Report of a Primary Inspection - Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit
DE Ref No 206-6552
December 2025
1. Introduction
A. Background information
Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit is a maintained integrated primary school situated on the Omagh Integrated Campus on the south-eastern side of Omagh town in County Tyrone. This is a purpose-built integrated education campus which brings nursery, primary and post-primary provision together on one site. Over the last four years, the school’s enrolment has increased by 16% and stands currently at 349 children. Eighteen per cent of the children have been identified as having special education needs (SEN), just over 30% of whom have a statement of SEN. Sixteen per cent of the children in the school have free school meal entitlement.
The school has a full-time nursery class and a part-time nursey class. Standardisation of the part-time nursery class has been approved for implementation from September 2026.
The school has two Shared Education Partnerships, one with St Ronan’s Primary School, Recarson, and the other is a partnership between its nursery provision and the nursery provision of St Mary’s Primary School and Nursery Unit, Killyclogher.
B. Views of pupils, 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 school also provided a governors’ questionnaire as part of an ETI pilot.
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 two representatives of the board of governors.
C. The process of inspection
The ETI worked alongside Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit 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
Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit has recently redefined its commitment to integration and inclusion, resulting in new, clear and coherent vision and values which are well understood across the school community. The renewed vision to be a vibrant, inclusive learning community where every child is nurtured to grow with confidence, compassion, and curiosity is rooted firmly in the ethos of integrated education in Northern Ireland. The vision emphasises not only academic progress but also the personal, social, emotional, and moral growth of each child. It reflects the school’s aspiration to move forward as one community, ensuring that all pupils feel safe, secure, and valued while being provided with rich opportunities to realise their potential. This is strongly evident in the children’s behaviours and attitudes: they are happy in school, engage warmly and respectfully with one another and the staff, and demonstrate a deep pride in belonging to this school community. Notably, every Primary 7 pupil who responded to the questionnaire said they were proud to attend the school, further highlighting the positive culture that stems directly from how the vision is lived out.
Following the end to industrial action last year, the school engaged in a renewed and genuinely consultative approach to school improvement. Responses to the ETI staff questionnaires show strong professional alignment with the school’s vision and improvement priorities, with all members of staff reporting positive working relationships and their written responses demonstrating a clear sense of teamwork, pride, and belonging.
The school’s current strategic priorities focus on: sustaining high-quality learning and teaching; nurturing language, literacy, and numeracy; strengthening curriculum development; and promoting well-being, all of which directly support the holistic, inclusive aspirations outlined in the vision. Staff demonstrate a collective drive for improvement and their pride in the school, combined with their consistently high expectations, positions the school well to realise the vision.
The governors fulfil appropriately and confidently their support and challenge role, drawing on a wide and complementary range of skills that strengthen the school’s strategic direction. They have recently undertaken significant work to streamline their processes, ensuring that governance is more manageable. The governors demonstrate a clear awareness of the school’s current priorities, understand the journey that has led to these priorities, and maintain a strong focus on the standards the children are achieving. Their informed oversight and constructive challenge help ensure that the school continues to move forward with clarity, coherence, and purpose. The responses from governors who participated in the pilot questionnaire strongly reflect these strengths, particularly in relation to their understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
B. Implementing and improving to achieve the vision
Planning across the curriculum is well aligned to the school’s vision and sets out appropriately ambitious expectations for all children. Long-term planning is in place which guides well the work of the teachers, and comprehensive medium-term plans take effective account of individual children’s learning needs, outlining clear strategies for differentiation. The teachers make meaningful connections in the children’s learning across literacy, numeracy, and “World Around Us” topics. As a result, lessons are well-planned and resourced appropriately, and the teachers use a range of creative, dramatic approaches to establish vibrant learning environments that actively engage and motivate the children. This dynamic practice sustains the children’s enthusiasm and builds their confidence within a culture where they are supported and encouraged to take risks in their learning and to strive to do their best. Almost all of the children make the expected progress in literacy and numeracy commensurate with their ability.
The children are attentive and eager to learn, and they work well independently and collaboratively. They respond positively to the inclusive approaches to classroom management and activity-based learning, including, where appropriate, the use of digital technologies. As a result, the children’s digital skills develop well as they progress through the school. The school has prioritised appropriately a more consistent and progressive use of digital technologies to enhance further the provision for learning.
The children in the nursery unit and foundation stage are benefitting from well‑planned play opportunities that promote successfully their confidence, curiosity, imagination and sustained engagement in learning.
