Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School
Blackburn
West Lothian Council

24 October 2006

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 supported?
6. How good is the environment for learning?
7. Improving the school
Appendix 1 Indicators of quality
Appendix 2 Summary of questionnaire responses
How can you contact us?

1. Background

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School was inspected in June 2006 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 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-staff association (PSA), and a group of parents¹.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School is a denominational school serving the towns of Blackburn and Seafield. At the time of the inspection the roll was 147. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was above the national average. Pupils' attendance was in line with the national average.

2. Key strengths

3. What are the views of parents, pupils and staff?

HM Inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires issued to all parents, P4 to P7 pupils, and to all staff. Information about the responses to the questionnaires appears in Appendix 2.

Almost all parents were pleased with all aspects of the school. They thought it was well led, had a good reputation, a welcoming, caring atmosphere and teachers set high standards. Those interviewed during the course of the inspection considered that the school successfully promoted inclusion. Pupils enjoyed school and felt safe and well looked after. They felt that they had a say in deciding how to make the school better. They considered that staff dealt effectively with inappropriate behaviour. Staff liked working in the school and considered they worked well as a team to improve pupils’ experiences. They were positive about the leadership of the headteacher and the support they received from the management team.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The school provided a broad and balanced curriculum which was of good quality. Teachers allocated additional time to English language and mathematics and this had been effective in helping to raise pupils’ attainment, most notably their numeracy and reading skills. The programme for personal and social development paid good attention to issues of equality and fairness, including religious and ethnic diversity. At all stages, pupils made some use of information and communications technology (ICT) in lessons. Overall, however, teachers made insufficient use of ICT to support pupils’ learning, particularly in aspects of English language and mathematics. Visiting teachers of music and physical education made valuable contributions to enhance the quality of pupils’ learning experiences. At all stages, pupils had good opportunities to regularly develop a range of skills in physical education. The overall quality of teaching was good and in some instances very good. Teachers made very good use of questioning and shared learning targets well with pupils. There were examples of very good interactive teaching. However, in a few lessons the pace was too slow and did not result in sufficient challenge for all pupils.

The quality of learning was good. The majority of pupils had positive attitudes to learning and responded well to teachers’ questioning. However, in a few lessons a minority of pupils lacked enthusiasm and did not engage keenly in tasks set for them. At the upper stages, pupils had developed good skills in discussing ideas in groups and working collaboratively. For example, pupils interacted with each other well in P5/6 when discussing issues related to bullying and in P7 when identifying invertebrates. In the early years, pupils benefited from being active in their learning, for example through appropriate play activities. Pupils were aware of their learning targets in mathematics and English language and were very clear about what they had to do to improve their learning. However, this good practice was not consistent across classes and curriculum areas. Overall, pupils had insufficient opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.

Across the school, pupils were making good progress in developing their confidence and self-esteem. At P6 and P7, pupils took on a range of appropriate responsibilities. They enjoyed supporting younger pupils through an effective buddy system. Those at P6 participated enthusiastically in training as playground activity leaders. Pupils from P2 to P7 had developed good citizenship skills through their participation in the pupil council, which had been effective in helping obtain new tables and benches for the playground. They were clear about their role and represented the views of pupils very well. At the middle and upper stages, pupils had developed very successful team-working skills in their enterprise activities which had led to the school achieving a West Lothian Enterprise Silver Award. Pupils were appropriately involved in a range of fundraising activities. They had collaborated well with pupils from the local secondary school and associated primary schools to raise funds to build a primary school in Chimteka, Malawi. They had also been successful in raising funds for the British Heart Foundation and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund. Pupils keenly participated in a wide range of activities out of school hours including excursions abroad.

English language

Overall, attainment in English Language was good. Standards of attainment had improved over recent years. Most pupils were attaining appropriate national levels in reading, talking and listening. A majority were attaining these levels in writing. Those who were experiencing difficulty were well supported by teachers and support staff and were making good progress. Pupils at the early stages were benefiting from early intervention work and most were making very good progress. Pupils’ skills in listening and talking developed well from stage to stage. Pupils spoke readily about their work and interests and most had developed good skills in group discussion. Across the school, most pupils read aloud confidently and with expression. By P7, a majority read unfamiliar texts with fluency and were able to discuss in detail what they had read. However, higher-attaining pupils were capable of reading more demanding texts. From P4 to P7, pupils did not read regularly for pleasure. From P4 to P7, most pupils were developing their writing skills well and could write appropriately for a variety of purposes. However, pupils were given insufficient opportunities to write at length independently.

