School Improvement, 2025-28

 

Each year, Gonzaga selects several areas for improvement, based on the needs we identify for the College. Over the years we have worked on several aspects of Learning and Teaching, and in the last three years we have worked to incorporate our ethos more fully into the classroom. We are blessed with a hugely supportive parent body and bright, enthusiastic students, and we depend on your participation for our success.

 

1. Digital Learning: we have introduced iPads for students over the last three years, and we have monitored closely the development of teaching and learning in the context of more IT based delivery. This has involved extensive professional development of staff, provision of wi-fi and hardware across the College, and inclusion of online materials across the curriculum.

2. SEN: we have developed the provision of special educational needs throughout the College, moving to an inclusive model for students who need additional support. We have worked on the development of policies in keeping with the latest recommendations from the DEY, and have focused extensively on differentiation in the classroom.

3. Wellbeing: we have developed a program of Wellbeing for each year group, incorporating pastoral care with the SPHE, CSPE, and Physical Education courses where appropriate.

4. Jesuit Identity: along with the other Jesuit schools in Ireland, we have engaged in the Internal Ignatian Review, which focuses on how Jesuit identity is represented in the classroom. This has involved our development of curriculum, the communication and discussion of ethos throughout the College, and the culture within which we work as a Jesuit school.

5. In Learning and Teaching we have worked on collaborative practice for teachers, with a concentration on peer observation. We have engaged in discussion of methodologies and, with the Digital Learning strategy, of the use of IT in the classroom.

6. Students Reflecting on Learning: to improve reflective practice among students, we have worked to develop policies and practices for students to reflect, both informally and formally, on their progress, identifying priorities and areas of concern.

 

This year, the above concentrations will continue, while we advance them in the following ways:

1. Digital Learning: The final phase of iPad introduction, for the current Fourth Years, will happen this year. We have engaged with the Forbairt initiative to improve the consistency of learning carried out in Junior Cycle.

2. SEN: We will continue to develop the provision of support across the College, keeping up with current policy and developing capacity in staff.

3. Wellbeing: We will continue the development of policies which are inclusive and supportive of the pastoral progress of the students in our care.

4. Jesuit identity: This phase of SSE will embed the Identifiers of Committed to Accessibility for All and Care of All of Creation, involving the development of materials and coursework where appropriate to reinforce these values in our teaching and learning.

5. Learning and Teaching: Our programs of staff development and collaborative practice will continue, with concentration on how we use IT in the classroom.

6. Coursework: Our staff are engaged in ongoing self-evaluation and development of strategies for the preparation and delivery of coursework, in the context of the continuing roll-out of new Leaving Certificate specifications. We are engaged in staff development around the AI use and the responsibilities of stakeholders in the process.

 

How you can help:

Parents and students can make sure they are aware of our policies, especially when it comes to IT. Our Acceptable Use Policy is crucial to success as we establish appropriate behaviour when it comes to iPads; attention to the upkeep of the iPads ensures that there is a good continuity to the work we do with the boys.

 

Reporting is a crucial step in the process of reflection, and we would encourage you to look through each report you get with your son to make sure the next steps to take are clear.

 

The Journal continues to be an essential document, especially in the organisation of work and the reflection the students make on their own progress. We strongly encourage regular attention to the Journal as a tool of communication between home and school.

 

On occasion we will survey the boys and their parents on their response to our work. We use surveying and focus groups extensively to assess how we’re doing, and to plan our next moves. Your co-operation in response is hugely valuable, and we are grateful for your responses.