Alice Phoenix - storage.googleapis.com · month. The school year starts and ends with Mass in St Michael the Archangel. Class masses are organised throughout the year and parents

September 2018

Letter from the Chair of the Board of Governors

Dear Parents & Carers,

As the Chair of St John the Baptist Board of Governors I am proud to present to you the School’s Annual

Report for the year 2017/18. This was a year for facing challenge together as a school community and team;

governors, staff and parents. This was a year for planning, achieving and succeeding. Let me reassure you

that the school continues with its good quality teaching and learning with a wide range of learning opportunities

provided by the staff for the holistic development of each child.

I would like express my appreciation to Acting Principal, Ms Morgan and all the SJB staff for their commitment

and dedication to the school. We are fortunate in having such a dedicated and talented staff to work with our

children and I thank them, on behalf of the Board of Governors and Trustees, for all the effort they put into

providing a stable and stimulating learning environment in which our children may grow.

I also must thank you, the parents, and the members of the Board of Governors for the on-going and generous

support for all the activities engaged in by the school and I look forward to your continued interest and support

for our work.

I commend this report to you.

Yours sincerely,

Alice Phoenix

Mrs A Phoenix (Chair)

Annual Report 2017/18

September 2018

CONTENTS PAGE

1. Catholic Education and School Aims 1

2. Board of Governors 4

3. Finance 6

4. Open Enrolment, Admissions and Attendance 8

5. Pupil Attainment 9

6. Curriculum 12

7. Child Protection / Pastoral Care 16

8. Parent and Community links 19

Annex 1 SJB Admissions Criteria – 1 September 2018

Annex 2 School Policies

Annex 3 Ongoing Minor Works Applications

Annex 4 School Holiday Dates

Annex 5 Staff Training and Development

1. CATHOLIC EDUCATION AND SCHOOL AIMS

SJB Mission Statement

1.1 Our Mission Statement at St. John the Baptist School is ‘Inspired by St. John the Baptist, we work together in love, play together in harmony, pray together in faith. Aspiring to happiness and achievement for all’.

School Ethos

1.2 It is a primary aim of our school that every member of the school community feels valued and that each person is treated fairly and well. We are a caring community. We take our lead and inspiration from Christ and the Gospel values: the belief that all human beings are uniquely created and loved by God and worthy of respect. This challenge shows itself in the way we value:

Our school environment

Our relationships with each other and the wider community

Discipline inspired by forgiveness, healing and reconciliation

Our respect for one another

1.3 Each year the teachers prepare pupils to receive the sacraments of First Penance (19th April 2018), First Communion (19th May 2018) and Confirmation (8th March 2018). The programme used in the school is the Grow in Love series for the whole school. The Primary 4 and Primary 5 children are actively involved with the Children’s Adoration which takes place on the last Tuesday of every month. The school year starts and ends with Mass in St Michael the Archangel. Class masses are organised throughout the year and parents/ carers are encouraged to attend. Each class attends weekly mass at least twice each term. Catholic School’s Week was a great success. Mass was celebrated on the 1st

February to celebrate Grandparents’ Day. On Sunday 3rd June 2018 our Holy Communicants led St Michael’s Corpus Christie procession. It was a joyous day and well attended by children and families. We also continue to strengthen links between school, parish and community through our involvement with Faith Friends and Sr Anne.

1.4 Valuation of our School Ethos:

There is ample evidence that our desired ethos as set out above pervades all areas of school life. This includes;

The good standards achieved by the children as evidenced in a variety of curricular observations

and evaluations, PTE and PTM test results and ongoing Collegial Book Monitoring and Discussions (CBMD) etc.

The continued and significant improvements made by those pupils identifies as underachieving

Formal and informal feedback from pupils and staff regarding their experience at SJB (appendix 6) Feedback from parents through the Kirkland Rowland survey sent to parents in May 2017

(appendix 6). The overall performance of St John the Baptist Primary School was given as very good by parents (77.0%) and excellent by staff (86.9%).

With regards to non-academic areas, parents are most happy with Out of school activities, Caring teachers and Developing potential.

The parents are least happy with School facilities, Computer access and Suitable class sizes. The parents' top priorities for improvement are School facilities, School communication and

Suitable class sizes as shown in Appendix 7

1.5 Vision Statement

We are SJB. We aspire to provide an enabling and communicative environment where children experience a Catholic community of love based on a learning culture of respect and trust, where all are equally valued. We strive to empower every child with the life skills to deal emotionally and intellectually with the challenges of the 21st century thus fostering in them a sense of their self-worth, responsibility and self-belief.

1.6School Aims

During the academic year we retained a focus on sustaining improvement and embedding good practise. Our key focus was to develop a system of self-evaluation to inform school improvement. We aimed to sustain the momentum in using first hand evidence (FHE) through use of data, collegial book discussion (CBD) and trusted colleague network (TCN). Addressing underachievement in numeracy remains a focus for school self-improvement and on-going action-based research (ABR) as research partner with Dublin City University (DCU). We targeted the area of maths strategies for problem-solving and digital literacy, whilst aiming to embed our healthy hearts and healthy minds strategy via sports development and activity-based learning.

1.7 Key Findings in ETI Report (2016)

The quality and effectiveness of leadership, management and action to promote improvement is now good. The senior leadership team and the governors provide a clear and strategic direction for school improvement. There is a unified approach to identifying and actioning areas for improvement through effective teamwork between the senior leadership team, middle leadership team, staff and governors. The highly effective channels of communication, coupled with appropriate staff training and development, has led to effective decision making and school improvement at all levels. There is a systematic and rigorous evaluation of the action planning process which has led to improvements in standards in literacy and numeracy for most of the children.

1.8 The governors exercise effectively their challenge function and are focused fully on school improvement and, in particular, on: the well-being of the staff; the work of the learning co-ordinators; and, the achievements of all the children. All accommodation and health and safety issues identified within the original ETI inspection report have been addressed by the school in partnership with Catholic Council for Maintained Schools, Education Authority and governors. The physical learning environment has improved significantly.

1.9 The quality of learning and teaching remains good. An agreed numeracy scheme has resulted in a consistent and progressive approach to the teaching of numeracy, investigative work and problem solving throughout the school. The children’s work indicates clearly an improvement in the quality of the children’s writing through planned and regular opportunities to engage in the redrafting process. There has been a significant investment in non-fiction reading books, with a particular emphasis on texts that appeal to boys. In addition, the implementation of ‘Time to Read Partners’ and a reading mentor project with a post-primary school has resulted in almost all boys in key stages 1 and 2 achieving in line with and above expectation.

The standards and achievements in English and Mathematics remain good. Most of the children are achieving in line with or above expectation in English and Mathematics compared to the Northern Ireland average for a similar cohort. The whole-school focus on underachievement has had a positive impact on the outcomes for most of the targeted children.

Conclusion

1.11 St John the Baptist Primary School demonstrates the capacity to bring about improvement in the interest of all the learners. The ETI will monitor how the school sustains improvement in the role of the co-ordinators in evaluating the learning experiences in the classrooms.

Next Steps in relation to ETI

1.11 The staff and governors continue to work to sustain improvement and to enhance the capacity to bring about improvement. We continue to have a strong focus on the development of confidence and capacity of the senior and middle leadership teams.

2.1 BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Function of the Board of Governors

The school is managed by a Board of Governors which meets regularly to over see financial management and to plan, monitor and review the work of the school. Table 1 below lists the 2017/18 Board of Governors membership. The governors' role is to take a strategic view and, working in partnership with the acting principal and her staff team, to determine priorities, prepare and review policies, plan targets and resources, monitor and evaluate results and manage the school budget.

