Report of a Primary Inspection - St Canice’s Primary School, Feeny
DE Ref No 203-2263
September 2025
1. Introduction
A. Background information
St Canice's Primary School is a Catholic maintained school situated in a rural setting on the outskirts of the village of Feeny in County Derry. The school includes five classrooms, a multi-purpose hall, sensory room, well-developed outdoor play areas, newly re-purposed resource room and access to nearby community facilities. Enrolment has been steadily increasing over recent years and there are currently 110 children attending the school, 25 of whom have free school meals entitlement. Twenty-one children have been identified as having special educational needs (SEN).
The school offers a variety of curricular and extracurricular activities, including sports, music, and environmental initiatives. A Breakfast Club is provided daily and an after-school club funded through the Extended Schools Programme* runs every day from 2.00 to 3.00 pm. The school has achieved PATHS* Model School status, Take 5* Level 2 Accreditation, Eco Schools Green Flag* Award, Forest School* accreditation, Sustrans Bronze Award* and Scoil Spreagtha* recognition.
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. A high-level summary of the questionnaire responses, including any concerns raised, was shared with the principal and a representative of the board of governors. Where the responses raised in the questionnaires align to the findings of this inspection, they are referenced within the main body of the report.
C. The process of inspection
The ETI worked alongside St Canice’s 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
The clear and inclusive vision within St Canice’s Primary School is focused on raising standards, promoting the children’s well-being and embedding progressive curriculum practices. The vision is reflected clearly in the school development plan and is communicated actively through effective strategic leadership, staff development and community engagement. The current appropriate key priorities include curriculum development, targeted support in literacy and numeracy, digital integration and sustaining high standards in pastoral care and environmental education.
The introduction of the new school acronym, SPARKLE*, has had a positive and unifying impact across the school community. Developed collaboratively with the school council, as part of a whole-school initiative to refresh the school’s vision and values, the motto has quickly become embedded in the daily language of both staff and children. As reflected in discussions with the children, it has strengthened the shared understanding of expectations and core values, fostering a sense of pride, ownership, and belonging among the children. Importantly, SPARKLE reflects the school’s commitment to pupil voice and to cultivating a culture where children feel empowered to shape their environment. The acronym encapsulates key principles that the children believe should guide learning, behaviour, and relationships, making it a meaningful and authentic expression of the school’s ethos. The team of co‑ordinators lead their areas of responsibility with diligence and professionalism. They have a shared commitment to improving the outcomes for the children through strategic planning, collaborative practice and reflective leadership. The co‑ordinators maintain a clear overview of their respective areas and work collaboratively with the link governors to keep them well informed of curricular developments.
The governors provide appropriate levels of challenge and support, ensuring that leadership decisions are well-considered and aligned with the children's needs. They demonstrate a firm commitment to curriculum oversight through clearly defined link roles. Their regular engagement with subject co-ordinators ensures informed monitoring and provides valuable encouragement for curriculum development and improvement.
B. Implementing and improving to achieve the vision
The strategic approach of the school leaders ensures that priorities outlined in the school development plan are translated into meaningful classroom practice. Curriculum improvement is at the heart of this process, with targeted actions across Literacy, Numeracy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the World Around Us, designed to raise standards and deepen children’s understanding and learning. The staff work to provide ‘a happy, caring, secure and stimulating learning environment’ through their comprehensive, consistent and robust approach to planning, teaching, and evaluation. The medium-term planning outlines appropriate progression in knowledge, skills, and understanding, and reflects the teachers’ high expectations for all learners. Strategic oversight by the principal and coordinators ensures that the curriculum is regularly reviewed for relevance and appropriateness.
Differentiation is evident in the planning and practice and supports well the diverse needs of the children. Opportunities for learning are extended into the outdoor environments where the children enjoy connecting their ideas across the curriculum. All of the staff know the children well and use effective questioning techniques to skilfully support the children to explain their thinking and extend their oral and written responses. This approach encourages children to understand how they learn and helps them to improve their work. The children set personal termly targets in numeracy and literacy. Going forward the assessment for learning practices could be developed further to ensure more consistent use of peer and self-assessment across all of the classes and enhance the children’s ownership of the process and deepen their understanding.
Almost all of the children engage actively in their learning and maintain their focus well throughout lessons. They are confident, motivated and work well, both independently and collaboratively. The children respond positively to the encouragement of their teachers and classroom assistants and are willing to take risks in their learning. In most lessons observed, the pace of learning was appropriate and supported consistent progress; most of the children are achieving in line with expectation or above.
