Report of a Primary Inspection - Whitehead Primary School and Nursery Unit
DE Ref No 301-0874
June 2026
1. Introduction
A. Background information
Whitehead Primary School and Nursery Unit is a controlled primary school, established in 1957, and most of the buildings date from that time. Over the last four years and due mainly to demographic trends in the wider area, enrolment has declined from 440 children altogether to 365 currently. There remain two discrete classes in each year group. Over the same period, the proportion of children with free school meals entitlement (FSME) has remained stable, at just over 18%. There are 12 children who have a statement of special educational needs (SEN), with around 11% altogether who have been identified as having SEN. There is a small number of Newcomer children. The school is actively involved in a long-standing Shared Education partnership with three primary schools in Larne.
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 questionnaire responses, including any concerns raised, was shared with the principal and representatives of the board of governors.
C. The process of inspection
The ETI worked alongside the Whitehead 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 school’s vision statement, articulated concisely in the acronym, SHINE (Share, Help, Include, Nurture and Excel) has been reviewed recently and subsequently retained. The review was informed by meaningful consultation with the whole school community. This thorough consultation process helped the staff and governors draw up a new mission statement and three values integral to the school’s ethos and the children’s holistic development: ‘valued’, ‘inspired’ and ‘prepared’. In discussions with us, the children spoke confidently about the school’s vision and values, in particular about how they are encouraged to ‘shine’ by living out these values. In their responses to the confidential online questionnaire, all of the staff and almost all (99%) of the parents reported that they are clear about the school’s vision.
The practical, concise school development plan (SDP) is informed by consultation with the whole school community and is evaluated insightfully at every stage. The co-ordinators have identified appropriate priorities for further development in: the use of information and communication technology (ICT); play-based learning; personal development and mutual understanding (PDMU); science within the World Around Us curriculum; and support for children displaying behaviours related to autism in the nursery unit. The associated action plans are founded on detailed baseline statements and are informed by first-hand observations of teaching and learning, the analysis of assessment data, teacher judgment and the views of the children. Evaluations of the action plans highlight clearly the progress made against the current targets and, importantly, inform the next areas for development. They have had a demonstrable impact on the development of the curriculum and the children’s associated learning experiences.
The proactive governors have a suitably wide range of skills which they use wholeheartedly to support the life and work of the school. They hear directly from a range of post-holders and from the pupil voice group: as a result, they are very well informed about the priorities for improvement. As the school lays the foundation for a new SDP, the governors are actively involved in leading focus groups of parents and collating their views to inform whole-school improvement. The senior leaders have reviewed the length of the school day and are taking appropriate steps to ensure it is in line with statutory guidance (as per Department of Education Circular 2026/10).
B. Implementing and improving to achieve the vision
The planning for learning across the school, including the nursery, is comprehensive, consistent and of a high quality. The staff know the children very well and use assessment information effectively to inform appropriate teaching strategies and support progression in the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. The strategic review of the curriculum is ensuring that the children experience a broad and progressive programme in which the connections across the discrete areas of their learning are explicit and understood well.
A key strength is the well-planned and consistent emphasis on developing the children’s problem-solving skills and creativity. The opportunities for problem-solving and investigative learning are integrated thoughtfully into planning and are underpinned by relevant, contextualised learning experiences which encourage the children to think critically, take risks in their learning, share ideas and identify solutions. The strong focus on outdoor learning and forest school lessons further enhances this work, providing rich, connected and stimulating contexts in which the children can apply their creativity in meaningful ways beyond the classroom.
The lessons are well paced, with clear learning intentions and success criteria. The children are engaged, work well together in pairs and groups and are highly motivated by the real-life and purposeful learning experiences; they enjoy their learning. The children told us that they particularly enjoy outdoor learning, where they can explore and solve problems actively together. Through the staff’s skilful use of targeted questioning, the children develop higher-order thinking skills. Consequently, they are curious and resilient learners. The nursery unit provides a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment where the children are valued and supported by the staff to learn through play and exploration. As part of DE’s standardisation programme, the planned transition to full-time nursery provision in September 2026 reflects a proactive and well-considered approach to extending the school’s high-quality nursery provision to support local children and their families.
