Progress made after safeguarding fears at Telford primary school

Dawley Church of England Primary School, in Doseley Road North, was inspected by the educational watchdog in March 2022.

Inspectors gave the school an overall rating of Inadequate after discovering the arrangements for safeguarding at the academy status school were not effective.

Ofsted said that when pupils raised a concern about their safety and well-being, staff did not deal with matters quickly enough.

The inspectors also found that school leaders did not have a robust system in place to investigate and record any allegations made against adults, and did not always log their actions in response to such concerns, which made it difficult for leaders to identify potential risks.

But following a monitoring inspection that took place on December 6 last year, Ofsted said the school's leaders had "made progress to improve the school" but added that "more work is necessary for the category of concern to be removed".

In a report after the monitoring inspection, inspectors said that members of the local academy committee and the trust had taken "swift action" to address the weaknesses at the school, which teaches children aged from 3-11.

In a letter sent to headteacher Nick Andrews and seen by the Shropshire Star, Ofsted said: "You have introduced and/or updated a range of policies linked to safeguarding. The low level concerns policy now in place ensures there would be an appropriate and systematic response to any concerns or allegations about adults.

"Staff know what they would have to do if they had any concerns about an adult working with pupils.

"You have also ensured that staff receive a range of safeguarding training to give them the knowledge and understanding they need to recognise any signs that a child might be at risk of harm."

However, it added: "There is more work to be done to embed the culture of safeguarding in the school so that safeguarding is effective."

In a statement, Dawley Church of England Primary Academy said the report following the monitoring inspection shows the steps taken by the leadership team and trust to address the safeguarding concerns.

The statement continued: "Most of the systems and processes now in place are understood and are used appropriately, and there is a balance of support and challenge helping to ensure the culture of safeguarding at the school is improving through regular bulletins, scheduled meetings and reports which have provided a much clearer overview of the academy’s safeguarding systems.

"The report identifies that there is some more work to be done to embed the culture of safeguarding, whereby the academy continues to work with the trust, local academy committee members, senior leaders from across the trust, and other external bodies to ensure improvements continues and becomes an embedded culture.

"Above all, our children continue to feel safe and are happy in school, knowing who to go to if they have any worries. This will continue with the support of our parents and staff continuing to ensure we offer the best education for the children in our care."