Spean Bridge HMIE
Spean Bridge Primary School and Nursery Class were inspected in May 2008 as part of a national sample of primary and nursery education and HM Inspectors identified the following key strengths:
• The range of opportunities for pupils to demonstrate achievement, good citizenship and responsibility
• Pastoral care provided by staff, particularly the approaches to enable children and pupils to pursue a healthy and active lifestyle
• Pupils’ understanding of equality and fairness
• The use of the school’s facilities and the wider community as a resource for learning
• The school’s success in involving parents in their children’s education
• The leadership and vision of the head teacher
The school and nursery class were judged to have many strengths, with four indicators of quality being judged by inspectors as excellent.
Parents expressed very positive views about the school and appreciated the opportunities to be involved with the continuing improvement of an already very well led school. The head teacher was described as having a clear vision which was effectively shared with parents, staff and pupils. This had led to significant improvements to the curriculum, to the ethos of the school and to the teamwork of staff. Her systematic approach to monitoring and evaluating the work of the school and setting very high expectations resulted in improvements in learning and teaching and ensured that all pupils made appropriate progress.
Community involvement was judged to be outstanding with pastoral care of a very high quality. Partnerships with parents, local schools and the wider community, was judged to be excellent. Links with local businesses, charities, community organisations and local churches was described as exciting and innovative. Across the school, pupils were described as having made exceptional progress in developing confidence, self esteem and roles as active citizens. Nursery pupils were described as very cheerful and confident.
The management of resources and space for learning was described as excellent. There was a well-organised and stimulating environment for learning with outstanding use made of the outdoor facilities and environment. The nursery class was described as spacious and well organised. Classrooms were very bright and welcoming and suitably resourced to meet the needs of individual pupils.
As a result of the very good 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:
• Continue to develop monitoring and tracking to ensure children and pupils make consistent progress in their learning
• Increase opportunities for freely chosen purposeful play in the nursery class and at the early stages of the primary school
Head Teacher Kate MacGillivray said: “Such a positive report is only possible through effective teamwork and partnerships, and I am pleased that HMIe recognised this as a key strength of the school. I would like to thank the staff, parents, pupils and the community, for their strong support of the school, and their commitment to continuing improvement.”
Heather Soutar, Chairperson of the Parent Council, said: “A superlative report, a true reflection of all the hard work and commitment from everyone involved in Spean Bridge Primary School. The report recognises the efforts, and the strong record of improvements made, and is an exceptional benchmark for the school’s continued pursuit of academic excellence.”