St Michael’s Primary School
Port Glasgow
Inverclyde 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

St Michael’s 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), a group of parents¹ and others who made regular contributions to the work of the school.

St Michael’s Primary School is a denominational school serving the Woodhall, Kelburn, Mid Auchenleck and Devol areas of Port Glasgow. At the time of the inspection the roll was 273. In 2004, the education authority merged Holy Family Primary School with St Michael’s Primary School and refurbished the St Michael’s building. It reopened in 2006. 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, pupils and staff were very positive about almost all aspects of the school. Parents thought that the school had a good reputation in the community and was well led. They felt that their children enjoyed being at school, and that there was a high degree of mutual respect between teachers and pupils. Pupils thought that teachers explained things clearly and helped them when they had difficulties with their work. A significant number thought that arrangements for selecting pupils to take on extra responsibilities could be fairer and should involve more pupils. Staff liked working in the school and appreciated the frequent celebration of pupils’ successes. They thought that communication between senior managers and staff was effective and that the school was well led.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The very good curriculum provided pupils with a suitably broad and balanced experience. It gave appropriate attention at all stages to developing pupils’ skills in enterprise and citizenship. Pupils’ work had won the education authority’s gold award for enterprise. The school had improved programmes in English language and mathematics and this was helping to raise pupils’ attainment. Pupils benefited from new approaches to active learning through play at P1 and P2. The school was successfully increasing the time allocated to physical education (PE) to two hours each week for all pupils. Well-planned visits and contributions from visitors enriched pupils’ learning. The quality of teaching had important strengths. Teachers organised lessons well and gave clear explanations and instructions. They interacted well with pupils and were extending their use of questioning to develop and challenge pupils’ thinking. They were developing helpful approaches to sharing with pupils what they were expected to learn and how to achieve success. In taking this forward, teachers were well placed to build on examples of existing good practice in using learning aims to make pupils aware of the skills they were developing.

The quality of learning was very good. Pupils demonstrated successful learning across a wide range of activities, and shared what they had learned with others at assemblies. They worked conscientiously with minimum supervision and were enthusiastic about their learning. They collaborated well in paired and group tasks. At P1 and P2, pupils interacted well and helped each other during creative role play activities, and in finding solutions to practical problems. Pupils at P5 worked together productively to compile a comprehensive display on travel to demonstrate what they had learned from their enterprise topic. At all stages, pupils’ effective use of information and communications technology (ICT) in a variety of contexts was a key strength. They produced a range of spreadsheets and databases, word processed stories, poems and reports well and used the Internet effectively for research. They used interactive whiteboards confidently to enhance their learning. Pupils worked well with teachers to maintain a good pace of learning.

The school promoted pupils’ wider achievements very effectively. At all stages, pupils demonstrated a range of skills and developed high levels of confidence and self-esteem. At P5, pupils performed at two concerts with Scottish Opera in the Port Glasgow town hall, using skills developed during coaching workshops. In addition, pupils at P3 to P7 had achieved success in recitation and singing at the Greenock Festival and Burns Competition. The effective pupil council and junior road safety officers helped pupils develop good citizenship skills. Pupils’ involvement in playground initiatives, games and activities had helped the school win the Provost’s Playground Award in 2006. The efforts of the enthusiastic Eco group and gardening club, and other pupils from across the school had contributed significantly to the school’s silver Eco School Scotland Award. Many pupils developed their fitness and team-working skills by participating in a variety of after-school sports activities. At P7, pupils developed a range of personal and team skills further during an outdoor education week.

