10 May 2016
Dear Parent/Carer
Kyleakin Primary School and Nursery Class
The Highland Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleague and I inspected your child’s school. During
our visit, we talked to parents and children and worked closely with the headteacher
and staff. We wanted to find out how well children are learning and achieving and how
well the school supports children to do their best. The headteacher shared with us the
school’s successes and priorities for improvement. We looked at some particular
aspects of the school’s recent work, including how well the school is tracking children’s
progress and sharing this with you. As a result, we were able to find out how good the
school is at improving children’s education.
How well do children learn and achieve?
Children are learning and achieving very well at your school. Nursery children are
warmly welcomed and settle quickly into their playroom. They follow their own
interests and enjoy learning through play indoors and outdoors. The nursery children
especially enjoy their trips to the woods at Balmacara where they hunt for lions and
toast marshmallows. Highly attractive individual learning journey folders contain a very
good range of information about what children can do. We saw that you have access
to these folders whenever you wish, allowing you to contribute your comments and
share children’s wider achievements from out of the nursery. Primary children settle
quickly into their classrooms. They are able to concentrate well on their own or when
working with partners or in groups. Children are consulted regularly about what they
want to learn about. They are using targets very well to build their awareness of what
they do well and what they need to improve further. Much of this is recorded in their
learning journals and learning logs which they share with you. Primary children have
opportunities to lead their learning and contribute to the life of their school. For
example, they have helped develop the outdoor areas and raise awareness of
sustainability to achieve Eco-Schools Scotland green flag awards on three occasions.
Across the school, children’s achievements are shared and celebrated using
assemblies and ‘star chart’ points.
Children in the nursery and primary classes are making very good progress in literacy
and and numeracy. Nursery children listen well and are confident in responding. They
enjoy looking at books and researching using the internet. Older children in the
nursery are developing an awareness of how writing helps them communicate and do
so using a range of materials indoors and outdoors. Nursery children enjoy counting
pieces of fruit when preparing and eating their snacks. They are developing their skills
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Transforming lives through learning
in measuring, for example, through finding sticks to measure the depth of pools when
out in the woods. Primary children are able to hold conversations confidently, both
with their friends and with adults. They follow instructions carefully and participate
confidently in discussing their ideas and opinions, for example, when they discuss
which skills they used in their learning that day. Children demonstrate positive
attitudes to reading for information and for pleasure. Children’s good progress with
their reading is supported by making reading fun. For example, they all participated
enthusiastically when dressing up for World Book Day. Across the primary classes,
children are developing well as writers who understand the audience they are aiming
for and how this influences the language and style used. For example, children in the
older class wrote in a range of ways as part of their fleecy hat enterprise project.
Across the school, children are developing their ability of take responsibility for their
own health and wellbeing. For example, children in the nursery and primary classes
can talk well about what contributes to a healthy diet.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Relationships with you as parents are very strong across the school. These
relationships are built on trust and respect. In the nursery class, staff observe
children’s learning and record these observations on the learning wall, in floor books
and learning journey folders. We saw that these observations helped develop next
steps in their learning for the children in the nursery. In the primary classes, staff are
skilled in providing learning which is realistically challenging for almost all children. We
have asked the school to continue to ensure that all children are challenged through
their learning to ensure they can attain as highly as possible. Children with additional
learning needs are supported effectively through the school working closely with
external partners and with you. The school supports parents very well and offers a
range of open learning events in the primary classes, and stay and play sessions in
the nursery.
Staff use Curriculum for Excellence well to plan confidently across the school. They
provide a broad and balanced programme for children. There is a notable commitment
to following children’s interests and to learning through real-life experiences. This
helps children understand the relevance of what they are learning. The local
community provides meaningful contexts and specific expertise to extend and enrich
children’s experiences. Transition into the nursery is very sympathetically managed,
taking account of individual children’s needs. Children’s transition from the primary to
Plockton High School is supported well through the regular use of the high school
facilities with other local primaries for sports festivals and learning events.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The headteacher has a very clear vision for the school. Staff have responded
positively to her vision and contribute skilfully to developing the school. They work
effectively with the headteacher’s other school to develop the curriculum and their own
practice. Staff have used professional learning opportunities well to develop their
teaching and experiences for your children. Children are involved in making decisions
about their own learning and also about the life of the school. The school is
developing a sound approach to monitoring children’s progress and sharing this
regularly with you. We have asked the school to continue to develop how it tracks and
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monitors your children’s progress, including using data they gain from formal
assessments. This will help to ensure children attain as highly as possible. The
Parent Council provides a good focus for parental communication with the school. We
have discussed with the headteacher how this may be developed further, particularly
in generating and taking forward ideas and priorities for improvements. We have
confidence that this will ensure continuing progress across the school.
During the previous Care Inspectorate inspection, the school had no requirements and
no recommendations. As a result of this inspection, there is one requirement and no
recommendations. Details can be found at the link below.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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The friendly and hardworking children.
The relationships between the school and families, built on respect and trust.
The leadership of the headteacher and teamwork shown by staff in taking forward
school improvement.
The progress made with developing children’s awareness of what they do well and
what they need to do to improve further.
We discussed with staff and The Highland Council how they might continue to improve
the school and nursery class. This is what we agreed with them.
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Continue to develop approaches to assessing and monitoring children’s progress to
ensure they attain as highly as possible.
Continue to develop ways to include parents as meaningful partners in school
improvement.
What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that the
school’s self-evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a result, we will
make no further visits in connection with this inspection. As part of its arrangements
for reporting to parents on the quality of education, The Highland Council will inform
parents about the school’s progress.
Alasdair Eadie
HM Inspector
Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations and
National Care Standards gradings for your school can be found on the Education
Scotland website at
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/primsec/Kyle
akinPrimarySchoolHighland.asp;
If you would like to receive this letter in a different format, for example, in a translation
please contact the administration team on the above telephone number.
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If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact us
by telephone on 0131 244 4330, or e-mail: complaints@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
or write to us addressing your letter to the Complaints Manager, Denholm House,
Almondvale Business Park, Livingston EH54 6GA.
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