HMIe Report on Farr Primary School, Inverness

In an HMIe report on Farr Primary School, Inverness, a range of key strengths were identified.

In their report the Inspectors recognised the very good climate and relationships in the school community; the pupils’ high expectations of what they could achieve; and the head teacher’s encouragement for staff to use and share their expertise to ensure improvement. Most aspects of learning were found to be good particularly the children’s performance in English language and mathematics. No aspects of the school were deemed to be unsatisfactory.

The Inspectors also made a number of recommendations for the school which included improving evaluation of the school’s work and its approaches to teaching and meeting learners’ needs to further raise pupils’ attainment. The school and authority have also been asked to address accommodation issues relating to the provision of appropriate space and access to resources.

Sheila Lamont, Head Teacher, said: "I am very pleased with the report as I feel that it reflects the very positive ethos of the school, the opportunities we provide for all children to achieve their full potential across a broad curriculum, positive teamwork and partnership with the parents and community and our ongoing commitment to improving the school. Our thanks go to the children, parents and the wider community for their support during the inspection. My personal thanks go to a very committed team who work together for all children in Farr Primary School and Nursery. We have already begun to address the issues raised in the report with the continuing support of everyone connected with the school and an action plan has been agreed with the authority and issued to parents."

Diane Taylor, chairperson of the Parent Council, said: “This has been a good report and just shows how brilliant the school and nursery are! The children are all really happy here and have achieved so much; their high attainment levels  at maths and language, the winning of the Caroline Tait  Shield in the Inverness Music Festival for Choral verse, are just a few in a long list. It is really great to see that the HMIE have acknowledged the productive and successful partnerships between the school and nursery, parents and wider community. The school has been full to brimming for the last couple of years with the increasing numbers of children and we also welcome that the HMIe have highlighted the accommodation issue and we look forward to the new temporary building in August and a more permanent solution in the near future.”