Agenda item

(Copy reports attached.)

GLENDINNING TERRACE PRIMARY SCHOOL 

            In Attendance:- Ms Nicki McCall (Headteacher), Gillian McKenzie (Quality Improvement Officer), and Councillors Jardine and MacKinnon

WELCOME

4.1       The Chairman welcomed the representatives from Glendinning Terrace Primary School.  

4.2       HMIe Report

            There had been circulated copies of a report which explained that Glendinning Terrace Primary School and Nursey was inspected in October 2022, using a ‘short’ inspection model, which meant that only two quality indicators were inspected in both the Early Learning and Childcare setting and the Primary School over a three day period.  The HMIE Report evaluated the Early Years setting and the Primary provision as satisfactory across all quality indicators.  The evaluation gradings ranged from unsatisfactory to excellent, so a grading of satisfactory indicated a basic level of provision.  As a result, the school had been asked to prepare a focussed plan for improvement with a particular emphasis on addressing areas highlighted for improvement. The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work: a) Relationships between nursery practitioners, school staff, children, and those in the school community; b) Children’s broader achievements and successes in various events, which enables them to develop various skills and become responsible and caring individuals who make a significant contribution in their community; c) The approaches Teachers and staff are taking to improve children’s attainment in reading, which are making a difference to children’s progress at the primary stages and d) The Headteacher’s and Early Years Officer’s impact on leadership of and direction of school and nursery improvement.

4.3       The following areas for improvement were identified a) continue to build on current approaches for improving how children’s progress was assessed, planned and tracked in the nursery to help ensure they achieve; b) ensure that all children’s needs were met through experiences and activities which provide appropriate pace and challenge and further their learning; c) improve further children’s attainment, particularly in numeracy and mathematics and d) Take forward plans to involve children more in making decisions about school life and involve parents more in their children’s learning.

4.4       The Headteacher explained that the short inspection had been in expected for sometime as they had initially been notified in in 2020.  The inspection had been a very positive process and had validated where the School thought they were and identified next steps for improvement.  The School had been very pleased that the relationships between nursery practitioners, school staff, children, and those in the school community had been acknowledged as well as the children’s broader achievements and successes celebrated at various events.  The School had been particularly pleased to receive recognition of the approaches Teachers and staff were taking to improve children’s attainment in reading, which were making a difference to children’s progress at the primary stages as this had been on the development plan for 2 years and had been identified as a COVID gap and the Headteacher’s and Early Years Officer’s impact on leadership of and direction of school and nursery improvement.  The Headteacher went onto to explain the four key aspects for improvement which had been identified and validated for moving forward.   The current improvement plan encapsulated the first key point in terms of assessing and tracking progress in the Nursery and the School and were specifically looking at developing a quality environment and looking at  planning for progression and taking part in a series of literacy and numeracy and environmental audits to ensure that the School were consistently offering an enriched learning environment at the point of entry.  All practitioners were engaged in looking at assessment tools more robustly and informing professional judgements on Nursery pupil progress.  It had been acknowledged that the main challenge in the Nursery had been the constant change of staff over the previous three years.  All staff had been engaged since the Inspection on building knowledge around key documentation work, which had been reviewed, changed and already trialled in the nursery – moderating of standards to build consistency.   It was further explained that there was cluster work around numeracy and the school were working with ‘Complete Maths’ on diagnostic and individual improvement pathways.  Planning and  lesson delivery would be reviewed across composite classes.  Methods of delivery and barriers to learning would be examined and there would be a measured approach until June.  Decisions about involving Parents in their children’s learning were underway i.e. introduction of Stay and Play to help strengthen the partnership between Home and School, Learning workshops with Parents and ‘Show Me’ an online learning journal, there would also be opportunities to listen to children and tracking their skills.  The Parent Council was very strong and always supportive and work would be undertaken to review and align it with a pupil equivalent. 

4.5       The Quality Improvement Officer highlighted that the Headteacher had carried out an in-depth             analyse and pulled together all conversations during the inspection and this was an example       of how a positive inspection worked.  There would be worked undertaken to link all the points          highlighted in the improvement.  The school had demonstrated that they knew exactly where they were and had identified their short term, medium term and long term goals. 

       DECISION

AGREED that:-

(a)   School Improvement Plan for Glendinning Terrace Primary School which          addressed areas for improvement as outlined in the HMIE Inspection Report (January 2023); and

(b)   Quality Improvement Team’s plan for support and showcasing of the work of        Glendinning Terrace Primary School following a strong inspection.