Quarryhill School
and Nursery Class
Aberdeen City Council
30 June 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. How well do children learn and achieve?
4. How well do staff work with others to support children’s learning?
5. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their school
community?
6. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
8. What happens next?
1. The school
Quarryhill School is a non-denominational school with a nursery class.
It serves an area in the north of Aberdeen. The roll was 325,
including 40 in the nursery and 14 in the base for children with
additional support needs when the inspection was carried out in
May 2009. Children’s attendance was below the national average
in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The interaction between children and staff in the nursery class.
•
The supportive learning environment in the base for children with
additional support needs.
•
Children’s achievements in aspects of health and wellbeing.
3. How well do children learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
In the nursery class, children are making good progress in their
learning. Almost all children talk to others confidently. They are keen
to discuss specific interests. They enjoy listening to stories and
retelling them. Children are developing early writing skills well during
play activities. They make good use of early counting skills when
preparing snack and during role-play. Children are enthusiastic when
taking part in activities such as planting, which encourages their
interest in the natural world.
In the primary classes and the additional support needs base, most
children are motivated and keen to learn. However, they need more
opportunities to undertake independent research, to work in groups
and to be involved in decisions about how to improve their learning. In
the best lessons, children respond well to the increasing opportunities
to be actively involved in their learning. At the early stages, children
are motivated in their learning through the effective use of games and
group work. In drama, children work well in pairs to develop and
perform role-play scenarios related to class topics. In health education
lessons, they cooperate effectively when working in groups. Most
children have a very good understanding of how to keep safe and
healthy. They are developing good coordination and improving their
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levels of fitness during high quality physical education lessons.
Recently, children broadened their learning by taking part in a week of
practical activities and visits to local places of interest. Some children
take on additional responsibilities as members of the eco group and
pupil council. The eco group is successful at raising awareness of
environmental issues. The school’s national levels of attainment in
English language and mathematics have been below that of similar
schools for several years. By P7, the majority of children achieve
appropriate national levels in reading and less than half achieve these
levels in writing and mathematics. In English language, from P1
onwards, most children listen well and can follow instructions and
directions. At the upper stages, children’s skills in group discussion
are not well developed. Across the school, children read prepared text
from the reading scheme well. They are less confident in reading
popular fiction and using non-fiction books. Children do not write at
length often enough. In mathematics, children in P1 and P2 are
making good progress. In the middle and upper stages, children are
not confident when undertaking mental calculations. They need more
practice in solving problems using everyday situations.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Overall, the curriculum is satisfactory. In the nursery class, children
enjoy a good range of experiences which are firmly based on learning
through play. Early literacy and numeracy skills are developed well.
The outdoor area should be further developed to increase
opportunities for investigative activities. Across the primary classes,
staff provide a broad range of experiences for children. They have
recently taken helpful steps to encourage children to read for
enjoyment. Staff plan the curriculum to ensure that children develop
effective skills in information and communications technology (ICT).
They now need to develop their planning further so that children have
more opportunities to use their writing and ICT skills in different areas
of the curriculum. The current arrangements for teaching mathematics
reduces opportunities for teachers to make links with other curricular
areas. Effective programmes are in place to support health and
physical education. The school has yet to ensure that all children
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receive two hours of high quality physical education each week.
Senior staff need to provide teachers with clearer guidance on the
national initiative, Curriculum for Excellence.
In the nursery classes, staff interact very well with children. They set
activities at an appropriate level for most children. Staff use children’s
interests to plan what they will learn next. In the primary classes,
some lessons enable children to work together and learn from others.
However, the quality of lessons varies too much. In some lessons,
teachers are over-reliant on worksheets and textbook exercises which
are not interesting enough for children. Teachers’ instructions and
explanations are clear. Within English language, they provide children
with feedback on how to improve writing, but this is less frequent in
other curricular areas. Arrangements for homework are inconsistent
across the school. Staff take appropriate steps to identify and support
children who may need additional help with their learning. Support for
learning staff provide well structured support for individuals and small
groups of children. Steps should be taken to make better use of their
skills. Staff in the additional support needs base have a good
understanding of the needs of individual children. They adapt learning
materials and activities effectively. Individualised educational
programmes for children who attend the support base are detailed.