The senior leadership team and key co-ordinators articulate a clear strategic vision for learning and teaching. They monitor and review planning and assessment systematically, prioritising ongoing professional development in contemporary pedagogies to enhance further the children’s learning experiences. They understand the important role they have in supporting both the physical, and mental health and well-being of the school community, and have prioritised this within the school development plan. Approaches are relationship centred and child focused, with the children actively involved in making decisions that support their well-being and enhance their enjoyment of school life.
The school’s safeguarding curriculum and arrangements for pastoral care are highly effective in nurturing strong social and emotional skills that help the children manage feelings, resolve conflict and make good choices. The staff work proactively alongside the parent teacher association and external agencies to support the wider social and pastoral needs of the children and their families. The well-embedded personal development and mutual understanding (PDMU) curriculum is enhanced by the PATHS* programme and by the children’s regular participation in events such as mental health week, anti-bullying week and world kindness day, all of which keep the preventative curriculum, the emotional health and well-being of all and the values of the school to the fore. As a result, the children gain confidence and pride in their own capabilities, build the knowledge and skills they need to make good lifestyle choices and learn in classrooms which are characterised by warm relationships, mutual respect, high levels of co-operation, and friendship.
All of the children who spoke with inspectors and all who responded to the ETI questionnaire report that: they feel safe in school; there are adults they can talk to if they are worried or having a problem; and they are treated with care and respect by the adults in the school. Similarly, all of the children agreed that they learn how to understand their feelings and how they should act upon them.
Healthy eating and physical activity are also promoted well through the whole-school focus on well-being. A comprehensive food and nutrition policy underpins the promotion of healthy snacking habits and healthy eating. The range of extracurricular activities and incorporation of free play time before the school day starts are all intentional in drawing on the benefits of exercise, sport, and being part of a team. These opportunities continue to enhance the children’s sense of belonging and their overall well-being. The children told us how much they enjoyed taking part in after-school clubs, such as the football club and the running club led by the school caretaker.
C. Building equity
The ethos of inclusion and integration pervades all aspects of learning and the wider life of the school and impacts very positively on the school’s approach to overcoming challenges and barriers to learning. A culture of acceptance, understanding and celebration of difference is evident across the school. This reflects well the vision and values of the school community and has a positive impact on the approach to meeting the individual needs of children.
The needs of the children are met through highly inclusive classroom practices that enable them to participate and make progress. For example, whole-school approaches ensure that each classroom provides a safe base for learning for each child, reflected in the daily meet-and-greet routines, the active use of visual timetables and the positive behaviour approaches that promote consistently high levels of engagement and participation across all classes. Additionally, the quality of relationships and connection between the staff and individual children is enriched by the use of bespoke and well-considered strategies to support more individual need. The effective use of strategies such as visual choice boards and movement breaks mean that all of the children are supported well to engage with their learning and to achieve.
The provision for special educational needs is characterised by meaningful collaboration and an impactful cycle of assessing, reviewing and responding to need. The staff use their analysis of observations of learning, other assessment information and professional discussion very effectively to identify and respond to both low and underachievement. The children’s needs are met well through early and appropriate teacher intervention.
Individual education plans (IEPs) are informed by authentic engagement with children and parents; targets are based on a sound knowledge of the individual needs of each child. The strategies and approaches used to support the children are underpinned by appropriately targeted staff professional learning. Bespoke, child‑centred transition arrangements are commonplace across the school which support individual need very effectively. The progress made by children with SEN is monitored systematically through the review of IEPs, assessment information and feedback from the staff, parents and the children themselves. Consequently, the children with SEN are support very well, they are included consistently well across the school and make appropriate progress.
The classroom assistants play a key role in implementing bespoke strategies to meet the children’s needs, supporting teachers to plan for the next steps in each child’s learning. The school’s own monitoring records reflect that intervention strategies across all of the classes are impacting positively on the outcomes for children. In the ETI questionnaire responses, all of the classroom assistants agreed that the arrangements for tracking children’s progress are effective and manageable and that their views and ideas are sought, acted upon and valued.
When required, the leadership team, teachers and classroom assistants work collaboratively through solution-focused meetings to plan targeted interventions for children. They co-ordinate support to meet the holistic needs of the child, agree next steps and draw on support from external agencies when necessary. As a result, the children benefit from more personalised, timely and specialist support that enables them to make meaningful progress both socially and academically.
Pupil attendance figures for the school are above the Northern Ireland average and reflect the collaborative, holistic and responsive pastoral care systems and efforts to support inclusion and belonging across the school.
D. Defining, celebrating and embedding success
From the earliest stages, the children in this school understand that success is defined by effort and improvement, and every child doing their best.