Table 1

Board of Governors membership

Governor Representation Role

Fr Ciaran Feeney Trustee Trustee

Fr David Delargy Trustee Trustee

Mrs Alice Phoenix Trustee Representative Chairperson

Mr Michael Meehan Trustee Parent Representative

Mrs Breda McCrory EANI Representative Vice Chairperson

Dr James Mc Auley EANI Representative

Mrs Gerardine Leonard Trustee Representative

Mrs Elizabeth McBurney DENI Representative Designated Governor for Child Protection

Mr Kieran McAteer Parents’ Representative Secretary

Mrs Karen Burke Teachers’ Representative

Ms Michelle Morgan Acting Principal

2.1 The ETI Follow up inspection in 2016 reported that; ‘the governors exercise effectively their challenge function and are focused fully on school improvement and, in particular, on: the well-being of the staff; the work of the learning co-ordinators; and, the achievements of all the children. All accommodation and health and safety issues identified within the original inspection report have been addressed by the school in partnership with CCMS, EA and governors.’

Governor meetings and training

2.2 Four meetings of the full Board of Governors were held during 2017-18. Board Sub-Committees (School Improvement, Finance, Safeguarding and Child Protection, Personnel and Buildings and Accommodation) met throughout the year as scheduled and reported back to the full board. Governors attended a number of training courses throughout the year in order to enhance their skills and capability. These included for example Child Protection and Safeguarding; School Development Planning, SENDo and Handling Complaints.

Staffing Complement in 2017-18

2.3 Governors and everyone connected to St. John the Baptist are very fortunate to have an excellent and dedicated team of teachers and staff (Table 2). We thank them and are grateful for all the effort they put into providing a stable and stimulating learning environment in which our children may grow.

Table 2

Staffing Compliment in 2017-18

Acting Principal Ms Morgan

Acting Vice Principal Mrs Maguire

P1 Teachers Mrs O’Kane , Mrs Crozier

P2Teachers: Mrs Dolaghan, Mrs Conlon

P3 Teachers: Mrs Harriot, Mrs Burke

P4 Teachers: Mrs McCrystal, Mrs Quinn

P5 Teachers: Ms O’Neill, Mrs Maguire

P6 Teachers Ms Bell , Ms Heatley, Mr McGreevy

P7 Teachers: Mr McCrystal, Mr Pollock

SENCo: Mrs S Campbell (absent) ABell

Building Supervisor Patsy McKee/ G Cunningham

Clerical Officer Mrs K Maguire

Clerical Officer Mrs S Meier

Classroom Assistants Mrs Wylie

Ms Gribbon (Unison secondment) Mrs Buckingham Mrs Bradley Mrs May Ms Herdman Mrs McCaffrey Mrs McAuley Mrs Maguire Mrs Flynn Miss Rogan

Support Staff M Stewart

P Lavery N Boyle S Garrahan M McKenna K Sheppard M Neeson R Devine J Coogan B Rea C McGuigan J McCabe

2.4 Staff and management are committed to training and development and to further enhancing their skills and competencies. Many of our staff engaged in further training and Continuing Professional Development throughout the school year. A list of development opportunities, courses and training undertaken is set out at Annex 5 for information. Mrs Mairead Farrell (CCMS officer for Principal PRSD) undertook a successful Performance Review of M Morgan with input from L McBurney as the link Governor on June 12th 2018. New objectives for 2018-19 have been set and approved. Teacher PRSD does not take place, in line with union directive.

3 FINANCE

Budget Management

3.1 The Board of Governors manages a delegated budget in co-operation with the Education Authority (Belfast Region). The budget allocation of the school depends on factors such as pupil numbers, the Achievement and Special Needs profile of the school and building size. The Budget allocation for 2017/18 was £1,146,372.

Table 3 below is a summary of the Financial Statement for the year.

Summary Financial Statement 2017-18

Total LMS Budget Allocation for 2017-18 £1,146,372

Less running costs, including salaries £1,168,385

Carry forward £18,113

School Funds

3.2 Money raised through school fund-raising activity is used to purchase additional educational resources and subscriptions and to subsidise events which benefit the educational experience of the pupils. The Finance Sub-Committee of the Board of Governors oversees spend and management of these funds. Table 4 sets out a summary of fund-raising activities and income undertaken throughout the year. These enabled the school to purchase additional resources and has assisted with travel for our children for school trips and events. The bank balance in September was £15,009.32, which has been carried over into the new financial year.

Table 4

Summary of fund-raising activity 2017-18 & Donations

GAA day £275.00

Musicathon £640.84

Bookfair: (Commission) (Autumn) £1179.00 (Spring) £1090.00

Concert £1686.11 -1412.11 £274.00

West Belfast Partnership Board £2000.00

Non-uniform day £230.40

Credit union £350.00

School disco event £306.70

Parish collection £1055.22

Students Support Centre (comm) £100.00

Roy Clements Photography (comm) £96.40

Kids Own Publishing Partnership (comm) £186.56

Charity Events

3.3 Each year the school runs several events to raise money to support various charities. We have a Policy and Programme for our charitable works developed by Mrs Harriott in consultation with staff and parents. A total of £9,263.20 was donated this year by the SJB community to a number of fantastic charities. The school community is very generous and the efforts made by the children are wholeheartedly encouraged. Table 5 below outlines the donations made by the school in 2017-18.

Table 5

Donations made by SJB 2017-18

McMillan Cancer Big Coffee Morning £1079.91

The Welcome Centre £800.00 worth of hampers

Trocaire £883.61

Sponsor Donation for student £30.00

3.4 OPEN ENROLMENT, ADMISSIONS AND ATTENDANCE Admissions and Enrolment In accordance with the Department of Education requirements the school can admit 60 Primary 1 pupils each year. Admissions to primary 1 in 2017-18 was 45. The admission criteria applied by the Board of governors of St. John the Baptist primary school in selecting children for admission to primary 1 in September 2018 is outlined at Annex 1.

3.5 The total number enrolled in the school should not exceed 425 pupils. Table 6 shows the total numbers

of applications and enrolments to the school since 2015. The total number of pupils attending St John the Baptist in this school year was 395.

Table 6

Total applications ie. All preferences

Total Admissions

2015/16 60 52

2016/17 56 56

2017/18 60 45

Attendance

3.6 During the 2016-17 school year the overall attendance rate for pupils was 95.32%. School year 2017- 18 saw a further improvement with a 95.71% attendance. This continued trend of improved attendance is reflected in Table 7 below:

Table 7

% Whole School Attendance 3 Year Trend

2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

95.01% 95.32% 95.71%

The pupils have experienced recurring genuine bouts of illness which has spread between pupils and staff and class to class, especially in Foundation Stage. Attendance is celebrated through awards, certificates, displays, school newsletter, website and twitter. The Acting Vice Principal is responsible for monitoring attendance and communicating with parents if a child’s attendance is causing concern for whatever reason. Attendance under 85% is followed up by Acting Vice Principal via phone call, letters, Education Welfare Office, meetings as per policy. Table 8 shows the breakdown of individual months.

Table 8

Month % Month %

September 97.00% February 94.80%

October 96.04% March 96.90%

November 95.84% April 96.10%

December 94.32% May 94.70%

January 94.02% June 95.70%

Overall year attendance : 95.71%

3.7 A key focus for the next academic year will be on unauthorised family holidays. School policy is clear that term-time holidays affect the child’s continuity of education and should be taken in extreme circumstances only and not on a regular basis. All holidays during term time are classified as unauthorised absences. We thank parents for their co-operation with us in ensuring that pupils only miss school when unavoidable. We emphasise that regular attendance is of the highest importance because a child cannot be expected to make sustained progress if he or she is not in school to be taught.

3.8 Following a risk assessment the school had to close for 3 days due to adverse weather. These were

approved by the Department of Education.

