Our Lady of Peace Primary School
Linwood
Renfrewshire Council

23 October 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

Our Lady of Peace Primary School was inspected in June 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 a group of parents¹.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School is a denominational school serving the community of Linwood and an area of Houston. At the time of the inspection the roll was 266. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was in line with the national average. Pupils’ attendance was in line with 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.

All parents said that the school had a good reputation in the community and that staff made them feel welcome in the school. They thought that teachers set high standards for pupils’ attainment and their children found their work stimulating and challenging. Almost all pupils felt that teachers expected them to work to the best of their ability and explained things clearly. They enjoyed school and felt safe and secure. All staff were very positive about all aspects of the school. They enjoyed working in the school and stated that the school was well led. Around a fifth of support staff wanted to be more involved in the decision-making process.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The school offered a broad and balanced curriculum and provided pupils with a wide range of learning experiences. Staff allocated additional time effectively for an appropriate range of purposes, including active play at the early stages and the consolidation of pupils’ skills in English language and mathematics. They had made a good start to developing cross-curricular links through topic work in environmental studies. The programmes for French, and health education required to be further developed. All pupils received two hours of stimulating physical education (PE) each week in line with national advice. Pupils had well-planned opportunities to develop relevant skills in information and communications technology (ICT). The school should ensure that ICT was further integrated into other areas of the curriculum. All teachers were very well organised and used a variety of teaching approaches successfully to match the different abilities of their pupils. They shared the learning intentions of lessons very effectively with pupils at the start of lessons and consolidated them at the end. All staff gave clear explanations and helpful instructions, used questioning skilfully to reinforce main points and to check pupils’ understanding. In almost all lessons, pupils were actively involved and had opportunities to develop extended answers. Staff used praise very well to encourage pupils to participate and to recognise success. Homework was given and checked regularly and included research tasks.

Almost all pupils listened attentively and were motivated to do well in class. They answered questions enthusiastically and carried out written and practical tasks effectively. At all stages, pupils worked effectively, whether in groups or individually, and knew what they had to learn. They took responsibility for their own learning and often helped each other, for example in project work and presentations. In a minority of lessons, the pace of learning was too slow for higher attaining pupils, and needed to be brisker to challenge them. Pupils at P1 and P2 had good opportunities to be active in their learning, for example, through well-planned play activities.

The school took very effective steps to develop pupils’ wider achievements. At all stages, pupils’ awareness of healthy lifestyles was raised through a number of exciting initiatives such as ‘Health Week’. Most pupils were involved in a variety of out-of-school activities such as the gardening club and team sports. Pupils were given roles of responsibility, for example, those at P7 carried out their playground duties well and at P6, pupils successfully supported P1 younger pupils in their learning. Participation in these activities raised pupils’ self-esteem and helped them to become more confident in working with others. Pupils were actively involved in decision-making through the pupil council. Across the school, pupils developed their skills in citizenship through involvement in a number of activities such as the young achievers club, raising money for charities, and a wide range of community events such as ‘Linwood in 10 years time’. These activities helped pupils to develop organisational and leadership skills. The Sustainable Communities Officer successfully involved pupils in eco-friendly activities such as planting potatoes and tidying up the local environment. These and similar activities had helped the school gain two Eco Schools (Scotland) green flags and raised pupils’ awareness of the global importance of sustainable development.

English language

The overall quality of attainment in English language was good. Levels had fluctuated over the past three years. The majority of pupils were achieving appropriate national levels of attainment or higher, in reading and writing. At all stages, a few pupils were achieving these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Most higher attaining pupils were capable of achieving more in writing and required to be challenged more consistently. Lower attaining pupils were making good progress towards appropriately challenging individual learning targets in writing. The school did not monitor systematically pupils’ progress in listening and talking. Pupils in the early years were developing effective skills in talking through role play within their active play activities. At all stages, pupils talked confidently and at length on a wide range of subjects. Most read fluently, often with good expression. They could read a wide range of texts for enjoyment and made effective use of reference books and computers to find information. Most pupils wrote well for a variety of purposes, including functional writing linked to their topic work. They took pride in the presentation of their work.

Mathematics

The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. Over the last three years, pupils’ attainment in mathematics had fluctuated. Almost all pupils at P3, and most at P4 and P6, were achieving appropriate national levels of attainment. The majority of pupils at P2 and at P5 were achieving these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Overall, pupils were progressing very well in their coursework. At all stages, pupils used ICT effectively to enhance their learning and to help raise their attainment in mathematics. Across the stages, most pupils were confident in handling and displaying data. Those at P5 gathered, recorded and analysed data effectively. At all stages, pupils used well a number of ways of performing mental and written calculations. Those at the early stages were developing effectively their skills and understanding of addition and subtraction. Across the school, pupils could apply their measurement skills appropriately in practical situations. Most had a good understanding of the properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes. At P5, pupils were competent in using compass directions to solve related problems. At all stages, most pupils were able to use a range of strategies to solve problems individually and when working in groups.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

Arrangements to support pupils’ learning were good. The school had a well-developed approach to identify pupils requiring additional support with their learning. The network support teacher and classroom and home support workers planned and worked closely with senior management and class teachers to support pupils effectively. Children with particular learning difficulties were following clear and appropriate learning targets set out in individualised educational programmes (IEPs). The school needed to continue to develop its approaches for the review of IEPs to ensure that pupils were always involved in the review process. Additional resources to support learning were carefully selected by staff to ensure that all pupils had equal and appropriate access to the curriculum.

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.

Our Lady of Peace Primary School provided pupils with a very caring and supportive learning environment. Staff provided them with well-organised and stimulating learning experiences. Overall, pupils were progressing well in their classwork and attainment in English language and mathematics was good. Higher attaining pupils now needed to be further challenged to ensure they reach their full potential and improve their attainment.

The committed, experienced and well-respected headteacher provided the school with very good leadership. He had a clear vision of the school’s priorities for improvement and had effectively taken these forward with the support of staff. The headteacher supported the staff very well in their work and had developed strong teamwork. He had encouraged staff successfully to use a wide variety of learning and teaching strategies. He had used his good interpersonal skills to develop and maintain positive relationships with parents and the wider community. The depute headteacher and principal teacher carried out their responsibilities very effectively to support the headteacher and staff. Promoted staff comprised an effective management team. The headteacher had developed practical approaches to self-evaluation. He had effectively carried out a number of surveys with pupils, parents and staff. The outcomes of surveys had been used wisely to help set priorities for improvement and measure progress made in addressing these. The headteacher and depute headteacher regularly sampled pupil’s classwork, observed learning and teaching and reviewed teachers’ plans. They gave pupils and teachers helpful and evaluative feedback on these aspects. They now needed to ensure that feedback focused on improving the quality of learning. The headteacher tracked pupils’ attainment and discussed their progress with teachers. Staff did not always use assessment information fully to identify action to improve pupils’ performance. With continuing support from the education authority, the school had a good capacity for further improvement.

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.

Hakim Din
HM Inspector

23 October 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 and Leisure, 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.

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.