Firth Primary School
and Nursery Class
Finstown
Orkney Islands Council
26 May 2009
This report tells you about the quality of education at the school1.
We describe how children benefit from learning there. We
explain how well they are doing and how good the school is at
helping them to learn. Then we look at the ways in which the
school does this. We describe how well the school works with
other groups in the community, including parents2 and services
which support children. We also comment on how well staff and
children work together and how they go about improving the
school.
Our report describes the ‘ethos’ of the school. By ‘ethos’ we
mean the relationships in the school, how well children are cared
for and treated and how much is expected of them in all aspects
of school life. Finally, we comment on the school’s aims. In
particular, we focus on how well the aims help staff to deliver high
quality learning, and the impact of leadership on the school’s
success in achieving these aims.
If you would like to learn more about our inspection of the school,
please visit www.hmie.gov.uk. Here you can find analyses of
questionnaire returns. Where applicable, you will also be able to
find descriptions of good practice in the school.
1
2
The term ‘school’ is used to include the work of the nursery
class, where relevant.
Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to
include foster carers, residential care staff and carers who are
relatives or friends.
Contents
1. The school
2. Particular strengths of the school
3. Examples of good practice
4. How well do children learn and achieve?
5. How well do staff work with others to support children’s learning?
6. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their school
community?
7. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
9. What happens next?
1. The school
Firth Primary School is a non-denominational school with a nursery
class. It serves the village of Finstown and surrounding Parish of Firth.
The roll was 73, including 13 in the nursery class when the inspection
was carried out in March 2009. Pupils’ attendance was above the
national average in 2007/2008. Over recent years the school had
experienced some frequent changes in staffing. The principal teacher
had recently returned to her post following a lengthy secondment to
another school. The headteacher also has responsibility for managing
Evie Primary School.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Happy, confident and well-behaved children who are keen to learn.
•
Support from parents, the local community, the education authority
and support agencies for the work of the school.
•
Children’s achievements in environmental activities, English
language and mathematics.
•
The attention given by staff to nurturing children and assuring their
care, welfare and inclusion in the wider life of the school.
•
The accommodation and resources for learning.
•
The supportive leadership of the headteacher and the strong sense
of identity that staff, children and parents have with the school.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Steps taken to increase children’s emotional resilience.
•
The promotion of active learning in reading.
•
The use of an interactive website to reach out to children’s families.
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4. How well do children learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Children in the nursery class are becoming confident, independent and
motivated learners. Almost all are making very good progress in key
aspects of their development. They are very aware of routines, select
activities, play well together and readily engage with staff. Children
show respect for their learning environment and for each other, taking
seriously responsibilities such as tidy up routines. Staff ensure
opportunities for children to share their learning. In early language,
almost all children speak confidently using a wide range of vocabulary.
They participate enthusiastically in songs and rhymes. Children
choose to look at books independently and show an interest in copying
words from the environment. They listen attentively to stories and to
instructions from staff. In early mathematics, almost all children show
a developed awareness of number within play contexts. Staff should
extend the involvement of children in planning activities and engage
them further in their learning.
At the primary stages, most children benefit from lively and motivating
learning experiences, including good opportunities to develop
independent thinking skills, to interact with others, to explore their rich
local environment and to become responsible citizens. Interactive
whiteboards and computers are used well to support learning.
Children are not always sure of their next steps in learning, but
personal learning planning is encouraging them to think about their
learning targets. Teachers share the purposes of lessons with children
but need to review understanding at the end of lessons. At P3,
children know what makes for a fair test in science. Those at P4 to P7
are learning German. All have a very good understanding of
environmental issues. Their mapping and technology skills are less
secure. Almost all participate with enthusiasm in physical education.
They have a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. Several are
making very good progress in learning to play the violin and cello. In
recent years, standards of attainment in reading, writing and
mathematics have remained high. Most children achieve appropriate
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national levels. Most show a keen interest in reading and read with
understanding and expression. Listening and talking skills are very
well developed. Children write well and at length and use these skills
across the curriculum. Presentation of written work is not consistently
good. Active approaches to reading and writing should be adopted
more fully at the early stages. In mathematics, most children calculate
accurately mental and written number work, handle information
appropriately, understand shapes and solve problems. They are less
skilled in practical tasks involving money and measurement.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Staff have begun to take good account of Curriculum for Excellence in
planning children’s learning experiences. Programmes of study need
to be reviewed to ensure continuity and progression in children’s
learning. The nursery class curriculum is firmly based on play, takes
very good account of children’s interests and is supported by good
resources. Children at the primary stages experience a suitably broad
curriculum. Health promotion, environmental awareness and
sustainable development activities involve all children in interesting
and enjoyable learning opportunities. Visiting specialists provide
strong support in art, music and physical education. The school is
working towards all children having two hours of good quality physical
education each week.
In the nursery class and almost all primary classes, teachers are
skilled at planning activities and using teaching approaches well
matched to the needs of children. Staff know their children very well
as individuals and are sensitive to their emotional, personal and social
needs. In the nursery class, staff place the development needs of
children at the centre of their work. In the primary classes, teachers
support learning skilfully, helping children to think, solve problems and
find solutions by themselves. Staff give a good measure of assistance
to those experiencing difficulties in their learning. On occasions, some
children require greater challenge in order to fulfil and build their
potential. The support for learning teacher provides very good support
to individuals and groups. She identifies and resolves effectively
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barriers to learning, including improving children’s emotional resilience.
Parents are kept well informed of any concerns about their child’s
learning. Psychological services, social work and health service
personnel ably assist the work of the school in supporting children and
families when required. Homework is regular at all stages but lacks
variety.
