Lochcarron Primary School and nursery’s ‘confident and polite children’ and attainment improvements praised by Education Scotland’s school inspectors
Inspectors have praised improvements in pupil attainment at a Wester Ross school and nursery.
Education Scotland also praised the “confident and polite children” and the rise in the number of Gaelic speakers following their recent visit to Lochcarron Primary School and Nursery Class.
And. although they also noted some areas for improvement, the inspectors also said they were “confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve”.
In a report published this week Education Scotland praised the “impact of the leadership and direction of the recently appointed acting headteacher”, adding: “She works effectively with staff. Together, they have implemented approaches that are beginning to improve outcomes for children across the school and nursery.”
Other key strengths included the “confident and polite children who are proud of their school and nursery”.
“They are keen to share and celebrate their successes and achievements in English and Gàidhlig Medium,” they continued.
Highlighting the “effective collaboration with a wide range of partners” the inspectors added that “the acting headteacher and staff work well with partners to support children to develop important skills and knowledge and experience success in the school”.
And as well as praising the increasing number of young Gaelic speakers in the school and nursery, they noted that “staff work together well to promote the use of Gàidhlig in the local community”.
Some areas for improvement were also identified though. These included work to “strengthen approaches to evaluating the work of the school”, and the need to “develop consistently high-quality approaches to learning, teaching and assessment”.
“Provide increased opportunities for teachers to work with each other and colleagues in other schools to develop further their understanding of national standards across the curriculum,” said the inspectors.
“Continue to enhance approaches to immersion through children having more responsibilities for speaking Gàidhlig as part of their learning. This should help improve their fluency and accuracy in Gàidhlig.”
But despite the recommendations, the inspectors concluded: “We are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. The Highland Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools.”
