Report of a Primary Inspection - Broadbridge Primary School, Eglinton
DE Ref No 203-2278
February 2026
1. Introduction
A. Background information
Broadbridge Primary School is a Catholic maintained primary school situated in the village of Eglinton. There are currently 376 children enrolled in the school, who come from the local village and a broad catchment spanning a range of neighbouring communities. Almost one-fifth (19%) of the children have free school meals entitlement (FSM). Fourteen percent of the children have been identified as having special educational needs (SEN), and attendance for the school year 2024-25 was above the Northern Ireland average.
There is a new leadership structure in place, this includes recently appointed co‑ordinators for literacy, numeracy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The school’s learning environment includes extensive outdoor and sports facilities, including two 3G pitches and a community‑funded, full‑size sports hall.
Broadbridge Primary School has a long-established Shared Education* partnership with Eglinton Primary School, is an Active Travel* school and engages in whole‑school initiatives such as the Education Authority Being Well, Doing Well* programme. The school is also an Eco-School and successfully maintained the Green Flag status* in 2025.
B. Views of children, parents and staff
The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) issued online confidential questionnaires to the children in year 7, parents and staff in advance of the inspection.
The responses to the questionnaires are referenced, where relevant, within the main body of the report. A high-level summary of the questionnaire responses, including any concerns raised, was shared with the principal and representatives of the board of governors.
C. The process of inspection
ETI worked alongside Broadbridge Primary School to consider how well the school:
- has identified and articulates its vision;
- prioritises actions to achieve the vision;
- overcomes the main challenges it faces;
- monitors and reviews progression to define, celebrate and embed success; and
- grows and develops an inclusive community of learning.
2. Main report
A. Setting the vision
Broadbridge Primary School articulates a clear vision with an aspiration for each child to reach their full potential; to feel loved, respected and valued; to grow as part of a faith‑filled community; and to develop lasting friendships and memories. This vision is grounded in the school’s longstanding Catholic ethos and Christian values, which continue to shape its identity and its role at the heart of the wider community.
This vision was created collaboratively through meaningful engagement and consultation with children, parents, staff and governors, including a series of structured focus groups. Through this two-year process, the school agreed shared values rooted in children’s holistic development, well-being and faith within a nurturing learning community. The leadership role taken by the school council as part of this review highlights the school’s strong commitment to child-centred and rights-respecting practice. Using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a guiding framework has empowered the children to make a meaningful contribution to strategic thinking. In line with Article 12, the children are given genuine opportunities to express their views and influence decisions that affect them, for example: choosing topics for learning; shaping classroom rules; and providing feedback that informs whole-school decisions such as the selection of new play equipment. There is a shared understanding across the school of its commitment to an inclusive environment, high-quality learning experiences, strong community partnerships and tailored support for those who need it. The school motto, Believe, Achieve, Succeed, reinforces these ambitions.
The school development plan (SDP) identifies appropriate areas for development, and middle leaders are taking on increasing responsibility in their roles. More work is needed to strengthen the senior leadership team’s oversight of monitoring and evaluation to ensure greater consistency and clear progression across whole-school priorities. Enhancing the oversight of monitoring and evaluation processes is an area for action that will empower the school to improve its provision further.
The school’s vision is clear in day-to-day practice. Parental questionnaire responses were overwhelmingly positive, with almost all parents familiar with the school’s vision and aims and expressing strong confidence in their children’s learning experiences. Parents commented that they “value the consistency, transparency and professionalism shown by the team, which creates a highly supportive and effective learning environment,” and noted that they “couldn’t ask for any more from a school”, reflecting the community’s high regard for the school’s ethos and provision.
The governors are well informed and supportive, providing appropriate challenge and strategic oversight through their regular engagement.
B. Implementing and improving to achieve the vision
Planning for learning is carried out collaboratively within year groups, which contributes to generally consistent and very well-structured learning experiences for the children. Where planning is strongest, teachers set clear learning intentions, use purposeful and responsive differentiation, and draw on focused evaluations that directly shape next steps in teaching. This results in coherent progression over time. To strengthen consistency further, the school should ensure that evaluations of learning more systematically inform each planning cycle and that differentiation continues to be refined to meet the needs of every child.
