Every four years, European Schools undergo a Whole School Inspection. This inspection is described in the Common framework for Whole School Inspections in nursery/primary and secondary cycles. It is complementary to the inspections carried out each year by the national inspectors and to self-evaluation carried out at school.

At EEB4, the third cycle of Whole School Inspection took place in November 2024. The inspection team, comprised of six inspectors and a director, met with all members of our school community, observed 120 lessons, examined our self-evaluation process (carried out with the participation of all stakeholders), and reviewed the school’s relevant documentation (such as the Multiannual Plan, the Annual Pedagogical Plan, documents relating to the standards assessed and forward planning for teachers). At the end of the inspection, which was very positive, the inspection team highlighted a number of strengths and offered recommendations for improvement.

Strengths

• The school fosters a welcoming atmosphere, encouraging active participation from stakeholders in its various activities.
• The school involves all stakeholders in the self-evaluation process, which demonstrates that the school community is actively and relevantly involved in school life.
• The school organises a large number of projects and activities including: the Green and Clean School Project, robotics and coding, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), MotivAction, Erasmus+, KiVa Programme, Somerfesto, an art exhibition and other cultural events. These contribute to the development of key competences and the well-being of the school community.
• The school promotes a school ethos based on positive relationships, mutual respect and commitment.
• The school facilitates a smooth transition for pupils between nursery, primary and secondary levels.
• The school has support guidelines in line with the European Schools (ES) policies. The support team is an enthusiastic team of professionals.
• Teachers’ forward plannings that were checked were in line with the ES regulations including the 8 key competences.

Recommendations

• The school should further integrate the European dimension of education into the pupil career paths, ensuring it becomes a core component of teaching and learning within regular lessons in addition to its presence in projects and event celebrations.
• Communicating clear, concise and specific learning objectives should become a common pedagogical practice in all cycles, so that this contributes to facilitate pupils’ learning, autonomy and motivation.
• Self-assessment and peer assessment should become a common practice to support pupils to understand themselves as learners and to develop learning to learn competences.

What does the school do with these recommendations?

After receiving the Whole School Inspection’s report, the school completes the follow-up document, which contains the action plan for implementing the recommendations. This document is then sent to the Whole School Inspection’s steering committee, which analyses and validates it. Once validated, the school uses this action plan to design its next Multiannual Plan (the current one runs until the end of the 2024-2025 school year), which is sent to the school community and published on our website once finalised.