Inspection Summary Report - St John’s Primary School, Coleraine

St John’s Primary School, Coleraine

DE Ref No 303-3079

Inspection Summary Report - May 2026

The school’s vision, ‘Reaching New Heights’, links high ambition with its location and fosters a strong culture of aspiration and high expectation.
Effective, well-embedded self-evaluation processes drive improvement. Oversight is action-focused and informs future planning.
The introduction of a three-year development plan (from September 2026) is appropriate. There is some variability in the quality of the associated action plans and strengthening middle leadership capacity will improve consistency.
Nearly all lessons meet children’s needs. High-quality teaching features brisk, purposeful learning and supports success in paired and group work, building confidence and independence.
Medium-term plans are detailed and developed collaboratively. Assessment for, and of, learning is well embedded and impactful, which ensures the children’s needs are met.
The curriculum is broad, balanced and aligned with the Northern Ireland curriculum. The strengths include learning through play, literacy and the Arts.
A caring, inclusive ethos is evident. The staff know the children well and provide calm, consistent environments.
Partnerships and communication methods with parents, carers and the wider community are highly effective, built on trust and a shared commitment to each child’s development.
The school promotes a positive culture where success is recognised and celebrated.
At the time of inspection, the evidence provided by the school demonstrates that the arrangements for child protection align to the current statutory guidance.

Next steps

St John’s Primary School lives out well its vision of ‘Reaching New Heights’. Learning is inclusive and engaging and the children feel safe, happy and are ready to learn. There is a positive culture of high expectations and the school is well‑resourced. There is an attractive physical learning environment that reflects the value placed in wanting the best for the children. During the inspection, the inspectors saw children who were ‘Reaching New Heights’.

As set out in the school’s current thinking on going forward, the next steps for St John’s Primary School is to take forward the following area for action: to improve further the capacity of middle leaders and co‑ordinators.

Inspectors have highlighted one area of highly effective practice, from which other schools may learn:

the positive impact of the school’s collaborative networks and its communication with stakeholders that provide the children with a wide range of high value social, sporting and cultural learning experiences.

The district inspector will continue to work with the school to disseminate these areas of highly effective practice and to monitor the school’s progress in addressing the next step as part of ETI’s normal monitoring processes.