1. Background
2. Key strengths
3. What are the views of parents and carers, pupils and staff?
4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
5. How well are pupils supported?
6. How good is the environment for learning?
7. Improving the school
Appendix 1 Indicators of quality
Appendix 2 Summary of questionnaire responses
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Westhill Primary School was inspected in November 2004 as part of a national sample of primary education. The inspection covered key aspects of the work of the school at all stages. It evaluated pupils’ achievements, the effectiveness of the school, the environment for learning, the school’s processes for self-evaluation and capacity for improvement. There was a particular focus on attainment in English language and mathematics.
HM Inspectors examined pupils' work and interviewed groups of pupils, including the pupil council, and staff. Members of the inspection team also met the chairperson of the School Board, representatives of the parent-teacher association (PTA), and a group of parents.
The inspection team also evaluated aspects of the school's progress in implementing national recommendations related to improving aspects of school meals provision.
The school serves an area of the town of Westhill and the immediate surrounding rural area. At the time of the inspection the roll was 363, including 46 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.
An integrated inspection of pre-school provision was carried out at the same time by HMIE and the Care Commission and is the subject of a separate report, which will be published at the same time as the primary report.
HM Inspectors identified the following key strengths.
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HM Inspectors assessed the school’s processes for self-evaluation. They analysed responses to questionnaires issued to a sample of parents, P4 to P7 pupils, and to all staff. Information about the responses to the questionnaires appears in Appendix 2.
Parents and carers were positive about all aspects of school life. They felt that their children enjoyed being at school and found the work stimulating and challenging. They thought that the school was well led and had a good reputation in the local community. Parents felt that their children were treated fairly and that there was mutual respect between teachers and pupils. Teachers were very positive about all aspects of the school’s life and work. Non-teaching staff were also very positive but a few thought that communication amongst staff could be more effective. Almost all pupils enjoyed being at school. They thought that teachers expected them to work hard and let them know how they were getting on with their work. Pupils felt that teachers explained things clearly and helped them when they experienced difficulties with aspects of their classwork. They got on well with other pupils and felt safe and well looked after in school.
Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements
The curriculum provided pupils with a wide range of appropriate and well balanced learning experiences. At the early stages, teachers made effective use of additional teaching time to raise pupils’ attainment in English language and mathematics. They also provided very good opportunities for pupils’ to learn through play. At all stages, staff gave very good attention to promoting pupils’ personal and social skills across all curricular areas. The school had allocated a suitable amount of time for pupils to develop skills in the use of information and communications technology (ICT). Pupils had good opportunities to use these skills to support their classwork across the curriculum. Teachers had clear and helpful guidance for curricular programmes. Overall, the quality of teaching was very good. Teachers worked effectively with pupils in class, group and individual situations and used praise successfully to motivate pupils and build their confidence. Most shared the purposes of lessons clearly with pupils and encouraged their independent learning skills. In mathematics, some teachers demonstrated best practice through their interactions with pupils and made outstanding use of questions and discussions to promote and extend their learning.
The quality of pupils’ learning experiences was very good. In almost all classes, teachers had established a stimulating and challenging learning environment. Pupils were highly motivated and applied themselves conscientiously to their classwork. At the early and upper stages, pupils confidently took responsibility for aspects of their own learning. They demonstrated very good skills in thinking things through for themselves and in discussing issues and ideas with others. Commendably, pupils at P2 were already enthusiastic and confident learners. Across the school, pupils benefited from regular opportunities to work together with others in a wide range of class activities. For example, in P6, pupils cooperated well in groups to carry out a science investigation on electricity. In P6/7, pupils gave good support and challenge to each other when working together on a mathematics activity.