The children are supported well by caring and attentive staff who recognise and respond to their emotional and wellbeing needs through regular promotion of Take 5, as well as the use of calm corners, the nurture room and the wider grounds to help the children manage their emotions and stay engaged in learning. The staff have undertaken a robust review of the PDMU curriculum including through learning walks, focus groups with the children and an audit of the preventative curriculum, all of which have been used well to improve the children’s classroom experiences. The staff recognise that this work requires ongoing development, including regular consultation with the children, to ensure that the preventative curriculum remains relevant and supports their understanding of age-appropriate sensitive topics. At a cost to the parents, the school provides valuable opportunities for the children to take part in a breakfast club and a range of after-school activities, including football, hockey, gymnastics and homework club which support their interests and holistic development.
The school has a comprehensive range of safeguarding policies. The staff have identified appropriately that a small number, including those related to addressing bullying and visitors to the school, require review to reflect more accurately the school’s practice.
C. Building equity
‘Include’ and ‘Nurture’ are central to the SHINE vision and are reflected clearly in the supportive ethos across the school. The senior leaders respond proactively and thoughtfully to socio-economic disadvantage, through for example, a uniform swap shop. The children’s attendance (95.1%) is above the Northern Ireland average and is monitored carefully by the senior leaders who are highly responsive to parental feedback and are reviewing appropriately the current reward systems to promote greater equity for all children.
The school promotes effectively the children’s understanding of diversity and inclusion through assemblies, ‘Diversity Day’ and shared education initiatives, such as ‘Inclusion through Sport’, alongside an intergenerational nursery project with a local nursing home.
All of the children have equitable access to high-quality reading material. There is an attractive corridor library and the children are encouraged to make requests for reading materials, with staff ensuring that books are well-matched to the children’s reading levels and interests. The learning environment reflects inclusive practice, with the creative use of corridor spaces to provide additional support and learning areas, which are used effectively to support small groups of children.
Collaboration across the school is a key strength. The senior leaders, teachers and classroom assistants work closely together to support the children and reduce their barriers to learning. The staff work in partnership with the pupils and their parents/carers to set appropriate targets, reflecting a strong collegial approach. The personal learning plans (PLP) are of a very good quality, with clear, measurable targets and evidence of the children’s progress.
Notably, all of the year 7 children who responded to the ETI questionnaire reported that they receive appropriate support when they experience difficulties in their learning. Targeted interventions, including the ‘Reading Together’ programme led by classroom assistants, as well as literacy and numeracy boost lessons, are purposeful, aligned with the children’s identified needs and help build the children’s confidence in their learning. The school recognises the need to strengthen its evaluation of the impact of these interventions beyond measures of confidence and the use of yearly standardised tests.
The teachers engage in relevant professional learning, most recently in dyslexia‑friendly approaches and trauma-informed practice. Through self-evaluation, the senior leaders have identified the need to prioritise SEN in the next cycle of school development planning, including auditing the professional learning needs of the teachers and classroom assistants and developing further their expertise in key areas such as speech and language and autism-informed practice, in order to support the increasingly complex needs of the children.
D. Defining, celebrating and embedding success
There is a deeply embedded culture of celebrating success across the school. It is underpinned by an approach to positive behaviour which is founded on recognition of the children’s efforts, affirmation of the progress they have made from their individual starting points and praise for their respective achievements. The consistent, intentional use of praise by teachers during lessons is a strength.
The children told us that they value the Shining Stars certificates presented weekly at assembly. They enjoy the competition between the four houses and take pride in gaining house points for their work, effort and behaviour. Their successes are shared regularly and more widely through social media. Across the year groups, the children’s behaviour is excellent. They are enthusiastic about their learning and talk with pride about their work. They engage wholeheartedly in all aspects of the curriculum, respond maturely in class discussion and stay on task. They are articulate and engage confidently with their peers, staff and visitors to the school.
The school’s internal data indicates that most of the children are making good progress in their learning, with slightly higher attainment in numeracy. To support the children’s progress from one year group to the next, the process for sharing transition information is highly effective and combines clear assessment data with practical strategies to optimise each child’s learning. In the children’s books across the school, there is strong evidence of progression, engagement and broad curriculum coverage. Their written responses are increasingly independent, with the staff providing regular and purposeful feedback. To support further the children’s progression at Key Stage 2, the staff should consider the identification of explicit targets to be used by the children to improve further the quality of their work.
