Report of a Primary Inspection - Carnalridge Primary School, Portrush
DE Ref No 301-2049
December 2025
1. Introduction
A. Background information
Carnalridge Primary School is a controlled, co-educational primary school situated in a semi-rural location on the cusp of Portrush in county Antrim. Enrolment has remained steady over the past four years, due to the establishment of two specialist provision classes. There is currently a total of 126 children enrolled in the school, with 13 of these children in two specialist provision classes. Around 53% of the children live in Portrush and the remainder come from a wider surrounding area.
Forty percent of the children have free school meals entitlement. Just over 29% of the children have been identified as having a special educational need (SEN); 26 of whom have a statement of SEN (13 of these children are in the specialist provision). There are 10 newcomer children.
Around one-half of the children do not designate religiously as Protestant; consequently, the school has been able to establish a shared education link with Bushmills Primary School in 2025. The school qualifies for Extended Schools* funding and accordingly offers wrap-around care each day from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The school’s eco and sustainability activities have allowed them to attain the ECO Schools Green Flag* award.
This year the school has celebrated its 175th anniversary. A new principal was permanently appointed in April 2023.
B. Views of pupils, parents and staff
The Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) issued online confidential questionnaires to the children in year 7, all 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 highly positive questionnaire responses was shared with the principal and representatives of the board of governors.
C. The process of inspection
ETI worked alongside Carnalridge 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 identify, celebrate and embed success; and
- grows and develops an inclusive community of learning.
2. Main report
A. Setting the vision
The school’s vision creates the conditions where learning is inclusive and nurturing, where the children feel safe and happy, while developing resilience as effective learners. The vision was consulted upon extensively from 2022 to 2024, offering ownership to all voices and the process was supported by the Controlled Schools Support Council. Consequently, the renewed vision re-focused the school’s purpose and values, building trust with the community at a timely point in the school’s history.
The children have played an extensive role in this process by informing the associated values and behaviours. The school motto, ‘learn to grow, grow to learn’ came from them. The school’s values are: respect, honesty, acceptance, aspiration, kindness and citizenship and are reflected clearly in all aspects of school life, including the children-led assemblies which regularly feature the values. We joined an assembly focusing on ‘honesty’ and it was very well attended by the parents and carers, who enjoyed it. The values and associated behaviours are well defined and articulated clearly in the school development plan (SDP). The questionnaire returns show that all of the staff are clear about the vision.
The school has well-embedded and effective processes for self-evaluation leading to improvement. There is a good quality, three-year SDP, which is comprehensive and supportive of realising the vision, particularly through the direct link with staff professional learning (SPL). Consultation and self-evaluation mechanisms are robust and are effective in setting a clear and strategic direction for the school. A notable strength that came through in our questionnaire returns was around the high quality of the communication with parents and carers.
The associated action plans are aimed at improving learning experiences and outcomes for the children and are appropriately data-informed, evaluative, and action-focused. Oversight is effective and there is scrutiny and feedback provided on: teachers’ planning, assessment outcomes and the quality of the children’s work in the books.
The governors are committed to the school’s vision and values. They bring an appropriate range of expertise and skills to their role. They organise themselves appropriately in sub-groups to offer better oversight, improve scrutiny and fulfil regulatory needs, such as safeguarding. They have a good understanding of the life and work of the school offering support and challenge where needed. The chair of the governors spoke with pride about the school and told us how well it is valued in the local community.
B. Implementing and improving to achieve the vision
Planning for learning is thorough and driven by high expectations for all children, ensuring their needs, abilities and interests are met consistently. There is clear progression in knowledge, skills and understanding, with planning for adaptive teaching rooted in the teacher’s wide-ranging knowledge of each child.
All of the lessons observed during the inspection met well the needs of all the children. The quality of the learning and teaching is characterised by respectful relationships, high expectations for all, a consistent structure to lessons and well‑established routines. Learning is set within real, relevant and child-centred contexts. Lessons were well paced and enhanced by meaningful self- and peer‑assessment. The planning for, and execution of, adaptive teaching was excellent and is worthy of sharing with others. Another key strength is how the children are encouraged to take risks in their learning and approach challenging work with confidence and perseverance.
Trauma-informed practices are very well embedded, with staff trained to recognise, understand and respond appropriately to the children’s social, behavioural and cognitive needs. All of the staff are qualified to a minimum of Level 2 in trauma‑informed practices, allowing them to apply enhanced understanding of the children’s behaviours and use more effective individual regulation strategies. The living out of these principles and practices are the bedrock upon which the consistently effective lessons were built. The work of the learning support assistants was excellent; they are attentive to each child and engage the children well in their learning through talk that probed, encouraged and helped them achieve independently.
