Inchture Primary School
Perth & Kinross Council
25 April 2006
Contents
Page
1. Background
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2. Key strengths
1
3. What are the views of parents, pupils and staff?
1
4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
2
5. How well are pupils supported?
4
6. How good is the environment for learning?
5
7. Improving the school
6
Appendix 1 Indicators of quality
8
Appendix 2 Summary of questionnaire responses
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How can you contact us?
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1. Background
Inchture Primary School was inspected in January 2006 as part of a national sample of
primary education. The inspection covered key aspects of the work of the school at all
stages. It evaluated pupils’ achievements, the effectiveness of the school, the
environment for learning, the school’s processes for self-evaluation and capacity for
improvement. There was a particular focus on attainment in English language and
mathematics.
HM Inspectors examined pupils’ work and interviewed groups of pupils, including the
pupil council, and staff. Members of the inspection team also met the chairperson of
the School Board, representatives of the parent-teacher association (PTA), and a group
of parents 1 .
The school serves the village of Inchture and the surrounding area. At the time of the
inspection the roll was 88, including 22 children in the nursery class. The proportion of
pupils who were entitled to free school meals was well below the national average.
Pupils’ attendance was above the national average.
The nursery class was inspected at the same time and is the subject of a separate report.
2. Key strengths
HM Inspectors identified the following key strengths.
•
Welcoming and friendly staff.
•
Strong staff commitment to supporting each other and pupils.
•
Very effective links with the community and support agencies.
3. What are the views of parents, pupils and staff?
HM Inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires issued to all parents, P4 to P7
pupils, and to all staff. Information about the responses to the questionnaires appears in
Appendix 2.
Parents were generally satisfied with the work of the school. They all felt welcome in
the school and that their children were treated fairly. They thought that their children
enjoyed being at school and were well cared for. They expressed concern about class
organisation at the start of the school year and ineffective communication. They were
also concerned about vandalism in the evenings. They did not like the format of the
annual pupil progress reports and felt these did not offer enough information about their
1
Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to include foster carers, residential care staff and
carers who are relatives or friends.
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children’s progress. Pupils enjoyed being at school and particularly enjoyed physical
education (PE). They felt their views were listened to and that problems would be
sorted if they raised a concern. They felt well cared for in school and enjoyed outwith
school hours activities including chess and football. They were unhappy with the
behaviour of some pupils. Teachers and other staff were concerned about pupil
behaviour. They enjoyed working in the school and appreciated the support of the
acting headteacher. They were proud that all pupils were treated as individuals. They
identified good staff and parent relationships.
4. How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
Pupils’ learning experiences and achievements
Although the school provided pupils with a broad range of planned learning
experiences, it did not always ensure continuity and progression in the development of
pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding within each curriculum area. The English
language programme did not provide appropriate progression across the four learning
outcomes of talking, listening, reading and writing. The school gave too little attention
to science. The specialist teacher for PE worked closely with teachers to provide a very
good level of support for pupils. Although the majority of pupils in the school were
well behaved, the challenging behaviour of small groups of pupils from P3 to P7 had a
disruptive effect on the teaching process and the quality of learning for other pupils. In
a number of lessons, teaching time was lost because teachers had to spend too much
time managing difficult behaviour. In the most effective lessons, teachers were well
organised, gave clear explanations and made good use of questioning to check pupils’
understanding. However, teachers did not always make effective use of assessment
information to reinforce and build on pupils’ prior learning experiences. They did not
always ensure they had the attention of all pupils at the start of a lesson. Pupils had
insufficient opportunities to work together and learn from each other. The quality of
homework and range of activities provided by teachers was variable and often
repetitive.
There were some important weaknesses in the quality of pupils’ learning. In a
significant number of lessons, the pace of learning and choice of activities did not
present sufficient challenge for all pupils. Across the school, pupils used computers
with increasing levels of confidence and used their information and communications
technology (ICT) skills in practising mathematics activities. Pupils at P1 to P2 were
successfully developing early literacy and numeracy skills. However, they had
insufficient opportunity to work independently. Across the school, the majority of
pupils were well motivated but a significant minority had very negative attitudes to
learning and showed a lack of consideration for teachers and other pupils. While the
majority of pupils worked well in the absence of close supervision, others were more
easily distracted and were not able to work without support. Across the school, pupils
had limited opportunities to work together and learn from each other. At all stages, the
quality of pupils’ handwriting and presentation of work was not of a sufficiently high
standard.
