St Josephs and St James Primary School

Overview

The inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning teachers did not cooperate with lesson observations. Consequently, the ETI states it is “unable to assure” parents of the quality of education provided. The report notes that “no performance level” is available for outcomes, provision, or leadership due to this limited evidence base.

Strengths

• Internal data indicates “almost all” children achieve as expected or above in English, with a majority meeting standards in mathematics.
• Year 7 pupils spoke with “enthusiasm and maturity” about reading, demonstrating they read “fluently and confidently” with evident understanding.
• Children reported enjoying developing new skills and appreciated the “fair and welcoming ethos” in the school.
• Senior leaders have established a “supportive collegial ethos” and forged good links with the community through the Shared Education programme.
• Governors are described as “highly supportive,” well informed, and able to provide appropriate challenge.

Areas to improve

• The school development plan evaluations are “not supported well enough by evidence.”
• Improvement targets are “not sufficiently specific,” making it difficult to measure progress and impact.
• There is “uncontrolled access by the back door” to the main school building, raising health and safety concerns.

Safeguarding

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