Mathematics

The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. The school had maintained consistent standards over the past few years. Most pupils were achieving appropriate national levels of attainment and at the early stages a significant number were exceeding these. Those pupils who had not attained appropriate national levels were making suitable progress with their class work. At the early stages, pupils made a good start to the development of their mathematical skills. By P7, pupils could handle information effectively and could interpret a range of graphs. However, they had limited skills in using computers to organise and display numerical information. Across the school, pupils were good at written number work. However, in a few classes pupils’ skills in mental calculations were not well developed. At the middle and upper stages, pupils could identify a range of shapes and describe their properties well and were confident in identifying lines of symmetry. At all stages, pupils were developing skills in problem solving, but were not sufficiently aware of the range of strategies they could use to tackle problems.

5. How well are pupils supported?

The school’s arrangements for ensuring the care and welfare of pupils were very good. The headteacher and staff knew pupils very well and were sensitive to their personal, social and emotional needs. The school had effective procedures for child protection which staff followed appropriately. Pupils had a good understanding of the school’s anti-bullying procedures. Almost all pupils felt confident that staff would help them if they had any concerns. The school had taken good steps to promote a healthy lifestyle, for example by providing a variety of after-school activities. There were very good arrangements in place to support the transition of pupils between nursery and P1 and for P7 pupils moving to secondary school.

The school met pupils’ learning needs well. MostMoMost teachers took good account of prior learning in planning work for groups and individuals. Pupils performed well in tasks set by their teacher. However, in a minority of classes, tasks provided insufficient pace and challenge for all pupils. The arrangements for addressing the needs of pupils with additional support needs were effective. Pupils received very good support from the learning support teacher, classroom and support assistants. A mental health link worker provided support for individual pupils and their families. Pupils with individualised educational programmes had clear learning targets and were making good progress in meeting these.

6. How good is the environment for learning?

7. Improving the school

Appendix 1 provides HM Inspectors’ overall evaluation of the work of the school.

Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School provided a happy and purposeful learning environment within which pupils achieved good standards of attainment. Staff provided effective support for pupils, including those with additional support needs. Teachers were hard working and provided pupils with a broad curriculum. Pupils were making very good progress in their personal and social development. The strong sense of community and encouragement to learn were contributing significantly to the success the school enjoyed and its continuing capacity to improve.

The headteacher had established very positive relationships with parents, staff and pupils. During his time in post, he had provided strong leadership to bring about significant improvements to the quality of provision. These included improvements in attainment, approaches to learning and teaching and opportunities for professional development. He had developed a strong sense of teamwork and staff at all levels felt involved and very well supported. The acting principal teacher had a clear remit and provided a very good level of support to other members of staff. She had assisted the headteacher well with aspects of quality assurance, begun to develop aspects of ICT and was involved in the revision of personal learning planning. The school demonstrated a strong culture of self-evaluation and continuous improvement. A wide range of strategies had been put in place to evaluate the work of the school. The headteacher and principal teacher regularly evaluated aspects of learning and teaching. They sampled pupils’ work to ensure continuity and progression. Staff were given helpful oral and written feedback about the strengths of their work and any areas for improvement. A well-established system was used effectively to track pupils’ progress in English language and mathematics. Staff had made effective use of nationally-developed quality indicators to review the school’s work. This had resulted in improvements in attainment and in various aspects of the curriculum. As a result, the school had a clear understanding of its strengths and areas for development. It had put in place a succinct and appropriate improvement plan.

What happens next?

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 parents will be informed about the progress made by the school.

Jacqueline Horsburgh
HM Inspector

24 October 2006

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 Director of Education and Cultural Services, 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, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA or by telephoning 01506 600385. Copies are also available on our website www.hmie.gov.uk .

If you wish to comment about primary inspections

Should you wish to comment on any aspect of primary inspections, you should write in the first instance to Chris McIlroy, Acting HMCI, at the above address.

Our complaints procedure

If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to Hazel Dewart, Business Management Unit, HM Inspectorate of Education, Second Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from this office or by telephoning 01506 600258 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. The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS. You can also telephone 0870 011 5378 or e-mail enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website: www.scottishombudsman.org.uk .

Crown Copyright 2006

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.

1. Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to include foster carers, residential care staff and carers who are relatives or friends.