St Anne’s and St Joseph’s RC Primary rated 'inadequate'

Interim executive headteacher of St Anne’s and St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School in Sandy Lane, Accrington, Sinead Colbeck, has said she will keep working to improve the school following the inspection in January.

Mrs Colbeck has been overseeing the school since last summer and has seen improvements in her time there after a turbulent spell with a number of head teachers and changes of staff.

Mrs Colbeck said: “We were disappointed with the outcome, but we had already put measures in place to rectify areas where we can improve.

“Ofsted have pin-pointed what we already knew and there are very clear procedures in place to deal with the issues they have highlighted.

“For example, the work we have started on our curriculum in September will continue at pace with additional support from experienced leaders; staff are being supported to develop their leadership skills and our early years provision has been and will continue to be developed and transformed.

“We know if Ofsted had come in a couple of months the report would have been different and throughout the inspection, they noticed the progress the school has made this year following a sustained period of uncertainty and challenge.

“The staff have worked hard to improve the school this year, and, like me, they are committed to ensuring it becomes the school our parish and community aspire for it to be.”

Ofsted inspected the school at the end of January and behaviour and attitudes and personal development were graded ‘requires improvement’ while leadership and management, quality of education and early years provision was judged as ‘inadequate.’

Inspectors said leaders ‘do not provide pupils with an acceptable standard of education’ and there is ‘continued instability in leadership and the teaching workforce’.

This las led to ‘excessive disruptions’ to pupils learning due to disjointed curriculums, but the inspector noted the improvements that have recently been made.

The report reads: “For many years, pupils have been blighted by the relentless turmoil in leadership and staffing.

“Even during this inspection, senior leaders were serving in an interim capacity through fixed-term external support arrangements.

“The school is currently too dependent on external support.

“It lacks the capacity from within to improve the weaknesses that it has.

“Over time, pupils have suffered a series of poorly thought-through curriculums.

“This has caused pupils to develop significant gaps in their knowledge.

“The interim executive headteacher has quickly taken effective steps to address these curriculum issues.

“She has recently redesigned an overarching curriculum structure for pupils in Years 1 to 6.”

Inspectors also said pupils with special educational needs and disabilities have suffered ‘the most’ due to the low expectations from leaders.

Most pupils behave well in lessons but during break time, their behaviour can be more ‘variable’.

The report adds: “Some pupils run through corridors and barge past others without due regard for the feelings or safety of others.

“Some staff do not have the necessary strategies that they need to deal with these issues effectively.

“This means that such behaviours go unchecked.

“Although many pupils said that they feel safe and happy at school, some older pupils experience bullying and name-calling.

“These pupils are reluctant to tell their teachers about such incidents because they are fearful of any repercussions.

“However, leaders are aware of these issues.

“They are starting to take appropriate action to deal with bullying.”

Inspectors praised the green areas of the school, which has a natural waterfall running through the school’s grounds.

Pupils enjoy seeing wild deer and squirrels roam alongside the playground.

Inspectors also noted ‘interim leaders engage well with staff and have boosted morale’ having brough in an improved sense of well-being.

Safeguarding measures are effective.