Lairhillock School and Nursery Class
Netherley
Aberdeenshire Council

4 March 2008

Contents

1. Background
2. Key strengths
3. What are the views of parents, pupils and staff?
4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?
6. How good is the environment for learning?
7. Leading and improving the school
Appendix 1 Indicators of quality
Appendix 2 Summary of questionnaire responses
How can you contact us?

1. Background

Lairhillock School and Nursery Class were inspected in November 2007 as part of a national sample of primary and nursery education. The inspection covered key aspects of the work of the school at all stages. It evaluated nursery children’s and pupils’ achievements, the effectiveness of the school, the environment for learning, the school’s processes for self-evaluation and innovation, and its capacity for improvement. There was a particular focus on attainment in English language and mathematics.

HM Inspectors examined the quality of the children’s experience in the nursery, pupils’ work and interviewed groups of pupils, including the pupil council, and staff. Members of the inspection team also met the chairperson and representatives of the Parent Council, community representatives and a group of parents¹.

The school serves the hamlets of Maryculter and Netherley and surrounding rural areas. The school is newly built and opened in April 2007 as the result of the closure of Maryculter School and Netherley School. At the time of the inspection the roll was 103, including 19 children in the nursery class. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was well below the national average. Pupils’ attendance was above the national average.

2. Key strengths

3. What are the views of parents, pupils and staff?

HM Inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires issued to all parents, P4 to P7 pupils, and to all staff. Information about the responses to the questionnaires appears in Appendix 2.

Parents, pupils and staff were highly satisfied with almost all aspects of the school’s work. They thought that in the short time since it had opened, the school was very well led and had a good reputation in the community. Parents were pleased to be involved in their children’s learning through various well-planned activities. In particular they appreciated being involved in developing the homework policy. They felt their children were motivated and enjoyed school. Pupils were very proud of their new school and felt safe and happy. They thought that teachers helped them to improve their work and expected them to work hard. Teaching, support and visiting specialist staff were positive about all aspects of the school. They highlighted the leadership of the headteacher as a particular strength. They appreciated the opportunities to become involved in the decision-making process and were very positive about the quality of teamwork and communication amongst staff.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The overall quality of the curriculum was good. Nursery staff provided children with broad and balanced learning experiences and made effective use of the playroom space and resources. Staff often involved children in making decisions about their learning. Children were motivated, and were purposefully engaged in a wide range of learning activities. In the primary classes, additional time had been allocated effectively to the personal, social development programme to help pupils settle into their new school. Staff had made a positive start to the development of curricular programmes in the school. Teachers provided effective cross-curricular work particularly in writing, personal research and information and communications technology (ICT). The school provided two hours of quality physical education per week for each pupil. The quality of teaching was very good. Teachers gave clear explanations and made effective use of questioning to reinforce pupils’ understanding. Staff in the nursery made very effective use of questions and dialogue to support and challenge children’s learning. This was continued into the early stages of primary with pupils able to engage in well-planned activity based learning experiences. Across the school, staff made good use of ICT to support and extend pupils’ learning. Pupils experienced a broad range of homework activities.

Children in the nursery class were making very good progress in all aspects of their learning. They were encouraged to take responsibility for their learning. They expressed themselves well and were creative when painting and making music. They were making very good progress in their use of ICT and the development of skills in physical movement. In the primary classes, the quality of learning was good and pupils made good progress through well-paced lessons. Mathematics was particularly effective in the early stages with the youngest pupils engaged actively in their learning. In the best practice, staff took good account of pupils’ needs and used a range of strategies to encourage pupils to work in pairs and small groups. For example, pupils in P1/2 worked cooperatively together to make a collage picture and in P4/5 pupils worked well in pairs in the ICT suite and gave each other support and praise. There was scope to develop these approaches further to meet pupils’ learning needs more effectively.

The school took very good steps to develop pupils’ wider achievements. Nursery children were progressing well in their emotional, personal and social development. All children in the nursery class were confident in their learning environment and almost all could share and take turns. They were familiar with nursery rules and routines. In the primary classes, pupils were making very good progress in developing their confidence, self-esteem and citizenship skills. Pupils were enthusiastic about their work on their school newspaper. They spoke with pride about their efforts in caring for the environment and the opportunities they had to learn about healthy lifestyles. Staff ensured that pupils had experiences of workshops with theatre groups and prominent musicians culminating in a concert for parents and the local community. Pupils from P1 to P7 were involved in an innovative action research ICT project with the ICT specialist from Aberdeen University using a wide range of technology equipment. Visiting specialists enhanced pupils’ experiences in other areas of the curriculum. After-school activities on health promotion had been established. Pupils were proud of their efforts in raising funds for local, national and international charities.

English language

Children in the nursery class were making very good progress in the development of communication and language skills. All children were confident when talking to one another and to adults. Most listened well and could follow simple instructions. Almost all children could recognise their name in print. They experimented with mark making in writing and many were beginning to form letters and words. In the primary classes, the quality of pupils’ attainment in English language was very good. Most pupils had achieved or exceeded appropriate national levels in listening, talking, reading and writing. Across all stages, almost all pupils were making very good progress in their coursework. They listened and responded well to teachers’ instructions and explanations. At the early stages, pupils were developing effective early reading and writing skills. Most children read widely for pleasure. At the middle stages, pupils were able to extract important information from texts. At the upper stages, pupils expressed opinions confidently about books they had read and how authors had used language. They showed good skills in understanding unfamiliar texts. Across the school pupils’ writing skills were developing steadily. They wrote for a wide variety of purposes, making effective use of descriptive language and could structure factual reports well. The presentation of written work was very good.