In the most successful lessons observed, teachers model strategies clearly, use questioning well to deepen thinking, and create purposeful learning environments in which the children engage well and talk confidently about their learning. These strengths reflect emerging impact from the school’s professional learning priorities.
In a small number of lessons, opportunities to check understanding were missed. As a result, some children did not receive the level of challenge or support needed to maximise their progress. Addressing these inconsistencies will be important to ensure all children experience high-quality learning aligned to the school’s aspirations.
All the children benefit from rich opportunities for talking and listening, and almost all are confident, articulate and willing to contribute. Structured phonics teaching, purposeful discussion and regular reading aloud promote strong engagement with reading. There is evidence of writing for purpose across a range of genres in some year groups, but there are inconsistencies and promoting extended writing with a whole-school focus on progression will support further success in writing for all children. Opportunities for collaborative learning are evident, and the children support one another well in paired and group activities.
In the foundation stage, the children experience rich play opportunities that encourage curiosity, working together and growing independence. The learning spaces are inviting and allow children to explore, make choices and engage in role‑play, construction and creative tasks. They talk confidently, share ideas and stay focused.
The children demonstrate well-developed mental maths skills and apply their understanding effectively through problem-solving tasks that link well to prior learning. The clear modelling of mathematical language and the meaningful contextualisation of activities support deep understanding, with good progression evident in early number work. Through their internal self-evaluation processes, the school have identified appropriately the further development of the provision for digital skills and have taken initial steps to strengthen this aspect of its work. Questionnaire responses show that most children regularly use digital technology in school and find it beneficial for their learning.
Across the wider curriculum, the children benefit from rich and well-structured learning experiences. Specialist expertise within the school ensures that the children receive high-quality and enriching musical experiences, and the Education Authority’s visiting tutors further extend these through instrumental lessons. In addition, the school sustains a talented choir that offers the children valuable opportunities to develop their musical skills, confidence and enjoyment of performance.
Assessment for learning strategies are well-embedded across the school. Learning intentions and success criteria are clear and age appropriate, and plenary and mid‑lesson opportunities are used effectively to gauge the children’s understanding and support progression. The children engage enthusiastically in peer and paired assessment activities and respond positively to feedback, including in-the-moment guidance that enables them to self-evaluate and improve their work.
Children’s well-being is at the heart of the school’s practice. Respectful and caring relationships, positive behaviour and well-embedded keeping-safe messages ensure a secure, inclusive and nurturing environment. High‑quality Personal Development and Mutual Understanding (PDMU), Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE), the Education Authority Being Well, Doing Well programme, and extensive sports and PE opportunities all contribute to children who are confident, self-aware and ready to learn.
C. Building equity
The school identifies and responds effectively to the needs, abilities and interests of the children. They use a broad range of assessment and pastoral information to monitor progress, shape provision and support timely intervention. The effective tracking of identified key groups helps staff plan the right support to remove barriers to learning, while a flexible and responsive curriculum provides meaningful activities, choices and leadership opportunities that keep the children interested and included.
The provision for children with SEN is well established and thoughtfully implemented. Early identification is supported through a flexible SEN register, a wide range of assessment tools and strong collaboration among staff, ensuring that children’s needs are recognised promptly and accurately. The Personal Learning Plans (PLPs) are comprehensive and developed in genuine partnership with the children and their parents. This approach ensures that support is tailored, relevant and responsive to each child’s changing needs. Children contribute meaningfully to their own PLPs, helping to shape their targets and reflect on their progress. This process helps children understand what they are working towards and ensures they are better supported to make steady and meaningful progress.
The school-based interventions in place are mapped well across sensory, medical, academic and pastoral needs. Targeted interventions are implemented promptly for those at risk of underachievement and are monitored for impact. The staff contribute skilfully to high-quality provision, and the school’s well-resourced physical and sensory environments enable children to regulate effectively and engage more fully in their learning.
