Sacred Heart Primary
School
Girvan
South Ayrshire Council
25 August 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
Sacred Heart Primary School is a denominational school. It serves the
town of Girvan and the surrounding rural area. The roll was 107 when
the inspection was carried out in June 2009. Children’s attendance
was in line with the national average in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Confident, friendly children who are actively involved in the
community and developing their wider achievements.
•
The very caring, supportive and welcoming ethos.
•
The contribution of parents to the life and work of the school.
•
Staff teamwork in improving children’s learning experiences.
•
The headteacher’s leadership of improvements to the curriculum.
3. Examples of good practice
•
The use of GLOW technology to develop strong partnerships with a
school in Stornoway.
•
Parental involvement in Curriculum for Excellence.
4. How well do children learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Children across the school are highly motivated and actively involved
in their learning. They listen well to teachers and to each other and
enjoy regular opportunities to assess their own work and the work of
others in their classes. This is helping them to be more aware of how
they can improve their own learning. At the early stages, children
learn literacy, numeracy and social skills well through play at the start
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of the day. Across the school, children use information and
communications technology (ICT) well to support their learning. For
example, children in the middle stages have established links with a
school in Stornoway using the Internet. Children in both schools are
learning more about their areas and cultures as well as developing
strong friendships.
Staff use activities out of class to extend children’s skills and abilities.
For example, after visiting the ‘Cooking Bus’, children cook in school.
The upper primary class have organised a very successful fashion
show as part of their enterprise programme. They have used their
literacy and numeracy skills in a practical way to advertise, plan and
run the event. Children are successfully developing their teamwork
skills in groups such as the school council and eco committee. Their
editorial team produces very attractive school newsletters. Across the
school, children fully understand the benefits of healthy eating and
being physically active.
Almost all children, including those with additional support needs, are
making very good progress in English language and mathematics,
taking account of their prior levels of achievement. In recent years,
most children have attained appropriate national levels in reading and
writing. Almost all do so in mathematics where significant numbers of
children from P2 to P5 achieve levels earlier than expected. Over the
last few years, the school has maintained good levels of attainment in
reading and very good levels in mathematics. Attainment in writing
has dipped slightly in recent years. The school has taken steps to
address this by introducing new approaches to writing. As a result,
motivation has increased and writing is improving. In English
language, children at all stages listen well to teachers and to each
other. They speak clearly and with confidence to express their views.
Children across the school read well with understanding. Children
at P3 and P4 can select information and language to help them
improve their own writing. By P7, children can talk confidently about
texts they are reading. They read widely for enjoyment. Children have
regular opportunities to write at length for a variety of purposes. In
mathematics across the stages, children are developing appropriate
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skills in mental and written calculation. Younger children are
developing skills in using adding and subtracting to help them to solve
problems. At P6 and P7, children can use problem solving strategies
well when developing a seating plan. They can discuss and assess
different solutions effectively.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Children enjoy a broad curriculum which is helping to develop their
skills in a wide range of areas. Staff are aligning the curriculum with
national guidance on Curriculum for Excellence. Teachers plan
learning across the curriculum to take good account of the skills
children are learning. Children have good opportunities to use literacy
and numeracy skills through, for example, environmental studies
projects. The school provides two hours of good quality physical
education for all children each week. At P6 and P7, children are
successfully learning French. Children benefit from a well-planned
health and wellbeing curriculum. This is improving their personal and
social skills and developing their awareness of equality and fairness.
Staff ensure children have good opportunities to take part in
educational outings to extend their learning and achievement.
Staff meet children’s needs well. Tasks, activities and resources
effectively meet the needs of almost all children. Teachers know
children well and are sensitive to the needs of individuals in their
classes. However, tasks and activities are sometimes too easy for
higher-achieving children. Staff should ensure a few children with
additional needs benefit from learning and working with others in
classes. Staff give clear instructions, share the purposes of learning
with children, and effectively encourage them to think about what they
have learned. Teachers’ questions help to build on children’s previous
learning and challenge them to think for themselves. Homework tasks
are varied and linked appropriately to what children learn in class.
Support staff effectively help children across the school. The school is
very good at identifying children’s learning needs. The support for
learning teacher provides high-quality support to children, staff and
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parents. Children with additional support plans are making good
progress towards targets set to improve their learning.
5. How well do staff work with others to support children’s
learning?
The school has very good links with a range of partner agencies to
support children and families, including health and social work
services. There are strong links with Ayr Football Club who have
provided football training sessions for children and a community
football festival. The local Carrick Burns Club assists the school in an
annual community Burns assembly. This is very well attended by
parents and the local community. The Parent Council and other
parents support the school very well. The school provides parents
with helpful newsletters, progress reports and questionnaires about its
work. The school consults parents about sensitive health issues. Staff
are successfully involving parents in developing aspects of Curriculum
for Excellence. Staff seek their views on projects across the
curriculum and hold information sessions after school and in the
evening. Appropriate arrangements are in place to support children
transferring from nursery to P1 and from P7 to Queen Margaret
Academy and Girvan Academy. The school is good at dealing with
complaints.
6. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their
school community?
Children play an active part in the school community through the pupil
council. Children contribute to decisions which benefit the whole
school, such as buying new Scottish fiction. Through the
eco committee, children help to reduce waste and encourage
recycling. All children in P7 are helping to explore and conserve their
local environment as part of their work for a John Muir Award.
Children in P6 and P7 are buddies to younger children and
enthusiastically act as junior road safety officers. Staff regularly
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discuss improvement to learning and teaching and new ways of
improving the work they do. The headteacher regularly seeks the
views of children and parents about improvements to the school and
uses these to improve aspects of the school. Managers evaluate the
school’s work in a variety of effective ways. They offer teachers useful
advice and suggestions for improvement during regular visits to
classes. The headteacher monitors children’s achievement and ways
in which learning can be improved. Self-evaluation is having a positive
impact on improving learning and teaching.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
Children are very proud of their school and talk confidently about their
achievements in and out of classes. They are polite and courteous
and welcome visitors. Staff celebrate children’s achievements at
assemblies and through attractive school displays and reward
systems. All staff have received training in child protection and are
highly committed to the care and welfare of all children. They have
high expectations of children’s attendance, behaviour and learning.
Teachers motivate learners to do their best and enjoy learning.
Children are developing a good awareness of healthy lifestyles and the
importance of equality and respect for others. There are regular
opportunities for religious observance. The school has very good links
with the church and fosters a strong and caring Catholic ethos.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher provides very effective leadership for learning across
the school. She has a clear vision which all staff share. They focus
appropriately on improving children’s experiences in new and
interesting ways. The depute headteacher and principal teacher
support the headteacher very well. They have made very good
progress in taking forward improvements to the curriculum and health
and wellbeing. All teachers take on leadership roles. Staff across the
school feel that their views are valued and taken into account in
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delivering school improvements. All staff have a shared commitment
to helping the school to improve and work very well as a team. There
is a very positive and caring school ethos. The school is well placed to
continue to improve.
9. What happens next?
As a result of the very good quality of education provided by the
school, we will make no further visits following this inspection. The
education authority will inform parents about the school’s progress
as part of the authority’s arrangements for reporting to parents on
the quality of its schools.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Continue to improve attainment in writing.
•
Meet more fully the needs of children with additional support
needs, including higher-achieving children.
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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 Sacred Heart Primary School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
very good
very good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: June Orr
25 August 2009
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very good
very 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