Carniny Primary School

Overview

The inspection was conducted during industrial action, with staff refusing to cooperate with inspectors. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) was “unable to assure” parents of the quality of education provided. Most evaluative areas, including outcomes for learners and quality of provision, could not be assessed due to this lack of cooperation.

Strengths

• The school has a “well-embedded culture of self-evaluation” and a development plan that meets regulations.
• Parental questionnaire responses were “almost all positive”, highlighting a “caring ethos” and good progress.
• Staff questionnaire responses endorsed “effective working relationships” and the school’s “inclusive nature”.
• Governors reported understanding their role in “supporting and challenging the staff”.
• Year 6 children reported feeling “safe, happy and cared for” and knowing how to raise concerns.

Areas to improve

• The ETI was unable to evaluate the effectiveness of strategic leadership, middle leadership, or actions to sustain improvement.
• The outworking of safeguarding arrangements could not be fully evaluated due to the industrial action.
• There are no toilet facilities in the year 4 mobile, requiring children to cross to the main building.

Safeguarding

The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education”, though the ETI could not fully evaluate their outworking due to the action short of strike.