Report of a Follow-up Inspection - Elmgrove Primary School, Belfast

DE Ref No 101-0255

October 2025

Follow-up to the inspection of Elmgrove Primary School, Belfast, BT5 4SF(101-0255)

Introduction

Elmgrove Primary School and Nursery Unit is a controlled, co-educational primary school situated in East Belfast. Most of the children who attend the school come from the local area. A new school building, located on the Avoniel Road, was opened to children attending the nursery unit in June 2024, with the remainder of the children joining them in the main building in December 2024.

This follow-up inspection was carried out in October 2025 and provided the school with the opportunity to demonstrate its progress in addressing the areas for action from the time of the last inspection in June 2024and the interim follow-up visit in March 2025.

The current school enrolment is 590, with just over 60% of the children having free school meals entitlement. Forty-four percent (261) of the children have been identified as having special educational needs (SEN). The number of children with statements of special educational need has been increasing over the last four years from 32 children in 2021 to 70 currently. Just over one-fifth (128; 22%) of the children enrolled are newcomers.

Views of parents, staff and pupils

The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) issued online confidential questionnaires to year 7 children, all parents and staff in advance of the follow-up inspection.

The responses to the questionnaires are referenced, where relevant, within the key findings section of the report. A high-level summary of the questionnaire responses, including any concerns raised, was shared with the principal, vice-principal and the chair of the board of governors.

Key actions

The key actions which affect the work of the school are set out below.

The board of governors was re-constituted and expanded in January 2025.
The full complement of the senior leadership team were in substantive posts by February 2025. An additional senior leader and four middle leaders were appointed in June 2025 to support school improvement work.
The staff planned and managed successfully the whole school move to the new site on the Avoniel Road by December 2024, including the safe closure and handover of the old site.
The EA provided external support on leadership and management matters to the senior and middle leaders.
The staff have availed of an extensive range of professional learning opportunities, including: whole school Numicon training delivered by the EA; Steps into Leadership and Senior Leadership Pathways; and internal whole school professional learning, led by the school’s curricular teams, to support planning for learning informed by assessment and teacher professional judgement.

Key findings

The year 6 and year 7 children spoke very positively about their welcoming and well-resourced school, their learning experiences across all areas of the curriculum and the important role they play in looking after the younger children to keep them safe. They are proud of their achievements and value how the school has celebrated their successes through, for example, the ‘star of the week’ award which can be achieved when the children live out the school’s motto, ‘to have the courage to do what you know is right’.
The children spoke positively about the range of opportunities the staff provide for them to take on leadership roles and contribute to the life and work of the school through, for example, roles in the school council or as prefects and playground buddies. They are proud and respectful of their new school environment and value highly the range of sporting and musical extra-curricular activities available to them.
The teachers engaged the children well in their learning in nearly all of the lessons observed. In these lessons the teachers and classroom assistants have high expectations for the children’s behaviour, and for their contributions to, and engagement in, their learning. The lessons were well paced, planned and adapted appropriately to meet the learning needs of the children. As a result, almost all of the children contribute confidently to whole-class discussions and remain on task. The teachers use effective practical and creative learning approaches which the children enjoy and, subsequently, make good progress. The teachers revisit learning objectives throughout the lesson, provide time for the children to think and discuss, and encourage the children to articulate their understanding.
The teachers’ skilful questioning, and their creative and practical approaches to learning is impacting positively on the children’s confidence and is supporting well their writing across all areas of the curriculum and their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. There is a strategic approach to assessment for learning, with a more consistent approach to marking and feedback now in place which is encouraging the children to be more reflective in their learning. In discussions with inspectors, the year 6 and year 7 children report that they have opportunities to self-assess and reflect on their work. It is of note that 94% of the year 7 children who completed the online questionnaire report that they are encouraged to set targets to help them improve their work.
There is a highly inclusive and nurturing environment in Elmgrove Primary School and Nursery Unit. The children in the specialist provision classes were very welcoming to the inspectors and engaged confidently in conversations and learning with them. The staff know the children well and have high expectations for their learning. The children work well in groups and pairs and are supported effectively by the skilful classroom assistants.
There is a renewed sense of enthusiasm and purpose throughout the school. The staff and leaders are working more collegially and, as reflective practitioners, are developing effectively a culture of trust and openness. They have introduced a range of monitoring and evaluating processes which include: planned and termly analysis of a range of pastoral and academic data; opportunities for book looks; learning walks by senior and middle leaders; and scheduled curriculum team meetings to review the progress of the children. The staff have identified appropriately the need to embed the use of these approaches across the school, informed by ongoing teacher professional engagement, to evaluate the impact of the ongoing development work on the progress of the children.
The senior and middle leaders are committed fully to engaging in professional learning and work collaboratively to identify and disseminate good practice in planning and teaching across the school. The numeracy team have successfully led the development and review of the teachers’ long- and medium-term planning to ensure they include the use of practical mathematical approaches. As a result, these approaches are now well embedded and are impacting positively on the children’s enjoyment and attainment in mathematics. The literacy team have focused successfully on the development of the children’s writing by ensuring that teachers provide more planned opportunities for children to write purposefully across a wider range of writing types, and to write for enjoyment. The impact of this work is exemplified in good standards within the samples of children’s work and in the lessons observed.
The one-year transition school development plans and associated action plans are guiding well the work of the school. In preparation for a new three‑year development plan, it is appropriate that the staff and governors are planning to review the school vision to ensure it reflects better the fresh start provided by the move to the new school building which has also generated a renewed collegiality across the staff and school community.

Child Protection

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.

All of the year 6 and year 7 children who met with inspectors told us they are happy and safe in school and know what to do if they have any concerns about their safety or well-being.

Next steps

The staff of Elmgrove Primary School and Nursery Unit have made significant strides in improving the education provision for the children. They have worked collegially in the interests of the children, ensuring a successful transition to a new school build for a fresh future. The staff and leaders of Elmgrove Primary School and Nursery Unit are responsive to the children’s wide-ranging needs and are working well together to ‘maximise each child’s potential’.

The next step for Elmgrove Primary School and Nursery Unit is to take forward the following area for action:

to embed the use of the range of monitoring and evaluation approaches across the school, to assess regularly the impact of the ongoing development work on the children’s learning.

The ETI, through the district inspector, will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action, as part of ETI’s normal monitoring processes.

No further follow-up inspection is required.