27 May 2014
Dear Parent/Carer
Eaglesfield Primary School
Dumfries and Galloway Council
In March 2012, HM Inspectors published a letter on your child’s school. We
subsequently returned to the school to look at how it had continued to improve its
work, and published another letter in May 2013. Recently, as you may know, we
visited the school again. During our visit, we talked to children and worked closely
with the headteacher and staff. We heard from the headteacher and other staff how
the school has continued to improve. We looked at particular areas that had been
identified in the original inspection and at aspects of the school’s work, as proposed
by the headteacher. As a result, we were able to find out how well children are now
learning and achieving and how the school is continuing to support them to do their
best. This letter sets out what we found.
How well do children learn and achieve?
Across the school, children are now much more confident and motivated. They told
us that lessons are more interesting and relevant. Their learning has improved and
can continue to improve further. Children now talk regularly with teachers about their
learning and set targets for what they will learn next. While this is a positive
improvement, there is scope to involve children and their teachers in more
challenging conversations about the skills they hope to achieve. The school needs
to raise further its expectations of what most children can learn and achieve. The
pupil council and Eco Committee are now actively engaged in making the school a
better place to learn. The views of children are encouraged and acted on, for
example the ordering and purchasing of play equipment to use at break times, and
all children helped with a community project to renovate the nearby bus shelter.
Children’s successes in learning are recognised at achievement assemblies and
visually in attractive, ‘star pupil’ displays in the dining hall. The very youngest
children are very settled in school routines and benefit from more active approaches
to learning. They eagerly described how they made clay pots as part of their topic
on the Romans. Older children and especially those in the middle stages class now
work well and often in small groups. Children we spoke to believe they have more
opportunities to learn from each other. This is particularly evident when they are
engaged in cooperative learning activities and when assessing each other’s work.
Homework tasks have improved.
Education Scotland
The Optima
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DU
T
0141 282 5000
F
0141 282 5040
E glasgow@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
Textphone 01506 600236
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use this number for voice calls as this will not
connect.
www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
There has been a modest improvement in children’s attainment in literacy and
numeracy. The school’s attainment data suggest children have made progress in
reading and mathematics. The youngest children are benefiting from a new reading
resource which is helping them gain confidence in sounding out new words and in
reading aloud. Children at the middle and upper stages enjoy using the ‘accelerated
reading’ books but these are not always matched correctly to the child’s level of skill
in reading. As a result, not all children are making suitable progress. Children’s
written work continues to show improvement. Most children articulate their ideas
and opinions very well and the majority listen well. While there has been a slight
improvement in children’s skills in mental calculation, too many children still rely on
using their fingers to find the answer. Children’s written calculations are more
accurately completed. Children at the middle stages confidently use computer
programmes to solve subtraction problems. We have asked the headteacher and
staff to increase the pace of children’s progress in attainment in literacy and
numeracy.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
We are pleased to note the improvements made by teachers to planning for
children’s learning. Teachers have also, with support from Dumfries and Galloway
Council education officers, developed what is now a much more relevant curriculum.
The headteacher also involved the Parent Council and others in these important
developments. Teachers have correctly identified some areas of the curriculum
which still require further development. Teachers, visiting and support staff meet to
discuss how best to support children who need extra help with their learning.
Overall, they do this well but there is scope to improve the quality of individual
learning plans which are prepared for a small number of children across the school
to ensure these children make appropriate progress. Parents and children are still
not sufficiently involved in ensuring the targets in these plans are met. Teachers
continue to gather a range of assessment information which helps them plan their
lessons. They also share assessment information with children and their parents.
It is clear that this way of working is leading to improvements in the quality of
children’s learning experiences. We have asked teachers to ensure that all lessons
are suitably challenging and meet the needs of each child.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The headteacher and staff have improved children’s learning and the curriculum.
They have improved the way they think about and plan their teaching. Children are
more confident and motivated learners. They receive better support for learning
from teachers but more remains to be done to improve children’s attainment in
literacy and numeracy. The headteacher has valued the significant support from
Dumfries and Galloway Council education officers who have worked in partnership
with the school to bring about these improvements. The school will continue to
improve provided there is clear and strong leadership and direction which is focused
on raising children’s attainment.
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What happens next?
As a result of the improvements that the school has made with the support of officers
from Dumfries and Galloway Council, we will make no further visits in connection
with this inspection. Dumfries and Galloway Council will continue to support the
school to build further capacity for improvement and will report on progress to our
Area Lead Officer. As part of its arrangements for reporting to parents on the quality
of education, Dumfries and Galloway Council will inform parents in writing about the
school’s progress within one year of the publication of this letter.
Marion Burns
HM Inspector
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.
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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