Howard Primary School

Overview

This inspection was conducted during industrial action, with staff declaring non-cooperation with inspectors. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) was “unable to assure... of the quality of education and safeguarding” and could not evaluate key areas such as outcomes, provision, or leadership. The report states that “no performance level available” for these categories and marks the school as a “high priority for future inspection with no further notice.”

Strengths

• The report identifies no significant areas for improvement.

Areas to improve

• The school must address the lack of cooperation that prevented the evaluation of education quality and safeguarding.
• The school requires a follow-up inspection within six weeks to evaluate progress in addressing safeguarding arrangements.

Safeguarding

The initial inspection found that the school “did not provide evidence that the arrangements for safeguarding reflect... the guidance,” though a subsequent monitoring visit in December 2017 confirmed that arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance” and that children feel safe, although full evaluation remained limited by the industrial action.