4 PUPIL ATTAINMENT

End of Key Stage Assessment

4.1 We take a holistic approach towards assessment for the development of the whole child. The school did not submit end of Key Stage assessment data due to INTO industrial action. The school used internal moderation, standardised testing (PTE and PTM) and CAT4 scores to review pupil attainment.

The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and teaching staff continues to assess the achievements and standards of all children and strives for continuous improvement to help ensure that all children are achieving in line with their potential. Measures of assessment employed by the team include:

Standardised Assessment Overview of School completed – this details achievement in Literacy and Numeracy and helps facilitate targeted interventions. The data is analysed by Year group, Gender and whole school means, Stanine Distribution and School performance in Curriculum and Process categories.

Year group targets for improvement are set for all pupils according to their Stanine band.

Sustainable system of assessments through a teacher and coordinator based process and carried out termly.

4.2 In the 2017 Rowland Kirkland survey, 88.7% of parents agreed that the quality of teaching

was outstanding.

The available evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, supports our belief that our children are provided with quality learning experiences that lead to a consistently high level of pupil achievement.

The following is a summary of our evaluation of the evidence; the details of the evidence / evaluations are set out in annexes 1-3.

A key planned outcome for the maths action plan was to improve outcomes for pupils in Numeracy and reduce levels of low and under achievement. This was enabled through dissemination of good practice and targeting pupils for support. This working action plan was also, and will continue to be the focus of action based research (ABR) in partnership with DCU

The GL Standardised Assessment Test data of June 2018 shows a decrease in Numeracy Underachievement in Year Groups 4-7 through comparison

2016-17 -29.2 % (ETI –Most- Very Good) 2017-18- 28%(ETI – Majority - Very Good)

Literacy Underachievement analysis by Year Group Comparison also shows that the school is performing mainly in the very good category of ETI scaling. There has been a slight increase in the overall percentage, as seen below;

2016-17 -17.3 % (ETI – Most -Very Good) 2017-18- 22% (ETI –Most- Very Good)

Senior leaders have analysed the results and have implemented action plans to enable a positive outcome.

Overall evaluation

Self- Evaluative process continues to be embedded through development of FHE. ABR report has been submitted for feedback for Dr Shevlin. Final submission will be Term1 2018-19. Work and focus will continue and process initiated will be developed to improve outcomes in Numeracy for all pupils. Discussion with SLT has highlighted the need to ensure that success criteria for CBMD is clearer and tighter. Also coordinators must start rating CBMD in line with ETI ratings. We have seen an increase in our levels of underachievement this year.

Further work is required on comparative data and addressing barriers to learning to ensure we reduce our levels of underachievement and to ensure that proactive measures are taken to ensure that pupils do not fall into this category.

The Assessment Policy has been reviewed and ratified by Board of Governors.

Year 3-7 Cohort Means show improvement on 2017

Whole School Mean Years 3-7 2018 v 2017 (Cohort Tracking)

Literacy +0.26 Numeracy +86

Boys’ Means

Literacy +0.12 Numeracy +0.4

Girls’ Means

Literacy +0.54 Numeracy +1.18

Year 3-7 Means show improvement in Numeracy and slight decrease in

Literacy on 2017 Whole School Mean Years 3-7 2018 v 2017 (Year on Year

Tracking)

Literacy -1.24 Numeracy +0.42

Boys’ Means

Literacy -1.22 Numeracy +0.46

Girls’ Means

Literacy -1.14

Numeracy +0.18

Transfer to Post Primary

4.3 In June 2018 we said goodbye to our 53 P7 pupils; two of whom are SEN Code of Practice Stage 5. Of the 53 pupils 39 of them elected to do GL assessment. There were seventeen A grades, eight B grades, ten C grades and four D grades. All children work diligently in Primary 7 and will be asset to whichever school they transfer to.

These moved to a variety of different post-primary schools as shown in Table 9 below. We wish them every success in their new schools and hope that they leave St. John the Baptist with fond memories.

Pupils received letters and application forms for the West Belfast Partnership Board Summer Transition camp. The West Belfast Partnership Board ran

Transition sessions with classes (June 22 2018)

Offered a summer transition school free of charge (13-16 August 2018)

Table 9

P7 Leavers Post-primary destination (2017-18)

ST Genevieve’s High School 13 Malone College 3

De La Salle College 5 St Louise’s College 6

St Dominic’s Grammar 5 St Malachy’s College 3

Rathmore Grammar 7 St Ronan’s Lurgan 1

Aquinas Grammar 1 St Patrick’s Lisburn 1

CBS 1 St Gerard’s Special School 1

St Mary’s Grammar 6

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

4.4 Each teacher is responsible for the children in his / her class and children are identified throughout the year for classroom support. Targeted and appropriate support was given throughout 2016/17. Children maintaining a Statement of Special Educational Needs received withdrawal support in line with their Individual Educational Plan. Table 7 below outlines the number of children at the different stages (1-5) on the Special Needs register.

The gap between boys’ and girls’ achievement has reduced over the last five years. This is attributed to a focused attempt in motivating boys in the learning process through ICT and new resources in literacy.

A range of classroom observations and other evaluations (annex 1) highlighted significant strengths in the quality of teaching and learning.

Classroom observations also highlighted several areas for further development.

SEN

As a school committed to developing all our pupils in a holistic manner, we recognise that all pupils are unique and develop at varying rates. We aim to cater for all these individuals, including the talented and those who are experiencing learning difficulties. We have high expectations of all our pupils and a determination that each child will achieve to his / her full potential, and that any barriers to learning will be identified and overcome. The arrangements for addressing special educational needs are set out in our Special Needs Policy. In particular:

We aim to identify as early as possible, children who are experiencing difficulties with their learning. Such early identification of need will be achieved through a mix of teacher judgement and diagnostic assessment

We recognise that all teachers have a collective responsibility for the special needs of our pupils.

The implementation of appropriate staff development with reference to the DE Inclusion Resource file

The SENCO will liaise with and support the class teachers in the development and implementation of Individual Education Plans and to ensure that each child follows an agreed programme of work designed to address his or her educational needs.

The support provided will be matched to the needs of the child and will be focused on tackling any barriers to learning that have been identified.

The Principal, SENCO and SLT will ensure the provision of appropriate staff training and professional development in order to raise staff capacity to meet the needs of the children.

The implementation of our SEN and pastoral care policies

Currently SEN provision includes:

the development of IEPs , (Individual Education Plan )s, BEPs (Behavioural Education Plan )s and

group Eps ( Education Plans );

differentiation of work within the class;

withdrawal support for targeted children, provided by our SENCo and trained classroom SEN assistants;

withdrawal support provided by specialist peripatetic and outreach teachers

Reading Partnerships, SOLAS, SIF;

the identification of and support for those children deemed to be under-achieving; and

effective deployment of human and financial resources to secure appropriate outcomes for all pupils

In September 2017 there were 85 children on the SEN register, equating to 21.52%. Data in June 2018 initially suggests that there will be a reduction to 77 pupils, which at the time of writing the report equated to 20.1%. Children are on the register for various reasons; medical needs, cognitive and learning difficulties, social and emotional behavioural difficulties requiring support, outside agency involvement and children who have a statement.

Table 10

Special Needs Register

Stage Sept 2017 June 2018

1 34 27

2 12 14

3 20 18

4 1 2

5 15 12

Group and Outside Agency Support

4.5 Additional volunteer support for literacy and numeracy, from SOLAS has been beneficial to a number of pupils. We would like to thank SOLAS for their commitment and assistance during this academic year. We continued to work with a variety of outside agencies this year (see Graph 1) and our children have benefited greatly from their support.