These are reviewed regularly in partnership with children, parents and
teachers. Children are becoming increasingly confident at identifying
personal learning targets. Those who attend the support base make
good progress.
4. How well do staff work with others to support children’s
learning?
The Friends of Quarryhill support the school by organising
well-attended social events. The Parent Council has responded to a
number of local authority consultations but parents have not been
involved enough in identifying steps to improve the school. Nursery
staff have a very good partnership with parents. Parent and child
cooking sessions are very popular. Across the school, staff keep
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parents informed of children’s progress through helpful reports and
parents’ evenings. Parents do not receive enough information on how
to help with their children’s learning. Senior staff work closely with a
wide range of professionals to support individual children. The school
has appropriate arrangements for investigating complaints. Senior
staff now need to ensure that parents are clear about the outcome of
any complaints. Effective arrangements are in place to support the
welfare of children transferring from nursery to P1 and from P7 to
secondary school. Further steps should be taken to strengthen
curricular links between staff at these stages.
5. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their
school community?
Children contribute to improvement through their participation in the
eco group, the pupil council and as buddies for younger children.
They have helped the school achieve a commended award for health
promotion activities. The eco group involve children in a range of
recycling issues. Overall, however, children do not have enough
involvement in decision making or discussing how their learning could
be improved. Teachers contribute to working groups. Some lead
additional activities, such as book clubs and cross-country running.
Teachers reflect on their work and this influences future planning.
Senior staff observe lessons and discuss teachers’ plans. They do not
make enough use of information about children’s attainment to ensure
that all children progress at an appropriate pace. Arrangements are
not in place to enable support assistants to contribute their ideas for
improvement. Self-evaluation activities have not led to action on key
areas where there is a need for improvement.
6. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
Overall, staff have positive relationships with children. However, the
behaviour of a few children can interrupt the learning of others and has
a negative impact on staff morale. A number of children have been
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excluded on more than one occasion. Staff do not feel well supported
when these children return to class. Children’s achievements are
celebrated in assemblies but more use should be made of displays of
children’s work to create a vibrant environment. Expectations of what
children can achieve should be raised. Staff are committed to the care
of all children. They provide children with very good support if they are
upset about something. Most children feel that there is an adult they
can speak to if they have a concern. Staff are clear about the school’s
child protection procedures.
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
All staff are hardworking and committed to doing their best for the
children in their care. The headteacher and other senior staff are
supportive of children and families. When working with children the
depute headteachers demonstrate good practice. However, planned
improvements have not been implemented fully and have not made
sufficient difference to children’s learning experiences. Too many
children leave Quarryhill School without achieving high enough
standards in literacy and numeracy. The senior team now need to
create a shared vision with staff, children and parents in order to move
the school forward. Teachers and support staff welcome this
challenge. They will need regular support from the education authority
to make the necessary improvements.
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8. What happens next?
We will carry out a follow-through inspection visit within one year of
publication of this report and will report to parents on the extent to
which the school has improved. Following that visit, we may
continue to check the improvements the school has made. We
may also carry out a second follow-through inspection within
two years of the original inspection report. If a second
follow-through inspection visit is necessary then it will result in
another report to parents on the extent of improvement that the
school has made.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Take action to raise attainment in English language and
mathematics.
•
Improve the deployment of support teachers and assistants to
better meet the needs of all children.
•
Involve all staff in reviewing approaches to self-evaluation to
ensure consistently high quality learning experiences for children.
•
Improve leadership across the school in order to take forward a
Curriculum for Excellence.
At the last Care Commission inspection of the nursery class there
were two requirements which had been addressed. In addition,
three recommendations were made. These had also 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 Quarryhill School and Nursery Class.
Primary school
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
weak
satisfactory
satisfactory
Nursery class
Improvements in performance
Children’s experiences
Meeting learning needs
satisfactory
good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school and
nursery class.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Anne Park
30 June 2009
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satisfactory
weak
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