Baird Memorial Primary
School and Nursery Class
Cumbernauld
North Lanarkshire Council
20 January 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. Example 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
Baird Memorial Primary School is a non-denominational school, with a
nursery class for children with additional support needs. The school
serves the Condorrat area of Cumbernauld. The inspection was
carried out in November 2008 at which time the roll was 162, including
ten nursery pupils. Pupils’ attendance was well above the national
average in 2006/07.
1
2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The positive ethos of the school which helped children feel safe
and included.
•
Staff commitment to taking forward the active literacy programme.
•
The progress made by children at all stages with additional support
needs.
•
The positive involvement of parents in supporting school
developments.
•
High quality learning experiences for children in the nursery.
3. Example of good practice
•
The Condorrat Schools Together Project, developing a sense of
the wider community.
4. How well do children learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
In the nursery, children are making very good progress. They listen to
staff and are learning to listen to their friends within a group. All
children are developing early literacy skills and can make their own
marks on paper. They can explore paints and collage materials to
create their own pictures. Children are becoming familiar with
numbers and enjoy using them in their play and to sing favourite
2
songs. Almost all children used the computer confidently to learn
about shapes and play mathematics games. Children are good at
using their imagination in the home corner and can invent their own
games using animals and puppets. They are confident when
practising physical skills both outdoors and in the gym hall.
Across the primary stages, almost all children are attaining appropriate
national levels in English language and mathematics. Over the last
two years the school has improved levels of attainment. At the early
stages, a significant number of children achieve national attainment
levels earlier than might normally be expected. These early gains are
not always sustained as children progress through the school.
Children with additional support needs are making good progress.
Children are confident readers and read independently, in pairs and in
groups. Older children need more opportunities to read more and to
experience different types of text. Across the stages, children write
regularly for a variety of purposes. Encouragingly, children at P2 are
beginning to link their developing writing skills to those of their reading.
Across the school, all children need to extend their listening and
talking skills to other parts of the curriculum. In mathematics, children
are confident in their use of number, measurement, time and
information handling. A few are unsure about shape and need more
practical experiences in this area. Children are beginning to use their
mathematical skills to problem solve. They are not using information
and communications technology (ICT) sufficiently to organise and
present mathematical information. In a few classes, children work very
well in pairs and in groups to solve problems. Children achieve well in
music, drama and sports. For example, every other year children in
P7 perform in a music and drama show for their local secondary
school, demonstrating the skills they had developed during the year.
Across the school, children have a good knowledge of healthy eating
and lifestyles.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Children in the nursery experience a stimulating curriculum which
takes very good account of their individual needs. They have very
3
good opportunities for developing their language in everyday play
situations and in more structured settings, directed by an adult. Staff
very skilfully encourage children to use all areas of the playroom and
outdoors to explore their own learning. For example, in the playroom,
children learn about where and how to cross the road safely. They are
also given the opportunity to develop their social skills with other
children in the nearby nursery. Across the primary classes, children
are provided with a broad and balanced curriculum. However, it
requires additional depth and challenge. Staff have begun to review
and improve the curriculum. They are beginning to provide more
opportunities for children to choose aspects of their own learning.
Children benefit from two hours of physical education per week and
one hour of German in P6 and P7. The curriculum is enhanced by a
variety of out-of-school learning activities including good opportunities
in music. Children respond well to opportunities for enterprise
activities. For example, those in P1 made tickets and programmes for
the nativity play. Children in P3 made bird feeders for the meadow
garden. Teachers use interactive whiteboards and ICT well to support
teaching. They now need to encourage children to use ICT to improve
their learning.
Children’s learning needs are very well met in the nursery. They are
provided with support, as individuals and in small groups, which is
skilfully delivered by all staff. Interactions between children and staff
are well managed and children move confidently from one activity to
another. In the primary classes, children’s learning needs are
identified early and effective support is provided individually and in
small groups. In classes, tasks and activities are generally well
adapted to support children with additional support needs. High
achieving children need more challenging tasks, activities and
questioning. Through the active literacy programme, teachers are
using better questioning to extend children’s understanding. This is
beginning to have an impact on children’s learning experiences and
achievement. Children use their self-assessment folders to help them
to think about how to improve their learning.
