25 June 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Carmuirs Primary School and Nursery Class
Falkirk 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 how well the school makes links across
the curriculum to enhance children’s learning. We also looked at the effectiveness of
school partnerships to enhance children’s learning. 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?
Across the nursery and school, all children are very well behaved, motivated and enjoy
their learning. In the nursery class, most activities sustain children’s interests and
children persevere with activities they have chosen. Children move confidently
between activities making decisions about where, who and what to play with. Most
children are developing independence well, for example, when changing their shoes to
get ready to play outdoors. At the primary stages, children are actively engaged and
very interested in what they are learning. They help each other frequently to complete
activities and solve problems and are very well-focussed when working independently.
Children contribute to lessons and discussions very confidently and take responsibility
regularly for their own learning. As a result, they are becoming independent learners
and are developing their thinking skills further. Staff use a variety of creative teaching
approaches to make learning more exciting, enjoyable and demanding. Children feel
their views are sought and acted upon and are involved in making decisions about
school matters.
In the nursery, children are achieving well. They are developing their skills in listening
and talking through singing songs, repeating rhymes and listening to stories. Children
show interest in early writing and many recognise their name in print. A few children
use numbers confidently in play and correctly sequence them when counting. At the
primary stages, children are achieving very well. They contribute to a range of
community improvements, for example, P3 children ran a successful ‘green dog
walkers’ campaign involving local businesses and the local councillor. The school has
gained awards for various activities, such as recycling materials and composting of
snack waste. As a result, the school has gained a second green flag from
Education Scotland
st
1 Floor, Endeavour House
1 Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4QB
T
01382 576700
F
01382 576701
E dundee@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
Textphone 01506 600236
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www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
Eco-Schools Scotland and is working towards the ‘Rights Respecting School’ award.
These and other activities help to develop children’s citizenship and leadership skills.
Across their learning, children are developing their language and mathematical skills
very well. At the primary stages, children enjoy reading and write very well for a range
of purposes. The writing is of a high quality and frequently links to, and enhances,
other areas of the curriculum. Children talk confidently and respectfully to each other
and to adults and are developing very good skills in listening for information. Children
are learning successfully the relevance of mathematics through activities linked to
everyday contexts and experiences.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Across the nursery and school, staff know the children very well as individuals and
provide a very high level of care, support and encouragement. In the nursery, staff
plan a range of different tasks that are at the right level of difficulty for most children.
Across the primary stages, teachers plan relevant tasks and activities that match
children’s abilities very well and provide them with appropriate levels of challenge.
Learning support staff provide very effective support to children individually and in
groups. Children with additional learning needs are supported very well. Staff work
very closely with a range of partners and together they are supporting children in their
learning very effectively. Across the nursery and primary stages, staff are working
confidently with Curriculum for Excellence. They plan learning which responds to
children’s interests and makes links across different curricular areas. In the nursery,
children’s learning is enhanced through the use of visiting specialists, such as the
‘youth music initiative’. At the primary stages, staff involve children in planning aspects
of their learning, including opportunities to choose topics to study. Teachers have
developed very successfully a variety of topics that help children use their skills and
knowledge from other curricular areas. For example, children use their literacy skills
very well when writing about India and the European Union. They have also
developed most areas of the curriculum, as well as sharing ideas and resources. As a
result, children are experiencing a broad and balanced curriculum. Children are well
supported as they move from nursery to P1. Arrangements to support children when
they move from P7 to Falkirk High School are very well organised. Curricular links
with Falkirk High are very well developed.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The headteacher has a very clear vision of continuous improvement for the school.
She has developed many areas of the school successfully to improve the quality of
teaching and children’s learning experiences. The depute headteacher provides the
headteacher with valuable support. As a management team, they observe learning
across the nursery and primary stages, and provide helpful feedback to staff about
what is working well and how they could improve children’s learning experiences. In
the nursery, staff reflect on their work and make changes to children’s learning plans
and activities. Approaches to monitoring and evaluating the work of the nursery now
need to be more rigorous to ensure improvements in children’s learning and
achievement. Nursery staff and teachers are members of task groups and have led
new developments linked to the curriculum and wider aspects of the school. The
headteacher holds focus meetings with groups of children to ask them about their
learning and uses their suggestions to further improve the school. Parents are
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regularly consulted through the Parent Council and at curricular events. The
headteacher has made improvements as a result of their comments. Staff track and
monitor children’s performance regularly and in detail, to ensure that they are making
appropriate progress in their learning.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Confident and respectful children who support each other in their learning.
Partnership working and its positive impact on supporting children’s learning.
Staff who provide a caring and supportive ethos.
The quality of children’s writing across the primary stages.
Teachers plan innovative and exciting lessons to meet the learning needs of all
children.
The leadership of the headteacher in creating a stimulating learning environment.
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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Ensure self-evaluation approaches lead to improvements in children’s learning
experiences and achievements in the nursery.
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 aspects 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.
Hakim Din
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/Car
muirsPrimarySchoolFalkirk.asp
If you would like to receive this letter 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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