English language

The overall quality of attainment in English language was very good, and had improved over the past two years. Pupils made good progress in their classwork. Most attained appropriate national levels in listening, talking, reading and writing. At most stages, an increasing number of pupils achieved these levels earlier than might normally be expected. Across the school, pupils listened attentively to each other and teachers. They provided full answers during class and group discussions. Pupils’ attainment in talking was very good and the majority exceeded expected national levels. At P6, pupils discussed a range of topics confidently and built well on each other’s ideas. At all stages, pupils read a good range of fiction and non-fiction regularly, and spoke enthusiastically about favourite books and authors. They wrote frequently for a range of purposes and audiences. At P2, P5 and P7, for example, pupils wrote ‘mini books’ which they shared with pupils at other stages. Across the school, a strong feature of pupils’ writing was its well-chosen vocabulary. This set the scene and created characters and mood effectively in personal and imaginative writing. At all stages, pupils presented their work neatly and accurately.

Mathematics

The overall quality of attainment in mathematics was good and had improved in the last two years. Most pupils achieved appropriate national levels of attainment. Increasing numbers attained these levels earlier than might normally be expected, particularly at P2 and P3. Almost all pupils were making good progress in their classwork. Across the school, pupils organised and presented information in graphs and tables accurately. At P4, for example, pupils planned a camping trip using spreadsheets to calculate costs. At P5, they used databases and computer-generated bar graphs well in their gardening topic. At all stages, pupils were confident in written and mental calculation and demonstrated a good understanding of number, money and measurement. They were less secure with decimals and fractions. Across the school, pupils had a good understanding of shape, position and movement. At the early stages, pupils identified and discussed the properties of common two- and three-dimensional shapes. Across the school, pupils were developing good skills for solving problems. Pupils used their mathematical skills regularly across the curriculum. Examples included the calculation of costs, target sales and profits within enterprise, and graphs of the rate of cooling water as part of a science investigation.

5. How well are pupils’ learning needs met?

The school had very good arrangements to meet pupils’ needs. Teachers used their knowledge of pupils well to target support for individuals and groups. They varied teaching approaches and resources well, including the use of ICT, to meet different learning needs. Pupils were benefiting from improved approaches to providing them with focused feedback. Teachers had also begun to involve them in assessing their own and each other’s work. These activities were helping pupils to understand their strengths and identify ways to improve. Classroom assistants and auxiliaries for pupils with additional support needs provided very effective support for pupils and teachers. The nursery nurse supported the development of pupils’ literacy, numeracy, problem solving and social skills very well. The school had effective approaches to help to develop pupils’ reading skills. These included a paired reading programme and a very good range of support provided in the school library. The specialist assistance of visiting teachers for pupils with specific additional support needs, including profoundly deaf pupils, helped them to make very good progress. Staff from the East Inverclyde integrated community school and educational support agencies provided effective assistance for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural problems.

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 Michael’s Primary School provided a very effective education for its pupils, which successfully developed their enthusiasm for learning and raised their achievement. Pupils and staff were very proud of the school. Staff were caring and committed to pupils’ welfare, and teamwork across the school was highly effective. Pupils’ attainment had improved and many achieved national levels earlier than might normally be expected. In addition, pupils achieved success in a wide range of activities within and beyond the school day. The school had won a gold award for enterprise and a silver Eco School Scotland Award.

The headteacher provided very effective leadership. Her clear vision and enthusiasm had won the respect of pupils, staff, parents and the wider community. She had developed very effective partnerships to provide high quality support for pupils’ learning, and imaginative and stimulating learning experiences for pupils. She had managed change effectively, following the school’s merger and refurbishment, and involved staff and pupils in agreeing school priorities for improvement. The depute headteacher was held in very high regard and supported the headteacher, pupils and staff very effectively. The principal teacher, in her role as enterprise coordinator, and staff involved in working groups were taking school improvements forward successfully. The school had good arrangements for evaluating the quality of its work.

These included systematic monitoring of learning and teaching by the headteacher and depute who provided teachers with constructive feedback. Senior managers reviewed pupils’ work in detail with teachers at class progress meetings each term. These discussions led to well-judged action plans for further improvement and informed a helpful standards and quality report for parents. The school was well placed to build on existing strengths to continue to improve the quality of its provision.

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.

Mary Ritchie
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 Corporate Director: Education and Social Care, 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.