Mathematics

Nursery children were making very good progress in early mathematics. Almost all children were able to sort and match objects by shape, size and colour. Many could count with confidence and recognise numbers. Most children were using appropriate mathematical language in play situations. In the primary classes, the quality of attainment in mathematics was very good. Almost all pupils were achieving appropriate national levels in mathematics. Across the school, pupils handled information well. They were able to display, read and interpret information from an appropriate range of graphs. They had good opportunities to use ICT to practice skills and organise information on spreadsheets. Pupils were quick and accurate in their mental calculation. At all stages, they had developed a secure knowledge of most aspects of number, money and measurement. By P4/5, pupils were confident in their knowledge of the properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes. At P6, pupils were secure in their knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions. Pupils could apply problem-solving strategies in their mathematics lessons. They would benefit from more opportunities to put these strategies into practice in other curricular areas.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

The school’s arrangements for meeting learning needs in the nursery and school were very good. Staff in the nursery recorded and used assessment information effectively to provide appropriate activities. In the primary classes, teachers ensured that teaching approaches and learning activities took full account of all pupils’ needs. Staff made well-judged use of assessment information to monitor and track pupils’ progress in English language and mathematics. There was a strong emphasis on ensuring the achievement of all pupils. The school had very good arrangements for supporting pupils with additional support needs. This included targeted support from the network support teacher, classroom assistants and support for learning auxiliaries. Effective individualised educational programmes were in place and targets in these were regularly reviewed with parents and pupils. The school had very good arrangements to support pupils at points of transfer from nursery into P1 and from P7 into secondary.

6. How good is the environment for learning?

7. Leading and improving the school

Appendix 1 provides HM Inspectors’ overall evaluation of the work of the school.

Lairhillock School and Nursery Class provided high quality education for its children and pupils. The school had a very positive ethos and all staff were strongly committed to ensuring the care and welfare of children and pupils. Pupils were confident and motivated and they attained very well in English language and mathematics. Nursery staff interacted very well with children to provide high quality learning experiences.

The headteacher led the school very well. She was enthusiastic and provided a clear direction and vision for the school. Since her appointment, she had introduced a stronger focus on attainment and initiated a review of curricular programmes to ensure a high standard of education for all pupils. She was fully committed to pupils, parents and staff. She had handled the closure of the two small schools with sensitivity and had skilfully fostered teamwork by placing the needs of pupils at the centre of all initiatives. Her own teaching was an example of best practice. She encouraged staff to take on additional responsibilities relating to the school improvement plan and to take forward development of the curriculum. The school’s approaches to self-evaluation were comprehensive and included reviews of teachers’ plans, questionnaires to pupils and parents and classroom observations. Staff were well involved in reviewing their own practice.

Nursery staff were aware of the Scottish Social Services Council’s Codes of Practice and its implications for their practice. Due to the recent establishment of the new nursery the Care Commission had undertaken a Care Service Registration visit.

What happens next?

As a result of the high performance, the ongoing improvement and the very effective leadership of this school, HM Inspectors will make no further reports in connection with this inspection. The school and the education authority have been asked to prepare an action plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the report, and to share that plan with parents. Within two years of the publication of this report the education authority, working with the school, will provide a progress report to parents.

Elizabeth Paterson
HM Inspector

4 March 2008

Appendix 1 Indicators of quality

The sections in the table below follow the order in this report. You can find the main comments made about each of the quality indicators in those sections. However, aspects of some quality indicators are relevant to other sections of the report and may also be mentioned in those other sections.

This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements made by inspectors:

Appendix 2 Summary of questionnaire responses

Important features of responses from the various groups which received questionnaires are listed below.

How can you contact us?

If you would like an additional copy of this report

Copies of this report have been sent to the headteacher and school staff, the Director of Education and Recreation, local councillors and appropriate Members of the Scottish Parliament. Subject to availability, further copies may be obtained free of charge from HM Inspectorate of Education, Greyfriars House, Gallowgate, Aberdeen AB10 1LQ or by telephoning 01224 642544. Copies are also available on our website www.hmie.gov.uk.

HMIE Feedback and Complaints Procedure

Should you wish to comment on any aspect of primary inspections, you should write in the first instance to Chris McIlroy, HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.

If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to our Complaints Manager, HMIE Business Management and Communications Team, Second Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA. You can also e-mail HMIEComplaints@hmie.gsi.gov.uk. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from this office, by telephoning 01506 600200 or from our website at www.hmie.gov.uk.

If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our complaints procedure, you can raise your complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should write to the SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR. You can also telephone 0800 377 7330, fax 0800 377 7331 or e-mail: ask@spso.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website: www.spso.org.uk.

Crown Copyright 2008

HM Inspectorate of Education

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are stated.

Footnotes

1. Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to include foster carers, residential care staff and carers who are relatives or friends.