The school nurtures a welcoming and inclusive community where families feel well supported. Parents commented that the staff “instil a hardworking and caring ethos from the beginning of Primary One” and that they “go above and beyond to ensure each child’s individual needs are met”. This commitment is also reflected in practical initiatives such as the Hallowe’en costume, Christmas jumper and PE kit swap shops, along with the decision to remove initials from PE kits to encourage re-use, which help ensure every child feels included and able to participate fully in school life. Constructive partnerships with external agencies such as RISE NI*, Autism Advisory and Intervention Service (AAIS) and other community organisations enhance provision for vulnerable learners and provide effective signposting for families, helping to sustain engagement, attendance and well-being.
D. Defining, celebrating and embedding success
The school has established a strong and consistently positive culture that promotes and celebrates success, which is evident in the children’s confidence, enthusiasm, and well-developed thinking skills and personal capabilities. By the end of Key Stage 2 most children are achieving in line with their ability in literacy, and nearly all are achieving in line with their ability in numeracy, according to the school’s own internal assessment data.
The children show highly positive attitudes to learning; they work collaboratively, persevere with challenge and apply their skills effectively across a range of meaningful contexts. They are joyful, respectful and fun-loving, and they take great pride in presenting their work to a high standard. Their behaviour is exemplary, reflecting the strong relationships and sense of mutual respect that underpin the life of the school.
Success is understood at an individual level, and the uniqueness of every child is recognised, with a strong emphasis on ensuring the children are happy, safe and enabled to achieve. Staff place strong emphasis on ensuring that the children feel happy, safe and well supported, making effective use of praise and clear feedback to acknowledge their effort, engagement and achievements. Through ongoing observation and assessment, the staff build a reliable picture of each child’s progress over time, enabling them to respond thoughtfully to their needs and to celebrate their progress.
The children benefit from carefully planned transitions at each stage, which help them feel confident and well prepared. Advance visits and the thorough sharing of information support them effectively, while the school’s calm return-to-school day in August, available to any child who would benefit from additional reassurance or preparation, provides focused early support. These thoughtful arrangements ensure that children entering Primary 1 can begin full-time hours immediately, with no need for a staggered intake. Pastoral strategies, such as meet-and-greet routines and regular check-ins, offer valuable emotional support for identified children and help them start each day feeling settled and ready to learn.
Success is celebrated further through a well-established rewards system, including class awards and the principal’s award, which promote effort, perseverance, positive behaviour, and academic achievement. The children speak enthusiastically about these recognitions and value the regular celebration of their achievements. The school has a strong tradition of sporting excellence and performs particularly well in football, netball and cross-country at local, regional and national levels. A vibrant culture of celebration is evident through whole-school assemblies, wall displays, trophy cabinets and the effective use of social media to acknowledge what children do well, both in and beyond school, reflecting the school motto, Believe, Achieve, Succeed.
E. Growing a community of learning
The purposeful approach to community partnership is a notable strength of the school’s provision. The school is a well-used and busy hub for the community, with its facilities, including the full-size sports hall ‘The Master’s Hall’, used daily throughout the year by both the children and a wide range of local groups such as the GAA clubs and the Eglinton Eagles, as well as supporting wider participation through access during the annual Foyle Cup*. These sustained links mean that the hall benefits not only the children, but also adults in the community, who use the space regularly for sport, recreation and group activity. The partnerships provide high-quality coaching and physical activity opportunities that enrich the curriculum, build the children’s confidence and promote healthy, active lifestyles.
Through a highly proactive Parents and Friends’ Association (PFA), well-attended events are organised, including discos, quizzes and movie nights and the PFA has fundraised extensively for the 3G pitches, the ICT room and the library. Parents engage meaningfully in curriculum-related activity, and regular surveys inform ongoing planning. They speak very positively about the school’s strong community ethos and the wide range of opportunities available to their children. They describe it as “very community-focused, with great teachers and brilliant opportunities for the children,” and highlight the practical support the school provides for families, noting that it has “great links with the community.” This high level of endorsement reinforces the school’s central role in the life of the community and the positive impact of its partnerships on the children’s experiences.
The school council continues to grow and played an important part in reviewing the school’s vision and values. The children who spoke with inspectors talked with real pride about being involved and shared how much they love their school. They say they feel listened to, respected, and able to influence decisions through channels like the school council.