At all stages, pupils demonstrated good self-esteem and positive attitudes towards others. They responded well to opportunities to take on additional responsibilities. Through the pupil council, pupils contributed to the school’s decision-making processes by providing views and opinions on school life. Senior pupils carried out the role of Big Friendly Kids in a very positive and responsible manner and gave good support to younger pupils in the playground. They also gave valuable help to pupils at P1 through the school’s Book Buddy initiative. Pupils were developing skills in active citizenship by hosting events to raise funds for charity. At P4 and P7, pupils spoke confidently about enterprise activities and the school had achieved a silver award in the Council’s Schools’ Enterprise competition. Pupils participated enthusiastically in the school’s wide range of extra-curricular activities.
English language
The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in English language was good. In recent years, there had been a steady improvement in standards of reading and writing. Pupils’ attainment in reading was very good. Almost all pupils had attained appropriate national levels for their stage and many had achieved these levels early. In listening, talking and writing, most pupils had attained these standards. Pupils in P1 and P2 were making very good progress in early literacy. At all stages, pupils listened well for information and instructions and talked readily about their own feelings and experiences. At P7, pupils were skilled in listening and talking in group situations. Throughout the school, pupils read with fluency and good expression and most demonstrated an enthusiasm for reading for enjoyment. Across the school, pupils were making good progress in writing. They wrote well for a variety of purposes and made good use of punctuation and structure. Higher attaining pupils were capable of producing more extended pieces of writing.
Mathematics
The overall quality of attainment in mathematics was good. Over the last three years, levels of attainment had fluctuated slightly but had risen again in the last year. At the early and upper stages, pupils were making very good progress with classwork. By P3, almost all pupils had achieved standards in line with national levels and a majority had achieved these standards early. By P7, most pupils were achieving appropriate national levels and a significant number of pupils were exceeding these levels. At P3 to P5, pupils’ progress towards national levels of attainment was good. At all stages, pupils demonstrated sound skills in oral and written calculations and were developing a good understanding of number, money and measurement. At P6 to P7, pupils performed very well in mental calculations and were secure in their knowledge and understanding of other aspects of mathematics. Across the school, pupils’ skills in problem solving and enquiry were good but they were not confident in identifying the strategies used to reach solutions.
The school had very good arrangements to ensure the care, welfare and protection of pupils. Staff knew pupils well and were sensitive and responsive to their social and emotional needs. The school had clear and effective approaches to deal with bullying. The education authority had provided the school with appropriate guidance on how to respond to child protection issues and staff were familiar with the procedures. The school’s health promotion strategies included fruit for pupils at P1 to P2 and an improved focus on encouraging healthy lifestyles. The school was currently working in partnership with other agencies to support health initiatives in the community. In conjunction with the local secondary school, the school had good arrangements to support pupils moving on to secondary education. It had a very good range of activities to support children moving from nursery to primary education.
Most teachers made very good provision for pupils with differing abilities. In these classes, pupils benefited from stimulating and appropriately challenging activities. However, in a few classes, teachers did not always take sufficient account of pupils’ aptitudes and abilities to provide suitable learning and teaching approaches. Classroom assistants were deployed very effectively to support pupils’ learning and they made a significant contribution to the quality of pupils’ learning experiences. The school had clear approaches to accessing additional support for pupils. Visiting teachers provided effective support for pupils experiencing difficulties with aspects of their learning and assisted in planning suitable individualised educational programmes (IEPs) for them. The school placed an appropriate focus on ensuring additional support for pupils’ literacy skills at the early stages. Pupils receiving additional support were making good progress towards the learning targets set for them. Due to illness and the subsequent lack of available staff, the school was unable to secure regular visits from psychological services and to access specialist support for pupils experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Aspect |
Comment |
Quality of accommodation and facilities |
The quality of accommodation was very good. The building contained three large, bright open plan teaching areas, a nursery unit, spacious games hall and a variety of other suitable rooms to suppport curricular activities. Throughout the school, there were interesting displays of pupils’ work. Teachers made effective use of the many well-arranged additional work areas to promote pupils’ independent learning skills and to support a wide variety of activities, such as learning through play. Pupils had regular access to the school library and computer room to extend their research skills. Furniture and fittings were in good condition. The building was well maintained and cleaned to a high standard. The playground provided very good facilities for pupils’ social and physical play. |