Graph 1

4.6 The ETI inspection report March 2015 concluded positively regarding SEN provision at the school:

‘The quality of the provision for children who require additional support with aspects of their learning is good. Early identification of need is prioritised and the school benefits from, and liaises well with, a wide range of external support agencies. In-school group withdrawal support is also effective in helping children to overcome barriers to their learning. The classroom assistants support capably the learning and holistic needs of the children, and contribute to monitoring their progress.’

The acting SEN Coordinator has completed relevant courses to ensure that the provision of additional support remains good. The courses are detailed in Appendix 5.

5 CURRICULUM

Religion and PDMU (Personal Development and Mutual Understanding)

5.1 Pope Francis declared ‘World Meeting of Families 2018 (WMOF2018) and much emphasis was on Amoris Laetitia: Let’s be family, Let’s talk family the Joy of Love.

To celebrate the World Meeting of Families event, the Parish Committee organised a Family Fun Day on June 24th 2018, which was a wonderful event.

Father Ciaran and a collection of priests conducted a lovely Family Blessing in St. Michael’s Church. Staff and pupils have been involved throughout the year in education, celebration and preparation for this Year of Mercy. Special Liturgical Events included:

Opening of School Year mass - September 2017

St Michael’s the Archangel Parish Christmas service - 17 December 2017

Catholic Schools Week 30 Jan 2017 – 3 Feb 2018

Service of Light P7 - 2 February 2018

Confirmation P7 - 8 March 2018

First Confession P3 – 19 April 2018

First Holy Communion - 19 May 2018

Corpus Christi – 14 June 2018

Leavers Mass P7 - 22 June 2018

5.2 The theme for Catholic Schools Week in 2017-18 was Catholic Schools: Learning with Pope Francis to Care for Our Common Home. The RE Coordinator arranged that a range of visitors would visit the school over the five days, including Mr Brendan Duneen from Clonard Youth Ministry, who led the opening assembly for the start of Catholic Schools Week. The school held the Service of Light during this week.

Individual copies of the daily scheme of events for the week and resource ideas were printed and distributed to staff. Because of last year’s staff feedback, fewer visitors were invited this year, and the week’s programme was more casual. Staff acknowledged that the schedule and resource pack were very useful. Once again there was great response from local people who came to the school to share their time with our school community and we are very grateful to them all.

Dublin has been chosen by Pope Francis to host the World Meeting of Families 2018. From 21–26 August 2018, families and others from all over the world gathered to celebrate their lives together, to share their experiences from different parts of the world, to reflect on the different challenges they face and to grow together in faith. This event presented a special opportunity for school families to celebrate not only the fact that parents are the primary educators of their children but also the vital role that Catholic schools play in assisting parents.

5.3 Throughout the year each monthly assembly was led by a different year group. The Parish Adoration Team has continued to develop a relationship with our P4 and P5 pupils offering monthly visits to St Michael’s Church on the first Tuesday of the month for Adoration. This greatly assisted the preparation of our Holy Communicants who were subsequently invited to participate in the Corpus Christi procession on Sunday 3 June 2018. Primary 7 pupils were assisted by Sr Anne and her team of St Genevieve’s and De La Salle Faith Friend Students.

Approximately 26 First Communion pupils attended the Corpus Christi procession, which was an increase from last year’s attendance. The aim is to improve upon this figure for next year via Pope Francis’ message for families. Primary 4 and 5 pupils attended the Adoration sessions in St Michael’s Church on the first Tuesday of the month. The Adoration team were very impressed with the children’s behaviour and reverence. The Faith Friends and Adoration Team joined us on the day of Confirmation and the Corpus Christi procession. Primary 7 pupils also participated in a Leavers’ retreat at Glenaulin, De La Salle Retreat Centre, Glen Road and felt it was very worthwhile. Faith filled Faile day took place 25th November.

A sacramental information meeting for Primary 3 parents / guardians took place during Catholic Schools Week. There was also the service of Light during Saturday Vigil mass. This is the first time this has occurred and was received well by parents, pupils and parishioners.

Confirmation was officiated by Fr K McGuigian on Wednesday 7th March 2018.

5.4 In September 2017 P5-7 teachers received training for the new Grow in Love programme which was provided by the Diocesan Board. There was a delay on the publication of the year 6 and year 7 materials. It is hoped that the school will be able to purchase a class set of text books for 2018-19 academic year.

5.5 A member of the CSTSS team (Mrs Anne Doran, Diocesan Trustee/Facilitator) visited the school and had a lengthy meeting with Mrs Morgan and Mrs Harriott. Our Policy, School Ethos and Pastoral Care plans were focused upon. She was also given the results of a Staff Audit. She was offered a tour of the school to meet staff, pupils, and look at display boards. Her verbal, and later written reports contained extremely high praise and commendation. We spoke about arranging another Ethos Day or Retreat for all staff in the near future. This has been finalised for Tuesday 28 August (9:30 – 12:15)

Paths Plus / PDMU

5.6 Paths Plus is well established in the school. It teaches children the strategies of how to deal with their emotions. It teaches mindfulness and about the importance of breathing and calming. In 2017-18 enabled another classroom assistant received Paths Plus training.. Thus, Briege Maguire and Colette McCaffrey (trained CAs for Friendship Group) will be working additional hours to facilitate Groups. Teachers have reported back positively on the process.

However, given the school hours it is very difficult to ensure timetabling for Friendship Groups. This is a challenge faced. We worked very closely with Suzanne Rickey from Barnardo’s who was involved in organising training and monitoring. Mrs Burke led the development and implementation of the programme.

Mrs B. Maguire had an inspection visit from Barnardo’s representative Suzanne Ritckey. Feedback from it reported that the quality of work taking place in the Friendship was of a high quality. Evidence from pupils confirmed this. Suzanne has asked to video a Friendship Group session, which is to be used on a promotional power point in America.

As members of the Friendship group Briege Maguire and two school ambassadors attend weekly meetings and bring another child from their class with them. A different child is chosen each week (with written parental permission). Friendship group starts with a warm greeting and an invitation to share their feelings. Ambassadors explain what happens during the session and new members are invited to tell the group about themselves. Activities range and involve the themes of feelings, how to share, how to join in, good sportsmanship, cooperating and negotiating, understanding different points of view, managing stress, keeping your cool and working it out.

Literacy

5.7 The standard of learning and teaching of literacy has been sustained.

With regards underachievement in literacy a cohort comparison suggests a decrease in underachievement;

2016-17 -14.8 % (ETI –Most- Very Good) 2017-18- 22%(ETI –Most- Very Good)

When comparing the year groups, it is evident that underachievement has lessened also;

2016-17 -17.3 % (ETI –Most - Very Good)

2017-18- 22% (ETI –Most- Very Good)

Thirty-five pupils (37%) between Yrs4-7 were targeted to reduce their under-achievement in particular. Within this category 20 of the 35 (57%) reduced their under-achievement. However other pupils, who had not been targeted, fell into underachievement category thus raising the percentage under-achievement for these cohorts.

The key focus was to develop use of ICT within literacy teaching & learning. Thirty-five percent of staff in 2017 Literacy audit stated they would like more support/guidance on incorporating ICT and literacy.

Staff development was focused on use of GL Assessment’s PASS data, which is an attitudinal profile tool. Add to that the standardised test data in literacy and teachers were trained to create a whole pupil profile. The aim of this is to enable class teachers to identify and address individual’s barriers to learning. A more tailored and personal support can then be attempted. In addition, Mrs Maguire (acting Vice-Principal) undertook Reading Recovery training via SOLAS. The school now has three fully trained reading recovery teachers

Pupil development focused on effective use of ipads as a collective. Pupils used iPads for a wide range of literacy activities. They were involved in using Book Creator, storyboards, Puppet Pals, photography, importing own photographs, importing from web, adding text, adding voice-overs, importing sounds, etc. Through collegial book discussions teachers’ work and findings were shared by staff at key stage literacy meetings.