The children benefit greatly from the strong Shared Education partnership, which gives them valuable opportunities to learn alongside others, build friendships and broaden their perspectives. This positive impact is made possible through the school’s long-standing collaboration with Eglinton Primary School, established in 2017 and underpinned by a jointly agreed Shared Education Policy.
The children have meaningful opportunities to contribute to the lives of others in both the local and wider community. Through regular engagement with local nursing homes, collaborative projects with community groups and partnerships with Aspace2, a multisensory facility supporting children with additional needs, the children develop empathy, social responsibility and a strong sense of their role in helping others. Their involvement in charitable work with organisations such as St Vincent de Paul, HOPE* HURT* and Trócaire further broadens their awareness of societal and global issues and encourages them to recognise the positive difference they can make in the lives of others.
Staff professional learning makes a significant contribution to the school’s community of learning. The programme is clearly aligned to the current school development priorities, including embedding whole-school approaches to spelling and problem‑solving. Evidence from lesson visits shows increasingly consistent use of the school’s agreed spelling approaches and greater confidence in modelling problem‑solving strategies, demonstrating that professional learning is beginning to influence classroom practice in line with the SDP priorities.
F. 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.
3. Next steps
Broadbridge Primary School is committed to achieving their vision so that every child feels loved, respected, and valued, and that they are supported to believe, achieve, and succeed. The school has created a warm, inclusive atmosphere where the children thrive through positive relationships, a sense of belonging, and the dedicated support of a committed, skilful and passionate staff team.
The District Inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action, as part of ETI’s routine monitoring processes. The area for action for Broadbridge Primary School is: to build upon the outworkings of the school development plan with enhanced oversight of monitoring and evaluation processes.
Inspectors also identified an aspect of highly effective practice from which others may learn. The aspect of practice which should be shared more widely is:
- the school’s well-established and sustainable community partnerships, demonstrated through the structured, year-round shared use of the sports hall, which benefit the children and forge very strong links with community groups.
4. Appendices
Appendix 1: Quantitative Terms
In this report, proportions may be described as percentages, common fractions and in more general quantitative terms. Where more general terms are used, they should be interpreted as follows:
Almost/nearly all - more than 90%
Most - 75% - 90%
A majority - 50% - 74%
A significant minority - 30% - 49%
A minority - 10% - 29%
Very few/a small number - less than 10
Appendix 2: Health And Safety
A risk assessment has identified that the main entrance requires improved security to ensure more controlled and safe access to the school building. The outcomes have been shared with the relevant authorities, and this issue needs to be addressed urgently in the interests of the children’s and staff’s safety.
Appendix 3: Notes
Page 1
Shared Education*
Shared Education is a formal, legislated approach where two or more schools work together so that children and young people from different religious and socio-economic backgrounds can learn together on a regular, sustained basis. It is designed to promote inclusion, improve relationships across communities, and deliver clear educational benefits.
Active Travel*
An Active Travel School is a school that takes part in the Active School Travel programme, which aims to increase the number of children walking, cycling, scooting and wheeling to and from school. The programme gives schools the skills, resources and support needed to promote healthy, sustainable travel choices.
Being Well, Doing Well*
An Education Authority (EA) programme that supports schools in Northern Ireland to create a whole-school approach to emotional health and well-being. It sits within the Children & Young People’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework, jointly led by the Department of Education and Department of Health.
Green Flag status*
The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning.
Page 5
RISE NI*
The Education Authority Regional Integrated Support for Education NI is a regional early intervention service which supports children in pre-school educational and mainstream primary school settings.
Page 6
Foyle Cup*
The Foyle Cup is a major annual youth soccer tournament held in Derry and surrounding areas. It is regarded as one of Ireland and Europe’s premier youth football competitions, attracting large numbers of teams from across the UK, Ireland, Europe, the US, and Canada.
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HOPE*
The Hope Shoebox Appeal, often known as the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal, is an annual charitable campaign that invites individuals, schools, communities, and organisations to fill a shoebox with small gifts for children affected by poverty. These boxes are then delivered directly to children across Africa and Eastern Europe, many of whom would otherwise receive no Christmas gift at all.
HURT*
HURT stands for Have Your Tomorrows. It is a Derry-based addiction support charity that provides holistic support for people affected by drug and alcohol misuse, along with support for their families.