Pupils were actively involved in the decision making process through the pupil council. It
provided pupils with good opportunities to raise issues and identify areas for improvement.
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They had helped change arrangements for lunch and organise the recent disco. Pupils in P7
had opportunities to support younger pupils in P1, help in the playground and carry out a
range of helpful activities around the school. Across the school pupils had been successful
in a range of cultural and sporting activities. Banners they had designed were displayed
during an international event in Perthshire last year. The chess team had won a local
tournament and success had also been achieved in basketball, football and orienteering.
Pupils demonstrated skills in citizenship and enterprise by raising funds for a range of
charities. All pupils had the opportunity to develop cycling proficiency skills with the
support of community police officers.
English language
The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in English language was weak. In recent years the
school had sustained the level of pupils’ attainment in reading and writing but assessment
information was not always reliable. Across the school, a majority of pupils achieved
appropriate national levels of attainment in reading, writing, listening and talking. Almost
all pupils in P1 and P2 and the majority from P3 to P5 were making good progress with
their coursework but a significant number were capable of achieving higher standards.
In P6/7, pupils were not making sufficient progress. Pupils in P1 and P2 responded well to
teachers’ questioning and were good at following instructions. From P3 to P7, the majority
of pupils listened attentively and made good contributions to class and group discussions.
Pupils in P7 did not demonstrate effective listening and talking skills. Pupils had access to
a wide range of books. However, by P7 pupils could not all identify their favourite authors
or talk about the content of the books they had read recently. Pupils’ writing skills were not
sufficiently well developed and many lacked skills in writing at length for a variety of
purposes. From P4 to P7, pupils’ skills in spelling, grammar and punctuation were not well
developed and needed to be improved.
Mathematics
The overall quality of pupils’ attainment in mathematics was good. Over the last three
years, attainment in mathematics had steadily improved. Most pupils at P3 to P7 were
achieving appropriate national levels of attainment in the key aspects of mathematics.
Overall, pupils were making appropriate progress in their coursework. Those receiving
additional support were progressing well. Across all stages, most pupils were confident in
using graphs and spreadsheets to display information. In P1/2, pupils were able to
recognise the difference in the size and shape of objects. In P2/3, pupils were progressing
well in developing their skills in addition and subtraction. In P4 pupils were confident in
using money and answering related questions. Most pupils at P3 to P7 were able to solve
problems effectively, and explain the strategies they had used. However, at P7 a few pupils
were less confident in answering problems involving fractions and volume. Across the
school, most pupils could discuss the different ways of performing mental calculations with
confidence. Pupils at all stages used mathematical games and ICT well to enhance their
mathematical knowledge and skills.
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5. How well are pupils supported?
The school’s arrangements for the care and welfare of pupils were good. Staff were caring
and committed and knew the pupils and their families very well. They were sensitive to the
emotional, physical and social needs of individual pupils. However, the level of
indiscipline and the lack of respect demonstrated by a small number of pupils towards
adults and other pupils had a negative impact on staff morale. The school had clear
procedures in place to deal with child protection issues and these were clearly understood
and applied by staff. Pupils could describe the school’s procedures for dealing with
instances of bullying and knew what do if they had any concerns. The school was
committed to encouraging pupils to develop a healthy lifestyle. For example, pupils
regularly used the school grounds for jogging activities. Most pupils taking school lunches
ate the salads, bread and fruit offered daily.
There were a number of important weaknesses in the arrangements for meeting pupils’
learning needs. Staff did not make effective use of assessment information to identify and
plan next steps in pupils’ learning. Learning activities were often targeted at the whole
class, particularly in aspects of English language, and as a result tasks did not meet
individual needs. There was an over reliance on learning materials that were not
sufficiently challenging and did not take full account of the range of needs within classes.
