10 September 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Ladybank Primary School and Nursery Class
Fife 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 acting
headteacher and staff. We also met the substantive headteacher, who is currently on
maternity leave, to discuss the work of the school. We wanted to find out how well
children are learning and achieving and how well the school supports children to do
their best. The acting 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 the impact of outdoor learning and enterprise across the school,
the school’s approaches to improving children’s health and wellbeing, and continuity
and progression from nursery into P1. 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 in a safe, welcoming and caring environment. The school motto of fair,
kind and polite is evident in the high standard of children’s behaviour and in the
positive relationships across the school. Children in the nursery experience
consistently high-quality learning. They talk confidently about nursery and home
experiences and recall learning they have enjoyed, for example during a recent trip to
a science centre. Across the primary classes, almost all children work well
independently and in groups. Children increasingly develop skills and positive
attitudes in a range of learning across the nursery and primary school. They care for
the environment and show compassion to others. Children contribute to improvements
to their own local community through campaigning and fundraising. Some children’s
work has been recognised through award schemes. The school has identified the
need to recognise children’s achievements through formal accreditation more widely.
At the primary stages, there was inconsistent evidence of children being able to talk
about their progress as learners. Children need more conversations about the
purpose of their learning and how to improve their work. To support these
conversations, staff should develop more robust approaches to assessing, tracking
and monitoring children’s progress. Older children demonstrate leadership in their
roles as buddies and as house captains. More children in P1 to P7 should be given
roles of responsibility and opportunities to improve their school and community.
Children in the nursery are making strong progress and achieving very well in early
literacy and numeracy. Almost all are developing effective early reading skills and use
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Transforming lives through learning
their early writing skills very well, for example, through making labels for things they
have made and for the plants they have grown. They know about numbers,
measurement and shapes and enjoy counting and arranging things in order. Most
children in the primary stages use literacy, numeracy and a range of information and
communications technology (ICT) skills well across their learning. They have a good
knowledge of their local and national context through experiences of outdoor learning
and visits to places of interest. They develop important skills for work through
enterprise including the school’s successful Cupcake Café. Children in P6 and P7 are
making good progress in German. Children understand how to live a safe and healthy
life including the importance of regular physical activity, the dangers of substance
misuse and healthy eating.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Staff are developing well their understanding of Curriculum for Excellence. They plan
appropriately for developing children’s skills in literacy, numeracy and increasingly in
health and wellbeing. However, teachers’ planning for progression and skills
development across other curriculum areas requires improvement to ensure children
consistently build on their previous achievements. Recently introduced planning
formats consistently support staff to involve children in discussions about what they
would like to learn across the curriculum. Links with the wider community extend
children’s skills and knowledge including through learning about science and nature
when outdoors. Partnership with a school in Malawi and well-planned religious
observance effectively encourage citizenship and responsible attitudes to others.
From P1, children explore aspects of emotional wellbeing and are increasing in
confidence through effective drama lessons. Staff increasingly plan lessons that link
learning from different curriculum areas. They need to ensure these links are
meaningful and relevant for children. Children are well prepared for the transition from
nursery to P1 and from P7 to secondary school. All classes require more opportunities
to progress in music, art and technology.
Nursery staff respond very well to children’s needs. Parents are very positive about
what staff do to support their children and families. Staff demonstrate a sound
understanding of how to overcome social, emotional and physical barriers to learning
and help children succeed. In most primary classes, staff plan tasks and activities
which meet most children’s needs. Most teachers provide a range of suitable
resources and the school works with other agencies to ensure children’s needs are
met. Staff in nursery and primary now need to ensure all children are sufficiently
challenged by their learning. Support for learning staff work well with individuals and
groups during lessons. The additional needs of some children are not well enough
met through their individual support plans. There is a need for greater rigour and
increased involvement of class teachers, parents and children when planning and
reviewing the targets within these plans.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
In a short time, both the headteacher and the acting headteacher have led
improvements which have taken the school forward. Their professional expertise and
commitment to provide high-quality learning is valued by staff and parents.
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The school’s vision, values and aims have been refreshed and a new school uniform is
being introduced. Approaches to homework have been reviewed and improved.
Parents and other local people contribute much to support the work of the school. All
staff are reflective and committed to developing the curriculum further and improving
their work through the recently-established teacher learning community. They
recognise the need to improve assessment, tracking and monitoring. Some have
already started to achieve this, working with staff in neighbouring schools. Whilst there
is still work to improve, the school has moved forward some important aspects of
Curriculum for Excellence. The priorities now are to meet the needs of all children well
and to deliver sustained improvements in their achievements.
This inspection of your school found the following key strengths.
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Polite, welcoming children who are well behaved and keen to learn.
Use of the outdoors to enhance children’s learning experiences.
High-quality learning and achievement in the nursery classes.
Partnership with parents and the wider community.
The clear sense of direction and shared vision for continuing to improve the school.
We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to
improve the school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Further develop the curriculum using the principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
Increase the rigour of self-evaluation to achieve consistently high-quality learning
and teaching at all stages.
Strengthen arrangements for additional support for learning in line with Fife
Council’s agreed policy and protocols.
What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that most of the
school’s self-evaluation processes are now starting to lead to improvements. With
support from the local authority and Education Scotland the school will be able to
make the necessary further improvements. Our Area Lead Officer along with the local
authority will discuss the most appropriate support in order to build capacity for
improvement and will maintain contact to monitor progress. Parents will be informed
of the extent to which the school has improved.
Patricia Watson
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/Lady
bankPrimarySchoolFife.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.
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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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