The curriculum is appropriately broad, balanced and well-connected covering all areas of the statutory Northern Ireland curriculum. The school does its best with its resources for outdoor play, but they recognize rightly that it is an area open to further improvement. There is well considered joint-planning across the curriculum which, for example, allows the provision in World Around Us to be underpinned by good quality literacy-based activities that allow the children to provide extended written responses in different genres for a range of audiences.
The preventative curriculum is planned sensitively with topics and subjects devised in response to contemporary issues impacting the children. The school provides the children with opportunities to develop their skills in, for example, being resilient, problem solving and using strategies to manage and deal with a range of emotions and feelings. All of the children who met with us during the inspection told us that they feel safe in school and know who to speak to if they have any concerns about their well-being.
In the carefully designed literacy provision, the whole school focus on promoting and reinforcing spelling and vocabulary skills is evident and effective. There is age‑appropriate, scaffolded support for all the children as they progress that develops well their vocabulary and spelling. The pupils told us that they enjoy building their range of vocabulary and that the strategies they are using are helping to improve their creative writing.
The well planned and progressive numeracy provision has been strengthened further by staff reflection on the mental maths strategies that are used across the school. The teachers have used focus groups of children across all key stages to understand the strategies and techniques in mathematics that help them learn better. This has resulted in greater consistency in teaching approaches and an increased emphasis on addressing misconceptions, thereby improving the children’s understanding of mathematical processes and concepts.
The children’s digital skills are systematically developed through planned opportunities, which are embedded across the curriculum. School leaders have mapped the statutory elements of the digital skills curriculum to ensure progressive development. Consequently, the children’s digital competencies develop very well as they advance through the school.
Going forward, there are a small number of next steps that will help the school move forward. While the plenaries are effective, the next step is in promoting higher order thinking at the end of the lessons to consolidate learning further. The inspection also endorses the school’s own self-evaluation around improving further the quality of outdoor play and this is an appropriate area for action.
C. Building equity
There is a positive, nurturing and inclusive ethos, where every child is supported to achieve their best. The school meets the needs of all learners effectively, including those with additional challenges, or those for whom English is an additional language.
The educational provision for those children identified as requiring additional support with their learning is highly effective. A cohesive approach to meeting the needs of all the children with barriers to learning is used well in both the mainstream and specialist provision classes.
The well-constructed Personal Learning Plans are rigorously monitored and regularly reviewed, with valuable input from pupils, parents, staff and external professionals. They contain individualised and achievable targets, supported by strategies that promote successful learning. The children with additional learning needs make significant progress from their individual starting points and develop well both academically and socially.
The children in the specialist provision classes grow in confidence through carefully planned teaching that meets their individual needs. This individual approach, supported by purposeful interactions and skilled classroom assistance, addresses both academic progress and social-emotional development. The staff create a calm, positive atmosphere that reduces anxiety and helps the children to develop self‑awareness and emotional regulation. The highly effective arrangements in place to integrate the children alongside their peers in the mainstream classes is extending their opportunities for social interaction and developing well their confidence and interpersonal skills.
Bespoke and detailed teacher planning along with discrete and purposeful directions in learning by the skilled learning support assistants ensure that all children with educational, social and emotional needs make appropriate progress, relative to their individual starting points. Differentiated learning and tailored support for individual children and small groups is common practice and is consistently effective and impactful, allowing children to self-regulate and become more responsible and independent in their learning. This careful and collegial approach to planning for adaptive teaching is an area that can be shared with others.
The school’s participation in the Welcome Classroom* initiative supports children who are asylum seekers and have English as an additional language, helping them to engage more fully in learning. The Welcome Classroom provides a nurturing introduction to school routines for these children and helps them adjust to the expectations of formal schooling, while developing their language, communication, and social skills. Consequently, these pupils integrate successfully into all aspects of school life and are valued members of the school community.
All children, including those with additional learning needs and those in the specialist classes, learn in a calm, reassuring environment where teachers and staff consistently model positive behaviours.
D. Embedding success
The school’s approach to embedding success allows the children to value learning, be happy, and thrive in school. The children benefit from highly positive and compassionate relationships and as a result they are ready to learn, try their best and enjoy the feeling of experiencing and building on achievements in their learning.
The children are friendly, confident, respectful and enthusiastic learners who work well with staff and each other. They develop from early sharing and turn-taking to effective collaboration and independent learning by the end of Key Stage 2. The children understand how kindness, inclusion, and the school’s values shape success and create a safe, positive community. Older children show strong responsibility and leadership through roles on the anti-bullying, e-safety, eco committee and student council. The children told us they value the wide range of extra-curricular activities, including sports, music, drama, and seasonal events.
