31 August 2004
1. Background
2. Key strengths
3. 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
How can you contact us?
Limerigg Primary School was inspected in May 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 and the environment for learning. There was a particular focus on attainment in English language and mathematics.
HM Inspectors examined pupils’ work and interviewed staff and pupils. They assessed the school’s processes for self-evaluation. They analysed responses to questionnaires issued to all parents, P4 to P7 pupils and staff. Information about the responses to the questionnaires appears in Appendix 2. A member of the inspection team also met the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the School Board and a group of parents.
The school serves Limerigg village and the surrounding area. At the time of the inspection, there were 34 pupils on the roll. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was above the national average. Pupils’ attendance was in line with the national average.
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HM Inspectors identified the following key strengths.
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The inspection team found that parents and carers, pupils and staff were very positive about almost all aspects of the school. Parents reported that they were very happy with the work of the school and that it had a good reputation in the community. They felt that their children enjoyed attending school, were treated fairly and found class work to be stimulating and challenging. They thought that the school was well led and that they had a clear understanding of the school’s priorities for improving the education of their children. Pupils reported that teachers explained things clearly and helped them when they had difficulties. They indicated that teachers expected good work from them and praised them for doing well. They felt that standards of behaviour were good and that the school helped them to keep safe and healthy. Staff reported that there was mutual respect amongst themselves and pupils. They indicated that the school set high standards for pupils’ attainment and that, in turn, pupils were enthusiastic about learning. They felt that there was good leadership in the school and effective communication among staff.
Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements
The school provided pupils with a broad and well-planned curriculum which effectively promoted the development of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills. Additional time was allocated to English language and mathematics. This feature had helped the school to improve pupils’ attainments, particularly in reading and writing. A good number of pupils benefited from supported study classes and extra-curricular activities at the end of the school day. Pupils from P5 to P7 learned French. The school had developed its programmes for environmental studies, information and communications technology (ICT) and health education. It should continue to monitor the impact of new developments and ensure that there is a good balance across all aspects of the curriculum. There were many good examples of direct, interactive teaching and small group work. Teachers planned and prepared lessons thoroughly. They made good use of praise to enhance pupils’ self-confidence when undertaking set tasks and of questions to extend their learning. They also were involved in a new development which aimed to link assessment information more closely to the next steps in pupils’ learning.
Pupils were very well motivated and responded well to new challenges. They worked enthusiastically during lessons and demonstrated a good sense of responsibility. They co-operated very well when working in small groups and in practical activities. They now required to be more involved in setting targets for themselves to achieve. At all stages, they were acquiring understanding and skills across the curriculum. At P1 to P4, they successfully engaged in practical work on the applications of magnetism and took a pride in showing their products to others. They also displayed good skills in a gardening activity. At P5 to P7, pupils showed a good understanding of issues relating to child labour when exchanging information in small groups. At P5/P6, they demonstrated good creative and problem-solving skills while working on model bridge-building in technology. At P7, they were learning how to use a video-camera to develop their skills in presenting ideas. However, weakness in provision in ICT meant that staff were not able to make full use of computers to enrich pupils’ achievements. Commendably, pupils’ work had contributed to the school receiving a Gold Award in the Careers Scotland Schools Enterprise Programme.
The school’s approach to personal and social education was effective in assisting pupils to be tolerant and sensitive regarding the views and needs of others. Planned activities were successful in promoting positive attitudes and skills in active citizenship. Almost all pupils were making good progress in developing a sense of self-reliance and self-esteem. They displayed a willingness to take on responsibility and to help others. Through the school’s participation in the Eco Schools Award Scheme, they were acquiring a respect for the environment. At P4 to P7, they took part enthusiastically in a wide range of out-of-school activities, including sports and fitness events. The well-established pupil council provided P5 to P7 pupils with very good opportunities to be involved in decisions about the school. They also participated in a range of residential experiences during their time in the senior class.
English language
The quality of attainment in English language was very good. Levels of attainment had improved over the last four years. Across the stages, almost all pupils were achieving or exceeding the appropriate national levels of attainment in listening, talking, reading and writing. Pupils in the early stages were making a very good start to the development of their literacy skills. Pupils were able to collaborate very well on group tasks. They listened attentively to the contributions of others. They could talk clearly and articulately about their ideas and experiences. They were able to write for a variety of purposes and made skilful use of a wide range of vocabulary and styles. Their written work was well structured and neatly presented. In the early years, some pupils produced writing of a high quality for their age and stage. At all stages, pupils read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction and were able to understand the main ideas and information contained in the texts they read.
Mathematics
The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was very good. In recent years, the school had succeeded in raising pupils’ attainment. Almost all pupils were achieving in line with national attainment levels and some were achieving these levels at an earlier stage. Across the school, pupils were making very good progress in coursework. Some required further assistance in reinforcing their knowledge and understanding of aspects which they had covered. At all stages, pupils demonstrated worthwhile skills when undertaking mental calculations and number work. They used and understood a range of graphs to display and interpret information, sometimes using ICT to present their work. They had an extensive knowledge of two and three-dimensional shapes. Pupils throughout the school were confident in using a range of strategies in problem-solving and enquiry activities.
