26 May 2015
Dear Parent/Carer
Bridge of Allan Primary School and Nursery Class
Stirling Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues 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 pupil empowerment, partnerships and
the way in which staff meet children’s learning needs. 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?
We found children in the nursery class and school learn and achieve well. There is a
very happy atmosphere throughout the school and almost all children demonstrate a
sense of teamwork and belonging. They are very proud of their school and the
success they experience in learning. In the nursery class, children show that they can
persevere in tasks. They like to solve problems and relax with their friends at snack
time. Children would benefit, as learners, if the structure of the session was reviewed
to allow them more time to explore their interests in depth. There is further scope for
staff to have deeper conversations with children about their learning. At the primary
stages, children explained to us how they were improving their skills in evaluating their
own work. They are beginning to identify more effectively what they do well and how
they can improve. Through the many attractive displays of work and information
boards, children illustrate how well they achieve. Four Green flags from Eco-Schools
Scotland and a very recent ‘Green Machine’ award demonstrate children’s
commitment to sustainability. A Rights Respecting School award, class charters and
contributions to a number of charities outline children’s determination to be responsible
citizens within their community. Children are proud of the many talents within the
school and their contributions in music, drama and artwork.
Across the primary stages and nursery class, children are making good progress in
literacy and numeracy. Overall, attainment is rising across the school. Teachers are
working well together to develop their approaches to teaching numeracy and
mathematics across the school. Children are developing good skills in reading and
writing through more engaging and motivating contexts set by teachers and children
themselves. Expectations of what children can achieve this session have been raised
by the senior management team. In the nursery class, we saw that most children
listen attentively and take part in conversations confidently. They like to experiment
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Transforming lives through learning
with writing and we have asked staff to provide greater opportunities, for those children
who are ready, to write as part of their play activities. At P1, most children are growing
in confidence as they use the phonics they have learned to read and write. At P5,
children were using a highly-engaging time travelling context to write poems,
newspaper articles and factual accounts. By P6 and P7, children use challenging
themes such as world conflicts to write engaging pieces which show empathy. Older
children explained they have found their current novel studies to be challenging and
have enjoyed a much deeper analysis of character and plot. We have asked the
school to continue to build a robust picture of children’s progress in numeracy and
mathematics. This will help ensure they are all achieving as highly as possible. In the
nursery class, children have fun counting forwards and backwards. Most are learning
to use appropriate language to describe size and position. At the primary stages, most
children are progressing well in concepts such as number, time and through solving
mathematical problems. At P2, children count well in fives and, by P4, children can
interpret a range of data. Children at P7 applied their skills in measuring as they made
cakes from wartime recipes. We found that children are making strong progress in
learning about physical health through sport. Children from age three are particularly
proud to be learning French and are gaining confidence in expressing themselves in
song, conversation and written work.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
There is an extremely positive ethos throughout the school. Older children are
particularly proud of the way the buddy system empowers them to nurture the
youngest children to help them feel safe and included. Peer-mediation approaches
are enabling children to show responsibility with others. Children and staff
demonstrate respect in line with the values of the school. Children talked to us about
the ways in which they have more courage and confidence as learners as a result of
the well-judged support from staff. In classrooms, where children need extra help to
learn, teachers work well alongside support assistants to plan and prepare learning
which is helping children reach their individual goals. The school’s effective use of
Stirling Council’s intervention guidance is enabling staff to seek outside help for
children when they need it most. In the nursery class, staff observe children closely
and share with you what your child can do. We have asked staff to work even more
closely with each other to plan for individual children. This will ensure all of the
activities they provide offer the right amount of challenge and that they are clear about
what children can learn next. At the primary stages, staff are working very hard to
identify and share where children are making the best possible progress and why. In
particular this session, they are focusing on challenging higher-achieving children
through devising more open-ended tasks across the curriculum. We have agreed this
needs to continue and become more consistent.
Across the primary stages and nursery class, staff work well together to take account
of Curriculum for Excellence. There is a shared enthusiasm for the key events that are
important in the life of the school such as sports and celebrations. The values of the
school underpin the curriculum it provides. Meaningful opportunities for children to
take the lead and learn collaboratively, demonstrating responsibility and respect for
each other are evident across the school. Partners join the school very regularly and
make effective contributions in promoting the outdoors, sport and literacy. The school
recognises that outdoor learning for the nursery class and primary stages is
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underdeveloped. This is being addressed by staff this session. Children have good
opportunities to share their interests and contribute to planning some of the activities in
the nursery class and topics at the primary stages. We discussed with senior
managers how they might continue to work with staff to ensure that, through all of
these interests and topics, children can make suitable progress in their learning from
the nursery through to P7. Children have a very positive experience as they join the
nursery class, move into P1 and on to Wallace High School.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We found that everyone who is part of the Bridge of Allan school community is
committed to improving children’s experiences and achievements. You shared your
views with us about the school’s successes and areas for further improvement. The
school recognises that there is scope to ensure that, when having asked for your
feedback, the results and actions are shared promptly with you. Children across the
school say they have a strong voice in school improvement. The junior management
team meet with the school senior management team to contribute effectively to
discussions on a wide range of issues. The recently-formed sub-groups are providing
valuable opportunities for more children to make a positive difference to school life,
safety and achievement. Led by the headteacher, the senior management team have
new, clearly defined roles. These roles are enabling them to have a much clearer,
shared overview of the school. Senior staff are determined to work with teachers to
raise standards further through even more effective interpretation of information from
assessment. The senior management team are working closely with staff to continue
to improve the consistency of learning experiences for children across the nursery
class and primary stages. Staff are giving priority this session to improving learning
and teaching across the school, with the aim supporting children to attain as highly as
possible. Staff are motivated and enthusiastic. They are gaining confidence in
evaluating their own teaching and sharing successful classroom practice with each
other and with colleagues within the local learning community. They value the support
given to them by the dedicated senior management team. We are confident the
school will improve further.
During the previous Care Inspectorate inspection, the nursery had one requirement
and no recommendations. From this, one requirement has been met. As a result of
this inspection, there is one requirement and three recommendations. Details can be
found at the link below.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Happy, motivated children who are proud of their school and demonstrate its
values.
Led by the senior management team, approaches to supporting and keeping under
review the needs of children who need extra help in their learning.
Partnerships to enrich, extend and support children’s learning and wellbeing.
Through the support of the headteacher and senior management team, the
opportunities for staff and children to lead improvement throughout the school.
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We discussed with staff and Stirling 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 the curriculum, building on the levels of challenge, continuity
and progression.
Build on the approaches to self-evaluation, making use of effective information from
assessment approaches, to continue to raise standards and inform next steps for
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, Stirling Council will inform parents
about the school’s progress.
Shona ES Taylor
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/Brid
geOfAllanPrimaryStirling.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.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact us
by telephone on 0141 282 5000, 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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