Robert Douglas Memorial Primary School
Scone
Perth & Kinross Council

16 May 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

Robert Douglas Memorial Primary School was inspected in February 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 from the local community and a group of parents¹ including representatives from the parent-teacher association (PTA).

The school serves the village of Scone and the surrounding area of Stormontfield, Colenden and Old Scone. At the time of the inspection the roll was 461, including 51 children in the nursery class. Nineteen pupils received specialist support in a base which catered for their needs arising from autistic disorders. The proportion of pupils who were entitled to free school meals was below the national average. Pupils’ attendance was above the national average.

The work of the nursery class was not included in this inspection.

2. Key strengths

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

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

Parents who were interviewed were very positive about almost all aspects of the school’s work. They thought that the school provided a caring and supportive environment for their children and teachers set high standards for pupils’ attainment. They considered that the school had a good reputation in the local area and was well led. A few expressed some concerns about the effectiveness of the school’s arrangements for dealing with instances of bad behaviour. Pupils enjoyed being at school and felt safe and secure. They felt that teachers expected them to work hard and were good at letting them know what they needed to do to improve. Teaching and ancillary staff were very positive about working in the school. They felt that there was mutual respect between staff and pupils and that pupils were enthusiastic about learning.

4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?

Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements

The overall structure of the curriculum was very good. It was broad and balanced across each aspect. Flexibility time had been successfully given to raising attainment in English language and mathematics. Pupils were developing a good understanding of Scottish culture through a variety of activities across the curriculum. Citizenship was being developed within the effective programme for personal and social development (PSD), which also included a good focus on health education. At the early stages there was good provision for pupils to be active and to learn through play. The school gave pupils very good opportunities to develop their skills in science and technology. Opportunities for enterprise education were well planned and pupils’ skills were developing well. Teachers made appropriate use of homework to extend and reinforce pupils’ learning. The overall quality of teaching was good, with some examples of very good teaching. Teachers used a wide range of approaches, gave very clear explanations and used questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding. They made sure that pupils knew the purposes of lessons and used praise effectively to build their confidence.

Pupils were enthusiastic and motivated learners. They worked well in class and remained on task. They listened attentively to teachers and worked well with each other. In most classes pupils were able to take some responsibility for, and be independent in their own learning. Pupils in P7 had produced very good autobiographies and had been involved in evaluating their own work. Pupils at P4 were developing very good notetaking skills through their science investigations. They were also developing good skills in playing the recorder. At P1 pupils were able to experiment on how toys worked. At all stages, pupils enthusiastically participated in a variety of physical activities. Pupils in P2 and P5 displayed good skills in dance, whilst pupils in P6 showed good effort in cross-country running. Across the school, pupils were making good progress in developing information and communications technology (ICT) skills in, for example, using the Internet.

Pupils displayed a high level of confidence and self-esteem. They cooperated well in working with others in groups, agreeing and sharing responsibilities for different tasks. They also showed a willingness to take on responsibility, for example, as buddies for younger pupils and pupils in the support base. Pupils in P4 to P7 were acquiring a good sense of citizenship through participating in and electing members to the pupil council. Pupils in P1 to P3 were, however, not involved with the pupil council. Activities such as school shows, instrumental ensemble work, the chess club and the school football and netball teams contributed to the development of pupils’ personal and social skills. Pupils’ awareness of environmental issues were being developed as they worked towards further recognition as an Eco School.

English language

The overall quality of attainment in English language was very good. Over the past three years, attainment in reading and writing had shown improvement. Almost all pupils were achieving, and many were exceeding, appropriate national levels of attainment in reading. Most were achieving these in writing and many were exceeding national levels. Across the school almost all pupils were attaining appropriate national levels in listening and talking. In almost all classes, pupils’ skills in listening and talking were well developed. Pupils were confident in expressing their views and opinions and made articulate contributions to discussions. At P7, pupils were able to summarise text and comment effectively on the writer’s craft. They had a very good knowledge about language. They could read unfamiliar texts very well, identify different types of writing and discuss the writer’s style and sense of audience. Almost all produced writing of a high quality for a variety of purposes, including reports on investigations in science or on topic work in environmental studies. The quality of pupils’ writing was consistently high in all classes. Throughout the school pupils made good use of ICT to develop language skills, such as editing and presenting text. However, across the school the quality of pupils’ handwriting and presentation of work was not of a consistently high standard.

