“Outstanding” report for 
Dalriada

Headmaster Tom Skelton addressed pupils, staff and guests at the school’s annual prize day last Wednesday.

“Following a year of celebrating our 75th Anniversary on St. James’s Road, this has been a year where the main focus has been on getting back to normality concentrating on academic success, pastoral care and extra-curricular involvement,” he said.

“However, there is no such theory as a normal year in Dalriada and we were treated to a visit from the ETi Inspectorate in May as one of the first post primary schools in the Province to undergo a “Sustaining Improvement” focus inspection to assess if we had maintained or improved on our impressive inspection report in 2011.

“I am delighted to report that Dalriada received an outstanding inspection report stating that we continue to build on our academic success and use self-evaluation effectively to continually strive for further improvement.

“Although the Education & Training Inspectorate has been criticised recently for their somewhat clinical approach to school inspections, I can only praise the two inspectors Mr. John Anderson and Mr. Peter Geoghan who treated our staff, pupils and governors with the utmost respect and courtesy.

“They engaged in real professional dialogue with our staff and helped create an atmosphere where we all felt valued and respected with both parties benefitting from the experience.

“Again this year, Dalriada, like every school, operated under difficult financial restrictions but the quality of education provided remained unaffected.

“This has been another memorable year for Dalriada School with pupils producing record breaking examination results complete with tremendous extra-curricular achievements. As Headmaster, I value the hard work and commitment of all our staff, both teaching and support.

“Every person makes a unique contribution to our unique ethos where we can all feel valued and respected. As a voluntary grammar school our governors play a key role in managing the affairs of the School. This role in sometimes taken for granted but we are blessed with a team of highly skilled and dedicated governors who put the needs of the pupils first in any decision.”