St Cuthbert’s Primary School
Maybole
South Ayrshire Council

4 September 2007

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 Cuthbert’s Primary School was inspected in May 2007 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 innovation, and its 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 parents’ association (PA) and a group of parents¹.

St Cuthbert’s Primary School is a denominational school serving Maybole and the surrounding area. At the time of the inspection the roll was 52. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was 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 expressed positive views about the school. They felt that it had a very good ethos and strong sense of community. They thought that it provided a safe and supportive environment for their children. They regarded the headteacher and her staff as being very approachable, and were confident that any issues raised would be dealt with effectively. Pupils were proud of their school and enjoyed being there. They felt safe and very well looked after. They participated enthusiastically in the work of the pupil council and the eco committee and felt that they had a say in making decisions. All staff enjoyed working in the school and thought that they operated very effectively as a team. They appreciated the enthusiasm and positive attitudes of pupils. Visiting staff felt very welcome in the school. Pupils, parents and staff all commented very favourably on the recent improvements to the school brought about by the new headteacher.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The overall structure of the curriculum was good. The school had recently improved several programmes of study to ensure pupils were provided with a broad and balanced educational experience. These improvements were already having a positive impact on pupils’ learning and attainment. Whilst the school was not yet able to offer the full two hours recommended for physical education, staff had significantly increased the time allocated to it. They had revised the programme to improve the quality and range of pupils’ experiences. Staff made good use of visits and visitors to enhance pupils’ learning. At the early stages, teachers were making effective use of new resources and strategies to encourage children to learn through play. They gave appropriate attention at all stages to developing pupils’ skills in personal, social and health education (PSHE). They were making very effective use of environmental studies contexts to provide appropriate cross-curricular work for pupils. Teachers planned well for lessons and used a variety of approaches, activities and resources. They were making increasingly effective use of information and communications technology (ICT) to support pupils’ learning across the curriculum. At all stages, they gave clear explanations and used questions effectively. They shared the aims of lessons with pupils and also reviewed with pupils what had been learned. Pupils were given appropriate homework tasks.

Pupils were actively engaged in their activities in all lessons and needed very little encouragement to remain on task. They were very well behaved and well motivated to work. They willingly took responsibility for aspects of their own work and tackled extension exercises or additional tasks with enthusiasm. Teachers provided many opportunities for pupils to work together in groups and pairs. Pupils responded well to these opportunities and also, when given the chance, to learn independently. Staff were developing ways of extending these opportunities, particularly through greater use of ICT. All lessons were conducted at a good pace, and pupils were set clear targets for completing tasks.

The school encouraged pupils to develop and extend their wider achievements. Pupils at all stages were developing their awareness of aspects of citizenship through the programme for PSHE, enterprise initiatives and the Eco Schools (Scotland) programme. The recent fund-raising project in association with a national charity had contributed very effectively to pupils’ awareness of global citizenship. Pupils serving on the pupil council and eco committee, and those acting as junior road safety officers or buddies for younger pupils took these responsibilities very seriously. Pupils at all stages benefited from a range of educational visits. Those at P7 had enjoyed a very successful residential trip to an outdoor activities centre through which they had extended their personal and social skills. Large numbers of pupils participated in a school show and musical events at the local church. An increasing proportion of pupils participated enthusiastically in a wide range of after school clubs and activities, including football, cheerleading for girls and an art club.

English language

The overall quality of attainment in English language was good. Levels of attainment were now improving after a recent decline. Most pupils were achieving appropriate national levels of attainment in listening, talking, reading and writing. A few were achieving these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Across the school, pupils listened attentively to staff. They were articulate and able to convey information clearly. At the upper stages, pupils could support a point of view confidently. They were less skilled when taking part in group discussions. Most pupils enjoyed reading books and had responded positively to the school’s approaches to promoting reading. They read fluently and understood the main points of texts they had read. Pupils were making good progress in developing their skills in writing. At all stages, pupils wrote for a variety of purposes. They were developing a good understanding of the use of descriptive language and the organisation of ideas. Overall, however, pupils needed more opportunities to develop extended pieces of writing.

Mathematics

The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. In recent years, levels of attainment had declined but were now improving. Across the stages, most pupils were achieving appropriate levels of attainment. At P2 and P6, some pupils had achieved these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Pupils were making very good progress in their coursework. Pupils could construct and interpret an appropriate variety of types of graph. By P7, almost all performed very well in written and mental calculations, and were developing a good understanding of number, money and measurement. They had good knowledge of symmetry and could discuss the properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes with confidence. Across the stages, pupils were developing good skills in problem-solving and enquiry and were aware of appropriate strategies. They were able to identify and apply appropriate strategies effectively in new situations.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

Across the curriculum, teachers planned tasks and activities appropriate to the needs of all pupils. They used a wide range of resources to ensure that pupils were engaged in activities appropriate to their interests and abilities. Teachers and support staff employed a range of strategies to identify pupils’ learning needs and improve their literacy and numeracy skills. They provided a high standard of support for those pupils experiencing difficulties with aspects of their learning. As a result of the school’s approaches, pupils were making very good progress from their previous levels of attainment. Teachers took full account of the needs of higher achieving pupils by providing them with interesting and challenging extension activities. The visiting support for learning teacher provided well-judged and helpful support for individual pupils and groups with specific needs. She liaised regularly with staff on strategies and progress. The school had used additional staffing very effectively to support learning at P1 to P3. Staff had developed individualised educational programmes for a small number of pupils with specific learning needs. They set clearly stated learning targets, reviewed pupils’ progress regularly, and discussed progress with parents.

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 Cuthbert’s Primary School had undergone significant changes in the past two years. Following the appointment of the new headteacher eighteen months previously, there had been several other changes to staffing. Since then, the headteacher and her staff had been supported by the education authority in successfully introducing and developing new approaches to learning and teaching, and significant improvements to programmes of study. Staff provided a very caring and supportive environment for learning. They had been successful in halting a decline in attainment and gradually improving performance in English language and mathematics. The school had developed pupils’ wider achievements through, for example, enterprise and environmental education initiatives.

The headteacher provided very good leadership in taking forward major changes in the school’s provision. She had established very strong teamwork amongst all staff, and made significant improvements to the work of the school. She had provided good guidance to teachers, and very good support and advice for all staff to achieve sustainable improvement. Her own teaching was a model of good practice. She had demonstrated effective approaches in the teaching of mathematics and writing. Staff had very good procedures for evaluating the work of the school. The headteacher operated an annual calendar of activities designed to monitor and evaluate the work of staff and pupils. She had observed the classroom practice of all staff and provided them with helpful written feedback. Teachers had responded to the advice given and were improving their approaches as a result. The headteacher evaluated teachers’ forward plans and provided teachers with helpful feedback and advice. The headteacher and class teachers regularly sampled and assessed pupils’ attainment and progress. The school had used information gathered from consultations with pupils, parents and staff to identify priorities for improvement and prepare an evaluative report on standards and quality. The headteacher had used the outcomes from annual reviews of staff to identify training needs and staff had undertaken a wide range of professional development activities. Overall, the school was very well placed to continue to improve.

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. Within two years of the publication of this report the education authority, working with the school, will provide a progress report to parents.

Jim Bruce

HM Inspector

4 September 2007

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, Culture and Lifelong Learning, 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, Europa Building, 450 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8LG or by telephoning 0141 242 0100. 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 Unit, 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 2007

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.

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