HM Inspectorate of Education
Unit 7, Ground Floor Suite, Blair Court, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank G81 2LA
t 0141 435 3550
f 0141 435 3555
e hmie.clydebank@hmie.gsi.gov.uk
w www.hmie.gov.uk
23 August 2011
Dear Parent/Carer
Clydemuir Primary School
West Dunbartonshire Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I visited and inspected your child’s school. Throughout our visit we talked to many parents and children and we worked closely with the headteacher and staff. We wanted to find out how well children were learning and achieving and how well the school supported children to do their best. The headteacher shared with us the school’s successes and priorities for improvement. We looked at some particular aspects of the school’s recent work including how staff help children to link up areas of their learning, the ways in which children are actively involved in their learning, how the school develops leadership skills and what helps the school to improve. As a result, we were able to find out how good the school was at improving children’s education. I would now like to tell you what we found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
We found that your children learn and achieve very well, in and beyond the classroom. They are enthusiastic about their learning and keen to do well. Across the school, children talk confidently about the different ways they learn and what helps them to succeed. They feel safe in school and know that staff value their ideas and opinions. They enjoy discussing how they can use what they already know to find out more about the world. Children work very well with each other and at those times when they need to think things through on their own. They enjoy taking on responsibilities. For example, they take their roles in group work and as committee members seriously and share ideas confidently with others. As you know, they have helped the school to achieve three Eco-Schools Scotland green flags. Through a new programme in sports leadership, children are developing confidence and skills by helping younger children and promoting physical fitness. Children show how creative they are in a variety of ways, from school shows, displays of art work and song writing, to making films and animations. Children also achieve very well in English and mathematics, and they are making particularly good progress in their writing. They use their literacy skills very well across different areas of their learning. This is helping them to develop confidence in using their numeracy skills in different situations too. Children are making good progress across their learning. At all stages, children have a very good understanding of health and wellbeing. They show a high degree of respect for themselves, each other and adults who work in and visit the school.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
We think that the school supports your children well. Staff and children have created a very positive atmosphere around the school and this encourages everyone to do their best. Children occasionally have activities which do not challenge them enough to use what they already know or to take their thinking further. However, something which is helping them to learn very well is the way teachers link learning with real‑life situations. This is encouraging children to think about how they can use what they are learning in their lives outside school. Staff know your children well and are very sensitive to their needs. For example, a new approach to reading helps and challenges very successful readers to raise their achievement even further. The very effective learning support team helps children with difficulties in their learning to make very good progress. This team is very well led by the depute headteacher, and the skilful learning assistants give children well‑planned support. The network support teacher and visiting specialists also work very successfully with the school to help children with individualised learning plans achieve their goals. Teachers are working very well together to plan experiences which will prepare all children for their later lives. For example, well‑planned financial education is helping children across the stages to develop a good understanding of how to manage money. As a result of all that staff are doing to help children learn well, we think that the next step should be for the school to involve children even more in identifying their strengths and what they need to do to improve.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We are confident that the school is very well placed to continue to improve the quality of its work. Everyone is ambitious for the school. The very effective headteacher has encouraged a culture of shared leadership to improve the school. Children play an important part in identifying what works well and what could be better. Teachers and senior managers track children’s progress very carefully. They use what they find to plan how to help individual children and to set targets for school improvement. The school’s very strong links with parents mean that it also has broad support from you and the wider community. Staff have developed well‑organised ways of reviewing and improving their work, and have also taken on leadership roles themselves to help the school move forward. Working very well together, children and staff have identified very well-judged targets for school improvement. The school is well on its way to meeting these targets.
Our inspection of your school found the following key strengths.
We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to improve the school. This is what we agreed with them.
What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are very satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that the school’s very good self‑evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a result, we will make no further visits in connection with this inspection. The local authority will inform parents about the school’s progress as part of the authority’s arrangements for reporting to parents on the quality of its schools.
Mary Ritchie
HM Inspector
23 August 2011
Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations, for your school can be found on the HMIE website at http://www.hmie.gov.uk/ViewEstablishment.aspx?id=8318&type=2.
You can find our complaints procedure on our website www.hmie.gov.uk. Alternatively you can contact our Complaints Manager at HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA or by telephoning 01506 600259.