Education Scotland
Foghlam Alba
Education Scotland, Europa Building, 450 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 8LG
t 0141 242 0100
f 0141 242 5757
Textphone 01506 600236
e glasgow@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
w www.educationscotland.gov.uk
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24 April 2012
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Dear Parent/Carer
Darnley Primary School
Glasgow City Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I visited and inspected your child’s school.
Throughout our visit, we talked to many parents and children and we worked closely with the
headteacher and staff. We wanted to find out how well children were learning and achieving
and how well the school supported 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 the range of experiences to enhance children’s learning,
the integration of visually impaired children, the development of children’s skills in reading and
learning which links different subjects. As a result, we were able to find out how good the
school was at improving children’s education. I would now like to tell you what we found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
We found that your children are learning and achieving very well. They really enjoy learning
and are proud of their school. They feel safe and know that they can tell staff if they are
concerned about anything. They told us that staff talk to them regularly about how to improve
their learning. As a result, children are gaining a good understanding of their next steps in
learning. Children with a visual impairment are included very well in activities. They
participate very well in lessons and are confident in the school environment. Across the
school, children work purposefully together. They are very well behaved and polite. The very
positive relationships between staff and children are assisting in promoting an ethos of mutual
respect. Children benefit from an extensive range of lunch-time and after-school clubs.
Increasingly, they are developing their talents by progressing from school clubs to sporting
clubs within the community. Children are actively involved in giving their views about school
life, for example through school committees. Staff take very good account of children’s views
on aspects of learning and achievement.
Most children are achieving very well in English language and mathematics. They listen very
attentively to instructions and explanations in lessons. They are confident when presenting
their ideas to others. The school’s focus on improving children’s reading and writing skills is
having a positive impact on achievement at all stages. At the early stages, children are
developing very effectively their skills in early literacy. Across the school, regular access to
the school library is encouraging children to read for enjoyment. Children are using more
extensive vocabulary in their writing. They write for a range of purposes. In the best
examples, writing is linked appropriately to meaningful learning contexts. In mathematics,
regular involvement in practical activities is assisting children to develop a sound
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understanding of numerical processes. Across the school, children are developing their
confidence in personal finance through links with the Pollok Credit Union. By P7, children are
able to recognise and explain the difference between types of angles and compass directions.
At all stages, children are confident in collecting information using surveys. By the upper
stages, they can use a range of media to present and interpret results. They need more
practice in developing their problem-solving capabilities. At all stages, children are making
very good progress in their personal and social skills. They have a sound awareness of
healthy eating and the importance of physical activity.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
The school has well-planned arrangements which identify children’s learning needs and
provide appropriate levels of support. Teachers and support assistants work exceptionally
well together to provide activities at the right level of difficulty for children. Children with a
visual impairment are very effectively supported to access the mainstream curriculum by a
range of specialist resources. Very effective partnerships with other agencies assist in
supporting children’s development. Building on these strong approaches, staff should ensure
that children who are learning English as an additional language receive further support. Staff
provide children with a broad and interesting curriculum. They have worked effectively
together to develop aspects of literacy and numeracy. They have recognised the need to
improve approaches to building upon children’s prior learning in listening and talking.
Enterprise and global citizenship assist children very well to make connections in their
learning. The school’s approach to developing health and wellbeing is very well planned.
Staff have made a good start in developing the curriculum in science. They should continue
to ensure further progression in skills, knowledge and understanding in science and social
studies. The school has effective arrangements for children to transfer from nursery to P1
and from P7 to secondary school. Increasingly, partnerships across the Learning Community
are focusing well on planning better coherence in the curriculum.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school is very well placed to continue to improve. The experienced headteacher is very
highly regarded by staff and parents. She provides clear direction and very effective
leadership. The headteacher has worked collegiately with staff to promote a caring ethos and
a focus on learning. The depute headteacher and principal teacher provide very good
support to the headteacher. Together they form a very effective team. Leadership across the
school is distributed very well to utilise the expertise of all staff. Staff demonstrate a
willingness to reflect on their practice. They have made some reciprocal visits to each other’s
classes and are developing further this approach. They have been engaged in a range of
appropriate professional development to take forward Curriculum for Excellence. The
management team has a well-organised and established approach to monitoring and
evaluating the work of the school. For example, well-focused meetings with staff assist in
tracking the progress of children. Staff seek the views of parents and children on a regular
basis. They take action as a result of their findings. Parents are highly satisfied with the
school.
This inspection of your school found the following key strengths.
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Well-behaved, polite and motivated children who are proud of their school.
Very effective inclusion of children with visual impairments.
Strong approaches to developing health and wellbeing and the impact on children’s
confidence and resilience.
High-quality teamwork and leadership across the school.
Leadership of the headteacher and promoted staff and approaches to self-evaluation
which are having a decisive impact on school improvement.
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We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to improve the
school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Continue to develop approaches to planning and implementing the curriculum which will
ensure that children’s prior learning is built upon consistently.
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
evaluative visits in connection with this inspection. During the inspection, we identified an
aspect of innovative practice which we would like to explore further in order to share the
practice with others. As a result we will work with the school and local authority in order to
record and share more widely the innovative practice. We will ask the school, in discussion
with the local authority, to let parents know the outcome of the innovative practice visit.
Noreen Connaughton
HM Inspector
Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations, for your
school can be found on the Education Scotland website at
http://www.hmie.gov.uk/ViewEstablishment.aspx?id=8486&type=2.
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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