The development of the children’s digital skills is a key priority on the school development plan and the staff have engaged in appropriate professional learning to develop further their digital skills to support them to enhance and scaffold the learning and teaching throughout the school. The children make good use of the limited range of digital technology, using software tools and other digital platforms to investigate, problem solve, record and revisit learning experiences and develop further connected learning opportunities. The ongoing development of the computer suite and extra digital devices will provide further opportunities enhance the children’s digital learning and experiences.
The World Around Us curriculum is enriched through practical science activities, outdoor learning, and sustainability projects. Initiatives such as British Science Week, the Eco -Schools Green Flag programme and the Trócaire Game Changers* Challenge promote well the children’s environmental awareness and their understanding of global citizenship. These experiences are planned into termly schemes and contribute to a broad, balanced curriculum.
The children in St Canice’s Primary School benefit from a range of physical activities and well-being initiatives. The children’s emotional well-being is valued as the foundation for successful learning and there is a consistent approach across the school to promoting children’s readiness to learn. All of the adults in the school support effectively the children’s well-being and learning, in a safe and inclusive environment. Strategies from the PATHS programme are very well embedded in daily practice. These contribute positively to the development of the children’s emotional literacy and social skills. The staff’s commitment to catering for the diverse interests and needs of all the children is also exemplified in the provision of a zoned, well-equipped, fully inclusive playground area, including a lunchtime crochet club which is led by the children. The responses to the pupil and parent questionnaires and discussions with the children emphasise how important health and well-being and positive relationships are valued within and beyond the school.
Through the range of targeted initiatives and proactive pastoral care, the children report that they feel safe, valued and supported. This is also having a positive impact on the school attendance rate, which was 96% in the last academic year. The EA Reach* programme and the Love for Life* initiative further enhance children’s readiness and well-being.
C. Building equity
The provision for the children with additional learning needs is a strength of the school. The staff engage in extensive and collaborative tailored staff professional learning and as a result they implement a range of strategies to support the children and ensure they have appropriate access to the whole curriculum. As a result of this targeted support, the children are motivated, can access the curriculum and make good progress in their learning.
A social and emotional learning curriculum is supporting effectively the children’s ability to self-regulate, their emotional literacy and their ability to problem solve. In discussions with the children, they highlighted the importance of making good decisions and friendships. They also spoke confidently about living up to the values of the SPARKLE mission statement to ensure they are ready to learn and can achieve success. The effective use of a sensory room, visual aids to help with decision making, use of sensory circuits and resources, as well as work to support the parents, is having a positive impact on the children’s confidence and readiness to learn.
The staff make effective use of standardised assessments combined with their reflective professional observations to ensure that all of the children are supported from their individual starting points. This enables them to implement tailored interventions for the children and provide informed guidance for parents. Personal learning plans (PLPs) have clear targets, appropriate strategies and measurable outcomes and are used well to inform practice. The views of the children and parents are consistently included in these plans, and the children experience success in their progress and learning. The school collaborates strategically with external specialists such as RISE NI* and local integrated services, for example, Dry Arch Centre, to further enhance the support for the children and ensure that planned interventions are well-targeted and responsive to the children’s individual needs.
D. Defining, celebrating and embedding success
The positive impact of the school development work to strengthen the children’s problem solving and writing skills is clearly visible. Almost all of the children are confident in using mathematical language appropriately; they demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between numbers, can think flexibly, and use a range of strategies to solve problems. The school’s focus on writing, has contributed significantly to the development of the children’s independent writing skills. There is clear evidence of progression in children’s ability to generate ideas, organise content logically and apply appropriate vocabulary and grammar. The children’s work is presented to a high standard, reflecting the high expectations of both the staff and the children.
The joyful attitude and demeanour of the children is striking. They are cheerful, respectful, and confident, contributing to a positive and inclusive learning environment. Their voice is actively embedded in school life, shaping decisions and fostering ownership of learning. The children spoke with pride about the range of leadership opportunities available to them, such as roles on the school and eco‑council, as ICT digital leaders, Take 5 ambassadors and playground pals. These roles and responsibilities, along with participation in extra-curricular activities, further enrich the children’s experiences and are highly effective in developing their interpersonal skills, resilience, and capacity to form positive relationships within the school community.
Celebration and recognition of the children’s achievements are woven into the fabric of the school. ‘Summer learning books’ offer a valuable record of each child’s journey through the school, providing clear evidence of progression and a reflective overview for families of the children’s development over seven years – a keepsake to inform, celebrate and cherish.
The fortnightly whole-school assemblies highlight and celebrate the children’s achievements within and beyond school and the class assemblies, attended by the parents, offer opportunities for the children to share their learning journeys and build confidence in front of an audience. The Compliment Book, linked to PATHS, fosters the children’s emotional literacy and peer appreciation. The longstanding Golden Book records the children’s achievements and acts of kindness and is a valued tradition which encourages them and celebrates their success.
