27 January 2009
This report tells you about the quality of education at the school1. We describe how children benefit from learning there. We explain how well they are doing and how good the school is at helping them to learn. Then we look at the ways in which the school does this. We describe how well the school works with other groups in the community, including parents2 and services which support children. We also comment on how well staff and children work together and how they go about improving the school.
Our report describes the ‘ethos’ of the school. By ‘ethos’ we mean the relationships in the school, how well children are cared for and treated and how much is expected of them in all aspects of school life. Finally, we comment on the school’s aims. In particular, we focus on how well the aims help staff to deliver high quality learning, and the impact of leadership on the school’s success in achieving these aims.
If you would like to learn more about our inspection of the school, please visit www.hmie.gov.uk. Here you can find analyses of questionnaire returns. Where applicable, you will also be able to find descriptions of good practice in the school.
1. The school
2. Particular strengths of the school
3. Example of good practice
4. How well do children learn and achieve?
5. How well do staff work with others to support children’s learning?
6. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their school community?
7. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
9. What happens next?
3. Example of good practice
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Learning and achievement
Children are making very good progress in English language and mathematics. Over the last few years the school has improved standards of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. Across the school, almost half of the children are achieving national levels of attainment earlier than would normally be expected. Children’s skills in listening and talking are developing well. They are able to take turns and listen to each other’s views and opinions. At all stages children are reading well. They are also writing for a variety of purposes and are able to discuss novels and poems that they have read and enjoyed. In mathematics, children are accurate in oral work and can respond quickly to mental calculations involving multiplication tables. They are becoming more confident in working together to solve problems. Across the school, children experience interesting and varied work which is helping them to develop skills and understanding and become very successful learners. Those at P6 and P7 have developed a sound understanding of global issues through their involvement in the Make Poverty History campaign. All children are developing very good skills in environmental studies and enterprise. They are increasing their understanding of other faiths and beliefs through the school’s anti-sectarian initiative. At all stages children are keen to learn. They show very good skills in working as part of a group or team.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Staff have made a very good start to developing aspects of the national initiative, Curriculum for Excellence. They have worked with other schools in the cluster to introduce the new numeracy outcomes to children. Staff are enthusiastically developing approaches to active learning and both staff and children use interactive whiteboards appropriately to make learning more interesting. Programmes in literacy and numeracy provide children with very high quality experiences. The programme for physical education needs to be improved and teachers should follow it more consistently. Too little time is spent on physical education. There are too few computers and information and communications technology (ICT) is not yet well developed in classes to support the progressive development of children’s ICT skills.
In classes, teachers meet children’s learning needs very well. The learning support teacher provides well-judged support to children who require additional help with their learning. Vulnerable children are well monitored and very well supported in school. Teachers take good account of children’s next steps in learning when planning activities. They give clear explanations and share the purpose of lessons with children. They encourage them to think about what they need to do to improve. Teachers provide most children with activities that are suitably challenging. They promote opportunities for children to be creative and independent in their thinking, and to evaluate their own and others’ work. Teachers develop children’s personal and social skills very effectively through a wide range of activities including fund raising, community events and enterprise activities. For example, children across the school are recording a CD of Christmas songs to sell to the local community. Children at all stages learn how to be healthy and to keep themselves safe. They have many opportunities to take part in after-school clubs including mathematics challenges, a "radio waves" club and art and craft activities. The school has been successful in gaining three gold awards for enterprise and is working towards a platinum award. The school has also achieved a silver Eco-School Scotland award.
Staff keep parents well informed about their children’s progress. They involve parents fully in reviewing learning targets in children’s personal learning plans. Parents receive regular curriculum bulletins and have opportunities to take part in a range of workshops. Parents give very valuable support as classroom helpers and review their children’s work which is sent home regularly. Parents are very satisfied with the school. They believe that school develops their child’s confidence well. A few would welcome more information on their child’s progress. The Parent Council provides the school with very good support. The school works very effectively with other agencies and organisations. Staff have very effective arrangements in place to help children transfer from nursery to primary school and from P7 to Armadale Academy. There are enhanced transition arrangements in place for vulnerable children who require additional support.
Children are actively involved in helping to improve their school. Each class has a committee which links with the wider school council to take forward ideas and developments. Many suggestions from the children have been put in place. Older children help younger ones as buddies and all children can use the school’s suggestion box. Staff are highly committed to improving further the quality of learning and teaching. All teaching staff serve on school working groups and all contribute to the school’s improvement plan. Most teaching staff feel valued and fully consulted. They take part in helpful training, share ideas and work very effectively as a team in taking forward new developments. As individuals, class teachers reflect on their own work and take part in evaluating the work of others. Some support staff do not always feel valued or fully involved in decision making. The headteacher should build on existing team work to involve all members of the school community more fully.
Staff have created a very caring and supportive learning environment. They have high expectations of what children can achieve. All children are treated fairly and with respect. Staff know children very well and meet their emotional, physical and social needs very effectively. Children work very well with each other. They are proud of their achievements which are recognised at assemblies and displayed around the school. Staff are committed to ensuring the well-being and safety of all children and almost all children feel safe in school. The school has clear and detailed anti-bullying guidelines in place. Staff provided good advice to help children deal with any disagreements with others. The school should ensure children and parents have regular reminders of these procedures. Almost all staff are knowledgeable about child protection procedures and understand their responsibilities clearly. The education authority should ensure catering staff have access to child protection training.
The headteacher, depute headteacher and staff have a very clear vision for the school. Staff work very effectively together as a team. The headteacher has taken very effective steps to evaluate the work of the school and identify what it needs to do to improve children’s learning experiences. There is a clear and detailed plan in place to ensure action points are taken forward. Staff are involved in evaluating their teaching and seeking ways to improve it. All teaching staff show commitment to improving children’s learning and are keen to develop their own skills and share good practice with each other. Learning, attainment and achievement have improved as a result of very good self-evaluation and very effective tracking of children’s progress. The school is very well placed to improve further.
As a result of the very good quality of education provided by the school, we will make no further visits following this inspection. The education 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.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school and education authority.
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Quality indicators help schools and nursery classes, education authorities and inspectors to judge what is good and what needs to be improved in the work of a school and a nursery class. You can find these quality indicators in the HMIE publications How good is our school? and The Child at the Centre. Following the inspection of each school, the Scottish Government gathers evaluations of three important quality indicators to keep track of how well all Scottish schools and nursery classes are doing.
Here are the evaluations for Eastertoun Primary School
Improvements in performance |
very good |
Learners’ experiences |
very good |
Meeting learning needs |
very good |
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school
The curriculum |
good |
Improvement through self-evaluation |
very good |
HM Inspector: May Geddes
27 January 2009
To find out more about inspections or get an electronic copy of this report go to www.hmie.gov.uk. Please contact the Business Management and Communications Team (BMCT) if you wish to enquire about our arrangements for translated or other appropriate versions.
If you wish to comment about any of our inspections, contact us at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or alternatively you should write in the first instance to BMCT, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure is available from our website www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can write to our Complaints Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
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 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 at www.spso.org.uk.
This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements made by inspectors.
| excellent | outstanding, sector leading |
| very good | major strengths |
| good | important strengths with some areas for improvement |
| satisfactory | strengths just outweigh weaknesses |
| weak | important weaknesses |
| unsatisfactory | major weaknesses |
Crown Copyright 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education
1. The term ‘school’ is used to include the work of the nursery class, where relevant.
2. Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to include foster carers, residential care staff and carers who are relatives or friends.