Darkley Primary School

Overview

This monitoring inspection was conducted during industrial action involving ‘action short of strike’, resulting in non-cooperation by teaching staff. Consequently, the ETI was unable to evaluate the quality of education, learning, or teaching, nor could it assess the impact of development planning on learners. The report concludes that the inspectorate is ‘unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided for the children’.

Strengths

• The report identifies no significant areas for improvement regarding educational quality or leadership, as no key findings could be reported due to non-participation.
• Children reported that they ‘feel safe in the school’ and are aware of procedures for raising safety or welfare concerns.
• The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements ‘reflect broadly the guidance issued by the relevant Departments’.

Areas to improve

• The perimeter fence and some access points ‘do not meet current standards and need to be addressed as a matter of urgency’.
• The school has identified the need to ‘review and update some of the key pastoral policies’, with this work currently underway.
• The school is designated a ‘high priority for future inspection with no further notice’ due to the inability to assure educational quality.

Safeguarding

The report states that while safeguarding arrangements broadly reflect departmental guidance and children feel safe, the ETI was ‘unable to evaluate fully the outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding in the school’ owing to the industrial action.