St Joseph's Boys' School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted during industrial action, limiting the inspectors' ability to fully evaluate the school. The report notes that while the senior leadership team cooperated, the ETI was unable to fully assess the lines of inquiry or safeguarding arrangements due to non-cooperation by teaching unions. Consequently, the inspectors state they are unable to assure parents of the quality of education provided.

Strengths

• The school conducted a "thorough and detailed review" of the Key Stage 4 curriculum, broadening it to include vocational subjects suited to pupils' "individual interests, abilities and career aspirations."
• Self-evaluation processes are described as "rigorous," enabling leaders to monitor subject progress and focus on improving GCSE outcomes, which have improved steadily to around the Northern Ireland average.
• Literacy is a high priority, with a "comprehensive literacy audit" leading to enhanced provision through common marking policies and "working walls."
• Internal data indicates that "almost all of the pupils who received support demonstrated improvement" in literacy, and pupils spoke "positively" about their engagement in literacy activities.

Areas to improve

• The report does not list specific areas for improvement, as the ETI was "unable to evaluate fully the lines of inquiry" due to the industrial action.

Safeguarding

The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements "reflect broadly the guidance issued by the Department of Education," and pupils reported feeling safe, but the ETI was unable to fully evaluate these arrangements due to the strike action.