21 August 2012
Dear Parent/Carer
Daliburgh School and Nursery Class
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
In September 2010, HM Inspectors published a report on your child’s school. We
subsequently returned to the school to look at how it had continued to improve its
work, and published another report in August 2011. Recently, as you may know, we
visited the school again. During our visit, we talked to children and worked closely
with the headteacher and school staff. We heard from the headteacher and other
staff how the school has continued to improve. We looked at particular areas that
had been identified in September 2010, and at aspects of the school’s work, as
proposed by the headteacher. As a result, we were able to find out how well children
are now learning and achieving and how the school is continuing to support them to
do their best. This letter sets out what we found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
The nursery staff have worked well with the education authority over the past year to
make significant improvements to how children learn. The nursery is continuing to
motivate and engage children in their learning. As a result, learning is becoming less
adult-led and holds children’s interest better. All children in the nursery are
becoming confident in speaking Gaelic. They enjoy learning through well-planned
play. Unfortunately this strong approach to learning through play is not continued
well enough as children move into primary school. At the primary stages, children in
the Gaelic classes are continuing to use Gaelic to talk about their learning but this is
not consistent or strong enough across all classes. Across the school, children
continue to work in pairs and groups. They speak enthusiastically about the more
interesting learning which has taken place. For example, they enjoyed learning
about the Greeks and the Olympics. However, the school has not yet improved
children’s understanding of their strengths and next steps in learning. Children are
still too passive in their learning. They are not sufficiently involved in exploring or
investigating to ensure learning is secure.
Children in the nursery are now making good progress in their learning. They are
confident in talking to each other and adults in the nursery. Across both the English
and Gaelic medium, children are not making enough progress in their learning.
Staffing difficulties at the early stages have not helped this situation. Across the
school, a few staff have begun to introduce a new writing programme which has led
to some improvements in the standard of writing. This now needs to be used
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
regularly by all staff to help children improve further. In mathematics, children’s
progress is too varied. The teaching of mental mathematics strategies is not
sufficiently strong across the school. Children’s knowledge and application of basic
skills remain a significant area for improvement. There is a need to continue to
increase expectations across the school of what children can achieve.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
The school has improved its approaches to identifying and supporting children with
additional support needs. Staff have made improvements in planning for a range of
abilities within their class. However, this is not yet consistent or effective enough
across the school. A range of approaches are now in place to gather evidence and
monitor children’s progress. This needs developed further to ensure staff have a
clearer understanding of assessment. The headteacher has established a clearer
overview of the curriculum to help staff plan in a much more effective way. This is
not being used consistently enough by all staff. Links between different subject
areas are now clearer and children are experiencing a more interesting curriculum.
The school should now ensure a balance in the curriculum particularly in social
subjects and science. Staff need further support to develop their understanding of
Curriculum for Excellence. In the Gaelic medium classes, there have been some
improvements to ensure that most aspects of the curriculum are delivered in Gaelic.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school’s systems for evaluating and improving its work have improved.
However, they need to be implemented more rigorously to ensure improvements to
children’s learning and achievement. The headteacher and the education authority
need to continue to monitor classroom practice and, where appropriate, provide
challenge and support to staff. Staff need to continue to work with the headteacher
to track children’s progress more rigorously and take on responsibility for improving
learning and teaching across the school. The school has improved how it records
parental complaints. The school now needs to work more closely with parents to
build their trust in the school and to reassure them of further improvements. The
education authority requires to take further action to work with the school in order to
improve further the quality of education.
What happens next?
There is evidence of improvements in some aspects of the school’s work since the
original inspection. However, there has not yet been enough improvement in key
aspects of provision. As a result, we will continue to engage with the school and
education authority in monitoring progress. We will carry out a further inspection visit
to the school within one year of the publication of this report, and will report to
parents on the extent of the improvement that has been achieved.
Sadie Cushley
HM Inspector
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Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format, for
example, in a translation. You can contact us
at enquiries@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at BMCT, Education
Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way,
Livingston EH54 6GA.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact
01506 600200, or write to us at the above address or e-mail:
feedback@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk.
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