Fighting and bullying put primary school into special measures

Fighting, bullying and poor behaviour have led to a primary school being placed in special measures by Ofsted.

Inspectors found regular incidents of "arguing, name-calling and fighting" in lessons and during break times at Netherley Park Primary School in Liverpool - which was formerly known as Norman Pannell Primary School.

Meryl Sangare, chair of governors, said the report made for "difficult reading" but the school was committed to making the necessary improvements.

"The inspection took place at the end of a very turbulent period of leadership in school, and this is reflected in the findings," she said.

The report identified five areas where urgent improvement was needed following an inspection in June.

Ofsted's chief inspector said the school required special measures "because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school".

This was exemplified by how conduct "varies" across the school, the report said.

Leaders were found not to have dealt with incidents of bullying consistently.

This made staff and pupils "feel unsafe" at times and "disrupted pupils' learning", while staff had not accessed relevant training to develop the expertise they needed to improve this situation, the report said.

Rates of attendance were found to have become "concerningly low" over time with persistent absence rising "rapidly".

Regarding educational attainment, inspectors said many pupils do not develop the fluency that they need in English and mathematics, which does not prepare Year 6 pupils well enough to access the curriculum and learning in Year 7 and beyond.

Additionally, in Year 6, disadvantaged pupils' attainment was described as "significantly lower than that of disadvantaged pupils nationally".

The report said the leadership, which has since been replaced, had not ensured all pupils fully take a part in school life.

It added: "Some pupils feel that school is not for them. They do not cooperate with staff and often disengage with learning.

"This is because leaders do not meet their needs well enough."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that interim leadership arrangements were in place for most of the last academic year.

Inspectors did acknowledge safeguarding standards are being met, and that the school has strengths in phonics teaching and the caring relationships in the early years department.

Sangare said: "We recognise that improvements are needed and are committed to addressing these swiftly, to ensure pupils receive a quality education.

"The whole staff team are working together with the governors to make the changes needed."

She said they had given their full support to newly appointed headteacher, Jill O'Brien, who had already identified areas that needed addressing and began work on these before the inspection, working alongside the local authority and others recommended by Ofsted.

"Our focus remains on making school a better place for all our pupils, ensuring that we prepare them well for their next steps in education and life," she added.

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