St David’s Primary School
Airdrie
North Lanarkshire Council

1 May 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 David’s Primary School was inspected in January 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 parent-teacher association (PTA) and some parents¹.

St David’s Primary School is a denominational school serving the village of Plains. At the time of the inspection the roll was 156, including 49 children in the nursery class. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was above the national average. Pupils’ attendance was below the national average.

The school was due to relocate to a joint campus with Plains Primary School before the end of session 2006/2007.

The work of the nursery class was not included in this inspection.

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, pupils and staff were highly satisfied with almost all aspects of the school’s work. Parents felt their children enjoyed being at school and the school had a good reputation in the community. They agreed that parents’ evenings were very helpful and that children were treated fairly and with care by staff. Pupils were proud of their school and enjoyed being there. They liked making decisions about how to make the school better. Most pupils thought that behaviour in the school was very good. They felt that teachers explained things clearly and praised them when they did something well. Pupils were looking forward to moving to their new school building. Teachers and support staff enjoyed working in the school and they thought it was well led. Teachers felt pupils were enthusiastic about their learning. A few teachers felt aspects of communication could be improved.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The school provided pupils with a good curriculum which was broad and well balanced. Teachers used curriculum flexibility time well to improve pupils’ skills in English language and mathematics. The recent focus on enterprise education and citizenship had been successful in promoting a positive awareness of global issues. The emphasis which the school had placed on sustainable development was helping improve pupils’ knowledge of energy saving and recycling. The school had made a good start to providing additional time for physical education in line with national advice. Teachers had recently introduced play activities at the early stages. However, they now needed to improve opportunities for choice and independence. Teaching approaches had important strengths. Teachers were very well organised and planned their lessons carefully. They gave clear explanations and made good use of praise to build pupils’ confidence. Most teachers were skilled in using questions to check pupils’ understanding. They made effective use of direct, interactive teaching, particularly in English language. However, some teachers did not involve pupils sufficiently in reviewing what they had learned. They provided a varied range of homework activities for pupils.

The quality of pupils’ learning was good. Almost all pupils were motivated and keen to learn. The pace of learning varied across the school and in a few classes it was too slow. Pupils responded confidently when working collaboratively in pairs and small groups. At P7, pupils worked very well together during a French lesson where they learned about animal names. Pupils in a P2 class responded very well to a challenge to find and sort capital letters. Pupils were gaining confidence and skill in using information and communications technology (ICT). Senior pupils were confident in their use of the Internet to find and present information about Robert Burns. Pupils made good use of ICT for some tasks in English language and mathematics. However, they did have enough experiences of using ICT in other curricular areas.

The school had taken very good steps to help pupils develop their wider achievements. At all stages, pupils were making steady progress in developing self-confidence and self-esteem. The school highlighted and celebrated pupils’ many achievements in a variety of ways. These included attractive displays in classrooms and the entrance hall, at assemblies and through the use of a points system. Pupils expressed their views confidently on school issues through the active pupil council and Eco Committee. They had successfully introduced a ‘Golden Table’ to reward pupils for good behaviour and organised recycling activities involving pupils, parents and the community. Senior pupils supported the youngest pupils in the playground and acted as buddies to help new pupils settle into school. At all stages, pupils and staff contributed effectively to projects linked to the Eco School accreditation scheme and the Health Promoting School initiative through healthy eating and a range of after school activities. All pupils were developing their enterprise skills by raising funds for local and international charities. In addition, every class successfully organised a coffee morning for parents after the First Friday Mass.

English language

Pupils’ attainment in English language was good. In recent years, standards of attainment had remained steady in reading but had declined in writing. At all stages, almost all pupils were achieving appropriate national levels in reading and most were doing so in listening, talking and writing. Some pupils, particularly at the upper stages were capable of higher standards in writing. Pupils with additional support needs were progressing well. Almost all pupils listened attentively to instructions and explanations. At P5, when discussing in pairs and in groups, most pupils participated well and responded appropriately by contributing their ideas and opinions. Pupils at P6 and P7 were particularly skilful in these aspects. At most stages pupils had presented interesting talks to classmates. Pupils were making good progress in reading. By P7, pupils were fluent and confident readers. They could describe key features of books they had chosen to read for enjoyment. At all stages, pupils were beginning to write for a wider range of purposes. However, pupils were not consistently clear about how to improve their writing. Standards of presentation of written work were good.

Mathematics

The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. In recent years, standards of attainment in national assessments had declined. Pupils at the early stages were making good progress with almost all at P2 and P3 achieving national levels of achievement earlier than expected. At the middle and upper stages, a majority achieved appropriate levels. Most pupils coped well with class work. However, a few higher attaining pupils were capable of achieving higher standards. At all stages, pupils were able to identify and interpret a variety of graphs from an appropriate range of sources. They would benefit from further opportunities to use ICT to enhance their learning and to create databases and spreadsheets. At all stages, pupils had well-developed skills in mental calculations. At P4, pupils could use and apply multiplication tables and sequences of numbers. By P7, they could work confidently with notation to millions and beyond and were beginning to understand some of the relationships between fractions, decimals and percentages. Pupils were competent in understanding the properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes. At all stages, pupils’ knowledge of strategies for problem-solving and enquiry were less well developed.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

The school provided effective support for pupils’ learning. Teachers and support staff were attentive to the needs of those who required additional support in their learning. However, teachers did not always provide appropriately challenging activities which were matched to the needs of all pupils. Well-established links with health personnel, social work and the education authority’s psychological services ensured effective support for individual pupils. The principal teacher and network support teacher provided appropriate support to identified pupils in developing skills in literacy and numeracy. A number of pupils at all stages were being supported by individualised educational programmes (IEPs) with clearly stated targets. However, the deployment of classroom assistants was not effective in supporting the specific needs of individuals and small groups of pupils within classes. The school had effective arrangements in place to support pupils as they moved from P7 to secondary school. Arrangements for children’s transition from nursery to P1 were in place but these had not impacted effectively enough on learning experiences of pupils in P1.

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 David’s Primary School provided good quality education for its pupils within a very caring and supportive environment. Staff were committed to the school. They worked well together and provided good support for each other. All staff made effective use of praise to motivate and encourage pupils. Pupils were polite, confident and very well behaved. The overall quality of learning and teaching was good. Pupils’ attainment in English language and mathematics was good. There was scope for further improvement in writing and aspects of mathematics. The school had the capacity to ensure ongoing improvement.

The headteacher led the school well. Her open and approachable leadership style was highly respected by staff, pupils and parents. In her three and a half years in post, she had demonstrated a clear vision for the future development of the school. She had successfully led improvements in the curriculum and with support from staff had improved the environment for learning. The principal teacher fulfilled her remit well and staff valued her support and helpful advice. She had been successful in leading the development of the school’s programme for health education. The school’s approaches to monitoring the quality of its work were adequate. The headteacher had recently involved staff in reviewing the work of the school and identifying priorities for development. The headteacher and principal teacher worked well with teachers to review teaching plans and to sample pupils’ work. They provided oral and written feedback on teachers’ plans. However, the feedback was not sufficiently focused on securing improvements to teaching and learning. They now needed to introduce more formal procedures, including effective classroom observation to evaluate the quality of learning and teaching in classes.

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 one year of the publication of this report the school and education authority will provide a report on progress made on self-evaluation. Within two years of the publication of this report parents will be informed about the progress made by the school.

Marion Burns
HM Inspector

1 May 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 Leisure and 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

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 Chris McIlroy, Acting 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.

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.