St. Anne's Secondary School - report

St. Anne's Secondary School in Tipperary town provides a 'very good quality' standard of teaching and learning in the subject of English, according to a recent report.

A Dept. of Education Inspector carried out a Subject Inspection in English at St Anne's on March 6th last. The result was published on June 22nd. All schools are subject to such regular inspections in line with state guidelines.

St Anne’s Secondary School is an all-girls voluntary secondary school, located in the Convent Of Mercy, Rosanna Road, Tipperary Town. The school has a current enrolment of 341 students. It offers a range of programmes including the junior cycle, an optional Transition Year (TY), the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP), and the established Leaving Certificate.

The key findings of the report are: “Teaching and learning was of a very good quality overall; of particular note was the effective teaching of comprehension strategies and the good use of information and communications technology (ICT). Co-operative learning forms a key part of teachers’ practice and presents rich opportunities for further development, particularly with regard to the explicit teaching of group work at junior cycle.

“The department has placed a very good focus in the recent past on assessment and this presents as a worthwhile area for continued development, particularly with regard to promoting action by students in response to teacher feedback.

“Subject provision and whole-school support is very good. Overall, planning and preparation is very good, incorporating a professional subject plan which includes developmental aspects. A number of aspects of the English specification within the Framework for Junior Cycle are currently not being implemented.”

The main recommendations are: “The explicit teaching of group work should be included as part of the department’s practice in junior cycle. The promotion of action by students as a consequence of teacher feedback should form a focus for the further development of teachers’ assessment practice. Teachers should implement all aspects of the English specification within the Framework for Junior Cycle.”

Full story at education.ie