5. How well do staff work with others to support children’s
learning?
The school has fostered close and productive partnerships with other
agencies and professionals. Staff have ensured that children’s
families and the wider community are fully engaged in the life of the
school. Nursery staff take great care to involve parents in their child’s
learning and are looking to develop innovative ways of helping parents
support their child’s learning experiences. Purposeful links have been
established with the local mother and toddler group. Well-produced
newsletters, an innovative website, parent and teacher meetings and
an annual written report keep parents well informed of their child’s
progress and wider school life. Members of the local community have
a positive influence on children’s knowledge of wildlife, traditional
crafts and music, and conservation. The school chaplain is a regular
visitor to the school. Children at P7 value a residential experience
which develops their confidence, social and team-working skills.
Parents are very satisfied with almost all aspects of the life and work of
the school. The school staff value the advice given by the education
authority’s service improvement officer. Arrangements for entry to
nursery class and transition into P1 are effective. Greater attention
should be given to ensuring continuity in children’s learning
experiences between the nursery class and P1. Transitions between
P7 and Stromness Academy are effective and in line with local cluster
arrangements. The school deals effectively with any complaints.
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6. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their
school community?
In the nursery class, staff have undertaken some good self-evaluation.
This now needs to be more systematic and focused on improving
further children’s experiences. Primary children are given good
opportunities to take on responsibilities and they fulfil these roles
confidently. The strong family ethos of the school ensures children
readily help each other. The pupil council has representatives from
each class and they help in making decisions about what happens in
the school. They have recently been consulted about planned future
developments in the local area and have taken their involvement in
this very seriously. Children feel valued and involved in making the
school a good place to be. Good use is made by the school of surveys
to establish the views of parents. Staff teamwork is effective and helps
maintain the school’s high reputation in the community. They are
reflective and regularly discuss and share best practice. Teachers
exchange classes and then discuss their experiences. They consider
carefully how they can develop further their teaching skills. The
headteacher observes lessons, monitors teachers’ plans of work and
provides teachers with helpful feedback. These good self-evaluation
procedures can be strengthened by ensuring that feedback is taken on
board to improve learners’ experiences.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
Children respond well to teachers’ high expectations of behaviour.
Children and staff are rightly proud of their school and its many
achievements. The school places a strong emphasis on children’s
wider achievements and in recognising and celebrating these. Overall,
staff have high expectations of children. Children should be
encouraged to become more ambitious for their own learning. There
are regular opportunities for children to take part in religious
observance. Parents are suitably involved in the school’s health
education programme. Staff are alert to the wellbeing of children, give
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good attention to their fitness, happiness and health, and have a good
understanding of how to safeguard them. Some support staff have still
to be trained in child protection procedures.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher has worked closely and effectively with staff, parents,
children and the wider community to develop an agreed vision for the
school. He has set high expectations for staff and children and
provides good support, pastoral care and resources to help children
achieve well. He knows what remains to be done, building on the
school’s many strengths, to bring about further improvements. The
principal teacher provides the headteacher with good support. Staff
are keen to develop their practice and to be actively involved in taking
forward curriculum developments. The views of children and parents
are sought and acted upon. The school, based on agreed values,
effective leadership and good quality self-evaluation is very well placed
to develop further.
9. What happens next?
The school’s self-evaluation is leading to improvements in young
people’s learning. As a result, the inspection team was able to
change its focus during the inspection to help the school plan to
improve even more. HMIE will make no further visits following
publication of this report. The education authority will let parents
know about the school’s progress. It will do this as part of its
normal arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools.
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We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Develop the curriculum to ensure continuity and progression in
children’s learning, including improving links between the nursery
class and early primary stages.
•
Build on existing good practice to achieve consistency in teaching
approaches and to provide sufficient challenge to help all children
achieve well.
•
Make better use of the information from self-evaluation to bring
about improvements.
At the last Care Commission inspection of the nursery class two
recommendations were made. These had been addressed.
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Quality indicators help schools and nursery classes, education
authorities and inspectors to judge what is good and what needs to be
improved in the work of a school and a nursery class. You can find
these quality indicators in the HMIE publications How good is our
school? and The Child at the Centre. Following the inspection of each
school, the Scottish Government gathers evaluations of three
important quality indicators to keep track of how well all Scottish
schools and nursery classes are doing.
Here are the evaluations for Firth Primary School and Nursery Class.
Primary school
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
very good
very good
very good
Nursery class
Improvements in performance
Children’s experiences
Meeting learning needs
very good
very good
very good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school and
nursery class.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Assistant Chief Inspector: Alistair F Marquis
26 May 2009
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good
good
To find out more about inspections or get an electronic copy of this
report go to www.hmie.gov.uk. Please contact the Business
Management and Communications Team (BMCT) if you wish to
enquire about our arrangements for translated or other appropriate
versions.
If you wish to comment about any of our inspections, contact us
at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or alternatively you should write in
the first instance to BMCT, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm
House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way,
Livingston EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure is available from our website
www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can write to our Complaints
Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our
complaints procedure, you can raise your complaint with the Scottish
Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is fully independent
and has powers to investigate complaints about Government
departments and agencies. You should write to SPSO, Freepost
EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR. You can also telephone 0800 377 7330,
fax 0800 377 7331 or e-mail: ask@spso.org.uk. More information
about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website
at www.spso.org.uk.
This report uses the following word scale to make clear
judgements made by inspectors.
excellent
very good
good
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas for
improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
Crown Copyright 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education