St Ninian’s RC Primary School
and Nursery Class
City of Edinburgh Council

22 January 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

St Ninian's RC Primary School and Nursery Class were inspected in October 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 of the Parent Council, representatives of the parent-teacher association (PTA) and a group of parents¹.

The inspection team also evaluated aspects of the school's progress in implementing national recommendations related to improving aspects of school meals provision.

St Ninian's RC Primary School is a denominational school serving the north east area of Edinburgh. At the time of the inspection the roll was 244, including 28 children in the nursery class. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was well above the national average. Pupils' attendance was below the national average.

2. Key strengths

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

HM Inspectors 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 of children in the nursery were pleased with all aspects of the work of the nursery class. Parents, pupils and staff were pleased with almost all aspects of the work of the primary school. All parents felt that pupils were treated fairly. Almost all felt welcome in school and believed that pupils enjoyed being at school. They held the headteacher in high regard and trusted her judgement. Almost all agreed that school reports and parents’ evenings provided helpful information. However, a quarter of parents wanted to know more about their child’s strengths and weaknesses and wanted to have greater involvement in decisions which affected their child. Almost all pupils enjoyed being in school and all felt safe. All pupils said that their achievements were acknowledged. They thought that teachers expected them to work hard. They felt teachers explained things clearly in lessons and helped them with difficult coursework. Around a fifth felt that pupils’ behaviour in class could be improved. All staff were very positive about all aspects of the school’s work and enjoyed working there. Staff felt supported by the strong sense of teamwork. They felt fully involved in decision making and improving the work of the school. They were particularly proud of the care and welfare shown to pupils and the strong sense of community. They all felt that the senior management team operated effectively and valued the headteacher’s commitment and the strong leadership she provided.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The structure of the curriculum was very good. Staff in the nursery class and school provided a broad and balanced curriculum but the programme for children on full time placement in the nursery was not sufficiently varied. Overall, children in the nursery class were motivated in their learning and concentrated well on chosen activities. The school had improved pupils’ achievements in literacy and numeracy through increased focus on these aspects of the curriculum. Staff had effectively established links between areas of the curriculum. For example, pupils developed information handling skills through health education and drama and these skills were effectively used to enhance pupils’ learning in environmental studies. Pupils were making good progress in personal and social development which was well integrated across the curriculum from nursery to P7. Modern languages were introduced to children in the nursery class and taught at all stages throughout the school. The school had not yet provided all pupils with sufficient opportunities for physical education (PE) per week, in line with national recommendations. Information and communications technology (ICT), particularly interactive whiteboard technology, was used effectively to support teaching across the curriculum. Overall, the quality of teaching was good. Staff in the nursery class interacted effectively with children and used praise well to acknowledge achievement. They skilfully intervened to encourage children’s interests and used questioning well to extend children’s learning. At the primary stages, all teachers consistently shared the purpose of lessons with pupils and explained things clearly. Teachers wrote encouraging comments in jotters and were increasingly making more use of evaluative comments to share next steps in learning. A few teachers skilfully used questioning to assess and develop pupils’ understanding. Overall, they used praise effectively to encourage learning and build confidence, but in a few lessons praise was not used appropriately. There were a few examples of very effective direct and interactive teaching but this practice was not yet consistent across the school. Regular homework helped to support most pupils’ learning.

Overall, the quality of learning across the school was adequate. In the nursery class, children were keen to explore and extend their own learning through ICT, using the interactive whiteboard and computer. Children investigated the natural world through growing and harvesting their own vegetables and observing wildlife. Younger children particularly enjoyed developing their understanding of the world through exploring their senses. Pupils from P1 to P7 were given good opportunities to work collaboratively but the quality of group work was not always sufficiently high. Most pupils settled well to activities but the attention of others was more easily distracted and at times, a few pupils required close supervision to ensure that they were on task. In too many lessons the poor listening skills of a few pupils interrupted the flow of teaching and slowed the pace of lessons. The majority of activities were challenging but did not always take account of the range of needs and abilities at the early stages. Pupils were developing skills to evaluate their own work and the work of others. They were at the early stages of discussing how to improve the quality of their work and identifying their next steps in learning.

The school had taken very good steps to help pupils develop their wider achievements. Children in the nursery class cooperated well together. They were able to share and take turns. At the primary stages, most pupils demonstrated good awareness of their responsibilities to themselves and to one another. They developed effective citizenship skills by taking responsibility for specific duties in class and around the school. These included acting as classroom and dining room monitors, buddies, prefects, Junior Road Safety Officers and serving on the pupil council and Eco Committee. Pupils successfully fulfilled these roles and were proud of the help they gave to others. They were developing an awareness of the needs of others through various fund raising activities. The school had recently achieved Eco Schools (Scotland) bronze status and a health promoting school award. A few pupils in P5 to P7 were making good progress in learning to play the cello. At P7, pupils extended their personal and social skills through the rich learning experiences provided in the annual residential event. Pupils were learning about healthy eating choices through being encouraged to bring healthy snacks and packed lunches to school.

