Inspection Summary Report - St Colman’s Primary School and All Saints’ Nursery Unit, Annaclone

St Colman’s Primary School and All Saints’ Nursery Unit

DE Ref No 503-6061

Inspection Summary Report - January 2026

The children were empowered to lead in the development of the vision, “Together we learn, dream and achieve”; as a result, the vision is meaningful to them and reflected in how they “learn together, dream big and believe everyone can do amazing things”.
The children play a very significant role in making their school a welcoming and inclusive place where everyone belongs and is valued; they are kind and empathetic in their interactions with others and help each other readily.
The caring staff provide a nurturing and inclusive environment where the children feel safe, respected and listened to.
The school development plan is well informed by comprehensive consultation and outlines well-evidenced improvement priorities with coherent action plans; the staff have identified appropriately the need to improve planning for progression across the curriculum.
The staff know the children well; they respond sensitively to their individual needs and celebrate what makes each child unique and special, allowing all children to experience success.
The staff make increasing use of active learning strategies to make learning fun and engaging; the learning and teaching is consistently effective across the school, with well-paced and structured lessons, effective questioning and high quality ‘at-elbow’ support that enables each child to thrive and succeed.
The children’s behaviour is exemplary; most of the children achieve well in literacy and numeracy and their digital skills are a particular strength.
In the nursery unit, the children are developing well their confidence, independence and self-management skills as they explore real and authentic materials during play.
A key strength of the provision is the child‑led development of the stimulating outdoor environment, which enriches the children’s learning and supports successfully the health and well-being of all.
Strategic collaboration with local businesses, proactive fundraising and practical support from parents and staff have resulted in additional resources and a significant enhancement of the children’s learning experiences.
At the time of the inspection, the evidence provided by the school demonstrates that the arrangements for child protection align to the current statutory guidance.

Next steps

St Colman’s Primary School and All Saints’ Nursery Unit provides a highly nurturing and inclusive learning environment in which the children feel valued, listened to and achieve well. The shared vision, “Together, we learn, dream and achieve”, is lived out in the children’s consistently positive attitudes to learning, their strong sense of belonging and their evident pride in their school. As reflected in the school development plan, the area for action is to improve the planning for progression across the curriculum.

The district inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action, as part of ETI’s normal monitoring processes. Inspectors identified an area of highly effective practice from which others may learn, namely:

the school’s strategic approach, led by the children, to the development of the outdoor area to support high quality outdoor learning.