HMie Report on Roy Bridge Primary School

Roy Bridge Primary School was inspected in June 2008 as part of a national sample of primary and nursery education.  The School was judged to have many strengths, with six indicators of quality being judged by inspectors as very good.

HM Inspectors identified the following Key Strengths:

• High standards of attainment, particularly in reading

• Pupils’ work on Scots language

• The school’s successful links with the community

• Highly motivated, well behaved and enthusiastic pupils

• Effective leadership of the head teacher

Parents were very satisfied with almost all aspects of the school and felt that their children were treated fairly and that staff showed concern for their care and welfare.   They also thought that the school had a good reputation in the community.  Pupils were very positive regarding all aspects of school life and staff liked working in the school, stating that they thought it was well led. 

The school was said to deliver broad and balanced learning experiences and the quality of pupils’ learning was good overall, with pupils making good progress with their coursework.  The school had successfully improved its performance in a number of key areas. 

The school had taken very good steps to develop pupils’ wider achievements across the school.  They demonstrated high achievement in a wide range of contexts and had a very good understanding of the importance of contributing to society through well established links with the local community.

The school accommodation, resources and facilities were described as unsatisfactory with a number of significant weaknesses impacting on learning.   Resources were described as out-dated and requiring improvement and the poor quality and appearance of the building detracted from the positive ethos that staff were seeking to establish within the school.

As a result of the high performance, the strong record of improvement and the very effective leadership of the school, HM Inspectors will make no further reports in connection with this inspection.  The school and the education authority will prepare and action plan to address the main findings of the report:

• Address the accommodation and health and safety issues identified within this report

• Continue building on existing best practice to achieve a consistently high quality of teaching

Head Teacher Kate MacGillivray said: “We are very pleased with the HMIe report, which recognises all the hard work and commitment of the staff, and the strong partnership with parents and the community.”

Chairperson of the Parent Council, Marie- Clare Russell said: “This is a very positive report, which reflects great credit on staff, pupils and parents at Roy Bridge Primary School. The report also highlights the poor condition of the buildings, which the authority must now address.”