Moray Primary School and Nursery Class
Grangemouth
Falkirk 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

Children are motivated and keen to learn. In the nursery, children make choices in their play and concentrate well on their chosen activity. They do not yet have enough responsibility for planning their own learning. Across the primary stages, children learn well together and are enthusiastic about working with each other as part of group activities. They are beginning to develop their awareness of what they are good at and what they need to do to improve their learning.

The school takes effective steps to develop children’s achievement in a wide range of areas. Children demonstrate self-confidence and positive attitudes towards others. They benefit from taking part in a variety of lunch time and after-school clubs, including arts and crafts, debating, gardening and sports. In the nursery, children are becoming confident in using a range of ICT. They are developing their creativity well through, for example, investigating sounds made by a range of percussion instruments. In the enhanced provision, children are developing their personal and social skills effectively. Across the other classes, children have well-developed skills in ICT. For example, they demonstrate confidence in using video cameras to create interesting films.

In the nursery, children are making very good progress in their learning. Most children recognise their name in print. They are developing their confidence when talking to adults and each other. Most are attempting to write their name. In early mathematics, children recognise numbers and most can count orally to ten. They can identify days of the week and are developing their awareness of times within the day. Children in the enhanced provision are making steady progress towards meeting their learning targets. Across the primary stages, children are making good progress in English language and mathematics. Most achieve appropriate national levels of attainment in reading and mathematics and the majority do so in writing. The school is addressing a recent decline in attainment in English and mathematics. Children are developing their skills in reading well. Most read fluently and with good expression. They write well for a variety of purposes and in a range of contexts. In mathematics, children’s skills in performing mental calculations are well developed. They have a secure understanding of shape, position and movement. Children’s skills in problem solving are being developed steadily.

Curriculum and meeting learning needs

Staff are improving the curriculum by taking account of Curriculum for Excellence. They are planning ways for children to develop their literacy and numeracy skills in other areas of learning. In the nursery, staff plan opportunities for children to learn through play. They make good use of the outdoor area to enhance children’s learning. Across the primary stages, staff are exploring ways to provide children with more choice, including asking children what they would like to learn as part of social studies topics. Teachers plan a variety of ways for children to develop their skills in citizenship and enterprise education. In the enhanced provision, staff adapt the curriculum very well to take account of each child’s learning needs. Children benefit from working with their peers in other classes for aspects of the curriculum. Children do not yet receive two hours of high-quality physical education each week.

Staff know children very well. They give helpful explanations and share the purpose of lessons with children. In the nursery, staff meet children’s learning needs well. They plan activities at the right level of difficulty for most children. Staff do not always extend children’s learning well enough. In the enhanced provision, staff meet children’s learning needs effectively. They identify each child’s needs and develop well-structured individualised educational programmes to help children make progress in their learning. These have appropriate learning targets and are reviewed regularly. Across the primary classes, staff identify children requiring help with their learning. They have developed successful partnerships with a range of agencies to support children’s learning. Approaches to coordinating support for children who require help with their learning need to be reviewed. At times, whole-class activities do not support those requiring help or provide sufficient challenge for higher-achieving children. Homework is regular but lacks variety.

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

The Moray Parent Partnership supports the work of the school effectively. Parents find out about the work of the school through newsletters, the school website, assemblies and open evenings. The school has suitable arrangements in place for dealing with concerns or complaints from parents and the community. Across the primary stages, parents feel the school keeps them well informed about their child’s progress. Parents of children in the nursery have not yet had an opportunity to meet with staff to discuss their child’s progress this session. The school has strong links with local businesses and members of the community to enhance children’s learning. For example, members of the community helped children learn about a wide range of occupations as part of a ‘world at work’ week. There are appropriate arrangements in place for children moving from nursery to P1 and from P7 to Grangemouth High School.

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

Children take on a range of responsibilities and have an increased say in improving their learning. For example, children comment on how the improvement plan is making the school better. They feel the pupil council is good at getting improvements made in the school. Staff are committed to improving the work of the school. They review readily their work to improve children’s learning experiences. Within the nursery, approaches to monitoring children’s learning are not yet regular and planned. Across the primary stages, staff meet regularly with members of the management team to discuss learning, teaching and children’s progress. The management team monitor learning and teaching through classroom observations, looking at teaching plans and children’s work. These approaches are not yet thorough enough, including effective use of feedback, to ensure sustained improvements in learning and teaching.

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

The school has a very welcoming and positive ethos. Children are proud of their school. They are well behaved, courteous and show high levels of concern for each other. Staff have high expectations of children’s attendance and attitude to learning. They do not always have high enough expectations of what children can achieve. Staff know children well and show care and concern for their welfare. They are trained in child protection and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Children are developing their understanding of other cultures and religions. The school provides appropriate opportunities for religious observance. Children’s achievements are recognised at school assemblies and through attractive wall displays around the school. Throughout the school, children have a well-developed understanding of the benefits of exercise and a healthy diet.

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

The headteacher is highly committed to the school and provides supportive leadership. She knows children and families very well. The headteacher is well supported by the acting depute headteacher and acting principal teacher. Staff work well together as a team and are keen to take forward developments as part of the improvement plan. They are confident about trying out new ideas and practices in their classrooms. Staff should improve approaches to self-evaluation and, in doing so, build on the school’s strengths to improve further.

8. What happens next?

We are confident that 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.

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 Moray Primary School and Nursery Class.

Primary school

Nursery class

We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.

HM Inspector: Janie McManus
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.