14 May 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Eaglesfield Primary School
Dumfries and Galloway Council
In March 2012, HM Inspectors published a letter on your child’s school. 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?
There have been some improvements in children’s learning. Children continue to
behave well. They are polite and courteous to each other and adults. They remain
keen to learn, and told us that they particularly enjoy learning using the computer.
This was certainly the case at the middle and upper stages, where children
confidently accessed the Internet to research topics they are studying. The majority
of children have a much better idea of their strengths and what they need to do to
improve their learning. Children have begun to set learning targets but these are not
yet used effectively enough to ensure they all make suitable progress. At the infant
stages, children still spend too long learning using textbooks and workbooks.
Younger children should be given more responsibility for planning and organising
their own learning. Children, through the pupil council, are able to have some
influence over how and where they learn. For example, children take part in learning
activities in the nearby woodland. Children’s achievements are celebrated more
effectively at assemblies and through sharing their learning with parents. Overall,
parents are more involved in their children’s learning. They welcome the increased
opportunities their children have to learn through real-life experiences. Events, such
as curriculum evenings, are also helping to build a more productive learning
partnership with parents.
Across the school, children’s attainment in literacy and numeracy has not improved
well enough since the original inspection. There is evidence of improvement in
children’s writing at the middle and upper stages. More needs to be done to improve
children’s literacy skills at the early stages. Children at the middle stages write
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
This is a service for deaf users. Please do not
use this number for voice calls as this will not
connect.
www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
interesting stories which they read to younger children. In numeracy, the majority of
children across the school still have difficulty with mental calculations. Most children
complete written calculations in their jotters accurately. They can create and
interpret graphs. Their skills in solving mathematical problems need further
improvement. Older children make effective use of calculators. The school needs to
increase its efforts to improve children’s attainment.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Staff are now planning more effectively for children’s learning. They have worked
closely with each other and with Dumfries and Galloway Council Education Officers
to improve the curriculum and to think more deeply about what children should be
learning. Teachers are taking greater account of children’s interests and involving
them more in planning what they will learn next. As a result of this work, the
curriculum has improved and now offers a broader range of experiences for children.
The new curriculum planning arrangements have made a positive difference to
children’s learning experiences. However, in some lessons, teachers are not yet
providing the right amount of challenge for every child. Staff have begun to gather a
range of useful assessment information and record this to build up a picture of how
well children are progressing. The headteacher and staff now need to use this
information to ensure all children’s learning needs are met. Visiting and support staff
still spend too much time working with individuals and small groups of children out of
the classroom. Children who need extra help with their learning have individual
learning plans. Parents and children are not sufficiently involved in ensuring the
targets in these plans are met. The headteacher needs to improve the monitoring of
these plans.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The headteacher and staff are committed to improving the quality of the work of the
school. They have, with support from the Dumfries and Galloway Council Education
Officers, successfully improved the way they plan and deliver the curriculum. Staff
are more reflective about their practice and are taking action to improve and vary
their teaching approaches. They are now more actively involved in leading
improvements such as the development of reading and writing programmes. They
now have a better understanding of Curriculum for Excellence. More time is required
for these developments to impact positively on children’s achievements. The
headteacher is visiting classrooms to monitor learning and teaching. She provides
both oral and written feedback to teachers on the quality of their work. Teachers feel
they now receive better support and this is increasing their confidence and
motivation to lead school improvements.
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What happens next?
The school has made limited progress in taking forward improvements to the quality
of children’s learning and the curriculum. Parents and children are becoming more
involved as partners in learning and in helping to shape the curriculum. However,
the rate at which the school has improved has been too slow. There is still
considerable scope to strengthen children’s attainment in literacy and numeracy and
the management of support for learning. Dumfries and Galloway Council should put
arrangements in place to secure the necessary improvements without further delay.
Education Scotland will continue to engage with the school to build capacity.
Inspectors will return in a year’s time to provide a further report on progress for
parents.
Marion Burns
HM Inspector
If you would like to receive this report 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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