PARENTS are urging a North Oxford school to look at the way it is governed after an education authority review raised concerns.

Oxfordshire County Council said there were questions about whether governors at SS Philip & James Primary School, in Navigation Way, had provided “good quality pastoral care” to staff.

The local authority review, carried out in November, was conducted after parents raised concerns about the departure of a teacher and management issues.

In a summary published this month, it recommended an external review of the school’s governance and improvements to the way it communicates with parents.

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The Diocese of Oxford school – rated “good” by Ofsted in 2012 – is expected to respond to the findings in a letter to parents this week.

Now parents have written to governors, urging them to accept the review’s recommendations.

Father-of-four David Rose, who has one child at the school, said: “Phil and Jim is a good school, as Ofsted has reported, with a dedicated head and many excellent teachers.

“But nowhere is perfect and the review summary highlights several important areas, especially governance, where things could be improved.

“I am hopeful that the governors will soon be taking steps to put the recommendations of the review into practice.”

The county council’s review was jointly commissioned by the school’s governing body and the Oxford Diocesan Board of Education.

According to a four-page summary, seen by the Oxford Mail, it focused on leadership and management at the school, as well as how communication with parents could be improved.

It followed the departure of Daniella Corless, a Year Six teacher who left last October with four days’ notice. Parents raised concerns that it was sudden and said there had previously been a high turnover of staff at the school.

The summary of the review said: “There is no evidence of a correlation between departures and the management style of the headteacher, neither can it be discounted.”

But it added there was evidence complaints procedures were not followed properly and that staff exit interviews had not led to improvements.

Governing body chairman Corinna Redman said governors would meet today to discuss the review.

Mrs Redman said: “We accept the findings of the review and will do our best to answer them in a positive and constructive way.

“We are taking this very seriously, but the governing body and senior staff are united in support for the school and the headteacher.”

“Over the next few weeks, we will start to put some of the recommendations in place.”