Leith Primary School and Nursery Class
The City of Edinburgh Council

27 April 2010

HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) inspects schools in order to let parents¹, children and the local community know whether their school² provides a good education. Inspectors also discuss with school staff how they can improve the quality of education.

At the beginning of the inspection, we ask the headteacher and staff about the strengths of the school, what needs to improve, and how they know. We use the information they give us to help us plan what we are going to look at. During the inspection, we go into classes and join other activities in which children are involved. We also gather the views of children, parents, staff and members of the local community. We find their views very helpful and use them together with the other information we have collected to arrive at our view of the quality of education.

This report tells you what we found during the inspection and the quality of education in the school. We describe how well children are doing, how good the school is at helping them to learn and how well it cares for them. We comment on how well staff, parents and children work together and how they go about improving the school. We also comment on how well the school works with other groups in the community, including services which support children. Finally, we focus on how well the school is led and how staff help the school achieve its 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 from children, parents and staff. We will not provide questionnaire analyses where the numbers of returns are so small that they could identify individuals.

Contents

1. The school
2. Particular strengths of the school
3. How well do children learn and achieve?
4. How well do staff work with others to support children's learning?
5. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their school community?
6. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
8. What happens next?

3. How well do children learn and achieve?

Learning and achievement

In the nursery class, children are happy and settled. They are learning their simple routines. Most children play cooperatively and are able to concentrate for extended periods of time on their chosen tasks. They are learning to form friendships and to share and take turns. Staff recognise they now need to involve children in planning and talking about their learning. Across the primary classes, children benefit from good-quality learning experiences. Most children work well together in pairs and small groups, are motivated and are keen to learn. They are at the early stages of identifying targets to improve their own work. Children are becoming independent and can take on some responsibility for their own learning. At almost all stages, children are actively involved in their learning.

In the nursery class, children enjoy learning about the environment. They are developing an understanding of weather and the seasons through regular outdoor experiences. Children are actively involved in eco activities such as composting fruit and, throughout the winter, feeding birds. Across the primary classes, children achieve well both inside and outside the classroom. They are developing a very good awareness of their local area and are active in improving the community. For example, children have campaigned against dog fouling on Leith Links. In P1, children talk enthusiastically about their work on space. Those in P7 are developing positive skills in historical research as they investigate life during the Second World War. Across the school, children can explain what they need to do to keep healthy. At all stages, children’s art work is of a very high standard. Children participate well in sporting events such as basketball and skiing. They are developing useful skills in citizenship through, for example, raising money for several charities. Children show positive qualities of leadership through serving as members of the pupil council and eco committee. They are developing confidence through performance and have successfully performed in a musical production with Scottish Opera called ‘Fever’.

In the nursery class, most children listen well in groups and can follow instructions. Children recognise their name in print on the register board, pegs and snack cards. Some are recognising individual letters and sounds. Children show a positive interest in early writing. Most older children have well-developed pencil control and can write their name. The majority of older children can count to ten and recognise numbers up to five. Across the primary classes, children’s attainment has been variable but with signs of improvement in some aspects recently. Most children attain appropriate national levels in reading and mathematics and the majority do so in writing. Children who are not achieving these levels are making appropriate progress. Standards in listening and talking are secure. In English language, most children listen and talk well to each other when working in groups. Children can discuss books which they enjoy reading and they talk about their favourite authors. Most children enjoy reading for pleasure. At most stages, children write well for a range of purposes. Across the school, children need to write more frequently to improve their skills. In mathematics, most children are accurate in mental and written calculations involving addition and subtraction. They are able to interpret information from charts and graphs and to recognise the properties of shapes. Children use computers well to support their work in mathematics. They are not confident in identifying and using problem-solving strategies.

Curriculum and meeting learning needs

In the nursery class and primary classes, the curriculum is broad and balanced. Staff are making a positive start towards implementing Curriculum for Excellence. In the nursery class, staff plan activities which are based on play and active learning. Children access the garden on a daily basis and staff use the outdoor area to provide different learning experiences. For example, such experiences include children exploring natural materials and planting and growing seeds. Across the classes, staff are linking children’s learning across curriculum areas to more meaningful contexts. They are helping children increasingly to develop literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum. Effective programmes are in place to support children’s learning in the expressive arts. All children do not yet benefit from two hours of good-quality physical education each week. Staff provide very positive experiences for children to develop their skills using computers. They make good use of the local environment and visitors to the school to support children’s learning. At P6, staff provide children with a residential visit to Benmore Outdoor Centre to develop their social skills. Staff do not yet provide consistently challenging activities for children to develop their skills in enterprise.

