18 September 2012
Dear Parent/Carer
Law Primary School and Nursery Class
South Lanarkshire Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I visited and inspected your child’s
school. During our visit, we talked to parents and children and we 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
leadership at all levels, parental involvement and partnerships, links across learning
and use of the outdoors. 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?
Children learn and achieve well. Children in the nursery are sociable and lively. The
majority are learning to share toys and, with help, can sustain concentration until
they complete an activity. Staff understand that the organisation of children’s
activities needs to be reviewed to give them more independent choices. Staff in the
primary classes are improving approaches to learning and teaching. This includes
providing more ways for children to be active in their learning and to collaborate with
others, working with partners and in small groups. Children like these approaches.
Staff now need to extend these approaches to ensure children participate in highquality learning experiences consistently across the school. The school is working
with partners to promote involvement in the wider community. Links with local
businesses and organisations enable children in the upper stages to put their skills
into practice in a relevant context. For example, they write letters, make phone calls,
present findings at assemblies and run workshops for other children in school.
Children demonstrate pride in their achievements and are eager to celebrate and
share information about activities outwith the classroom. Children are positive about
the range of clubs and activities provided. They like to take responsibility and
organise community and learning events including, for example, the successful
‘Bistro café’ which parents visited to find out more about what children learn in
school. Staff recognise that younger children need more opportunities to contribute
to the committees and have a voice in decision making. Through their learning in
social studies and religious and moral education, children are becoming more aware
of other cultures and religions. Children are progressing well in their learning about
health and wellbeing. A positive start has been made to developing outdoor
learning. Overall, children in the nursery are making satisfactory progress in
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
language and mathematics. Staff are aware that children need more challenging
and relevant play situations to better develop early literacy and numeracy skills in
more suitable ways, including when outdoors. Across the primary classes, children
are making very good progress in literacy and English, and good progress in
mathematics. Improvements in children’s writing are evident across curriculum
areas. There is scope to promote children’s skills in numeracy across other areas,
building on the positive start made this session with ‘money week’.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Staff know children well and provide high-quality pastoral care and support.
The curriculum in the nursery needs to be improved so that children can make better
progress. Staff in the primary classes are becoming increasingly confident in using
Curriculum for Excellence to plan children’s learning. In the best lessons, teachers
give clear explanations and share with children the purpose of activities. Children
need help to make better connections between what they are learning and why. In
most classes, tasks are set at an appropriate level of difficulty for children. Staff
need to ensure that lessons maintain a brisk pace and all children are challenged
consistently well in all areas of the curriculum. Children across the school have good
opportunities to develop citizenship and enterprise skills across a range of activities
including eco initiatives, fundraising events and playground developments. Their
understanding of the world of work is enhanced by a series of visits from different
professionals. Teachers use approaches which help children develop their literacy
skills and make connections across different areas of learning. For example, P7 had
the opportunity to design, construct and test working robots and then write about
what they had done. Children needing additional help or support in their learning are
identified early. Written plans detailing support for children are generally well
organised and the involvement of other agencies noted as necessary. In taking
forward support, it is important that children and parents are fully involved in
agreeing and reviewing targets. Across the school and nursery, staff should
continue to work with children to help them identify their next steps in learning.
Support assistants work effectively with children needing additional help with their
learning. Transition into P1 is focused on meeting children’s pastoral needs. A well
developed programme is in place to support children moving to Carluke High School.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We are confident the school is improving the quality of its work. Children take a
pride in their school and actively promote the school’s welcoming and friendly ethos.
All staff work very well together. They are eager to undertake responsibilities and
have been successful in leading different aspects of the school’s work including, for
example, improvements in children’s writing. The headteacher is a strong leader
who has gained support from all staff and parents. She has a very clear
understanding what needs to be done at different stages to improve learning and
achievement. Since taking up her post this session she has improved many aspects
of the work of the school and is aware that more needs to be done to improve the
nursery. The headteacher has taken a lead in improving and extending the
procedures for evaluating the work of the school. These include evaluating
classroom experiences and monitoring and tracking the achievements of children in
the primary classes. Under the guidance of the headteacher and through working
with schools in the cluster, staff have begun to improve assessment approaches.
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We are confident that these strategies have the potential to bring about greater
improvement as they become fully embedded.
This inspection of your school and nursery class found the following key strengths.
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Confident children who are enthusiastic learners and proud of their school.
Children’s attainment in writing.
The positive attitude and commitment of staff to improving their approaches to
teaching.
The strategic vision of the headteacher in improving the work of the school.
We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to
improve the school and nursery class. This is what we agreed with them.
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Improve approaches to self-evaluation in the nursery to better meet the needs of
children.
Across all classes, increase challenge in learning and improve children’s
understanding of how they learn.
In taking forward Curriculum for Excellence, develop further the early level to
ensure children’s progress from prior learning is built upon.
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. The local authority will
inform parents about the school’s progress as part of the authority’s arrangements
for reporting to parents on the quality of the school.
Mary Ann Hagan
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.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/primsec/La
wPrimarySchoolSouthLanarkshire.asp
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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