Climate and relationships, expectations and promoting achievement and equality |
The school had a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. Relationships among pupils and staff were very positive and morale was high. Pupils were proud of their school and were friendly, polite and well-behaved. They responded well to staff’ high expectations for their behaviour and achievements by working hard and co-operating well with others. They had high aspirations for their own achievements. The school used a variety of effective approaches to recognise and celebrate pupils’ achievements. Weekly assemblies gave pupils regular opportunities to take part in religious observance. The school demonstrated a clear commitment to equality and fairness and worked hard to ensure that all pupils felt valued and were fully included. It did not yet have a suitable race equality policy and needed to take positive steps to help pupils recognise and tackle discrimination. |
Partnership with parents and the community |
Partnerships with parents and the community were very good. The school actively encouraged parents to be partners in their children’s learning. It provided regular, helpful information to parents on their children’s progress and useful advice to help them support their children’s learning. The school also kept parents up to date with school events through attractive and informative newsletters and regularly sought parents’ views on school life and the quality of its provision. Parents helped in the school library and with out-of-school visits. The School Board and PTA were very supportive of the school. The school maintained positive links with other local schools and the wider community and hosted various events throughout the year for the community to attend. |
Appendix 1 provides HM Inspectors’ overall evaluation of the work of the school.
Westhill Primary School provided pupils with a broad range of stimulating learning experiences within a positive and caring environment. The staff team worked well together to successfully promote and support pupils’ learning. In particular, pupils at the early and upper stages benefited from high quality learning and teaching and were making very good progress. Over the past three years staff had made significant improvements to curricular programmes and approaches to planning and assessment. Staff were committed to improving further the quality of pupils’ experiences. The headteacher provided very effective leadership and management of the school. She knew the qualities of each staff member and had established a strong team approach. She demonstrated a high level of professional competence and commitment and had ably encouraged and supported staff to make improvements to key aspects of the school’s work. During her seven years in post, the headteacher had developed very good relationships with pupils, parents and staff and was respected by them. She led the management team very well and delegated responsibilities wisely. The two depute headteachers carried out their responsibilities very effectively and worked well with other staff. Their teaching was a model of best practice.
The school had very good approaches to evaluating the quality of its work. Senior managers carefully monitored teachers’ plans and discussed these with staff. They regularly reviewed and talked to pupils about their written work. Senior managers also visited classrooms to evaluate directly the quality of learning and teaching. Staff met frequently to discuss and review pupils’ learning experiences. The school had sound and effective approaches for tracking pupils’ progress. Senior managers involved staff fully in identifying areas for improvement and in subsequent developments to raise standards further. They also involved parents and pupils in identifying the school’s strengths and improvement priorities.
Main points for action
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What happens next?
As a result of the high performance, the strong record of 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 and carers. Within two years of the publication of this report the education authority, working with the school, will provide a progress report to parents and carers.
Norma Wright
HM Inspector
1 March 2005
We judged the following to be very good
We judged the following to be good
We judged the following to be fair
We judged the following to be unsatisfactory
Important features of responses from the various groups which received questionnaires are listed below.
What pleased parents and carers most |
What parents and carers would like to see improved |
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What pleased pupils most |
What pupils would like to see improved |
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What pleased staff most |
What staff would like to see improved |
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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 .
If you wish to comment about primary inspections
Should you wish to comment on any aspect of primary inspections, you should write in the first instance to Frank Crawford, HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education, Europa Building, 450 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8L.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to Hazel Dewart, Business Management Unit, HM Inspectorate of Education, Second Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from this office or by telephoning 01506 600265 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. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS. You can also telephone 0870 011 5378 or e-mail enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website: www.scottishombudsman.org.uk
Crown Copyright 2005
HM Inspectorate of Education
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