School Self Reviews and Evalutions

Summary

The requester asked for School Self Review Evaluations (SSRE) and anti-bullying policies for four specific schools. The Department of Education provided the SSRE for one school directly, directed the requester to public websites for the other three schools citing Section 20 of the Act, and shared links to both the overarching departmental anti-bullying policy and individual school policies.

Key Facts

• Scoill Vallajeelt Primary School's SSRE report was enclosed directly in the response.
• Information for Manor Park, Ballacottier, and Scoill yn Jubilee was deemed reasonably accessible and provided via weblinks under Section 20 of the Act.
• Scoill yn Jubilee is the only school in the request that has completed the external validation process.
• All schools must adhere to the Department's overarching Anti-Bullying Policy while maintaining their own specific policies.
• The response was issued on 14th May 2025 regarding a request received on 25th April 2025.

Data Disclosed

• 2025-04-25
• 2025-05-14
• 4613555
• 5
• 2
• June 2018
• December 2017
• Section 20
• Freedom of Information Act 2015

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20 of the Act (information already reasonably accessible)

Original Request

Can I please request the most up to date SSRE and other assessment or inspection information for Manor Park Primary School, Scooil Vallajeelt, Scooil Jubillee and Ballacottier. And if applicable, the outcome from an external validator. I am particularly interested in the levels of education being provided and the policies and actions taken in bullying incidents.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Policy, Strategy and Governance Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Thie Slieau Whallian Foxdale Road St Johns IM4 3AS

Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im

Our ref: 4613555 14th May 2025

Dear ###,

We write further to your request, received 25 April 2025, which states:

"Can I please request the most up to date SSRE and other assessment or inspection information for Manor Park Primary School, Scooil Vallajeelt, Scooil Jubillee and Ballacottier. And if applicable, the outcome from an external validator. I am particularly interested in the levels of education being provided and the policies and actions taken in bullying incidents."

Our response to your request is as follows:

Scoill Vallajeelt Primary School

Please find enclosed a copy of the most recent School Self Review Evaluation (SSRE) report for Scoill Vallajeelt Primary School.

Manor Park, Ballacottier and Scoill yn Jubilee Primary Schools

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee.

By way of advice and assistance the information published following the SSRE process for both Manor Park Primary School and Ballacottier Primary School is available via the following weblinks:

Manor Park Primary School -https://desc.gov.im/media/mjpojhoc/manorpark- primary-school-external-validation-of-the-school-self-review-and-evaluation-june- 2018.pdf

Ballacottier Primary School- https://desc.gov.im/media/jk4fv4ho/ballacottier- primary-school-external-validation-of-the-school-self-review-and-evaluation-december- 2017.pdf

Scoill yn Jubilee - Scoill Yn Jubilee Primary School is the only school within the list of schools mentioned in your request, that has completed the external validation process so far. By way of advice and assistance the parent and carer information is available via the below weblink:

https://syj.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/45/Parent%20and%20Carer%20Information% 20following%20External%20Validation%20Visit

Anti -Bullying

The Department have an overarching Anti-Bullying Policy, which all schools are required to adhere too, please see link to the policy below:

https://desc.gov.im/media/td3mls12/anti-bullying-policy-v10_compressed.pdf

All schools also have their own anti-bullying policy; however, all additional policies must align to the Department of Education, Sport and Culture’s Anti-Bullying Policy.

The Articles of Government of each school state that the Headteacher shall determine the standard of behaviour which is to be regarded as acceptable at the school and that they shall prepare and keep under regular review a written anti-bullying policy setting out the arrangements made by the school to prevent and follow up any incidences of bullying. Therefore, a school is at liberty to determine their own policy. However, schools are expected to adhere to the points in the Department Policy and a template policy document has been provided (as part of the Department Policy) to assist with this.

Policies relating to the four schools mentioned within your request can be found on the schools’ websites. By way of assistance the weblinks are provided below:

Manor Park Primary School https://manorpark.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/30/Bullying

Scoill Vallajeelt Primary School https://scoillvallajeelt.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/67/Anti-Bullying%20Policy

Scoill Yn Jubilee Primary School https://syj.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/9/SyJ%20Anti- Bullying%20Policy%20%26%20Relationships%20Policy

Ballacottier Primary School https://ballacottier.sch.im/pages/index/view/id/75/School%20Policies

Please quote the reference number 4613555 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

External Validation June 2019
Scoill Vallajeelt Validation Report
Scoill Vallajeelt recently received an external validation of its self-review process, which involved confirming the judgments the school has made about itself across certain areas. For the purpose of this validation, three aspects were looked at in detail:
Achievement against Prior Attainment Teaching for Learning Partnerships with Parents/Carers

Achievement against Prior Attainment

Progress made during Foundation Stage was found to be inspirational. Progress made during Key Stage 1 was found to be very effective and in Key Stage 2 it was found to be inspirational. The school’s monitoring shows that the large majority of pupils enjoy learning and make very good progress in lessons.

The validation team concurs with the school’s judgment that Achievement against Prior Attainment is ‘very effective’ overall.

Teaching for Learning

The school has embedded the principles of ‘growth mindset’ into the curriculum and is developing a shared language that is used by teachers and pupils. Pupils informed the validation team how having a growth mindset helped them to use different strategies to overcome challenging learning tasks.

Response planning is one method used by teachers to allow pupils to have more ownership for their learning and to make the curriculum accessible and flexible.

The school’s procedures for target setting, tracking of progress and judgments about the quality of teaching for learning indicate that there is a culture of challenge, high aspirations and ambition. The impressive progress made by pupils throughout the school is an outcome of this culture.

The validation team concurs with the school’s judgment that Teaching for Learning is ‘very effective’ overall.

Partnerships with Parents/Carers

The school’s parental surveys indicate that the school has a very good reputation within the community. Feedback at the validation team’s meeting with parents endorsed this view where very positive comments were made about the standards achieved by pupils in all aspects of their development including their behaviour.

The school has many examples that indicate that it seeks and then acts on feedback from parents very effectively.

Parents were particularly keen to praise the ‘stay and learn’ sessions run by the school. These sessions have been well attended and help parents to be more effective as partners in learning.

The validation team concurs with the school’s judgment that Partnerships with Parents/Carers is ‘very effective’ overall.

Other Areas Considered

In addition to the three specific aspects of the SSRE on which it focused, the validation team considered other judgments and statements set out in the SSRE. It concurred with many of these judgments, including:

• Almost all pupils agree or strongly agree that there is an adult they can talk to in the school if they need to • There are many examples of pupils displaying good leadership skills in both formal and informal settings • The pupils have an excellent understanding of the campus value of ‘Respect’ and the majority are able to positively manage their own feelings appropriately • Pupils mix well both in and out of classes and with St. Thomas’ pupils at break times • Attainment in 2018 at the end of Key Stage 2 was ‘inspirational’ • Pupils understand the importance of effort and resilience on their learning journey • Leadership has been an area of growth since the last validation in November 2015 • Aspirational curriculum targets are set at the beginning of the school year based on the previous year’s learning information • The staff of the school and St Thomas’ demonstrate that their partnership is strong • Pupils are able to self-regulate and behaviour is outstanding

Conclusion

The validation team noted that the SSRE is in the main succinct, clear and related to the grade descriptors. It also identifies aspects of learning and provision that require improvement. This is good practice.
The school knows itself well and is in a good position to plan for the improvement. With a few amendments to the SSRE it will demonstrate that it knows itself very well.

Headteacher Scoill Vallajeelt