Parent and Carer Information Andreas School
An external validation visit was undertaken at Andreas School on the 3rd October 2024 as part of a three-year cycle of external validation visits of all schools and educational services commissioned by the Isle of Man Department of Education, Sport and Culture (DESC). The aim of the external validation visit was to promote continuous improvement and to deliver consistency, share best practice and deliver positive outcomes for all learners. The visit was undertaken by two external, independent validators from Etio (formerly known as Tribal – Education Services).
The external validation team looked at a wide range of evidence presented by school leaders, including the school self-evaluation, and sampled the work of the school during the visit. These validation activities were focussed on key areas based on the self-evaluation of the school and included visits to a cross-section of lessons, meetings with staff and learners, gathering the views of parents/carers where appropriate and scrutiny of documentation. During the visit, the external validation team considered key areas of focus (known as ‘validation trails’) which were explored in collaboration with school leaders to validate school leaders’ own evaluations.
As one parent put it, ‘this school feels like a family.’ The positive and nurturing relationships between the children has helped to create a close-knit community where children feel they can contribute and calmly focus on their learning. When asked about what they most enjoy about their school, your children invariably begin by taking about ‘the learning’ and are able to confidently and positively explain what this means to them using a common language provided by ‘Thinking Moves.’ This is used innovatively by teachers to provide a unifying theme and focus for learning to support the development of your children’s skills as they move through the school. It is evident that children are applying these skills in their lives outside of school.
Your children are aspirational, are particularly inspired by their learning in Maths and Science and enjoy feeling challenged to push themselves further. They also welcome the opportunity to be given choices about what and how they learn in the classroom. They work effectively both independently and with other learning partners, and use ‘Ask Triangles’ and their understanding of ‘Thinking Moves’ to structure their learning. Your children are very proud of their school and relish the opportunities they are offered to take on responsibilities such as House Captains, charity fund-raising and contributions to the local community, including the produce show. As such, they are outstanding ambassadors for the school’s values and behave politely and respectfully towards one another and other adults. This has been recognised both within school and when out in the community on trips. School Leaders are now looking to build on this foundation and focus on the learning priorities for your children moving forward. The school are aware of the need to refine the curriculum offer to ensure consistency in the progression of skills, knowledge and understanding as your children move through the Key Stages, based on their individual needs. School leaders recognise ensuring consistency in progression as a key area within writing across the curriculum, so that your children develop the writing skills which will bring them success as they move through the next stage of their learning.
The school recognises that the quality of learning in the Foundation Stage is key for future success, and they are looking at the most appropriate approaches for the youngest children
to support them to succeed. Leaders are continually reflecting on their approaches to assessment across the school to ensure that assessment is focussed on reviewing the findings to shape next steps in learning for your children. As part of these whole school approaches to improvement, the roles and responsibilities of leaders will be closely aligned to these priorities. The areas of growth identified above, as part of the external validation visit, are being reviewed and actioned by the school as part of its continuous cycle of self-evaluation.
Kind regards
Nicola Morris
Lead Validator
External Validation Team