Bullying is not fully dealt with at a Liverpool primary school as leaders “miss opportunities to evaluate behaviour” according to Ofsted.
A report into St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School by the national education inspectorate said improvements were needed at the Earle Road school following its latest visit in January. A report made publicly available said many pupils from different countries and backgrounds arrive at this school throughout the year.
They all receive a warm welcome, and no time is wasted in helping pupils who speak English as an additional language. Pupils like their school and appreciate their teachers.
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While children tend to behave well during lessons, the report said behaviour during social times is not as positive. It added: “Some pupils engage in rough behaviour or they act in a way that is not kind or caring to others. Teachers do not routinely put a stop to these incidents.
“Consequently, such behaviour goes unchecked and becomes the norm outside of learning time.” At the time of the inspection, there were more than 200 pupils aged between four and 11 years old on the roll at the primary school.
It was said there is high mobility at the school. Many pupils arrive and leave throughout the year from different countries.
Regarding behaviour at the school, it was said pupils have a “limited understanding” of bullying and leaders do not deal with some bullying and safeguarding reports as well as they could. The report added: “Nonetheless, despite these weaknesses, pupils are ultimately safe and happy at the school.”
Inspectors found leaders did not give staff clear guidance on how to respond to the bullying issues and as a result, they are not dealt with consistently. The report said: “Equally, the curriculum is not sufficiently well designed to help equip pupils to identify or raise a concern about repeating behaviours and bullying concerns.
“This compounds the issue and results in pupils accepting unkindness outside of lesson time. Leaders do not keep sufficiently detailed records of bullying concerns nor do they provide detailed guidance to teachers on how to respond to such concerns. This means that leaders and governors miss opportunities to evaluate patterns of behaviour that may be present and respond to issues as effectively as they could.”
Andrea Connearn, executive head teacher at St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School, said: “We always see an Ofsted inspection as an opportunity to get valuable feedback.
“We were pleased that inspectors rated the school as ‘good’ in three areas – quality of education, personal development and early years provision. In the two areas where St Hugh’s was rated as ‘requires improvement’ – behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management – we have already taken very positive steps since January’s visit putting an action plan in place to address all recommendations of the report.
“For example, we have reviewed our policies and procedures around behaviour and have improved communication with our governors.”
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