In the nursery class, children’s learning needs are met well. Almost all children are able to complete tasks successfully. Staff know individual children well and are aware of and sensitive to individual family circumstances. Positive and caring relationships are evident between staff and children. Across the primary stages, tasks and activities are at the right level of difficulty in almost all classes. In most lessons, teachers use assessment and feedback well to match tasks to learning needs. However, children are often not clear enough about their next steps in learning. Teachers share the purpose of lessons and check for understanding at the end. They give clear instructions and helpful explanations. The school has identified the need to review the range and challenge of homework tasks. The school has very clear systems for identifying and supporting children’s individual needs. Learning assistants provide helpful support for groups of children. Teachers and partner agencies are involved in producing relevant plans for children who require additional support with their learning. These plans are reviewed regularly and meet the needs of children effectively.

4. How well do staff work with others to support children’s learning?

The school works well with parents, the local community and other partners to support children’s learning and wellbeing. It has organised a variety of activities, such as curriculum workshops, to encourage parents to be more involved in their children’s learning. The Parent Council is supportive of the work of the school. It has arranged a range of social events including a family ceilidh. The school communicates successfully with parents through weekly informative newsletters and helpful reports on children’s progress. The headteacher consults parents about sensitive aspects of health education. The school works with a range of agencies to enhance children’s learning about health and to support children whose first language is not English. Volunteers from the Scottish Government at Victoria Quay support children with their reading over lunch times. Staff actively encourage the local community to be involved in the life of the school. The school has appropriate procedures in place to deal with any complaints or concerns. Staff support children well to move from the nursery class to P1 and from P7 to S1 at Leith Academy.

5. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their school community?

Children are enthusiastic about taking responsibility around the school. Older children enjoy being prefects and supporting younger children. Children have a say in improving the school through the pupil council and eco committee. Across the school, the teamwork of staff is strong. Staff contribute to the school’s approaches to evaluating its work. Teachers discuss the work of the school and share best practice with each other. The headteacher has introduced a range of strategies to evaluate learning and teaching. Senior staff review teachers’ forward plans and visit classes to see learning taking place. They discuss children’s progress and attainment with teachers. Staff are not yet using information about children’s progress well enough to ensure that learning is consistently of high quality across the school and nursery.

6. Does the school have high expectations of all children?

Children in the nursery and primary classes have good relationships with staff. Staff expectations of achievement and behaviour are high. Children feel safe and staff look after them well. Staff are highly committed to the wellbeing of all children. They are knowledgeable about child protection procedures and support children’s personal and social development very well. Staff take appropriate action if children are absent from school without explanation. The school has appropriate procedures to deal with any instances of inappropriate behaviour. Staff celebrate children’s many achievements at assemblies. They ensure children learn about other cultures by celebrating the diverse nature of the school community. Most children treat each other with respect. In a few lessons, teachers’ expectations of what children can attain are not always high enough. The school has appropriate arrangements for religious observance.

7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?

The headteacher, ably supported by the depute headteacher and principal teacher, has created a very positive climate for learning. Together, they are committed to improving the quality of education for children. As the senior staff team, they provide effective leadership to the school. The headteacher has involved staff successfully in contributing towards continuous improvement. He has developed a shared vision for the school amongst staff. Leith Primary School, with the support of the education authority, has the capacity to continue to improve further.

8. What happens next?

We are confident that, with support from the education authority, the school will be able to make the necessary improvements in light of the inspection findings. As a result, we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. The school and the education authority will inform parents about the school's progress in improving the quality of education.

At the last Care Commission inspection of the nursery class there were four recommendations made, three had been addressed. Improvements to the kitchen area in the nursery are ongoing.

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 Leith Primary School and Nursery Class.

Primary school

Nursery class

We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school and nursery class.

HM Inspector: Alan Urquhart
27 April 2010

When we write reports, we use the following word scale so that our readers can see clearly what our judgments mean.

If you would like to find out more about our inspections or get an electronic copy of this report, please go to www.hmie.gov.uk.

Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format, for example, in a translation, or if you wish to comment about any aspect of our inspections. You can contact us at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at BMCT, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.

Text phone users can contact us on 01506 600 236. This is a service for deaf users. Please do not use this number for voice calls as the line will not connect you to a member of staff.

You can find our complaints procedure on our website www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can contact our Complaints Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.

Where the school has a nursery class, you can contact the Complaints Coordinator, Headquarters, Care Commission, Compass House, Riverside Drive, Dundee DD1 4NY, telephone 0845 603 0890.

Crown Copyright 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education

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.
2. The term ‘school’ includes the nursery class or classes where appropriate.