Class teachers and pupils were well supported by the visiting part-time support for learning
teacher. The school had introduced individualised educational programmes (IEPs) for a
small number of pupils with additional support needs. The IEPs contained appropriate
learning targets and these were shared with parents. These should now be shared with
pupils and be more actively used by class teachers. Learning assistants had good
relationships with the children in their care but lacked guidance and resources to support
effectively the needs of individual pupils. Appropriate systems were in place for managing
Records of Needs. The school had effective arrangements to support pupils at points of
transfer from the nursery class into P1 and from P7 into secondary school.
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6. How good is the environment for learning?
Aspect
Comment
Quality of
accommodation
and facilities
The quality of the accommodation was good. Appropriate
security arrangements were in place. Teachers made
effective use of displays to provide pupils with an attractive
environment. The school grounds were safe and offered
opportunity for extensive outdoor learning and play.
Classrooms were well furnished but often cluttered by too
many out-of-date resources. The open plan area in the
centre of the school was not used to its best advantage. The
current layout hindered its effective use for PE. Storage of
resources and equipment needed to be reviewed. The noise
from active lessons in the hall distracted learning and
teaching in classrooms. Pupils and disabled visitors could
access all areas of the school, although there was no
disabled toilet that would accommodate a full-size
wheelchair. Arrangements for the intimate care of pupils
with additional needs were limited. There were no changing
facilities for PE.
Climate and
relationships,
expectations
and promoting
achievement
and equality
Visitors to the school were made welcome. The behaviour
of a significant minority of pupils from P4 to P7 was
unsatisfactory. The acting headteacher and staff had
recently established a number of strategies to promote
positive behaviour but these were not yet consistently
applied or successful in improving pupils’ behaviour. Staff
needed to ensure that all instances of indiscipline were dealt
with in a consistent and effective way. The school was
beginning to increase pupils’ understanding of racial
equality and discrimination through whole-school
involvement in activities within religious and moral
education and social subjects. The school made effective
use of weekly assemblies to promote religious observance
and highlight pupils’ achievements. This had recently
included the celebration of gaining house points.
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Aspect
Comment
Partnership
with parents
and the
community
The school had good relationships with parents and good
links with the local community. The School Board provided
a good level of support to the school. They had been active
in pursuing improved road safety arrangements. Teachers
produced annual pupil progress reports using a local
authority template. Some of the reports lacked personal
details from staff. They met with parents to discuss
children’s progress on a formal and informal basis. Parents
were insufficiently involved in the life of the school. The
acting headteacher had developed a good working
relationship with the school’s cluster group, the educational
psychological service and a range of other support agencies.
The school was developing a programme for sexual health
and had plans to consult with parents on sensitive health
issues.
7. Improving the school
Appendix 1 provides HM Inspectors’ overall evaluation of the work of the school.
Inchture Primary School did not provide a sufficiently stimulating or challenging learning
environment for all pupils. Staff were caring and committed but the negative behaviour and
attitudes of small groups of pupils from P4 to P7 had created a situation in which too many
pupils were not making good progress in their learning. The school, with the support of the
education authority, required to improve its approaches to behaviour management.
Although the acting headteacher and staff had now begun to use a number of strategies to
promote and encourage positive behaviour, they had not yet established a consistent and
coherent whole-school approach. The overall quality of learning was weak and teaching
adequate. Teachers did not make effective use of assessment information to ensure
continuity and progression in pupils’ learning. The school did not have effective guidance
for staff or well-planned programmes for learning except in mathematics. It did not provide
pupils with an appropriate range of learning activities in all curriculum areas.
In recent years, there had been significant weaknesses in the leadership and management of
the school that had an impact on the capacity of the school to provide quality experiences
for all pupils and staff. The acting headteacher had been in post for several months due to
the absence of the headteacher through illness. She was very committed to the school and
had recognised that many aspects of the school needed improved. She had worked hard to
support staff in the day-to-day running of the school and was respected by her colleagues.
The acting headteacher had begun to use a range of procedures to monitor the work of the
school and evaluate the quality of learning and teaching, but this had not yet led to
identifiable improvements. To further improve the school, staff should work closely with
the education authority to improve pupils’ behaviour, raise attainment and ensure that the
needs of all pupils are met fully.
