SSE Resources for Primary School

The webinar below provides advice on how your school can engage in the SSE process in the coming years in line with the School Self-Evaluation: Next Steps 2022-2026 document and Circular 0056/2022. (You may need to adjust the cookies on your computer to view the webinar).

This webinar shares the findings of the school self-evaluation surveys that were administered throughout March 2022 and discusses some of the key areas arising from these findings that have helped to inform the current cycle of SSE during the 2022-2026 period.

School self-evaluation (SSE) is a collaborative, inclusive, reflective process of internal school review. During school self-evaluation the principal, deputy principal and teachers, under the direction of the board of management and the patron and in consultation with parents and students, engage in reflective enquiry on the work of the school.

It is an evidence-based approach which involves gathering information from a range of sources and making judgements with a view to bringing about improvements in students’ learning. Self-evaluation requires a school to address the following key questions with regard to an aspect or aspects of its work:

• how well are we doing?
• how do we know?
• how can we find out more?
• what are our strengths?
• what are our areas for improvement?
• how can we improve?

Circular 0039/2016and the School Self-Evaluation Guidelines 2016-2020 Primary give guidance to schools and boards of management on the requirements of the second cycle of SSE. Many boards of management have chosen to place School Self-Evaluation as a standing agenda item at all board meetings.

Videos

SSE, DEIS and Teacher Conferencing

St Joseph’s National School is a DEIS Band 1 school situated in Dundalk, in the heart of a vibrant community. The school has more than 500 pupils, representing a wide social and ethnic mix. It is committed to equality of opportunity for all of its diverse intake. For School Self-Evaluation (SSE) the school focused on Literacy in English and Irish, Numeracy and Science.

In this video the school principal discusses how the school aligned SSE and DEIS action planning. Members of the school community also discuss how they dealt with potential overload and how the school involves parents in action planning for improvement. Teachers who are new to the school discuss how they were involved in the SSE process and how it helps them to improve their practice. Finally, the video highlights the school’s use of a conferencing process to support its SSE work in a variety of areas of teaching and learning.

SSE in the Special School Context

Tigh Nan Dooley is a special school for children with severe and profound learning disabilities. It is located in An Ceathrú Rua, Galway and provides its services through the medium of Irish. The school focused on using the SSE process to develop its approach to Lámh as a communication tool. We’re very grateful to principal Delia Moylan for speaking to us about the school’s experiences of SSE.

Féinmheastóireacht Scoile i scoil Ghaeltachta

Is scoil Ghaeltachta í Scoil Éinne. Tá an scoil suite sa Spidéal i gcontae na Gaillimhe. San físeán thíos labhraíonn príomhoide na scoile Pádraigín Ní Lionnáin faoin FMS ina scoil. Táimid fíorbhuíoch di as ucht a rannpháirtíocht san físéan.

Teachers talking about SSE in their schools

Below are a number of teachers talking about SSE processes and outcomes in their schools. We’re very grateful to the teachers for agreeing to share their work.