The school has well-established transition programmes to support the children at key transition points, including links with the local playgroup and secondary schools.
E. Growing a community of learning
The staff are committed to nurturing a collaborative community of learning, strengthened by effective communication and purposeful partnership working. This commitment is clear in the ethos and environment of the school, where children, staff, and families engage in shared learning experiences, sporting events and sacramental celebrations in the parish all of which actively promote inclusion and mutual respect.
The children benefit well from purposeful opportunities to collaborate in pairs and groups, developing their ability to learn with and from one another. These learning experiences are enhanced well through the school’s well-established Shared Education* partnership with two other primary schools. The school has good links with the local sports clubs, and the children discussed enthusiastically their recent matches and successes as Cumann na mBunscol* medium school champions.
Staff professional learning is strategically prioritised. Effective whole-school collaboration and dissemination ensures that all the staff share their learning and effective practice and build their capacity to deliver high-quality learning experiences. Through the Shared Education partnership, the co-ordinators have regular opportunities to share good practice with staff from the two other primary schools.
The school has effective partnerships with the parents. The staff work proactively to engage the parents in their children’s learning, using a range of communication strategies, including the school website, social media platforms, digital Apps, newsletters, and regular meetings. In discussions, the parents spoke positively about the school’s support, which deepens their understanding of their child’s learning and helps them to provide more effective support at home. The highly positive responses in the parent questionnaires indicate how highly they value the school and the vital role it plays in the local community.
The school has effective links with the parish, local schools, and various community groups, that enrich further the provision and have a positive impact on outcomes for children, staff, and parents. The parent teacher association (PTA) also makes a significant contribution to the life of the school. Well-attended and popular events, such as quiz nights, cookery demonstrations and Zumba classes, strengthens community engagement while securing funding for additional resources, to enrich learning and teaching across the school.
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
St Canice’s Primary School’s vision of nurturing confident, capable learners is realised through a collaborative, whole community approach that successfully develops the children’s emotional health and well-being. In a rural context, the children, staff and families work together to embed inclusive initiatives that enrich learning and ensure all of the children are successful learners and enabled to ‘SPARKLE’.
As set out in the school’s current development plan, the next steps for St Canice’s Primary School are to take forward the following area for action:
- the continued development of the children’s digital skills across the curriculum.
The District Inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action as part of ETI’s normal monitoring processes.
Inspectors identified aspects of highly effective practice from which others may learn. The aspect of practice which should be shared more widely is:
- the collaborative and strategic approach to nurturing the emotional health and well-being of all the children and developing resilient and confident learners in an environment where every child is recognised and valued.
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 Programme*
The Department of Education's (DE) extended schools programme aims to improve levels of educational achievement for disadvantaged children and young people by providing the additional support that they might need to help them reach their full potential.
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. PATHS Model School status signifies that the school has deeply embedded social and emotional learning into its daily operations.
Take 5*
Take 5 refers to an initiative to improve mental health promoting five actions for well-being (Keep Learning, Be Active, Connect, Take notice and Give).
The Eco-Schools Green Flag Award*
The Eco-Schools Green Flag is an internationally recognised award for excellence in environmental action and learning.
Forest School*
A forest school is an outdoor learning approach where children learn through play, exploration, and supported risk-taking in natural woodland environments, fostering confidence, self‑esteem and independence.
Sustrans Bronze Award*
The Sustrans Bronze Award is an entry-level accreditation in Sustrans Active School Travel Award programme that recognises a school’s initial efforts in promoting healthier, more sustainable ways for its community to travel to and from school.
Scoil Spreagtha
Scoil Spreagtha was an accredited scheme, funded by Forás na Gaeilge up until June 2025, to recognise and celebrate efforts made by English-medium schools to encourage the use of Irish in the school environment.
Page 2
SPARKLE*
The school acronym, created by the children on the school council in consultation with all stakeholders, refers to stronger together, prayerful, achieve, respectful, kindness, learning together and educate.
Page 3
Trócaire Game Changers*
Trócaire Game Changers is an educational programme and competition that teaches global justice issues through game deign It fosters critical thinking, teamwork and peer-to-peer learning.
Page 4
REACH*
The EA Resilience, Education Assisting Change to Happen Programme is part of the youth service to support young people’s emotional health and well-being. These groups happen in school time, twilight or in the evenings depending on when young people are available.
Love for Life*
The Love for Life programme delivers Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE), aiming to help young people understand healthy relationships, value themselves and their choices, and learn to make wise decisions through age‑appropriate presentations and resources for both schools and families.
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 5
Shared Education*
Shared Education involves two or more schools, or pre-schools or youth organisations, working together to provide opportunities for children and young people from different religious and socio-economic backgrounds to be educated together.
Cumann an mBunscol*
An organisation that promotes Gaelic games in primary schools.