An Roinn Oideachais agus Eolaíochta

Department of Education and Science

 

Subject Inspection of Special Educational Needs

REPORT

 

Ursuline Secondary School

Blackrock, Cork

Roll number: 62650P

 

Date of inspection: 23-24 January 2008

 

 

 

 

Subject inspection report

Subject provision and whole school support

Planning and preparation

Teaching and learning

Assessment

Summary of main findings and recommendations

 

 

 

 

Report on the Quality of Learning and Teaching in Special Educational Needs

 

 

Subject inspection report

 

This report has been written following a subject inspection in Ursuline Secondary School, Blackrock, Cork. It presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of learning and teaching in provision for special educational needs (SEN) and makes recommendations for the further development of the teaching of students with special educational needs in the school. The evaluation was conducted over two days during which the inspector visited classrooms and observed teaching and learning. The inspector interacted with students and teachers, examined students’ work, and had discussions with the teachers. The inspector reviewed school planning documentation and teachers’ written preparation. Following the evaluation visit, the inspector provided oral feedback on the outcomes of the evaluation to the principal, deputy principal and members of the school’s special educational needs support team.

 

 

Subject provision and whole school support

 

Ursuline Secondary School, Blackrock, Cork has a long established tradition in providing post-primary education. In more recent years the school has responded, in a variety of ways, to meet the increased diversity of students presenting with special educational needs. A number of students with a wide range of needs are enrolled, including students identified with low- and high-incidence disabilities, students with learning-support needs and students requiring English language support. At the time of the evaluation the school had accessed a total weekly allocation in excess of 54 hours provision to support students with special educational needs. The allocated resource hours are mainly concentrated among students pursuing the Junior Certificate. Three full-time special needs assistants have been assigned to the school and further supports have been obtained through the Department of Education and Science sponsored DEIS initiative. The school works closely with members of the local School Completion Programme and with other local services and personnel including, the special educational needs organiser, the NEWB officer, the NEPS psychologist and the visiting teacher service. A special duties post holder is responsible for collating and keeping data on students with special educational needs and in this regard liaises with the school principal and other relevant school personnel. Unusually the school does not have an appointed co-ordinator of special educational needs nor does any member of the school teaching staff have a recognised qualification in special educational needs.

 

The school places students in mixed-ability settings in first year and all students, apart from those with exemptions from Irish, have access to the wide range of subjects provided. It is reported that a very small number of students operate on a modified curriculum and this only occurs following consultation with parents and the NEWB officer. The culture of engaging closely with parents is valued by the school and parents alike. The importance of the individual, as highlighted in the school mission statement, is reflected in the day-to-day practices of the school and the school ensures that co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are available to all students. The school is commended for the introduction and implementation of a number of programmes and supports. While not always focused exclusively on meeting the needs of students with special educational needs, programmes and supports such as the Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) and the proposed introduction of the Junior Certificate Schools Programme (JCSP), indicate the school’s desire to respond to changing student profiles and to engage in inclusive practices that meet the needs of all of its students. It is noted that the school is also mindful of meeting the needs of students who are deemed exceptionally able and gifted.

 

Teaching and non-teaching staff are visibly caring and supportive of all students, including students with special educational needs, and many good informal lines of communication exist between staff members. However, in light of the range and diversity of special educational needs presenting, greater co-ordination of provision is required. It is strongly recommended that the school access specific training for a member of staff so as to co-ordinate the allocated provision and to support colleagues in their work. At the time of the evaluation there was a considerable number of teachers listed, over 50% of the teaching staff, as engaging in supporting students with special educational needs. Such support was mainly in the form of small group and individual withdrawal. Some of this support was determined by allocating identified students to established teachers whose classes were being taught by post-graduate Diploma of Education students. Other support provision was determined by students having exemptions from the study of Irish. It was reported that the deployment of teachers to meet students’ needs varies from year to year and is determined by teacher availability as per their timetable. It was also observed that students with exemptions from Irish, who were withdrawn from class, were not always aligned to meet with another teacher and, on occasions, these students were seated in the corridors during class time. The valuable contributions of the special needs assistants have been expressed by the teaching staff and such good work is acknowledged in this report. However it would be important to clarify that special needs assistants are appointed to assist with non-teaching duties only and their main focus is to facilitate students in accessing, participating and benefiting from engagement in the mainstream classroom with their peers. Where it is deemed necessary to withdraw students from class, it is recommended that such students are assigned a teacher to support their learning.