Staff provided very good levels of support for pupils’ care and welfare. They demonstrated a clear understanding of pupils’ pastoral needs and a sensitivity in dealing with their personal or emotional difficulties. They had worked effectively to implement anti-bullying strategies and promote positive behaviour. The school gave very good attention to aspects of health promotion and health education. It planned to introduce a more formal complaints procedure for pupils.
Arrangements for supporting pupils’ learning were very well planned and implemented. Staff promoted achievement successfully through a variety of approaches to addressing pupils’ educational needs, including the needs of higher-achieving pupils. They carefully monitored the progress of pupils experiencing particular difficulties in their learning. Classroom assistants and a supervisory assistant provided very good support. A visiting support for learning teacher made highly valued contributions in assisting pupils. The school had devised individualised educational programmes (IEPs) for a small number of pupils. Short- and long-term targets for individual pupils or groups were not always sufficiently specific for measuring success and planning the next steps for learning.
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Aspect |
Comment |
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Quality of accommodation and facilities |
The overall quality of accommodation and facilities was very good. The school, with the support of the education authority, had undertaken some recent improvements. Strengths included good-sized classrooms and a wide range of facilities to encourage learning. Staff had taken positive action to improve the school’s external environment and pupils had participated in hanging flower baskets in the school grounds. The education authority had long-term plans to repair the surface of the playground which was in poor condition. It also planned to remedy the problems which the school had experienced in accessing the Internet. |
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Climate and relationships, expectations and promoting achievement and equality |
The school had a very positive, supportive and welcoming climate. Pupils identified strongly with the school and were proud to be associated with it. The quality of relationships among pupils and staff was a major strength of the school. Staff had established a strong ethos of achievement and had high expectations concerning pupils’ behaviour, coursework and attainment. The school actively promoted a sense of equality and fairness. There were good opportunities for pupils to participate in assemblies for celebrating achievements and religious observance but these should be undertaken more formally on a weekly basis. |
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Aspect |
Comment |
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Partnership with parents and the community |
Overall, partnerships with parents and the wider community were very good. The school had a very productive relationship with its hard-working and committed School Board. The headteacher communicated well with parents and had earned their respect. There was a variety of relevant opportunities for parents to discuss their children’s progress and other aspects of the work of the school. However, the school’s standards and quality report did not provide sufficiently clear information on the development work being planned and completed by the school. Pupils had a very good range of involvement within the local community, including sporting activities and health promotion events. Staff maintained close links with other primary schools and had involved pupils in an arts project with pupils from a special school. There were well-established arrangements for pupils starting school and for those transferring to secondary school. |
Limerigg Primary School provided a very supportive and stimulating environment in which pupils were making very good progress in all aspects of their coursework. Staff demonstrated a very strong commitment to the well-being of pupils and to promoting a strong sense of community. They had taken successful steps to improve the curriculum and programmes of study and planned to make further improvements. There were very good arrangements to support pupils who were experiencing difficulties in aspects of their work. Standards of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics had improved in recent years. The school should continue to build on these successes by enabling pupils to have higher expectations for their own learning and to be more involved in setting personal learning targets.
The headteacher provided very good leadership. In addition to his post as headteacher, he was the team leader for the local integrated learning community and this position provided him with a knowledge and insight of developments across the education authority. He had a very clear, strategic vision of how he wished the school to develop and had been very successful in taking forward an agenda for improvement. He displayed a very strong commitment to promoting positive behaviour and building a sense of community within the school. He recognised and acknowledged the strengths of his staff and encouraged them to make the best use of their professional skills. His open and approachable style of management had earned him the respect of pupils, parents and staff. He was very well assisted by his teaching and support staff who co-operated effectively and enthusiastically throughout the school day. The individual professional strengths of staff complemented one another and ensured that pupils were very well supported in their learning.
The headteacher ensured that staff participated collaboratively in evaluating the work of the school and that the views of parents were taken into account. Staff were actively engaged in working towards meeting identified priorities for improvement. The quality of pupils’ work and their rates of progress were checked closely. The headteacher made visits to classes to monitor learning and teaching and supported staff in a process of professional review to identify aspects for future staff development. Overall, the arrangements for evaluating the quality of provision had resulted in improvements across learning, teaching and attainment.
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The school and education authority should continue to provide high quality and improving education. In doing so, they should take account of the need to:
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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 visits 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.
Frank O’Hagan
HM Inspector
31 August 2004
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.
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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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Copies of this report have been sent to the headteacher and school staff, the Director of Education Services, 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, Saughton House, Broomhouse Drive, Edinburgh EH11 3XD or by telephoning 0131 244 8437. Copies are also available on our website: www.hmie.gov.uk
Should you wish to comment on or make a complaint about any aspect of the inspection or about this report, you should write in the first instance to Frank Crawford, HMCI at HM Inspectorate of Education, Europa Building, 450 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8LG. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from that office and on our website.
If you are still dissatisfied, you can contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman directly or through your member of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government Departments and Agencies. She will not normally consider your complaint before the HMIE complaints procedure has been used. Instead, she will usually ask you to give us the chance to put matters right if we can.
Complaints to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman must be submitted within 12 months of the date of publication of this report.
The Ombudsman can be contacted at:
Professor Alice Brown
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
4 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7NS
Telephone number: 0870 011 5378
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 2004
HM Inspectorate of Education
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