School Self-Evaluation
Dept. of Education, SSE Update 15 Dec 2020
What is School Self- Evaluation?
School Self-Evaluation (SSE) was introduced into the Irish education system in 2012. The aim of SSE is to improve teaching and learning. It is a collaborative, reflective process of internal school review, focused on school improvement. The process of School Self Evaluation involves gathering information from a range of sources about the quality of teaching and learning in our school. We use this information to make decisions about teaching and learning in our school. It culminates in the development of a School Improvement Plan which sets targets for improvement in certain areas. In St Laurence’s N.S., we aim to reflect the standards of highly effective practice as outlined in Looking at Our School 2022: A Quality Framework for Primary schools.
All primary schools in Ireland are required to engage in a continuous school self-evaluation process. Further information in relation to SSE is available from http://schoolself-evaluation.ie/.
School Self Evaluation in St Laurence’s N.S.
School self- evaluation is coordinated in our school by Senior Management and the Assistant Principals who work as a team to share responsibility for various curricular areas. Student voice is also central to the review process and the student council are involved in sharing their ideas during the SSE process. A brief summary of what SSE in St Laurence’s has involved is below:
2012-2016: There was a focus on Literacy and Numeracy, aligned with the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. We focused on language, problem solving and critical thinking skills.
2016-2020: St Laurence’s engaged with the next cycle of SSE involving a continued meaningful focus on literacy and numeracy as well as introducing and embedding the Digital Learning. There was a particular focus the development of on oral language and comprehension.
2020-2023: We maintained our focus on literacy, monitoring oral language and comprehension. We also continued to monitor and track progression in numeracy across the school.
2023-2026: We currently have identified wellbeing, digital learning, and language as key areas for development in our school. Please read below for further information about the current key areas for evaluation and development:
Wellbeing: In the post Covid-19 era, we identified wellbeing as an area of focus for our school. The aspect of wellbeing that we are focusing on is related to School Culture and Environment, as identified from the Wellbeing Framework For Practice, and seen below. We are in the process of collating and analysing data from stakeholder surveys.
Digital learning: We identified digital learning as a focus, in alignment with our separate digital learning plan and our implementation of the national Digital Learning Strategy. We gathered information via stakeholder surveys and analysed the data. The key findings were collated, and the associated actions included creating a bespoke digital learning programme, creating assessment resources for digital learning, and investing in additional digital resources. The digital learning programme was piloted in 2023, and fully embedded in 2024.
Language: The methodologies and resources for language learning were identified an area for development, in alignment with new and emergent research based on the teaching of reading. The current practices in our school were reviewed, and a new approach was adopted, incorporating the use of highly regarded literacy programmes, UFLI and Heggerty. School staff are engaging with ongoing extensive professional development related to language acquisition and literacy skills.