29 October 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Chatelherault Primary School and Nursery Class
South Lanarkshire Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I inspected your child’s school. During
our visit, we talked to parents and children and worked closely with the headteacher
and staff. We wanted to find out how well children are learning and achieving and how
well the school supports 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, including interdisciplinary and active learning. As
a result, we were able to find out how good the school is at improving children’s
education.
How well do children learn and achieve?
Children in the nursery class, school, and Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) base are
happy and enjoy positive relationships with their teachers and each other. Almost all
children report that they are well cared for, feel safe and enjoy being at school.
Children in the nursery class are developing their learning through a range of play
activities and almost all children are actively engaged in their learning. At the primary
stages, many children can talk about aspects of their learning and assess how well
they are progressing. Across the nursery class, school, and ASD base, children need
to be encouraged to take more responsibility for planning and developing their learning
and to talk about their next steps in learning. Pace of learning needs to be increased
to ensure that children are motivated by, and engaged in, their learning. Children have
very good opportunities to engage in a wide range of clubs and committees which are
helping them to develop leadership skills, to be confident and responsible citizens. For
example, through the school’s achievement of life long eco status, led by the eco
committee, children are learning to look after their environment. Almost all children
have very good opportunities to enrich their learning through a wide range of
excursions and residential experiences. Such opportunities should be further
extended to include children in the ASD base.
In the nursery class, almost all children listen well to each other and to simple
instructions. They talk confidently during their play. Most children are developing their
early writing and number skills. At the primary stages, children are reading a range of
appropriate texts and are developing their comprehension skills. At the upper stages,
children can write for a wide range of purposes. For example, some older children
wrote imaginative descriptions linked to their topic on the Romans. Many children are
capable of writing at greater length using stimulating contexts across the curriculum.
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
In the ASD base, almost all children have made progress in aspects of language and
communication, and are developing good reading skills. At the early stages, children
can count, describe simple shapes and use their number skills to solve simple
problems. By the upper stages, children can describe the properties of
three-dimensional objects and are able to use computers to help them organise
information and data. In both literacy and numeracy children should be making more
progress, particularly at the early stages. In health and wellbeing, children are learning
about how to stay healthy, by for example, eating the right foods and keeping fit. In
the upper stages children are learning to speak French and can repeat and read
simple phrases in French.
How well does the school support children to develop and learn?
Children are well supported in their learning by a wide range of partners. For example,
parents, the Active Schools coordinator, rugby, golf and hockey clubs, provide
enriched opportunities for children to engage in sports such as golf, rugby, hockey,
netball and football. Many children working with the club coaches go on to use their
skills in out-of-school activities. The school, ably supported by the Area Learning
Support teacher, is good at identifying and assessing children with additional support
needs (ASN). An appropriate range of tasks, activities and resources are provided to
meet the needs of children with an Additional Support Plan. In class children are not
always challenged sufficiently. Children in the ASD provision need more opportunities
to learn in real-life contexts. Staff are working hard to become more familiar with
Curriculum for Excellence guidance to plan children’s learning. The school has
developed a science programme in partnership with Hamilton Grammar’s feeder
primary schools. This programme provides a good model to use when developing
other programmes and courses across the different subject areas. There are very
effective procedures in place to support children moving from P7 to secondary school.
Assessment of children’s learning across the curriculum should be further developed
as a priority to assist with planning so that children make appropriate progress. Staff
also need to provide more opportunities for children to use their learning in new and
different learning situations.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school’s approaches to evaluating its own work need to be further developed to
ensure greater improvement in children’s learning experiences and achievements.
The headteacher has consulted teachers about what needs to be improved in the
school. The headteacher and senior management team now need to implement plans
for improvement to ensure a positive impact on children’s learning. Teaching staff
across the nursery class, school and ASD base are continuing to work hard to make
changes to how they plan and support children to learn and to improve the curriculum.
They are now thinking and talking about how they can improve and are keen to
develop good practice with colleagues in other establishments. Teachers observe
each other in lessons and this is helping them widen their understanding of working
with children of different ages. These activities need to be further embedded to impact
significantly on children’s learning experiences. The management team now needs to
continue to support teachers in curriculum development and in tracking and monitoring
children’s progress.
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This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Children are polite, well-behaved and have positive relationships with staff and
each other. They are proud of their wider achievements which are well celebrated
by the school.
Staff are highly motivated to work with senior managers to continue to improve the
school.
Almost all parents are happy with the school and the ways in which staff support
their children.
We discussed with staff and South Lanarkshire Council how they might continue to
improve the school, nursery and ASD base. This is what we agreed with them.
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The school needs to continue to develop its curriculum in line with national
guidance.
Approaches to self-evaluation need to ensure the work of the school is being
effectively monitored and leads to improvement.
A robust system of tracking and monitoring children’s progress needs to be
implemented.
The school needs to further increase pace and challenge to ensure children make
progress in their learning.
What happens at the end of the inspection?
As a result of our inspection findings we think that the school, nursery and ASD base
need additional support and more time to make necessary improvements. Our Area
Lead Officer will work with South Lanarkshire Council to build capacity for
improvement, and will maintain contact to monitor progress. We will return to carry out
a further inspection within one year of publication of this letter. We will then issue
another letter to parents on the extent to which the school, nursery and ASD base have
improved.
Dr Laura-Ann Currie
HM Inspector
Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations and
national care standards gradings, for your school can be found on the Education
Scotland website at
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/primsec/Chat
elheraultPrimarySchoolSouthLanarkshire.asp
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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