A SCHOOL has been put in special measures after failing to keep adequate records of child protection concerns raised by staff.

Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic School, in Leigh, was lost its good rating and been branded inadequate by Ofsted over fears children are being put at risk.

The school, previously regarded as among the best in the borough, was immediately put in special measures following the October inspection - which concluded leadership and management was failing.

It comes after a former governor at the school, Vincent Copeland, was handed a community order after being charged with possessing indecent images of children earlier this year.

The report said the school had failed to record child protection concerns properly in writing. In some instances staff concerns were written on single sheets of paper, with no reference to any action being taken.

Records relating to child protection were stored in a “haphazard” way in different places.

Headteacher Margaret Sullivan, who had expected to be given an outstanding grade, said she was shocked at the outcome. She told the Echo she is appealing the decision.

She said: “We were very disappointed at the report and its overall judgement. We have challenged it and submitted an official complaint to Ofsted about the judgement and the conduct of the inspection.

“As the top performing school in the borough, it was very frustrating to be heavily downgraded as a result of issues with our record-keeping process. We thought then, and still do, that this is a disproportionate response. As anyone who reads the report will see, the vast majority of it says we are a great school, and a safe school.”

Inspectors gave the school a glowing report in other areas - calling it a “happy school where every child is valued as an individual.”

Mrs Sullivan added: “Although we disagree with the inspector, we must always take any Ofsted criticism seriously, and we have acted quickly to review our record-keeping processes. We asked the local authority and the diocese to help us with this, and we have already made some changes.

“We are asking for a reinspection at the earliest possible opportunity.”

The Ofsted report said:

  • The requirement that all concerns of a child protection nature and associated discussions and decisions made should be recorded in writing has not been met.
  • Staff’s concerns about pupils are written on blank sheets of paper, without sufficient attention to what each record includes. 
  • The school’s child protection files do not show that robust action is taken when concerns are raised about pupils. In a number of cases, files amount to no more than a single sheet of paper with no evidence that timely and appropriate action was taken.
  • The school’s system for recording concerns allows information to be kept in different places. This means that the system is too haphazard and pupils could be put at risk as a result.

Inspectors praise school and head in report

The headteacher has created a happy school where every child is valued as an individual.

She knows every pupil by name. Pupils describe her as “amazing” and say that “she’s always there for us”.

The headteacher and the deputy headteacher provide strong leadership and display a shared sense of purpose

The school’s curriculum is suitably broad and balanced.

Leaders and governors have chosen to invest in specialist teachers in science, music and physical education and they have found that this has strengthened the quality of subject teaching.

It is the headteacher’s firm belief that “the children have to have a love of learning” and the school’s well-constructed curriculum is one of the reasons for pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning at Our Lady of Lourdes.

Although standards are high, the headteacher is very clear that the school “is not an 11+ factory” and pupils are provided with a rich and varied educational diet, and are encouraged to become responsible and reliable citizens.