 

In order to maximise the effective use of the allocated provision it is recommended that all known resource hours are factored into the timetable at the time of its construction. This will allow for a core support team of teachers to be identified who can then operate a more cohesive and consistent programme of interventions. To improve the quality of provision and whole school support a detailed register of students with special educational needs is also recommended. Such a register should include those students in receipt of support, their learning needs, the hours allocated, the manner in which these hours are used, the teaching and non-teaching staff involved and the progress students make.  In adopting a more systematic approach to meeting the range of needs presenting, the school is encouraged to re-examine the benefits that may accrue from team-teaching, where two teachers work in the same classroom. As discussed, team-teaching as a mode of delivery, promotes inclusive practice while also enhancing the learning opportunities for identified students.

 

The quality and upkeep of the new school building is a notable feature of the school. It is rightly a source of pride among staff that students are very respectful of the environment in which they learn. Apart from one assembly area located upstairs, the school building is accessible to all and more recent minor and commendable modifications at ground level have further assisted in this regard. It was reported that, while no specific budget is assigned for the purchase of teaching materials, staff can access funding when the needs arise. Significantly there is no dedicated resource room in the school and it is recommended that such a room be provided. Here students and teachers can work together , resource materials can be stored and accessed, ICT facilities can be availed of, students’ work can be displayed and stored, and relevant information can be filed, securely stored and accessed. Greater co-ordination of provision as well as a dedicated resource room, combined with further extension of in-class collaborative practices would eliminate the need to use the school corridors for learning and teaching and would enhance the quality of provision and whole school support.

 

 

Planning and preparation

 

Planning and preparation for incoming first-year students is good. Open lines of communication with primary schools, parents and representatives of external agencies assist in gathering relevant information in advance of students’ arrival. Such good work is further assisted by the regular meetings organised by the School Completion Programme and chaired by the school principal; the most recent of which was hosted by the school during the evaluation. Standardised testing of incoming first-years is administered by the guidance counsellor who, in turn, colour codes data for colleagues. In determining the special educational needs of students the school also engages in the good practice of monitoring students’ classroom performance. In its support of continuing professional development the school has facilitated an impressive array of guest speakers who have presented on a wide range of topics pertinent to special educational needs. As discussed, the greatest resource in this school is its teaching staff and the mainstream subject teacher is central to allowing students with special educational needs to access, participate in and benefit from the learning experiences provided by the school. In this regard, it is suggested that accessing the website of the Special Education Support Service (www.sess.ie), where professional learning and classroom resources can be accessed, would be of further assistance to all teachers.

 

The school has developed a commendable draft policy in relation to student attendance and participation. A comprehensive draft admissions policy has also been formulated and it is recommended that any further amendments to this document take cognisance of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act (2004). As outlined in the Education Act (1998) it is also recommended that the school begin to formulate, as part of its school plan, policies and procedures pertaining to students with special educational needs. In planning for inclusion it would be important that, as well as addressing policies and procedures, the school attend to formulating agreed working definitions of such terms as, inclusion and special educational needs. It would be useful to also clearly state the roles and responsibilities of teaching staff and those of special needs assistants. The various means of delivering supports to student learning and the subsequent ways of assessing and monitoring students’ progress also require investigation and clarification. It is suggested that the Department of Education and Science Inclusion of Students with Special Educational Needs Post-Primary Guidelines (2007) will assist with this work. In order to sustain an effective whole school approach in meeting all students’ educational needs it is important that the school adopts agreed procedures on how teachers can best access and communicate relevant student information, which informs teaching and learning. It is suggested that the aforementioned guidelines will also assist in this regard.

