St Joseph's Primary School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection report notes that the previous inspection rated the school’s overall effectiveness as outstanding. However, due to industrial action involving non-cooperation by staff, the inspectors were unable to fully evaluate the quality of education or assure stakeholders of current standards.

Strengths

• Leadership of mathematics is underpinned by a "secure knowledge of the contemporary learning and teaching methodologies" and "robust action planning."
• There is "regular monitoring and evaluation of the standard of the children’s work" using assessment data and class learning reviews.
• Children indicate they "enjoy solving problems in numeracy" and participate in mental mathematics challenges.
• The most able pupils "use and apply accurately a range of strategies to solve problems" and can explain their methods.
• Children report feeling safe and speak positively about learning experiences, school trips, and leadership roles such as peer mentors.

Areas to improve

• The report states the ETI is "unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education being provided" due to the impact of industrial action.
• The inspection could not fully evaluate the "outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding" because of staff non-cooperation.

Safeguarding

The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements reflect Department of Education guidance, and children report feeling safe, though the ETI was unable to fully evaluate these arrangements due to the industrial action.