Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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488. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there has still been no contact made between staff and the external support in the case of a school (details supplied); and if she will take action to ensure that the recommendations from the whole school evaluation are implemented urgently. [9874/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Inspectorate of my Department published a Whole-School Evaluation of Management, Leadership and Learning (WSE-MLL) report, on 25 November 2021, following an inspection in the school to which the Deputy refers.

The Department publication, “A Guide to Inspection in Post-primary Schools” (2016) makes clear that following an inspection the board of management, as part of its agenda for school improvement, should discuss the findingsand recommendations of each inspection report and should, along with the school principal, plan for and overseethe implementation of the actions needed to address the recommendations in inspection reports. The guide states that inspection reports alongwith other types of evidence gathered by the school should also be used by schools to inform their self-evaluation processes and their planning for improvement and development. The guide makes clear that while responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the recommendations and improvements in an inspection report rests mainly with the board and principal, the patron or trustees of a school also have a responsibility to ensure that effective follow-up action is taken. A school may wish to access the assistance available from the Department’s school support services or it may access advice and support from other bodies including its trustees or persons engaged by them.

The published inspection report to which the Deputy refers contains a commitment, in the form of a School Response on behalf of the Board of Management of the school, to address and fully implement all recommendations in the report. The Board stated that this would include seeking the direct assistance of the trustees of the school and accessing external facilitation.

The expectation is that the school’s Board of Management, the school’s trustees, the school’s leadership, the staff and all members of the wider school community will work together to achieve the full implementation of the recommendations for school improvement contained in the inspection report. Officials in my Department and the Inspectorate will continue follow-up engagements with this school to address the improvements required.