4 June 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Stromness Primary School and Nursery Class
Orkney Islands Council
In March 2011, 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 letter in May 2012. Recently, as you may know, we
visited the school again. During our visit, we talked to children and worked closely
with the headteacher and 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 March 2011 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?
Staff continue to improve the way children learn and achieve in the school. As a
result, children’s learning experiences are now of a much higher quality. In the
nursery class, children continue to be enthusiastic about their learning. They are
confident in making choices within the playroom and enjoy exploring the new outdoor
area. Across the primary stages, children now engage in a wider variety of learning
activities to help motivate them to learn. Staff recognise the importance of children
working together to support and enhance the life and work of the school and have
increased ways for children to work with each other. Children are developing
successfully their skills as learners. They are more confident in working
independently on activities. Children are taking increasing responsibility for their
learning. For example, children in P5/4 explained how to complete mathematical
calculations to each other. Across the school, children are more aware of their own
strengths and what they need to work on to make their work better. The school is
improving its approaches to developing children’s skills in reading and mathematics.
As a result, children are making better progress in literacy and numeracy.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Staff have improved the way they support children to develop and learn. They have
increased the pace of curriculum developments. Staff provide children with a wider
variety of opportunities to develop their literacy and numeracy skills in other areas of
learning. They are taking positive steps to ensure children’s skills, knowledge and
Education Scotland
Longman House
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Inverness
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01463 253115
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01463 253075
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www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
understanding are developed in a progressive way. Staff provide parents with more
information about how they are implementing Curriculum for Excellence and making
changes to the way children learn in school. Staff are more confident in planning
activities at the right level of difficulty for children. They now need to continue to
increase the pace of learning to ensure all children make appropriate progress. The
school has made significant improvements to identifying and supporting children who
require additional help with their learning. Support staff are used more effectively to
help support children with their learning. Parents are now more involved in reviewing
and setting learning targets for children who have individualised educational
programmes.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school now has a clearer sense of direction. The acting headteacher has
provided strong leadership since taking up post and shows a significant commitment
to improving the work of the school. The acting headteacher is well supported by the
acting principal teacher. Staff are developing as reflective practitioners. They are
committed to improving children’s learning and readily try out new approaches in
their classrooms. The acting headteacher has improved approaches to monitoring
and evaluating the work of the school. As a result, staff receive clearer guidance on
taking forward the work of the school. This is helping to improve the consistency of
learning and teaching. Across the school there is now a sense of working together
to ensure children’s learning and achievements continue to get better. Notably, staff
worked as a community along with parents to help make the move to the new school
building a smooth one. This has supported children to settle quickly in a very
positive learning environment.
What happens next?
There is evidence of significant improvements in key areas of the school’s work
since the original inspection. The acting headteacher and staff have a shared
commitment to continuing to improve the quality of children’s learning and
achievement. A significant number of staff, including the acting headteacher and
acting principal teacher are currently in temporary positions. We will ask the
education authority to provide us with a report within 12 months of the date of this
letter outlining how well the improvements to the school have been sustained. We
will then decide whether to carry out a further inspection visit.
Janie McManus
HM Inspector
If you would like to receive this report 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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