25 August 2015
Dear Parent/Carer
Castlefield Primary School and Nursery Class
South Lanarkshire 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 involving parents in their children’s
learning, and the teaching of science. 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?
At the primary stages and in the nursery class, children have a positive learning
experience. Children across the school are motivated as learners and are gaining in
confidence and independence. Nursery children are developing their independence
through organising their own snacks, registering themselves on arrival each day and
getting dressed to go outside. Almost all children at the primary stages are eager to
learn and are motivated by interesting learning activities. When given the opportunity,
they enjoy working together in small groups. At the primary stages and in the nursery
class, children are responding positively to the recognition given to successes
recorded in their learning logs. We have asked staff to continue to develop their
approaches to learning and assessment in order to ensure children understand their
next steps in learning and know how to improve. Staff relationships with children are
very positive, and opportunities for children to feel valued and develop friendships
across the school through their involvement in a range of clubs and committees are
good. The partnership forged by the school with parents is positive and parents
appreciate the range of workshops to help them become more fully involved in their
children’s learning. For example, in conjunction with Community Learning Home
School Partnership Service staff recently delivered Thinking Science, Mathswise and
Family Learning at Home to help parents become more familiar with their children’s
learning. At the primary stages and in the nursery class, children benefit from outdoor
learning experiences, including the use of the school grounds, MUGA (multi user
games area) pitch and trim trail. The school helpfully provides waterproof clothing to
ensure children can learn outdoors in all weathers.
At the primary stages and in the nursery class, children are making satisfactory
progress in developing their literacy and numeracy skills. The school recognises that a
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Transforming lives through learning
few children across the school are capable of progressing through the Curriculum for
Excellence levels in reading and writing at a quicker pace. Staff have made a good
start to making improvements in this area. In the nursery, children listen well to
stories, rhymes and songs. They are learning to recognise numbers during their play
activities and can count pieces of fruit when helping prepare snacks and playing
games. Overall, the nursery should provide more opportunities for children to develop
their literacy and numeracy skills across all areas of play. At the primary stages, most
children, listen attentively and talk confidently. They write frequently for a range of
purposes and are motivated to write. Staff are developing shared standards across
the school to ensure everyone has higher expectations of what children can achieve in
writing. Most children read with expression and confidence. Older children would
benefit from opportunities for more varied and challenging reading activities to ensure
they achieve as highly as possible. In numeracy, most children are developing
confidence in their mental agility and increasing accuracy when making mental
calculations. Overall, children are making good progress when working with number.
However, the school should now ensure children further develop their skills in applying
their learning in real-life situations. In most classes, children’s understanding of shape,
measurement and time could be improved further. Children are knowledgeable about
the importance of physical activity and a balanced diet for good health. Children
experience good opportunities for physical education, including learning outdoors.
Most children are making good progress in science. They build their knowledge and
skills well as they progress through the school. For example, P1/2 children are able to
recognise push and pull forces and predict the outcome of, and carry out, simple
investigations into floating and sinking. In P4, children can distinguish between living
and non-living things and sort these into groups and by P7, children use their
knowledge of living things to explore variation in plants.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
In the nursery, staff have developed strong, positive and caring relationships with
children and their families. The emotional needs of children are well met. To support
further improvement, staff now need to ensure that their observations of children in the
playroom and outdoors are used more effectively to support planning for children’s
next steps in learning. At the primary stages, staff meet children’s needs well overall.
Most staff provide varied and challenging experiences which help children make
suitable progress. In most lessons, the pace of learning is brisk and the activities
provided by teachers meet children’s varying needs. This good practice now needs to
be adopted more consistently across the school so all children can make suitable
progress. Staff, including support and visiting staff, are successful in meeting the
needs of children who face challenges in their learning
Across the school, staff provide a broad range of experiences for children. In the
nursery, they take children’s interests into consideration when planning motivating
learning contexts. For example, children loved learning about the woodland and
animals through their involvement in ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. Staff in the nursery are
beginning to develop confidence in planning children’s learning across the early level
of Curriculum for Excellence. They now need to take more account of what children
already know when planning learning activities. This will ensure that all children make
suitable progress. The headteacher provides staff at the primary stages with clear
guidance for all subjects and this is ensuring most children build on their previous
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learning as they move through the school. However, we have asked staff to review the
topics studied in social studies to give children enough opportunity to follow their
interests and make links across different areas of the curriculum. This will ensure
children benefit from an appropriate balance in their learning over time. Their skills in
creating and designing are developing well through the whole-school art programme.
For example, children in P3 studied abstract art in the work of Jackson Pollock and
those in P7 conducted an extended study into the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Staff across the school support children to settle as they move from stage to stage and
from the nursery to P1 and P7 to secondary school.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The headteacher has gained the support of parents, staff and the community.
Through the range of approaches she has developed to evaluate the work of the
school, she knows its strengths and development needs well. Staff are committed to
developing the curriculum and further improving learning and teaching. However,
staffing issues have limited the amount of improvements that the school has been able
to take forward recently. We ask that the school now looks at more rigorous ways of
tracking children’s progress in learning to ensure they achieve as highly as possible.
As a result of the Care Inspectorate’s inspection of the nursery, there is one
recommendation. Details can be found in the Additional Evidence Document which is
published at the same time as this letter. Details can be found at the link below.
During the previous Care Inspectorate inspection, the nursery had one requirement
and two recommendations. One recommendation has been met. Outstanding issues
relating to one requirement and one recommendation are carried forward in this
inspection. Details can be found at the link below.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Positive ethos and strong relationships between all staff and children at the primary
stages and in the nursery.
Polite, very well-behaved children who are keen to learn.
Positive attitude of the staff who create stimulating learning opportunities for
children.
Attractive environment for learning including the outdoor space.
The school’s approach to teaching science across the school.
We discussed with staff and South Lanarkshire Council how they might continue to
improve the school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Improve the school’s approaches to tracking children’s progress in learning to
ensure they achieve as highly as possible.
Ensure that observations and assessment of children’s learning in the nursery help
staff meet children’s needs more effectively.
Raise attainment in English language and mathematics.
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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, South Lanarkshire Council will
inform parents about the school’s progress.
Sadie Cushley
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/Cast
lefieldPrimarySchoolSouthLanarkshire.asp
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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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