Evaluation period: May 2013 – June 2014

 

 

 

 

 

Report issue date: June 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Self-Evaluation Report

 

1. Introduction

 

1.1  The focus of the evaluation

A school self-evaluation of teaching and learning in St Vincent de Paul Infant School was undertaken during the period May 2013 to June 2014. During the evaluation, teaching and learning in the following curriculum areas were evaluated:

 

• Literacy (English in English medium schools)

 

This is a report on the findings of the evaluation.

 

1.2  School context

We are a co-educational primary infant school under the patronage of the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin catering for boys and girls between the ages of 4 years to 8years. The are currently 360 children enrolled and this number is likely to increase. Our pupils are highly motivated with very interested parents whose involvement is appreciated.

 

1. The findings

 

Indicate the quality of practice in relation to the aspects of teaching and learning evaluated with reference to the sub-themes below where relevant.

 

• Literacy
• Attainment of curriculum objectives - good
• Learning environment - positive
• Pupils’ engagement in learning – satisfactory
• Learning to learn - ongoing
• Preparation for teaching – very satisfactory (refer WSE 2011)
• Teaching approaches - varied
• Management of pupils – successful
• Assessment – ongoing & variety

 

 

 

1. Summary of school self-evaluation findings

 

4.1 Our school has strengths in the following areas:

 

Strengths Junior and Senior Infants:

More than 50% of pupils are used to

• holding pencils/writing tools with the correct grip
• use the phonetic skills taught to write words
• can copy words from board/label correctly
• use the left à right orientation
• can write their own name
• enjoy a writing activity

Strengths First Class:

In addition to (having benefited from) the strengths above, more than 50% of First Class pupils

• can independently write a message/story with the correct use of capital letter
• perform writing tasks with a uniformity of letter size and height on lined/ruled pages.
• All classes benefit from parents who are, mostly supportive and interested
• All classes hear a rich variety of stories,  rhymes and songs and engage in oral work to develop language skills

 

 

4.2 The following areas are prioritised for improvement:

 

Targets for Junior Infants:

By the end of Junior Infants the majority of children will be enabled to:

• Differentiate between letters and sounds, words and sentences
• Identify the component words in a sentence (i.e. how many words do you hear?)
• Write their own name with correct use of upper and lower case letters
• Write a caption (independently) for an art piece
• Draw and write about their own likes/dislikes

Building n this, by the end of Senior Infants the targets are that the majority of children will be enabled to:

• Draw a picture and write 3 sentences (minimum) about it
• Draw and write about their feelings
• Use conventional and approximate spellings
• Write on lines with appropriate space between letters and words and will form letters correctly
• Engage in dictation exercises successfully

Following on from this, the targets for First Class are that by the end of First Class, the majority of children will be enabled to:

• Broaden their descriptive vocabulary and vary their sentence structure
• Have their writing valued, praised, displayed and shared with others
• Realise that first attempts at writing are not necessarily the finished product and learn to undertake further drafts to improve writing
• Listen  to music and write  about it and also express feelings in writing
• Spell correctly a range of familiar, important and regularly occurring words, using a variety of sources as aids to spelling
• Write a piece in the following genres:

-          Story

-          Invitation

-          Thank you letter

-          Book review

 

-          Procedural/ “how to”