Read more: Staff

SSE School Self-Evaluation

Overview: What is SSE?

School self-evaluation empowers our school community in St Brigid’s Girls’ NS to identify and affirm good practice, and to identify and take action on areas that merit improvement. School self-evaluation is primarily about schools taking ownership of their own development and improvement. School self-evaluation was formally introduced into the Irish school system in 2012 as a collaborative, reflective process of internal school review, focused on school improvement.

School self-evaluation is a collaborative, inclusive, reflective process of internal school review.

During school self-evaluation the 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 regards 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?

The Six-Stage approach:

The first three steps of the framework outline the investigation phase of the process. This stage can be used for scoping out and developing the improvement plan and preparing for its implementation.

The school self-evaluation process begins with the identification of an area for focus and inquiry through teachers’ own understanding and knowledge of their school context. This is followed by the gathering of evidence with regard to the area chosen. The evidence is then analysed and judgments are made regarding the school’s current strengths and areas for improvement.

The next step ensures that schools retain a record of the evaluation and describe the actions for improvement. This takes place during, or at the end of, the investigation phase. The resulting school self-evaluation report and improvement plan is shared with the school community.

The improvement plan is then put into action and is monitored and evaluated over the course of its three-year implementation until practice becomes embedded. The cycle can then begin again, focusing on either a new area which has been identified, or returning to the same area to seek further, deeper improvement.

Current Focuses St Brigid’s GNS 2025:

Assessment

• Evidence Gathered
• Analysis & Judgement
• Improvement Plan
• Plan in Action

New Primary Maths Curriculum

• Piloting Maths Talk Implemention 
• Gathering evidence May 2025

Wellbeing

•   pdf Data from Wellbeing Survey- Parents (1.05 MB)
• pdf Wellbeing Improvement Plan (91 KB)
• Snapshot reviews on target attainment 
• Review due October 2025

Homework

• pdf Data Parents Homework Survey 2023 (319 KB)
• pdf Homework Improvement Plan (93 KB)
• Data from Parents re-survey December 2023: Senior Classes / Junior Classes
• Revised Homework Improvement Plan 
• Qualitative Data from Inspectorate, PA and Assessment Improvement Plan
• Home Improvement Plan 2 

Digital Strategy

• Data SELFIE School Report 21 22
• Data SELFIE School Report 22 23
• Analysis & Judgement
• Improvement Plan

Read more: Policies

CREDIT UNION SAVINGS SCHEME IS BACK! YAHOOOOO!!!

Member First Credit Union Limited with the co-operation of the Principal and teachers of the school operate a school saving scheme for all the children. The main aim of the saving scheme is to encourage the children to adopt a regular savings habit and thereby to sow the seeds of good financial management for the future.

The scheme operates as follows:

•  Children joining are issued with a Credit Union card in their own name, which should be used when making a lodgement.
•  A Credit Union representative calls to the school every week to collect the savings from the children. Any amount from €1 upwards can be saved.
•  Dividends will be paid on savings at the same rate as applies to all members of Member First Credit Union.
•  Withdrawals from accounts cannot be made in the school. Withdrawals can be made in the offices of the Credit Union; a parent or guardians ID will be required and must co-sign the withdrawal.
•  If any of the children are already members of Member First Credit Union they can use the same account number and save through the school, please inform us first before trying to save with the school.

pdf Credit Union School Savings Scheme Application Form (255 KB)