Bloomfield Primary School

Overview

The report details a Sustaining Improvement Inspection conducted in April 2018, noting that the school was previously evaluated as “good” in 2015. Due to staff participation in industrial action involving “action short of strike,” the inspection was severely limited, with teachers refusing to cooperate with inspectors. Consequently, the ETI was unable to evaluate key aspects of the school’s performance or assure stakeholders of the current quality of education.

Strengths

• The school had previously demonstrated the “capacity to identify and bring about improvement” during the 2015 inspection.
• Evidence provided showed that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education.”
• The school has developed a “wide range of policies and procedures to safeguard the children.”
• Year 6 pupils reported that they “feel safe and happy in school” and know who to contact regarding safety concerns.

Areas to improve

• The report states the ETI was unable to evaluate the “lines of inquiry” or the “quality of learning and teaching within the classrooms.”
• The inspection could not assess the school’s capacity to effect improvement through “self-evaluation and effective school planning.”
• The ETI was unable to fully evaluate the “outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding” due to the industrial action.

Safeguarding

The report confirms that while policies are in place and pupils feel safe, the ETI was “unable to evaluate fully the outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding” because of the staff’s non-cooperation.