St Joseph's Primary School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was severely limited because teachers participated in industrial action and refused to cooperate with inspectors. Consequently, the ETI could not evaluate the quality of learning, teaching, or the school’s capacity for improvement, stating it is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided.”

Strengths

• Year 6 pupils reported they “enjoy the opportunities to learn new languages” and receive rewards for their efforts.
• Children develop leadership skills through roles such as “school councillors,” the “‘playground pals’ mentoring scheme,” and the “school Eco-Council.”
• Pupils described enjoyment of lessons when teachers “made learning fun” and valued after-school sports activities.
• The school leadership team restructured to reflect a “more distributed leadership model.”

Areas to improve

• Continue reviewing and updating policies to “reflect the current DE guidance.”
• Ensure the chair of the board of governors attends the next available safeguarding training.
• Address fire safety risk assessment issues and minor works “as a matter of urgency.”
• Provide “appropriate and adequate lighting” for children with visual impairment to comply with SENDO legislation.

Safeguarding

The report states that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education” and pupils feel safe, but the ETI was “unable to evaluate fully the outworking of the arrangements” due to the industrial action.