In term 3, 19 pupils received support in Literacy via SOLAS. Of the 19 pupils ,42% improved their standardised scores from the previous year.

There was one cycle of SIF Literacy with a cohort of P.7 pupils. This was completed in the term 1 cycle. The evaluation and review was based on the Richmond Test.

The Accelerated Reader programme remains a very popular motivator for reading and developing comprehension skills via book tests. Pupils take a Star Reading Assessment Tests, which gives a benchmark reading age and book range for familiar reading. Pupils choose a book, of which we have many ones which are compatible, and then complete a test at the end of it. All new reading stock purchased using commission from our Book Fairs is, where possible, AR compatible.

Pupils from P6 took part in Critical Media Literacy Project in conjunction with Irish News /St. Mary’s University College – skills for navigating a text & media – saturated world. Awareness of potential impact of the media in influencing our views, choices and decisions. Interpret information to make informed choices as consumers.

External Reading Support has continued with Reading Partners/Time To Read Programme/ St. Geneviève’s Reading Mentor Project for P4 support. (7 reading partners plus 1 grandparent -16 children from P5) (10 partners - 10 children from P4 This is a partnership with 10 Sixth Form pupils from St. Geneviève’s) We also allocated Solas support from Ita and Anne. At the end of the year, we have a nice ‘Tea Party’ in our library, for our Reading Partners and the children they have been supporting all year, to give us and the children an opportunity to say Thank you.

Pupils from P5 & Ms O'Neill took part in this year's Community Arts Partnership programme, Poetry in Motion. They worked with a guest poet for weeks in school developing class and individual poems. The Arts programme had almost a thousand poems submitted for consideration, many of which were of an extremely high quality. The judges, Olive Broderick and Myra Zepf, had quite a struggle narrowing the selection down for the anthology. Some of our P5 Ms O’Neill’s work has been published in this year's publication. Their creativity was so impressive they were invited to perform their poetry on stage in the Ulster Hall on 13th March. But there was even more to celebrate! Two of our P5s were selected and were presented with the Seamus Heaney Achievement Award. Then our very own Ms O'Neill was also presented with a Seamus Heaney Teacher's Award.

Numeracy

5.8 The key focus for numeracy this year was the development of problem-solving strategies, in particular visualising using the bar/ block method. Process rich maths through active investigations and explicit teaching of problem-solving was the area for collegial book discussion (CBD) and acting principal lesson observations.

We have continued to explore our Heinemann Active Scheme with more emphasis on shifting from Books to the use of online resources, especially the Talking and listening section of the scheme.

The use of ALTA from P3 to P7 was consolidated in 2017-18. This not only give a platform to target individual needs in the classrooms but also allowed us to target classes, namely P4/5 with voluntary help from parents and last year’s P6 classes through the SIF program. These scores increased considerably as a result of targeting these specific groups by using ALTA as a tool for improvement.

The weekly assemblies were used to give certificates to classes who came top in their year groups. This helped focus the attention of both teachers and pupils.

Pupils also brought books home which allowed parents to see the scores their sons/daughters achieved and highlighted areas they needed most support.

Myself along with Mrs Maguire met with Foundation teachers looking at ways to improve assessment procedures. All P1 and P2 teachers are using Significant Goals to monitor the progress of pupils in their classes.

They also received training on HAM and how best to utilise this resource.

Towards the end of the year attended a Bar Modelling Training morning in St Roses. This is a method for more visual learners to work through problem by breaking down the question into manageable pieces. I’ve already held a training morning with the staff and this will now be the focus for our next CBMD in mid- December.

Mid-term planning/evaluations have been monitored as per our planning cycle. Coordinator Reports provided. Feedback from coordinator to individual staff members/ year group. Additional support / advice given when required.

Foundation Stage

5.9 Areas of focus in 2017/18 with regard to Foundation Stage learning included:

To investigate and pilot the Seesaw app as a possibility to replace the 2Simple 2 Build a profile App. This helped develop parent capacity to support their children whilst also making observing and assessing children in a more manageable manner. It was found to be very useful in the sharing of good practice within Foundation Stage with parents and carers. A use of Seesaw and Twitter policy was drawn up and approved by staff in their use of these apps to ensure usage was in line with school procedures when communicating through social media.

To develop supporting parents in their children’s learning several staff underwent training in ‘The Incredible Years’ project through SOLAS and ‘Families Connect’ through Barnardoes. Parents were supported in a number of other ways also, for example through Open Day visits, Curriculum Meetings, Intake Meetings, relevant literature sent home with tips to support phonics, reading, writing and maths, booklets to welcome children to our school, parent teacher meetings, newsletters and texts. The Parent teacher meetings, intake meetings and curriculum meetings were well attended and proved to be beneficial.

To ensure that transition was of benefit to the children in our care. An extensive transition programme was developed in collaboration with St Michael’s Nursery, our main feeder school. This involved the Nursery children attending a variety of events and inter-staff meetings and visits. Good practice was shared and used in the transition programme. Feedback was taken from the 2018-19 intake parents and has been incorporated into the next year’s programme.

To develop the attention and listening capacity of our foundation stage pupils through the ‘Listen and Move’ programme by CIDS/ RISE team was introduced to primary 2 in

2017-18. It’s use during

PE sessions and fun times was consolidated in primary 1. Staff were trained by Jan from the CIDS team in Primary 2 to facilitate the programme.

Physical and Health Education

5.10 The girls made history by winning our school’s first ‘A Gaelic football championship. They beat an excellent Holy Trinity team in the final. There were outstanding performances from the Mervyns. The three sisters all scored in the final. Emma-Jane Farrelly also produced an incredible performance in defence, alongside Niamh McCullough who kept the opposition at bay. They then represented Belfast in the All County final in June and county Antrim in the Ulster indoor finals on Thursday 12th April. This was an incredible achievement.

GIRLS GAELIC FOOTBALL

Runners up in league final

Winners of Belfast indoor championship

Winners of all county indoor championship

Runners up in Ulster indoor championship (beaten by St Ronan’s Tyrone by 1 point)

Winners of A-football Championship

BOYS GAELIC FOOTBALL

Runners up in league final

Runners up in Belfast indoor championship

Runners up in All county indoor championship

Semi-finalists in Raffo Cup

Camogie

3rd place in qualifying league

3rd place in Championship group

Hurling

2nd place in Hurling Championship

Qualified for A-league

Basketball

P7 Finished 3rd in the Belfast basketball league

Beaten in Playoffs

P6 ‘Belfast Tiger’s Cup Winners’

Netball

Qualified for ‘League finals day’

Cross country

Girls and boys competed in West Belfast heat (Cross country Champ)

Aoife Mervyn won the girls race

Sean Loughran won the boys race

Both boys and girls teams went on to represent West Belfast in the All Belfast

Championships

Aoife Mervyn won overall Belfast Cross country Championships (Both teams

performed brilliantly; Girls came in 3rd place overall in team event)

Girls went on to the regional finals and acquitted themselves very well

Soccer

Beat in P7 Shield ¼ final

Beat in P6 Cup semi-final

Sports Day

Woodland’s 4g

Training – Mr Pollock is attending the cycling proficiency WBALC course in June 2018.

It was a very successful year for the school. The school widened its range of team with tremendous success. In boys’ Gaelic football the school team were the Raffo cup winners, Cathedral cup Runners up, All County Football Runners up and All County Indoor Runners up.