4
5. How well do staff work with others to support children’s
learning?
The school works well with other partners such as speech and
language therapists, educational psychologists, occupational
therapists and social workers, to support children’s learning. All
children in the nursery class work on individual targets which are
shared with parents and regularly reviewed. Across the primary
classes, children with additional support needs have support plans
which have long- and short-term targets. Most short-term targets are
clear but need to focus more on the learning outcomes to be achieved.
All plans are regularly reviewed and targets are shared with parents.
Children are beginning to be more actively involved in reviewing their
targets. Learning support teachers, additional support needs
assistants and classroom assistants provide good support to children.
Transition arrangements from nursery to P1, between primary stages
and from P7 to S1 are well managed.
6. Are staff and children actively involved in improving their
school community?
Children in the nursery and primary classes are encouraged to take on
roles of responsibility. In the nursery, children choose their snack and
are encouraged to make choices between activities and take turns. In
the primary classes, the eco committee is active in recycling and
children helped the school to gain its second Green Flag award. At
P6, older children have begun to help younger ones to improve their
reading. Children from all stages are represented on the pupil council.
Almost all children on the council feel that their views are listened to.
However, a quarter of children do not feel that the council has been
successful at getting improvements made in school. A majority of
children feel that they do not have a say in how to make the learning in
school better. Staff are becoming more involved in improving the
school. All staff take part in working groups to progress an area of the
school improvement plan. There now needs to be a sharper focus and
structure with measurable targets and timescales. Parents are
5
provided with a written report about their children’s progress twice a
year and also have the opportunity to meet with teachers a further two
times during the school year. The Parent Council shows a wide
interest in the work of the school. It has been involved in helping the
school run fundraising events and recently, to update the library and
catalogue all of the books.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all children?
Almost all children are polite and happy in school. They are
encouraged to help each other in class and to praise others’
achievements. Children at P7 have been trained as ‘peer mediators’
to help other children to resolve disagreements. They also act as
buddies for younger children. All staff have good relationships with
children and use praise to encourage them to learn. Support staff are
very effective in helping children with additional support needs to be
fully included in the life of the school. Staff encourage good behaviour
through the use of praise, and group points which are awarded in class
and rewarded at assemblies. The school recognises wider
achievements with bronze, sliver and gold awards presented at
assemblies. Staff have a good understanding of child protection
issues. Almost all children feel that they are treated equally and fairly
and that they are kept safe and free from harm.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher has agreed a shared set of aims and values which
are clearly set out in the school’s improvement plan. By involving all
staff in professional development activities, she has encouraged
stronger teamwork and the sharing of good practice. All teachers have
also been involved in reviewing each other’s class plans. This has
helped to improve the quality of planning for children. Observations by
the headteacher of teachers’ lessons and careful monitoring of
teaching plans has provided staff with a clearer focus for improvement.
All staff now need to be more meaningfully involved in evaluating the
6
work of the school and developing a greater understanding of how to
evaluate their own and others’ practice.
9. What happens next?
We are confident that the school will be able to make the
necessary improvements in light of the inspection findings. As a
result, we will make no more visits following this inspection. The
school and the education authority will inform parents about the
school’s progress in improving the quality of education.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Involve staff more in school improvement.
•
Improve the curriculum to provide more varied and challenging
learning experiences.
•
Continue to develop high quality feedback to help children improve
their work and their learning.
•
Take more account of children’s views in decision making in the
school.
At the last Care Commission inspection of the nursery class there
were no requirements. One recommendation was made and had
been addressed.
7
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 Baird Memorial Primary School and
Nursery Class.
Primary school
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
good
good
good
Nursery class
Improvements in performance
Children’s experiences
Meeting learning needs
very good
very good
very good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school and
nursery class.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Laura-Ann Currie
20 January 2009
8
satisfactory
satisfactory
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