Education Scotland
Foghlam Alba
Education Scotland, Unit 7, Blair Court, Clydebank Business Park, Clydebank G81 2LA
t 0141 435 3550
f 0141 435 3555
Textphone 01506 600236
e clydebank@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
w www.educationscotland.gov.uk
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28 February 2012
Dear Parent/Carer
Sacred Heart RC Primary School and Nursery Class, Grangemouth
Falkirk Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I visited and inspected your child’s school.
Throughout our visit, we talked to many parents and children and we worked closely with the
headteacher and staff. We wanted to find out how well children were learning and achieving
and how well the school supported children to do their best. The headteacher shared with us
the school’s successes and priorities for improvement. We looked at some particular aspects
of the school’s recent work. These included how well all staff are involved in improving the
school by introducing active literacy, co-operative learning and a Rights Respecting School
programme. As a result, we were able to find out how good the school was at improving
children’s education. I would now like to tell you what we found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
In the nursery and the primary, children are learning very well and most are achieving highly.
Almost all children are very polite, well behaved, motivated and eager to learn. They enjoyed
telling us about their school. The recent focus on developing a Rights Respecting School has
helped children better appreciate the importance of being caring and respectful of others.
This, along with the contributions from the church, helps promote Catholic values. Almost all
children feel happy and safe in the school. In the nursery, most children cooperate well with
others in their play. They are enthusiastic about their ‘creative den’ in which they learn by
exploring and using their imagination. In the primary classes, cooperative learning is
encouraging children to think and talk about their learning. Children very naturally and
successfully collaborate with each other in pairs and small groups. They are taking increased
responsibilities for their learning. Recently, the older children worked very well with parents
and local businesses to plan and make decisions in organising a winter fayre. Children are
getting better at describing what they are good at in language and mathematics and how they
can improve. The school is planning to improve further children’s skills in evaluating their own
next steps in learning.
Across the school, children take on responsibilities to develop their skills for life and work.
They share their ideas confidently through membership of groups including, for example,
Eco-School and Rights Respecting School. Some children develop their health and wellbeing
through a range of clubs and activities. In particular, children value badminton, drama and
football. The school needs to look at how it can develop a range of contexts so that all
children can benefit in these ways. At all stages, most children are progressing well in
language and mathematics. In the nursery, children engage positively in short conversations
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with adults and with their peers. They are showing an interest in early writing. Most children
are developing good skills in counting and they recognise numbers up to ten. In the early
stages of the primary, the new active approaches to literacy are improving significantly
children’s skills in language. Children enjoy reading books. By the upper stages, a high
proportion of children can describe a range of techniques that authors use. The older children
need to be encouraged to write in more detail. Across the primary, almost all children are
making secure progress as they move from stage to stage in mathematics. Information and
communications technology (ICT) is well used to present information. Children’s skills in
problem solving are very strong.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Staff across the nursery and the school are supporting children’s development very
effectively. There are many positive features in the way that staff plan learning for children.
Staff know children very well and are sensitive to their needs. Those requiring support in their
learning are making appropriate progress. The school works very closely with other agencies
to make sure that children get a range of support. Staff are developing new ways of actively
engaging children in their learning. This is resulting in most lessons having tasks and
activities that are helping children to learn at an appropriate pace. Children experience a
broad and balanced curriculum. Staff have gained confidence in using Curriculum for
Excellence to improve outcomes for children in language and mathematics. They now need
to continue to develop other curricular areas to ensure better progression in children’s
learning. This should also include embedding further literacy, numeracy and health and
wellbeing across all curricular areas.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We are confident that the school has improved its work and can continue doing so. All staff
are committed and enthusiastic in leading projects that enhance children’s learning. Senior
managers have a clear vision for change. The headteacher provides staff with highly
effective support for developing further their skills, including in coaching and mentoring.
A range of approaches are in place to evaluate the quality of the school’s work. Most of these
are accurately identifying what the school can do better. Staff should continue to work
together to improve the way that they track children’s progress. This, in turn, would provide
children and their parents with better information about strengths and next steps in learning.
The school is well placed to build on its strengths and has capacity to improve the areas
outlined below.
This inspection of your school and nursery class found the following key strengths.
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The overall quality of children’s learning experiences.
Approaches to active literacy.
Care and support for children.
Children’s behaviour and positive attitude to learning.
Staff’s enthusiasm for improving the school.
We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to improve the
school and nursery class. This is what we agreed with them.
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Continue to develop the curriculum taking account of Curriculum for Excellence.
Strengthen arrangements for tracking children’s progress and achievement across the
school.
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We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that the school’s
self-evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a result, we will make no further
visits in connection with this inspection. The local 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.
Joan C. Esson
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.hmie.gov.uk/ViewEstablishment.aspx?id=7684&type=2.
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format, for example,
in a translation. You can contact us at enquiries@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us
at BMCT, Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale
Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact 01506
600200, or write to us at the above address or e-mail:
feedback@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk.
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