In hurling the school team were promoted to A Championship after last year’s B success. Our girls’ Gaelic football team is relatively young and they did remarkably well to win the Lagan Cup and were A- Championship Runners up. Our school camogie team were promoted to A-Championship as a result of being runners up in Group 2.

The school also performed well in the discipline of basketball. They came third in ‘Belfast playoffs’, beaten narrowly (1point) by eventual winners St Malachy’s.

The netball team experienced its greatest achievement this year by achieving third position in the League.

The school benefitted greatly from the expertise advice and coaching as detailed below;

COACHING

CIDS/ RISE team- Listen and Move (P1-2 primary movement programme)

Sean McCaffrey Gaelic football (ANTRIM)-P5-7

Aoife Magill Hurling (Ulster Schools Programme) P3-P4

Coaches (Celtic FC) P1-P3

Aoife McClenaghan (Andersonstown Tigers) P5-P6

Cul Heroes (GAA/ULSTER/ANTRIM) P1-P7

All teachers planned for PE in their half termly plans and every class took part in weekly PE lessons. Year 5 pupils participated in a Healthy Hearts programme with Tullymore.

Huge thanks to the parents and coaches who have assisted the team through providing transport, support and commitment to the team and school.

6.15 ICT

Folders of pupils tasks are ongoing - There are problems with saving to folders as some apps save to their own folders although teachers can access these and have been following tasks. All competence sheets were completed in June and passed on to the new teacher for the following year. New task sheets were distributed to class teachers in September and these are ongoing and will be passed to new teacher for next year in June. All teachers received whiteboard rules and smart sheet for staying safe on the internet. These are on display in all rooms. The Internet safety policy was updated. New Ipads were purchased and have been distributed.

Two Staff Development Days (SDD) were focused on teaching and non-teaching staff development on use of ipads, and the Book creator app in particular, facilitated through Iteach. This was well received and it was recommended that a whole school approach to the development of ICT would be the most pragmatic and effective way for moving forward. Digital leaders were set up. P6 and P7 children are our school’s digital leaders. These children filled in acceptance letters and received packs with free goodies including t-shirts and lanyards, etc. They will also receive a trip to the apple store next year.

As part of her coordinator Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Mrs Conlon has been trialling the app ‘Seesaw’. All parents with children in Mrs Conlon’s class were eager to register and are actively engaged with the app providing excellent comments to Mrs Conlon. In September of next year, we are hoping to introduce the app to all parents in the school from P1-P3. All teachers have ipads so this should be easily achievable.

The World Around Us

6.15 A WAU scheme was finalised and new topics were considered, piloted and evaluated. As part of the development of WAU, she embarked upon Continuous Professional Development in STEM ‘Sounds like science’ with a view to developing activity based learning in WAU through technology and experiments. She also took this opportunity to identify and incorporate good practice from WAU schemes at other schools. The ‘Sounds like science’ programme focused specifically on how:

to explore how science interacts with other curricular areas

to develop the skills and knowledge needed to ensure a stimulating and successful STEM curriculum

to understand the benefits of providing purposeful, scientific, enquiry experiences

The school participated in a Primary Stem Heat Challenge on Friday 2nd March hosted by St. Dominic’s Grammar School. A team of Primary 6 pupils represented the school and summarised the event as being very worthwhile and fun.

World Outdoor Classroom Day was Thursday, May 17th. It was led by curricular coordinator, Nuala O’Neill. Its focus was to draw attention to the benefits of being outdoors. Activities ranged from maths lessons to storytelling in the outdoor classroom to planting and learning about frog spawn. Resources and ideas were provided by the coordinator.

The school has been involved in the Duracell national battery recycling program via primary schools. The Big Battery Hunt is designed to change the recycling behaviours of young people, specifically around recycling used batteries. Allowing young people to learn about the value of used batteries and the benefits of recycling at an early age ensures that long-term positive behaviours towards battery recycling are set.

Courses attended:

CPD Course- November 2 days February 1 day Fortwilliam Centre A Toolkit for World Around Us, Numeracy and STEM Co-ordinators PowerPoint Presentation given at Teach meet course for teachers in Campbell College 27th March

Visits to the school from outside agencies

P2 Science workshops with Science Starz Edina Grant awarded and used to pay for workshops-£500 P6 Sentinus practical workshop morning Recycling Education Bus P5-7

Belfast City Council Litter visit to school

ECO

Re-establishing ECO council Litter pickers up and running again Recycling bins to be more used in classrooms – to be decorated to raise awareness Energy efficiency brought to attention of Council as foci for 2017-18

The Arts 6.16 The Musicathon took place in the Kennedy Centre on December 20th. It raised £640.84 in total, which

goes into school funds to help subsidise arts events for the pupils e.g. transport for music morning participation once each term, subsidising cost of School of Music fees and arts equipment and resources for pupils. Twenty-nine pupils received tuition from the Belfast School of Music tuition in brass and violin.

6 CHILD PROTECTION /PASTORAL CARE

Child Protection

6.1 This year has seen the continuation of the good quality provision for Pastoral Care of our pupils and families and in Child Protection. The Designated Teacher for Child Protection remains Ms A Bell. Acting Vice Principal (Mrs Maguire) is standing in for Mrs P O’Kane as Deputy Designated Teacher for Child Protection, while she is on maternity leave. The Designated Teacher attended case conferences / reviews and kept a record of all child protection issues as they impact on the pupils. She has liaised with many outside agencies and has met regularly with the EWO (Education Welfare Office) Her Annual Report was received by Board of Governors on 27 June 2018 and ratified by the Chair of the Board of Governors.

6.2 The names of the Designated Teacher and Deputy Designated Teacher are known to all teaching and

non-teaching staff in the school. Photographic identification is also visible. There is an agreed reporting system known by all teaching and non-teaching staff, peripatetic staff, parents and pupils. There is information displayed prominently throughout the school regarding how a concern / complaint might be raised.

6.3 The School has informed all pupils, in understandable language to them, of the Child Protection

arrangements within the school. The school communicated key Child Protection information to children a number of ways including Childline Assembly for whole school and workshops for P6 pupils; NSPCC annual assembly; the Be Safe Programme; Anti Bullying Week activities and Internet / E. Safety awareness sessions.

6.4 Child Protection training was delivered to all staff, including School Meals staff (25th May 2018) and relevant Governors (February 2018). The school’s Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy was reviewed, approved and ratified on 29 June 2018. All school personnel have been made aware of and adhere to our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.

At the time of writing this report there is 1 child on the Child Protection Register, several families on a watching brief and availing of the family hub service (Tier 2 level support) and 2 L.A.C. children.

The Whole Board of Governors were invited for Child Protection and safeguarding training with Ms Bell on February.

19 February Designated Teacher one-day refresher training 24 April Principal child protection and safeguarding session 24-25 May DDT two-day induction to child protection and safeguarding

Safeguarding meetings are held regularly in school. The designated governor for Child Protection and Safeguarding and Chair attend termly meetings.

6.5 Please note that any adult who will be in contact with children must be vetted beforehand in accordance with our Child Protection Procedures. In 2017-18 we had three volunteers working in the school and all were vetted. (This is a relatively simple procedure but it does take some time so anyone hoping to volunteer in September should contact the office after Easter.)

Pastoral Care

6.6 The Pastoral Care Action Plan established a number of targets in key areas and sought to achieve greater involvement of pupil, parent and teacher voice in school decision making. Targets were set for increased parent participation in school. Our Vice Principal, Mrs Maguire, reviewed the systems for recording attendance and following up reasons for non-attendance in order to streamline and improve current practice. Looking at ways to improve staff morale/ confidence through team building and decision making was a key target, as was revisiting the school’s Code of Conduct. Strategies such as PATHS and celebration of pupil successes were further developed to promote positive behaviour and promote pupil well-being and self-esteem. Relevant policies were to be reviewed, approved and ratified by staff and Board of Governors.

