The school

St Joseph’s RC Primary School is a denominational school with a non-denominational nursery class. The school is the only Roman Catholic (RC) denominational school in Inverness and serves all parts of the city. The roll was 195, including 40 children in the nursery class, when the inspection was carried out in May 2011. The school draws just over a quarter of the roll from placing requests. Children’s attendance was below the national average in 2009/2010. The school has recently experienced a period of instability in staffing.

Particular strengths of the school

• Children who are confident and keen to learn and achieve.
• Teamwork of all staff, led by the headteacher, in securing an ethos of inclusion.
• The commitment of all staff to the care and welfare of every child.
• The partnerships with the church and parents to support children’s development and wellbeing.

The following areas for improvement have been agreed with the school and education authority

• Continue to share and build on good practice to ensure consistently high-quality learning and teaching for all classes.
• Increase the pace of using Curriculum for Excellence to meet the needs of all children.
• Strengthen arrangements for monitoring attainment to ensure that all children make appropriate progress.