Subject inspection of English at Newport College

A subject inspection of English at Newport College has found that there is a “good” standard of teaching and learning in the subject.

Subject inspections are carried out regularly on all schools across the State to ensure compliance with standards.

On January 29 this year, an inspector visited Newport College, Black Road, Newport Co Tipperary. The report was published on March 21.

Newport College is a co-ed, multi-denominational, post-primary school under the auspices of the Tipperary Education and Training Board (ETB).

The school partakes in Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), the Department of Education and Skills’ action plan for educational inclusion.

The key findings of the report are: “the standard of teaching and learning was good, with positive and affirming relationships consistently evident.

“Teacher questioning effectively supported student learning in all lessons. Appropriate provision is made for assessment although some possibilities exist for improving feedback. Literacy supports are of a very high standard and indicate a capacity for greater development of other key skills.

“Whole-school support for English is very good with excellent support for digital learning.

“Very effective subject department planning and preparation is in place which supports collaborative planning and subject department record keeping.”

The main recommendations of the report are: “in supporting the implementation of the school’s improvement plan, the teachers should prioritise the greater use of written formative feedback and ensure that students respond to, and act on, that feedback.

“In building on the good practices evident in teaching and learning, the teachers should develop more extensive use of co-operative learning and sharing of practice should be a recurring item on the agenda of subject department meetings.”

In terms of teaching, learning and assessment, the report finds that “in almost all lessons, there was a highly commendable realisation of the stated school aim that questioning would be ‘used as a deliberate way for the teacher to find out what students know, understand and are able to do’.

“In one effective instance observed, the ‘hot-seating’ strategy encouraged students to question and think from different perspectives.”

Full unedited report at education.ie