6.7 A number of school policies were reviewed, approved and ratified by staff and Board of Governors

during 2017-18.

Security and Health & Safety and Minor Works applications

6.8 Several minor work applications were submitted in 2017-18 academic year. (see Annex 3). These have not been progressed yet. These applications continue to be appropriately monitored by Governors and Ms Morgan. Regular accommodation / health and safety audits are undertaken by school staff. The school and Governors made an application for the School Enhancement Programme (SEP). The application for St John the Baptist Primary School ranked 24th of 82 Primary schools’ applications on the primary school priority list. The school therefore currently ranks 12th in the list of 70 primary schools remaining unannounced in the SEP2 programme. The SEP2 lists will be held for two years from the date of the initial announcement (i.e. 8 May 2018).

6.9 The annual Building Audit was carried out by Board of Governors in June 2018.

PARENT AND COMMUNITY LINKS 8.0 The Annual AGM took place in the school on 11th January. Mr Conan O’Rourke (Chair) and Mrs

Mairead Leonard (Treasurer) stepped down from their committee member positions due to family commitments, but will remain as members of the group. On behalf of the whole school community I would like to extend my thanks to all outgoing members of the association, but especially Conan. Without his sheer determination and dedication, the school association would not be in the incredible financial position which they are.

The new committee is;

M Morgan School Chair A Bell School School rep

P Devine Parent Vice-Chair T Herdman Parent Media

D Herdman School Secretary A Burns Parent Common members

Mullan Parent Treasurer J Donnelly Parent Common members

Huge thanks go to the Friends of SJB for organising a very successful Christmas raffle.

All the amazing prizes were very kindly donated. We can’t thank our contributors enough. From Northern Switchgear for donating the spectacular XBOX One S to Malone Lighting, Gibsons Butchers, L’egance Hairdressers, O’Neills and Siyah. Because of their generosity in giving and your generosity in supporting £2231.84 was raised. The winners of the raffle were:

Xbox One S- S Webb M&S Gift voucher- A McCallin GAA top- L Courtney Cut & blow dry- F Austin Christmas Turkey- M Clarke Nails gift set –I Mulryne Christmas hamper- C Taylor Giant Mystery prize – E McKenna

The School Parish collection raised £1055.22

Total amount for June 2018 is £9110.98

Numerous volunteers have indicated their desire to support the school. School admin is in charge of contacting them personally to organise their activities and tasks. Special thanks are extended to the grandmother of Ewan McGreevy who has maintained the flower containers at the front of the school.

8.2 There are existing well-established and effective links with the local pre-schools and post-primary schools. Many of the children have the opportunity to take part, and have been successful, in local competitions in music and sport. During the year we had a number of school trios and visits to the school which children found interesting, engaging and rewarding. These included:

5 December P3 trip to Ulster Museum

1 December SSE Basketball Hall of Fame trip

10 January MS Lunch – SJB awarded overall 1st prize charity work

23 January Primary 7 – Sign language course with Yanahir McCoy

26 January E Safety talk to Primary 7s and Primary 6s

29 January Clonard Youth Service and Sr Maire visit (CSW)

29 January P6 Credit Union Quiz hosted by the school

30 January Representative from S Vincent do Paul ((CSW)

1 February Welcome Centre (Catholic Schools Week)

1 February PSNI visit P1 -2 to give ‘Stranger Danger’ awareness

8 February Primary 4 trip to W5

13 February Primary 5- World of Owls event

23-25 April Delamont P7 AmcC

25-27 April Delamont P7 MP

14 – 18 May Spring Book Fair

26 May Primary 6 – Titanic exhibition tour

30 May P3-P7 Sports Day

1 June School nurse for primary 1pupils

1 June P7 taster days – post primary

4 June Primary 7AmcC Glendaulin retreat

4 June Primary 1-2 Sports Day

7June Primary 7MP Glendaulin retreat

11 June Belfast City Council – litter visit

15 June NSPCA assemblies at school

20 June Tullymore visit by primary 7 pupils

21 June P3 Trip

22 June P7 Leavers’ mass and Awards Ceremony

The school hosted 33 student placements as outlines below;

St Mary’s PGCE – 3

Queen’s university- 1

Stranmillis – 1

SERC Stranmillis –Level 2 - 2

Workforce Trainee CA – 2

Downpatrick Tech- CA – 1

CBS level 3 childcare - 2

La Salle placements - 3

St Genevieve’s work experience – 2

St Genevieve’s BTECH level 2 childcare – 5

St Louise’s weekly work experience – 5

De La Salle weekly work experience -3

St Malachy’s / St Mary’s Grammar - weekly work experience – 2

St Dominic’s Grammar - weekly work experience – 2

St Dominic’s language student support – 1

Swiss Assistant Teachership placement – 1

Extended Schools 8.3 The extended schools programme prioritised a wrap-around service; offering care until the designated

end time and then providing clubs in that time such as drama, cookery club, arts /crafts and ball games. Breakfast Club with supervision and after school’s crèche still run as before- and run all year round.

Annual evaluations of the action plans were forwarded to the Northern Ireland Extended Schools forum (NIESIS) in June 2018. Termly monitoring reviews were completed and submitted. The activities were planned with a range of providers and activities undertaken this year included:

Gardening club

ICT clubs

Arts and crafts Homework club

After school activities – basketball, multi-sports, etc

Sports Coaching via Mr Sports consultancy

Drama club Cookery Club

One of our key extended school programmes was counselling. During the School year of 2017 – 2018, The Listening Tree Project provided 28 weeks of counselling in your school.

28 full days 9am-3pm @ £190 per day = £5,320

During this time a range of issues where explored and worked on with the children, their families and school staff.

Some of these include Anxiety, Bereavement, Bereavement through Suicide, Family Difficulties, Family Separation, Challenging Behaviour, Separation Anxiety, Low Mood, exam anxiety.

To date 15 children have been seen

P4 pupil 11 sessions P5 pupil 7 sessions







P5 pupil 2 sessions in Sep and 2 in May

Annex 1

SJB Admissions Criteria – 1 September 2017

The criteria listed below was be applied by the Board of governors of St. John the Baptist primary school in selecting children for admission to primary 1 in September 2017.

CRITERION 1 Children who have brother(s)/sister(s),half-brother(s) /sister(s) presently enrolled in St. John the Baptist Primary School. (Indicate name and year group)

CRITERION 2 Children who normally reside or were baptised in the Parish of St. Michael’s.

CRITERION 3 Children whose parent/guardian is presently a permanent member of St. John the Baptist primary School teaching staff / member of the Board of Governors/auxiliary/ancillary staff in this order.

CRITERION 4 Children transferring from St. Michael’s Nursery school.

CRITERION 5 Children whose parent/guardian, brother(s)/sister(s), half-brother(s) /sister(s) are past pupils of the school. (Indicate name and date of attendance)

CRITERION 6 Children who reside in other parishes.

CRITERION 7 Children from other areas who do not fulfil Criterion 1-6.

