HMIe Report on Beauly Primary School

In an HMIe report on the 138-pupil six-teacher Beauly Primary School, Inverness, several strengths were identified, with the school being commended for its confident polite and well behaved pupils and the very positive relationships between staff and pupils.

In the report, the Inspectors recognised the good performance of pupil attainment in mathematics and the good climate and relationships within the school. The good standard of pastoral care, the school’s approaches to ensuring equality and fairness and its expectations and promotion of achievement were also commended.

The Inspectors made a number of recommendations for the school which are designed to increase the pace and challenge of pupils’ learning. The school and education authority have drawn up an action plan which will ensure that pupils know when they are doing well and what they need to do next to improve their learning. The school will also be working to improve the quality and continuity of pupils’ learning, all involve all staff in these improvements. Partnerships with parents and the School Board will be promoted.

The school accommodation and facilities were judged to be fair and the school and authority will work together to address this. A sum of money has been allocated to begin addressing accommodation issues.

Commenting on the report Katherine Garraway, who is Acting Head Teacher, said, "I acknowledge the report and I feel it reflects the positive ethos of the school and the very positive relationship between staff and pupils. Our thanks go to the children, parents and the wider community for their support during the inspection . We have already begun to address the issues raised in the report with the continuing support of everyone connected with the school."

Councillor for the Beauly area, Helen Carmichael, said: "The report reflects the positive ethos of the school and the very positive relationship between staff and pupils. It also raises issues, including the fabric of the building, that we will adddress with the continuing support of everyone connected with the school."

The chairperson of the School Board, Pamela Lynas, said: "I am in full agreement with the conclusion of the HMIe report. There are many areas that require a lot of hard work, some of which are already receiving attention. As a board, we will continue to offer our ongoing support to school staff ."