The displays of children’s work around the school and nursery unit are eye-catching, attractive and, notably, reflect what the children are learning currently. The walls of the corridors and social spaces are used as public galleries to showcase the quality of the children’s work in art, literacy and the World Around Us. Vivid photographic displays also capture the high standards of their extensive work outdoors. The children’s care for the environment is developed incrementally through their participation in Eco-Club, Forest Schools activities and litter-picks within the local community. A strong strand of financial capability in the teachers’ planning, as well as events such as ‘Money Week’, Young Enterprise programmes and a highly successful whole-school community initiative to raise significant funds for playground equipment and ICT resources help the children develop as contributors to the economy.
E. Growing a community of learning
Learner participation is well developed and is a key strength of the school. The children are consulted regularly and benefit from meaningful and well-planned opportunities to express their views on their learning. Their feedback is valued and used effectively to inform school improvement priorities, influence curriculum development and bring about positive changes across the school environment. The children take on a range of roles and responsibilities with maturity and enthusiasm. As Eco-Committee members, Yellow Caps*, House Captains and Reading Buddies, the children develop leadership and teamworking skills through which they contribute to a strong community of learning. The pupil voice group plays an important role in shaping the school’s ethos and vision and in communicating between their peers and school leaders.
Staff professional learning is linked closely to school improvement priorities, supports consistency in classroom practice and contributes positively to improved learner outcomes. In-house staff training reflects the staff’s collegial approach to sharing expertise and continuing to improve their practice. In response to the online questionnaire, all of the staff reported that they have benefitted from recent staff professional learning which includes participation in the area learning community’s annual joint professional learning day. In addition, middle leaders are engaging proactively in research-based professional learning in order to build their own capacity and contribute actively to the school’s priorities for improvement.
Parents and families are valued members of the school community. In discussion with inspectors, the parents told us there is an open-door culture where they are welcomed and respected. Communication with parents is highly effective, supported by regular monthly newsletters, a school website which is updated regularly and a range of online platforms. Regular consultation with parents through surveys, questionnaires and focus groups enables them to contribute directly to school improvement. The active parent teacher association (PTA) makes a significant contribution to school life through the organisation of a wide range of community events, such as a games night, coffee mornings and discos. The significant funds raised from these events are used for much-needed resources, including digital devices, which enhance and enrich the children’s learning.
The longstanding Shared Education partnership with three local primary schools, complemented by purposeful and well-established partnerships with local community groups, including the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, a local library, nursing home, and the intergenerational Radius project extend and enrich the children’s learning experiences. Educational visits to places in the local community, including the bakery, fruit and vegetable shop, beach and railway museum provide relevant contexts to deepen the children’s understanding of their community and the role they play in it. Through engagement with the ‘Stand by Me’ charity, the children support the education of three children in Ethiopia and are developing global and social awareness.
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
Whitehead Primary School and Nursery Unit has a clearly defined vision, articulated concisely as SHINE, which is deeply embedded in the whole school community. The children understand clearly the three core values and how they live them out practically. The processes for self-evaluation and action-planning are firmly based on first-hand evidence of the quality of learning and teaching, and on extensive, meaningful consultation.
As planned and set out in the school’s current priorities for development, the next steps for the school are to take forward the following area for action: to strengthen the expertise of the staff to meet the increasingly complex needs of the children.
The District Inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action, as part of ETI’s routine monitoring processes.
Inspectors identified aspects of highly effective practice from which others may learn. The aspects of practice which should be shared more widely are:
- the comprehensive planning in all subject areas which supports very effectively the development of the children’s creativity, problem-solving and investigative skills; and;
- the children’s participation in actively shaping their learning, contributing to decision-making, and developing leadership skills through meaningful roles and opportunities.
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 7
Yellow Caps
Year 7 Yellow Caps carry out many duties including: helping younger pupils (year 1 to year 6) at lunch time, reading them stories, setting out playground equipment, teaching playground games and helping out in the canteen.