St Patricks Primary School

Overview

This sustaining improvement inspection was significantly constrained by industrial action, as teachers refused to cooperate with inspectors. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) was unable to evaluate the quality of education or assure stakeholders of the school’s current standing. The report concludes that the school is a “high priority for future inspection with no further notice.”

Strengths

• The previous 2016 inspection evaluated the school as having a “high level of capacity for sustained improvement.”
• The principal and vice-principals “co-operated with the inspection team in relation to their safeguarding responsibilities.”
• The school provided evidence that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education.”

Areas to improve

• The ETI was unable to evaluate “the lines of inquiry” or “the quality of learning and teaching within the classrooms” due to non-cooperation.
• The inspection could not assess the extent to which the school demonstrates its capacity for improvement through “self-evaluation and effective school planning.”
• The ETI was unable to fully evaluate the “outworking of the arrangements for safeguarding in the school,” including discussions with children.

Safeguarding

The report states that while arrangements broadly reflect Department of Education guidance, the ETI was “unable to evaluate fully” the outworking of these arrangements due to the industrial action.