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Main points for action
The school and education authority, in liaison with HM Inspectors, should take
action to ensure improvement in:
•
pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning;
•
pupils’ attainment;
•
continuity and progression in pupils’ learning in English language;
•
the use of assessment information to identify the next steps in pupils’ learning
and improve the learning experience; and
•
the use of the accommodation as highlighted in the report.
What happens next?
The school and the education authority have been asked to prepare an action plan
indicating how they will address the main findings of the report, and to share that plan
with parents. HM Inspectors will engage with the school and the education authority to
monitor progress. They will publish an interim report on progress within one year of
the publication of this report. Thereafter, HM Inspectors will continue to engage with
the school and the education authority in monitoring progress, and will undertake a
follow-through inspection. This will result in another report to parents, within two
years of the publication of this report, on the extent of improvement that has been
achieved.
Susan R Duff
HM Inspector
25 April 2006
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Appendix 1 Indicators of quality
The sections in the table below follow the order in this report. You can find the main
comments made about each of the quality indicators in those sections. However,
aspects of some quality indicators are relevant to other sections of the report and may
also be mentioned in those other sections.
How good are learning, teaching and achievement?
Structure of the curriculum
The teaching process
Pupils’ learning experiences
Pupils’ attainment in English language
Pupils’ attainment in mathematics
How well are pupils supported?
Pastoral care
Meeting pupils’ needs
How good is the environment for learning?
Accommodation and facilities
Climate and relationships
Expectations and promoting achievement
Equality and fairness
Partnership with parents, the School
Board, and the community
Improving the school
Leadership
Self-evaluation
Adequate
Adequate
Weak
Weak
Good
Good
Weak
Good
Weak
Adequate
Good
Good
Weak
Weak
This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements made by
inspectors:
excellent
very good
good
adequate
weak
unsatisfactory
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excellent
major strengths
important strengths with some areas for improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
Appendix 2
Summary of questionnaire responses
Important features of responses from the various groups which received questionnaires
are listed below.
What parents thought the school did
well
What parents think the school
could do better
•
•
•
•
Provided stimulating and
challenging work for their child.
Dealt with all concerns raised.
Made them feel welcome.
•
•
Explain how they can help with
homework.
Share information about the
school’s priorities for
improvement.
Improve the pupil progress
reports.
What pupils thought the school did
well
What pupils think the school could
do better
•
•
•
•
•
•
Helped them when they were stuck.
Explained things clearly and telling
them how to improve their work.
They get a say in how to make the
school better.
Teachers check their homework.
•
Improve the behaviour of pupils.
Teachers could tell them how
they are getting on with their
work.
Dealing with inappropriate
behaviour.
What staff thought the school did
well
What staff think the school could
do better
•
•
Staff were generally happy with all
aspects of school life.
Improve the behaviour of some
pupils.
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How can you contact us?
If you would like an additional copy of this report
Copies of this report have been sent to the headteacher and school staff, the Acting
Executive Director of Education and Children’s Services, local councillors and
appropriate Members of the Scottish Parliament. Subject to availability, further copies
may be obtained free of charge from HM Inspectorate of Education,
Wellgate House (Level 5), The Wellgate, Dundee DD1 2DB or by telephoning
01382 224155. Copies are also available on our website www.hmie.gov.uk.
If you wish to comment about primary inspections
Should you wish to comment on any aspect of primary inspections, you should write in
the first instance to Chris McIlroy, Acting HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education,
Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston
EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to
Hazel Dewart, Business Management Unit, HM Inspectorate of Education, Second
Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston
EH54 6GA. A copy of our complaints procedure is available from this office or by
telephoning 01506 600258 or from our website at www.hmie.gov.uk.
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.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to
investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should
write to The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville Street,
Edinburgh EH3 7NS. You can also telephone 0870 011 5378 or e-mail
enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s
office can be obtained from the website: www.scottishombudsman.org.uk.
Crown Copyright 2006
HM Inspectorate of Education
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thereof are stated.
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