on 18 primary schools and five post-primary schools and 98 subject inspection reports in a number of schools.

The subject reports evaluate the teaching and learning of specific subjects in second-level schools, covering subjects including English, French, Mathematics, Construction Studies and History.

Ms Hanafin said: “The publication of the first set of school inspection reports marks an important step in making valuable information available on schools. For the first time ever information about the teaching and learning in our schools will be at everyone’s fingertips, not just the preserve of a few.”

The minister said the reports were intended to inform further development and improvements.

“Each of the reports contains a summary of the main strengths and areas for development identified in the work of the school, in the case of WSE reports, or in the teaching of the subject, in the case of Subject Inspections,” she said.

“Clear, practical recommendations are provided by the inspectors so that schools can improve the learning experience they provide for students. Making the reports available to all of the school community will enable all staff, parents, board members and those in the management authorities to support the changes and developments that may be necessary in each school.”

Reiterating her opposition to ’league tables’ for schools, Ms Hanafin said she believed the inspection reports provided a balanced and fair evaluation of the work of individual schools.

“League tables, based solely on examination results as we have seen in the media, can only provide a narrow and meaningless measure on the effectiveness of schools,” she said.

“The reports that the Chief Inspector is publishing today, by contrast, provide a balanced and fair assessment of the work of schools and the way that they seek to meet the learning needs of their students. The schools themselves also have the very important right of reply which is published alongside the report.”