The literacy and numeracy provision is implemented systematically and meets the children’s needs. In literacy, the children benefit from having a genre-based approach to writing, which allows them to develop well as adept writers; while in numeracy, the children are able to handle challenging work with confidence, determination and success.
The high standards in the children’s books reflect the high expectations shared by the staff and the children alike. A wide range of qualitative and quantitative information and testing is used very effectively at all levels to identify areas for development and children in need of extra support. Successful intervention strategies have resulted in closing the gap between the boys and the girls performance in numeracy. Almost all of the children achieve in line with expectations, based on the school’s internal data.
The children’s academic and other successes across, and beyond the school are well embedded and celebrated through weekly assemblies, online media, trips and pupil of the week. The vibrant walls and communal areas around the school display and celebrate the children’s work and effort across the curriculum, instilling a sense of belonging in the school. Staff interactions in classrooms was uniformly positive and encouraging.
We joined the children in two assemblies and saw their genuine joy and pride in each other’s achievements across the curriculum and for achievements outside school. Good choices are routinely celebrated, inside and outside of the classroom, and the children regularly nominate one another for kind and caring acts, which the school recognises and shares appropriately.
E. Growing a community of learning
The school’s extensive and ongoing partnership work with the parents, carers and the wider community is highly effective and is rooted in: an understanding of the needs of each child; a commitment to their holistic development; and a commitment to the school’s vision, ethos and cultural traditions. The school values its pupil voice and teachers regularly ask the children their views on their learning experiences, which informs future planning in a more collaborative way.
The partnerships with parents, carers and the wider community are highly positive and built on trust and care for each child. In our questionnaire returns, all of the parents told us their child was happy in school and making good progress. Nearly all of the parents told us they would recommend the school to others, while all of the children told us that their school was an important part of the community. There were also high levels of satisfaction in how well the school communicates with parents and its connections with the community it serves. In our discussions with the children, they praised the staff for their care and support and for helping them learn effectively, as well as for the wide range of after-school opportunities, some of which are led by professional sports coaches.
The school has an extensive range of business, church and community links, which is used to provide wider learning experiences for the children. The school has recently developed a strong link with Girl Guiding Ulster, resulting in the formation of a newly formed local ‘pack’, which according to the school is a first for Portrush. The children also benefit from chances to sing in churches and care homes in Portrush and many of the children adore performing at the Peace Proms. The school uses the local community well to offer a range of meaningful learning opportunities for the children. For example, the children were looking forward to performing for a range of community audiences through music, singing and performing and the school was busy with an array of rehearsals that were taking place the week of the inspection.
External support from a wide range of organisations such as: the PSNI, RNLI, Action Mental Health, Barnardos and Reach are used appropriately to help the children stay safe and well. The purposeful links with organisations like Eco-schools and the Nerve Centre* allow the children to succeed through exciting environmental and digital learning opportunities.
Staff professional learning is well-targeted, resourced and responsive to meeting the needs of pupils and staff alike. The ETI questionnaires revealed that all staff believe their professional skills are valued and that they benefit from their professional learning and development. The organisation of staff learning is strategic and it connects clearly with the SDP priorities and with the school’s vision. It is carefully calculated, inclusive and focused on research-based approaches to learning and teaching. Staff welfare also came across strongly in the questionnaires and is a significant strength. The staff feel valued and respected and believe that they are listened to by the senior leaders.
The combination of highly effective community involvement, awareness of each child’s individual needs and a focus on teamwork and collegiality permits the school and its staff to achieve its vision with a common unity of purpose.
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
Carnalridge Primary School lives out well its vision where learning is inclusive and nurturing, where the children feel safe, happy and are ready to learn. Their trauma‑informed approach creates the conditions for inclusive learning and where the children’s well-being and happiness is paramount. This is a school that cares for its children and is eager to optimise their learning experiences. During the inspection, the inspectors saw children who were ‘learning to grow and growing to learn’.
As set out in the school’s current development plan, the next steps for Carnalridge Primary School are to take forward the following area for action: to improve further the quality of outdoor play.
Inspectors have highlighted two areas of highly effective practice, from which other schools may learn:
- the impact of the school’s trauma-informed provision that places the child’s individual needs at the core of its work; and
- the careful and collegial approach to planning for adaptive teaching.
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.
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: Notes
Page 1
Extended Schools*
Extended Schools provide funding for schools to offer services before, during and after the normal school day to help the children achieve their full potential.
Eco Green Flag*
The Eco Schools Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning.
Page 5
The Welcome Classroom*
The Welcome Classroom is an initiative funded by the Education Authority’s Intercultural Education Services that aimed to support asylum seeker children to settle effectively in school.
Page 6
The Nerve Centre*
The Nerve Centre is a creative digital media arts centre that Is located in Derry/Londonderry.