ISI Report - Main Findings

The English School, Nicosia very successfully achieves its aim to promote academic excellence through high quality learning

Message from the Board:
 
Download this letter from here
 
The Board of Management is pleased to send you a summary of the findings of the ISI report.  Also below you will find a letter from the International Schools Inspectorate dated 21^st March 2016 which is self-explanatory.
 
The full report will be discussed by the Board of Management with the School’s Management and Staff in order to evaluate and prioritize the way forward.  A copy of the full report will also be given to the Ministry of Education Culture.
 
Yours Sincerely,
Ms. Magda Nicholson
Chair of the Board Management
 
 
Main Findings:
 
Download a copy of these findings here
Page 2, Chapter 2: The Success of the School

 

2. (a) Main findings

 

1. The English School, Nicosia very successfully achieves its aim to promote academic excellence through high quality learning.  Pupils have excellent attitudes to study, and achieve examination results at least in line and often better than those in United Kingdom selective schools.  They are supported by a good quality of teaching although approaches are not adjusted for the different abilities in class.  Pupils are well advised and secure places at a range of universities worldwide, many with high entry requirements. Pupils have highly developed learning skills, and are exceptionally strong mathematically.  In the questionnaires almost all pupils said that they were making good progress with their work, and most parents said they were pleased with the progress made by their child.  The large majority of parents were pleased with the progress made in learning English, and with the range of subjects offered. A minority of parents said that the school did not provide help to pupils with SEND, and the inspection found that the school has no policy to support such pupils.  The curriculum supports pupils’ academic achievement.  The content of personal health and social education (PHSE) does not include all necessary aspects and the programme is not offered beyond Year 9.

 

1. The quality of personal development is good.  Pupils have excellent spiritual and social awareness.  They are considerate helpful and polite.  The behaviour of the overwhelming majority of pupils is excellent.  They relate well to and support each other. Almost all pupils have strong moral codes.  Many pupils set a strong example of tolerance and respect transcending historical differences.  However, pupils form both the Greek and Turkish speaking communities express concern about prejudice shown towards other nationalities by a small minority of their peers. A majority of pupils said that teachers treated pupils unequally, and that they were unfair in the award of rewards and sanctions.  The inspection team found that there is no centralised record to monitor inconsistencies.  Arrangements for the welfare, health and safety of pupils do not include a safeguarding policy and appropriate check on governors.  The school buildings are poorly decorated and maintained; a number of points were brought to the school’s attention.

 

1. The quality of governance, leadership and management is satisfactory.   Frequent recent changes in the leadership of the school have resulted in the board of management involving itself in detail and consequently negating its ability to oversee the quality of education and implementation of policies, including safeguarding.  The lack of a formal complaint procedure for parents has led to confusion of role and resulted in small minority of parents in the questionnaire reporting that the school has not handled complaints well. A minority of parents did not agree that the school was well governed.  The academic leadership has relied on the excellent learning attitudes of pupils to achieve their excellent academic results, rather than seeking to improve the overall good quality of teaching through a school wide appraisal scheme.  The pastoral leaders have not taken sufficiently-firm action in confronting some key issues of behaviour.

 
Letter from Mr. Durell Barnes dated 23^rd March 2016
 
Letter can be downloaded here,   Greek version here,    Turkish version here
 
As you know the Reports team is issuing the final report on the English School today.  I hope it is helpful to clarify that these inspections are against the accreditation standards for British Schools Overseas.  These standards are set by the Department for Education in England as a part of the elective accreditation scheme.  The purpose is to ensure that accreditation decisions for the British Schools Overseas brand are made against a common benchmark.  The inspection judgement carry no weight under the law in the locality where a participating school is situated, unless expressly stated otherwise in the report.
 
With best wishes.
 
Yours sincerely,
Durell Barnes