 

Recent cross-curricular approaches to promoting literacy development through subject planning highlight the school’s awareness of the benefits that can be derived from adopting a collaborative, whole-school approach, in meeting the needs of students with special educational needs. As stated earlier the co-ordination of this, and other collaborative practices, requires the establishment of a co-ordinator and a core team of teachers. Attendance at the weekly year heads’ meeting by the co-ordinator would further strengthen collaboration and communication. It would be equally beneficial to put in place arrangements for the core members of the support team to meet formally. Such a timetabled meeting can also serve to facilitate meetings with representatives from external agencies.

 

The School Completion Programme has engaged in planning for individual students and conducts bi-annual reviews. In preparation for the implementation of the remaining sections of the EPSEN Act (2004) the school is advised to consult the Guidelines on the Individual Education Plan Process (2006), as published by the National Council for Special Education.

 

A notable feature of the Transition Year programme is the concerted effort to raise students’ awareness around issues pertaining to inclusive practices. The activities undertaken by the senior students’ Meitheal group to assist first-year pupils is worthy of particular mention. As discussed, the extension of such good practice to include cross-age and peer-tutoring in the areas of literacy and numeracy may prove beneficial for all concerned. To complement the good practice of guest speakers addressing staff, consideration should also be given to staff members being afforded further opportunities to present to colleagues. Such presentations would be context sensitive and may assist in further developing the quality of learning and teaching in the school.

 

 

Teaching and learning

 

The quality of learning and teaching, in all the lessons observed, was good and in some lessons very good. The classes visited were junior cycle classes and were formed on the basis of small groups withdrawn from the mainstream classroom. The majority of lessons took place in the assigned teacher’s well-decorated and well-maintained base classroom which was conducive to learning and facilitated access to resource materials. Two lessons were conducted in the library. All lessons were well prepared and appropriately paced. In some lessons good use was made of handouts and additional resource materials. The lessons visited concentrated upon advancing language and mathematical skills as well as addressing specific learning difficulties and content knowledge in certain subject areas. All students were seen to participate and benefit from the learning experiences in an atmosphere of mutual respect. In many of the lessons observed differentiation was central to the learning and teaching strategies employed. In all lessons teachers used clear and concise language to guide instruction.

 

In lessons conducted in classrooms good use of the whiteboard ensured that learning objectives were clearly outlined from the start. In some cases teachers enhanced students’ awareness of learning by returning to the initial stated objectives during, and at the end of, the lesson. Praise and humour were used judiciously throughout all lessons and students responded well to the safe learning environment created by their teacher. Students asked questions or highlighted issues in a number of lessons and this was skilfully used by teachers to reassure and encourage learners. In all lessons students responded very well to teacher questioning and teachers in turn adopted a patient approach to responses, allowing sufficient time for students to compose their answers. Teachers engaged in lower-order and higher-order questioning of students and varied the manner in which questions were directed at students. When students had any difficulty in answering, their peers were politely encouraged to assist.

 

In one lesson observed the teacher succeeded in skilfully integrating all language skills during the studying of a novel. The lesson was constructed in such a manner that the students could not but be engaged. In this particular class the teacher’s knowledge of the individual student’s learning style was used to good effect. Preparatory work by the teacher, including visual stimuli, ensured that the topic and the related activities were differentiated to match the needs and abilities of the students present. Good use was also seen to be made of pair and group work which allowed the teacher to move about the class and assist individuals with their learning, while they, in turn, assisted one another. The extension of such effective co-operative learning practices is recommended.

 

Concentration on keywords and the development of students’ vocabulary was a common feature of all language lessons observed. Again, in another lesson where the main focus was on reading, good use of the whiteboard kept the important words to the fore. Students were encouraged to contribute to the lesson and their responses revealed a good understanding of the topic under discussion. The quality of the students’ reading was good, as was the written work presented. Another lesson focused on functional writing and students completed application forms and their curriculum vitae. In this, as in all lessons, great care was taken to ensure that students had a sense of pride in their work. Minor modifications to the classrooms such as circular seating arrangements and the greater use of overhead projectors were discussed. In the classroom-based lessons observed, learning was facilitated by the print-rich environment, often made up of the students’ own work. As discussed, once deemed their best effort, displaying students’ work can motivate and sustain students’ learning. A sense of successful participation and a sense of belonging is often the outcome of students’ work being displayed in classrooms, particularly in the case of students who to date, may not have encountered too many opportunities to succeed in learning.