English language

Overall, children in the nursery class were making good progress in communication and language. They listened well within a large group and confidently contributed their knowledge and ideas. Most children could recognise their own name and many were learning to write it. A few children were enthusiastic writers and were well supported by staff in communicating their ideas. Across the primary stages, the overall quality of pupils’ attainment in English language was good, with an improving trend in reading over the past three years. Most pupils in reading, and the majority of pupils in writing, were achieving appropriate national levels. A significant number of pupils had achieved these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Pupils were well supported in their learning and were making good progress with their classwork. At the early stages, pupils were making good progress in developing early language skills. Pupils at all stages listened attentively to stories but, overall, pupils did not listen well to their teacher for information and instructions. Pupils spoke confidently to share their views. However, their skills of listening and talking to each other in groups were less well developed. Most pupils enjoyed reading and read with confidence. In the upper stages they were able to share their opinions on texts they had read but were less confident in their understanding of how writers used language to create effects. Pupils wrote for a range of purposes across the curriculum. However, those in the upper stages were not yet writing sufficiently extended pieces of work. At all stages, pupils’ skills in punctuation and in structuring and presenting their work, were not well developed.

Mathematics

Children in the nursery class were making good progress in early mathematics. They successfully used ICT to compare and match objects. Children measured objects throughout the nursery using a variety of tools and discussed and selected the appropriate size of bulb whilst planting outdoors. They confidently counted and identified numbers and put them in the correct order. Many children were able to identify simple shapes to enable them to complete a puzzle. At the primary stages, the overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. Over the last four years, attainment in mathematics had improved. Most pupils achieved appropriate national levels and at P3 and P7, significant numbers of pupils exceeded these levels. Pupils not attaining appropriate national levels were making steady progress with classwork. At all stages, pupils were confident in handling data and in designing and carrying out their own surveys. Most pupils across the school displayed effective skills in mental and written calculations. From P3, pupils had a sound grasp of basic number and of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Pupils at all stages showed a good understanding of two- and three-dimensional shape. By P7, a few pupils were not sufficiently secure in their understanding of fractions, decimals and aspects of measurement. At all stages, pupils were involved in problem solving activities and were able to describe and report on strategies they might use.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

Overall, the school’s approaches to meeting pupils’ needs were good. Staff in the nursery class met the needs of children well. They made good use of assessment information to plan for children’s learning. There was scope to record more information on next steps for individual children and to use these to support children’s progress in learning. Children were able to contribute to their own profiles through the inclusion of drawings and photographs. There was an insufficient range of activities to meet the needs of those children in nursery for the full day. At the primary stages, teachers provided an appropriate range of activities for different groups of pupils within their classes. Most tasks set took good account of pupils’ abilities and their prior learning except, at times, in the early years. All pupils were involved in setting personal learning targets but these were not yet sufficiently focused upon individual learning needs. The support for learning teacher liaised effectively with staff and gave very good support to pupils who were experiencing difficulties in their learning and to a group of more able pupils. Effective procedures were in place to identify pupils who required additional support. Pupils with individualised educational programmes (IEPs) were making good progress. They had appropriate learning targets, shared with parents, set in their IEPs. Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL) were given very good support by class teachers. Support assistants made a very positive contribution to supporting individuals and groups of pupils throughout the school. The school worked closely with a range of external agencies to ensure appropriate support for pupils with identified needs.

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.

St Ninian’s RC Primary School and Nursery Class provided a very caring and supportive environment for children. The staff were committed to the care and welfare of pupils and to developing the school within the parish community. The quality of teaching was good and there were a few examples of very effective teaching. However, a few teachers did not always set sufficiently high expectations of the quality of pupils’ work and of pupils’ behaviour. Setting and sharing targets for learning was at an early stage of development and pupils now needed to be involved in this in a more meaningful way. In partnership with parents, further steps were required to improve pupils’ attendance. The school had successfully engaged parents in the life of the school.

The headteacher provided very good leadership and was held in high regard by staff, parents and pupils. She had established a very strong collegiate approach to school development. She knew the pupils and their families well. She ably shared a clear strategic vision for the school which focused appropriately on pupils’ achievement and on developing a community of faith. The headteacher had very good interpersonal skills which she successfully used to build staff and pupil confidence. She engaged well with parents and had successfully gained their trust. She handled sensitive and difficult situations well. The depute headteacher and principal teacher effectively carried out their specific remits and provided very effective support to the headteacher. They both made a significant contribution to the work of the school. The headteacher and depute headteacher effectively monitored learning and teaching and provided helpful feedback to staff. All staff were involved in the decision-making process. They readily engaged in self-evaluation and had identified areas for further development. Appropriate plans were in place to achieve these. Staff were enthusiastic about improving the school, and teachers confidently took responsibility for developing new initiatives. The school had very good capacity to improve.

Nursery Staff were aware of the requirements of The Scottish Social Services Council and registration was underway. At the last Care Commission inspection there was one recommendation and three requirements. The recommendation had been met and the requirements on the provider regarding safer recruitment were ongoing.

What happens next?

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 parents will be informed about the progress made by the school.

Belinda Sheehan
HM Inspector

22 January 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 Children and Families, 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, T1 Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD or by telephoning 0131 244 8371. 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.

Footnote

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