High standards of attainment are evident across all age groups. Children engage meaningfully in collaborative work and, at appropriate levels, demonstrate skills in discussion, negotiation and justification. In the early years, children write independently and descriptively and this is supported by strong foundational reading skills. The children have access to a wide range of rich and well-chosen reading material which contributes to their interest and engagement in high quality guided reading sessions. An online reading app is used successfully to engage older children in reading for pleasure as they progress through the school. The coherent and consistent provision for writing from the outset is reflected in the quality of work as children progress through the school. Older children produce extended, well‑structured pieces of writing that are thoughtfully linked to shared reading texts which serve as rich stimuli for writing. These strategies and approaches collectively contribute to the high standards observed in reading and writing throughout the school and reflected in the school’s own assessment data.
Mathematics and numeracy are very well planned for and promoted from the earliest stages, including in the nursery unit. Across the school, there is evidence of good progression in mathematics, with children engaging in active learning and demonstrating strong understanding of mathematical concepts and language. The impact of previous school improvement work on problem-solving is evident, and connections between mathematics and other areas of the curriculum are made effectively, reinforcing conceptual understanding across the key stages.
Success is defined also by the way children, staff, and the wider school community treat one another. This ethos is deeply embedded in the school’s award system, ensuring that positive behaviours and attitudes are recognised consistently. Children’s enthusiastic participation, both in and beyond the classroom, reflects this inclusive approach and is celebrated at many levels.
E. Growing a community of learning
The school has successfully established a happy and vibrant community of learning, rooted in the shared values which are clearly evident in the ethos, relationships and day-to-day interactions at all levels. Respect, courtesy and high expectations of behaviour are consistently modelled and reinforced, ensuring that children feel safe, cared for and ready to learn. Staff make wide-ranging efforts to support the children’s well-being, meeting pastoral needs with compassion and genuine care, with many examples of the staff going beyond expectations to support individual children. The well-being of staff is also a priority and in response to the ETI confidential questionnaires, all of the staff said they feel valued and respected in their role.
The school actively builds its professional community through a collaborative culture of staff learning. Professional learning activities are closely aligned to the school development plan while also remaining flexible and responsive to emerging priorities and the changing needs of children. Opportunities such as Thursday digital surgeries, cluster networks, and Shared Education partnerships promote reflection, innovation and continuous improvement. Staff are also supported to develop digital confidence through planned professional learning, targeted coaching, and whole‑school initiatives such as Internet Safety Week.
A wide range of consultation and communication channels, including parental surveys, regular newsletters, open-door engagement and Seesaw updates, ensures that everyone is kept well informed. Governors are central to, and supportive of, all school initiatives and parental involvement in learning and school life is welcomed and encouraged through initiatives such as stay-and-play, the Getting Ready to Learn* programme, Shared Education events and IEP meetings.
The children’s views are sought and acted upon. Leadership roles such as the School Council, Digital Leaders, Maths Maestros and PATHS Pals develop children’s confidence and decision-making skills, allowing them to contribute meaningfully to school life.
The school’s sense of community identity is strengthened further through strong local partnerships and charitable initiatives, reflecting the values of inclusion, empathy and contribution. The culture of giving back, evident through fundraising for local and national charities, reinforces the school’s commitment to compassion, active citizenship and meaningful community connection.
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
The collective efforts of all of the staff of Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit illustrate a shared vision and a unified commitment to securing the success of every child. The school’s inclusive ethos, proactive professional learning culture, and sustained focus on the well-being of all demonstrate that it is very effectively creating the right conditions for a thriving, values-driven community of learning.
As set out in the school’s current development plan, the next steps for Omagh Integrated Primary School and Nursery Unit include taking forward the following area for action: to improve further the children’s digital competence and progression in using information and communication technology across the curriculum.
The District Inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing this area for action, as part of ETI’s normal monitoring processes. Inspectors also identified aspects of highly effective practice from which others may learn. The aspects of practice which should be shared more widely are:
- the strategic and collaborative approaches to support the emotional health and well-being of the whole school community; and
- the highly inclusive community of learning where collaboration, communication and continuous learning are prioritised.
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 3
PATHS*
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies. The programme is designed to facilitate the development of the children’s self‑control, emotional awareness and interpersonal problem‑solving skills. The programme is delivered by teachers through lessons and activities.
Page 6
Getting Ready to Learn*
The Getting Ready to Learn project seeks to support pre‑school education providers with DE-funded places to encourage and develop parental involvement in children's early learning. It is focused on improving outcomes for children in pre-school by engaging and empowering parents to help them create and sustain positive home learning environments.