St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School: Termination warning issued after ‘inadequate’ Ofsted report

A primary school rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted for the second successive time has been told its Government funding will be withdrawn unless it improves. The warning was sent to St Nicholas of Tolentine Catholic Primary School in St Jude’s.

The most recent Ofsted inspection identified the quality of education received by pupils as ‘poor’. It found the curriculum poorly planned and that some pupils did not attend regularly enough with a minority not arriving on time.

In a newsletter sent by headteacher Rachael James this month, parents were warned they will face fines if pupils continue to fail to turn up to school on time. She also said the Ofsted inspection published last month praised thes chool for making steps to improve attendance and punctuality, but that it ‘recognised we still have a long way to go’.

Now the school leaders also have the task of persuading the Department of Education (DoE) that overall improvements have been made following the inspection, after it was served with the Termination Warning Notice.

Hannah Woodhouse, DoE regional director for the South West, wrote: “I need to be satisfied that the trust has capacity to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement at the academy.

“If I am not satisfied that this can be achieved, I will consider whether to terminate the funding agreement in order to transfer the academy to an alternative academy trust.”

She has asked for evidence of action to support education improvements and plans to secure long-term sustainable improvement. She also wants to see a written summary of leadership, staffing and governance arrangements at the academy.

As well as highlighting a poor curricilum and attendance, the Ofsted report also flagged up ineffective support for pupils with SEND and a minority of pupils not consistently showing positive learning behaviours.