 

In the lessons devoted to improving mathematical skills a practical experiential approach was adopted. Teacher preparation ensured that learning occurred for all students in these classes. One group focused on learning to read the 24-hour clock. Good use of the overhead projector to display the handout of cinema times assisted students, as did the demonstration of sample questions conducted on the whiteboard. Good use of the overhead projector was also witnessed in a lesson that very skilfully addressed algebraic equations. A step-by-step approach was adopted by the teacher who took time and care to ensure students’ understanding. Learning was further consolidated in this lesson when the teacher produced prepared cards of different colours. Students were shown how to ‘draw’ the answer with the coloured cards and many were able to do so independently before the end of the lesson.  In both mathematical lessons, students worked individually. It is recommended that the use of co-operative learning strategies be considered as should the extension of the practice where students are asked to compose as well as answer questions.

 

Assessment

 

The school engages in a variety of assessment procedures. As well as Christmas, summer and pre-state examinations, teacher observation and daily and class-based assessment are valued in assessing student achievement and engagement. The students’ journal is used to monitor assigned work and to communicate with home. Communication with parents and guardians is also maintained through formal parent-teacher meetings and individual appointments.

 

The participation and achievements of all students including students with special educational needs in state examinations is a source of pride for all concerned. It is noticeable that while academic expectations are high, they are placed in an atmosphere that is supportive and attends to individual student’s learning needs. Where Reasonable Accommodations in Certificate Examinations (RACE) is sanctioned it is reported that good practice has been recently adopted where eligible students are facilitated by becoming familiar with the relevant accommodations provided, and are assisted in accessing these when they sit school-based examinations.

 

The school is currently reviewing the standardised tests it administers to incoming first year students. Any such review should take cognisance of how best this, and other forms of testing, can inform teaching and support learning. Consideration should also be given to how the school shares information with colleagues. It is suggested that there is merit in presenting progress reports to colleagues which, for example, may outline the improved standardised test scores of a particular cohort or improvements in achievement and engagement as witnessed in individual case studies. The school is encouraged to examine the benefits of using standardised tests to retest students in their second year. Tracking and presenting students’ progress in literacy and mathematical skills, combined with other student gains, will assist in encouraging and sustaining collaborative efforts by all the staff.

 

Students’ written work was found to be well presented, regularly corrected, and on occasions signed, dated and with concluding comments to encourage students in their learning. The school is engaged in developing a homework policy as part of its assessment procedures. In formulating future whole school policy, it is suggested that the school addresses how best it can facilitate various modes of homework presentation, correction and feedback in a manner that consistently maintains high expectations and differentiates for all levels of ability.

 

Summary of main findings and recommendations

 

The following are the main strengths identified in the evaluation:

 

 

As a means of building on these strengths and to address areas for development, the following key recommendations are made:

 

·         It is recommended that the school begin to formulate, as part of its school plan, policies and procedures for special educational needs.

·         It is recommended that the school appoint a co-ordinator who can access specific training so as to co-ordinate the allocated provision and support colleagues in their work.

·         In order to maximise the effective use of the allocated provision it is recommended that all known resource hours are factored into the timetable at the time of its construction.

·         A detailed register of students with special educational needs is recommended.

·         The school is encouraged to re-examine the benefits that may accrue from team-teaching.

·         A dedicated resource room for special educational needs is recommended.

·         It is recommended that teachers are encouraged to access information and online courses available on the website of the Special Education Support Service (www.sess.ie).

·         The school is encouraged to examine the benefits of using standardised tests to retest students.

·         It is recommended that the school addresses how best it can facilitate various modes of homework presentation, correction and feedback in a manner that consistently maintains high expectations and differentiates for all levels of ability.

 

Post-evaluation meetings were held with the members of the school’s special educational needs support team, principal and deputy principal at the conclusion of the evaluation, when the draft findings and recommendations of the evaluation were presented and discussed.

 

 

 

 

Published, June 2008