Mathematics

The quality of attainment in mathematics was good. Almost all pupils at the early stages, and most at the middle and upper stages, were reaching appropriate national levels of attainment. Significant numbers of pupils at P1-P3 were achieving these levels early. The school did not always build fully on the achievements of higher attaining pupils at the middle and upper stages, although there were signs of recent improvement in this area. At all stages, pupils were acquiring good skills in drawing and interpreting graphs and charts, including using computers for this purpose. Pupils’ knowledge of shapes and skills in problem-solving were well developed across the school. At the early stages, pupils were making good progress in counting and measuring. Most pupils at the middle and upper stages carried out mental and written calculations accurately. Some at the middle stages had difficulties in remembering multiplication facts, and some at the upper stages were not yet secure in calculations involving fractions, decimals and percentages.

5. How well are pupils supported?

The quality of pastoral care was very good. All staff were caring and approachable, and showed a strong commitment to ensuring pupils’ emotional and physical well being. They knew their pupils well and were sensitive to their needs. There was particularly good inclusion of, and support for, pupils with additional support needs. All staff had been trained in, and were aware of procedures for child protection. The school had appropriate care and welfare policies and pupils reporting accidental injuries or feeling unwell were looked after well by all staff with whom they came into contact. The procedures for dealing with bullying were appropriate and effectively applied. The programme for PSD included appropriate sections on substance misuse and personal relationships.

Teachers gave good help and support to pupils in their learning. They matched tasks well to the needs of classes and groups of pupils. They did not always set sufficiently demanding tasks, particularly for higher-attaining pupils. Pupils who experienced difficulties in aspects of their learning received useful extra help from support for learning specialists, classroom assistants and other specialists, including those for speech and language and early intervention. The needs of these pupils were identified systematically. Senior promoted staff had successfully improved liaison and planning between specialists and class teachers to meet these needs. Pupils at the early stages benefited from well-targeted support in literacy and numeracy. Pupils at other stages were also supported in these areas, but the overall impact was less effective. Staff had drawn up helpful individualised educational programmes (IEPs) for a number of pupils who required more sustained support. These programmes were implemented well. Parents, however, were not always fully involved when IEPs were reviewed.

The Support Base

The support base provided pupils with autism spectrum disorders with a high quality, comprehensive framework of support. Teaching was consistently very good and staff made very good use of questioning. Pupils were given increasing responsibility for their own learning. There were clear expectations of independence, even amongst the youngest pupils. The pace of learning for all pupils was well handled. Staff took care to identify and choose appropriate resources and used effective methods to interact with pupils. Pupils achieved well in communication and language, relative to their individual targets. They were making good progress in understanding and relating to the environment. Pupils showed good confidence and were making appropriate progress in PSD. Staff prepared very effective IEPs, firmly based on assessment evidence and the views of parents and carers and a range of support agencies. Staff were highly committed and worked hard to provide pupils with the support they needed. They were highly perceptive of pupils' responses and readiness for learning. Staff were caring and sensitive in providing the pastoral care which pupils needed to make the most of their learning.

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.

The Robert Douglas Memorial Primary School provided a caring and supportive environment in which pupils felt happy and motivated to learn. They had access to a wide range of activities which promoted their personal and social development. The wide range of out-of-school activities supported pupils’ all round development. The school had made very good provision for health education. The overall good quality of learning and teaching had enabled the school to raise pupils’ attainment in English language and mathematics. There was scope to improve pupils’ attainment even further by providing increased challenge, particularly for higher achieving pupils. Pupils requiring additional support had their needs clearly identified and progress monitored. The support base provided strong support for pupils in the school and more widely around the Perth and Kinross area.

The school had recently gone through a period of management change when the long standing headteacher had been on secondment to the local authority. At the time of the inspection the headteacher and senior management team provided good leadership to the school. The headteacher was well respected by staff, pupils and parents. He had made good progress in identifying, and taking forward, various initiatives which required attention. He had given particularly effective support for the setting up and development of the support base. He was well supported by a depute headteacher and acting depute headteacher in the mainstream and a depute headteacher in the support base who all carried out their remits effectively. However, the remits of the senior management team did not ensure effective continuity from P1 to P7. A number of strategies to monitor the work of the school had been put in place. The depute headteachers evaluated teachers’ plans. Pupils’ work was sampled and monitored and a programme of classroom observations had been initiated. However, the school now needed to use the outcomes of self-evaluation more systematically and with more rigour to increase challenge and further improve pupils’ attainment. The strong teamwork of staff provided the school with a firm base on which to move forward.

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.

Alan Urquhart
HM Inspector

16 May 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 Acting Executive Director of Education and Children’s 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, 1^st Floor, Endeavour House, 1 Greenmarket, Dundee, DD1 4QB or by telephoning 01382 576700. 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 HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.

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.

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.