The effectiveness of two inner-city schools in Dublin seeking to assist "at-risk" young people is hampered by a lack of support, according to the latest batch of Department of Education school inspection reports published yesterday.
The inspectors also report how one fee-paying school, Castleknock College, Dublin, has a very small number of students with special educational needs. "While the school has been allocated some special needs assistant resources by the Department of Education and Science, this is not currently being used," it says.
The reports criticise some second-level schools for failing to provide the regulated number of teaching hours.
In all, 99 school inspection reports were published on the Department of Education website (education.gov.ie) yesterday.
More than 450 reports covering some 361 schools have been published since the process began in February.
The inspectors praise the work of teachers and staff in Henrietta Street School in Dublin, which supports "at-risk" children aged between 11 and 16 in the north inner city. However, they criticise the lack of clarity concerning the remit of Henrietta Street and other Youth Encounter Project schools, the ad-hoc nature of provision and the uncertainties in which the schools operate.
All these matters, they say, should be addressed as a matter of urgency by the Department of Education and Science.
The department should also extend the services of the National Education Psychological Service to the Youth Encounter schools as a matter of urgency. Inspectors are also critical of the practical difficulties facing teachers in a similar school, St Laurence O'Toole's special school, which is located alongside the Department of Education offices on Marlborough Street, Dublin.
The inspectors report the very good work of both the principal and staff but they note how "the principal has limited internal school support from the school's board of management and no secretarial assistance.
"Her functions are further stretched by the fact that the school's youth worker is scheduled to deal mainly with the students in the classroom setting. This means that along with her professional role, the school principal herself deals directly with the student's parent or guardian in all matters pertaining to the student's attendance and other school issues."
The inspectors also say the "matter of a constant waiting list of vulnerable young people [ who have been expelled from other schools] and seeking admission to this kind of school might also be addressed."
In terms of other primary schools, the reports present a positive picture.
Virtually all are praised for the quality of their teaching and learning.
At second-level, the inspectors report how the weekly instruction time is below the minimum recommended time of 28 hours at Castleknock College and other schools.
The inspectors praise the quality of teaching in Castleknock but point out that a board of management has not yet been constituted, as required under the Education Act.
Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, is also praised for the quality of its teaching but the inspectors - in a subject report in German in the school - say there is a shortfall in the minimum instruction time to students.