Annex 2

SCHOOL POLICIES

Policies reviewed and / or presented and approved by Governors during 2017/18

Anti-bullying Policy

Transition Policy

Assessment Policy

Communication with Parents Policy

School Council Policy

Intimate Care Policy

Parental Complaints Policy

Personal Development Curriculum Policy

Drugs Policy

Code of Conduct Policy

SEN Policy

Annex 3

Health and Safety Issues identified by school and Ongoing Minor Works Applications

103-6688 St John the Baptist PS - Outstanding Minor Works Applications [E22] Element Desc Health & Safety

Text

Survey Text

Replacement/Refurbishment

of existing classrooms

Mitigate a high

likelihood of

serious injury to

users

In a very recent inspection of the decommissioned boys’

side the caretaker discovered that ceilings have come down

in several rooms; three classrooms have rafters and beams

exposed (photographs 1,4,7 and 9), three other classrooms

have evidence of water sitting on ceiling and dampness in

all rooms (photographs 3,5 and 6). The ceiling of one of the

stairwells has also come through (photograph 2 and 8). The

Education Authority were informed immediately and cut the

electric in that part of the building

Replacement/Refurbishment

of existing areas

Mitigate a high

likelihood of

serious injury to

users

Fencing around school grounds needs replaced as a priority

as three is a danger of the fencing / rusted railings

collapsing and injuring a pupil, member of staff or

pedestrian. immediate fencing around the school was

replaced in 2011. This is surrounding the overall school

grounds, particularly in the playground where children play

and do PE.

Electrical Services

Installation

Address a

likelihood of

serious injury to

users or

immediate

failure

The Electrical installation does not comply with DENI

handbook/current IEE wiring regulations. The fire alarm is

non addressable therefore it does not comply with NI Fire

regulations. The intruder alarm system requires updating to

current BSEN 50131 Regulations. The existing main

switchboard consists of a mix of fuses & miniature circuit

breakers (MCBs) which do not meet current standards or

incorporate DECC (Department of Energy & Climate

Change) smart metering or Surge protection requirements.

Mechanical Services

Installation

Address a

likelihood of

serious injury to

users or

immediate

failure

Heating Boiler Plant Replacement - The heating boilers in

the primary school are in a poor condition. The boilers ae

presenting with faults on a regular basis and this is

impacting on the operation of the school.

Windows/Doors/Curtain

walling/Structural glazing

Address a

likelihood of

serious injury to

users or

immediate

failure

replacement of old windows. the frames have deteriorated

and twisted in areas where the windows no longer open

Mechanical Services

Installation

Address

existing poor

condition

These works are being requested because of the age of the

system, the number of leaks that are occurring, to eliminate

the risk of a major failure of the system, to comply with L8

ACOPS & guidance, to comply with Water Bye Laws.

Annex 4

SCHOOL HOLIDAY DATES 2017-18

Month

Proposed Holidays (Inclusive Dates)

Number of School

Holidays

Descriptioon

From To

August 2016 1 31 23 Summer vacation

September 2016 - - -

October 2016 30 31 2 Halloween November 2016 1 3 3

December 2016 22 29 6 Christmas January 2017 1 3 3

February 2017 14 16 3 Mid-term break

March 2017 19

30 1 1

St Patrick’s day Good Friday

April 2017 2 6 5 Easter

May 2017 7

28

1 1

May Day Spring Bank Holiday

June 2017 - - -

July 2017 2 31 22 Summer vacation

Total Number of School Holidays 71

Annex 5

Continuous Professional Development

TEACHER COURSE/ CPD DATE REASON

All teachers

Building a pupil profile – capacity building in SIMS / assessment (GL assessment –Eileen Donnelly)

29 August

AP3- Learning & teaching

All Staff Ethos- Buffet lunch- Le Cheile 29 August AP5- Pastoral care/ ethos

Teaching / classroom assistants

Maths CPD – using the Bar Model system Lead: A McCrystal

30 August


Teachers

Transition meetings – handover of information from previous teacher to incoming teacher

30 August

AP5- Pastoral care/ ethos

Staff Capacity building in SIMS- attendance/ linked documents (C2k- Zelda Munn)

31 August


Teachers and SEN CA

SEN transition 31 August AP5- Pastoral care/ ethos

P O’Kane CP Training and update on policy revision lead – A Bell

31 August AP5- Pastoral care

C Maguire Reading Recovery with Solas 26 Sept AP2- coordinator development

J Harriott ‘Virtually There’ resident artist project

28 Sept AP3- Learning & teaching

J Harriott ‘Virtually There’ resident artist project

29 Sept AP3- Learning & teaching

N O’Neill ‘Grow in Love’ new RE programme

13 Oct AP3- Learning & teaching

S Heatley ‘Grow in Love’ new RE programme


All CAs Training in using ASD strategies


M Morgan West Belfast Principal ALC 24 Oct AP2 - principal cluster/ CPD

C Maguire Vice- Principal cluster meeting 25 Sept AP2- cluster / SLT development

C Dolaghan Writing Behaviour Support Plans

7 Oct AP5- Pastoral care

K Burke Boxall – Behaviour programme

11 Oct AP5- Pastoral care

J Conlon ICT training 19 Oct AP2- coordinator development

A Bell Designated Teacher CP Training

7 Nov AP2- coordinator development

P O’Kane Rights Respecting School Award

9 Nov AP5- Pastoral care/ ethos

M Pollock 1 Day emergency First Aid at work

10 Nov AP4 –H&S / Accommodation

C Maguire Reading Recovery with Solas 28 Nov AP2- coordinator development

All CAs Training in using ASD strategies day2

4 Jan AP 3- Learning & Teaching

All teachers Build a pupil profile using data & Pass

4 Jan AP 3- Learning & Teaching

FS/ KS1 Maths CPD with Tina Adair 9 Jan AP 3- Learning & Teaching

KS2 Maths CPD with Tina Adair 10 Jan AP 3- Learning & Teaching


C Maguire Reading Recovery Training 16 Jan AP2- coordinator development



M Morgan WBALC cluster meeting 24 Jan AP2- Coord development- Princ


A Bell Literacy CPD Project 25 Jan AP2- Coordinator development



M Morgan SIMS reporting with C2K 31 Jan AP2- coordinator development

N O’Neill Aspiring Leader training (WBALC)

5 Feb AP2- coordinator development

FS/ KS1 Maths CPD with Tina Adair 12 Feb AP 3- Learning & Teaching

KS2 Maths CPD with Tina Adair 13 Feb AP 3- Learning & Teaching

A Bell Child Protection Training DT 19 Feb AP5- Pastoral care /ethos

N O’Neill Aspiring Leaders training 28 Feb AT2 – coordinator development

A Bell Digital Literacy 5 March AP2- coordinator development

A Bell An introduction to SEN & inclusion

5 March AP2- coordinator development

D Herdman Primary CA positive behav. man

9 March AP5- Pastoral care /ethos



D Herdman Primary CA positive behav. man

24 March AP5- Pastoral care /ethos



M Morgan Managing Child protection & Safeguarding in schools

24 April AP5- Pastoral care /ethos

A Bell Primary Assessment Training 20 April AP2- coordinator development

A Bell SENDA- SENCO collaboration

30 April AP2- coordinator development

C Maguire DDT 2 day child protection training

24 May AP5- Pastoral care /ethos

C Maguire DDT 2 day child protection training

25 May AP5- Pastoral care /ethos

M Morgan Principal course- CYPS 8 June AP5- Pastoral care /ethos

C Maguire Senior leadership cluster session AM

8 June AP2- coordinator development

A Bell Senior leadership cluster session AM


J Conlon Senior leadership cluster session AM


J Conlon EBug ICT Training 12 June AP2- coordinator development

C Dolaghan EBug ICT Training 12 June AP2- coordinator development

M Morgan Strategic Principals Forum (WBALC)


L McCrystal Middle Leader Training with Dr Shevlin


J Conlon Middle Leader Training with Dr Shevlin


J Harriott Middle Leader Training with Dr Shevlin


School Development Days Friday 25th May – First Aid Training / CP & Code of Conduct training for lunchtime supervisors and canteen staff

Tuesday 29th May – report writing

Documents

Alice Phoenix - storage.googleapis.com · month. The school year starts and ends with Mass in St Michael the Archangel. Class masses are organised throughout the year and parents