Alness’s Bridgend Primary gets verdict from school inspector after visit
An Alness primary headteacher is “pleased” to see the strengths of staff recognised as well as “acknowledging areas for improvement” in a new inspection graded “satisfactory” for the school — however, a questionnaire has revealed that almost a third of parents asked do not feel the school “deals well with bullying”.
A new report for Bridgend Primary School has been been published, following an inspection by Education Scotland in May 2024.
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In the inspection report, Education Scotland uses a six-point scale for grading quality. The six grades are: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory, Weak and Unsatisfactory.
For the two categories of “learning, teaching and assessment” and “raising attainment and achievement” the school received “satisfactory”.
Describing what is meant by satisfactory, Education Scotland said: “An evaluation of satisfactory means that the strengths within this aspect of the school’s work just outweigh the weaknesses. The school needs to take action to address areas of weakness by building on its strengths.”
Some of the strengths the inspection found for the school were:
• The positive relationships between staff and children underpinned by the school’s vision, values and aims — helping to create a purposeful learning environment.
• The effective teamwork of teachers to improve approaches to the teaching of writing — helping to improve children’s enthusiasm for and skills in writing.
• The effective approaches developed by the headteacher to check children’s progress in learning — helping to identify and address children’s learning needs.
Areas for improvement were also identified in the inspection, and were discussed with the headteacher and a Highland Council representative, according to Education Scotland. The areas for improvement highlighted are:
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• Develop consistently high-quality approaches to learning and teaching to ensure that learning is meeting the needs of all children.
• Review approaches to planning, ensuring children have opportunities to revisit and consolidate learning.
• Raise attainment in literacy and numeracy to ensure all children make the best possible progress.
As well as the inspector’s findings, the report also includes a pre-inspection questionnaire for pupils, parents and teachers at Bridgend Primary.
Some highlights from this include 87 per cent of pupils asked agreeing that their school helps them “understand and respect other people”, and 92 per cent of pupils agreeing that there are lots of chances for them to “get regular exercise” at the school. 92 per cent of parents also agreed or strongly agreed that staff treat their child “fairly and with respect”.
However, it can also be seen in the pre-inspection questionnaire that 32 per cent of parents asked disagree or strongly disagree with the statement “the school deals well with any bullying”. Likewise, 21 per cent of pupils disagreed with the same statement — despite this, no staff members disagreed with the previously mentioned statement.
Victoria McCarthy, headteacher at the Alness school, said: “I am so pleased that the strengths of our staff have been recognised by the HMI inspection. Our staff work hard to ensure our children get a well-rounded education.
“We acknowledge the areas for improvement, and I continue to work with staff, supported by Area Management to make the necessary adaptions to identified areas.
“I am pleased to confirm that the construction of a new perimeter fence is nearing completion which will address the safeguarding issue identified in the report.”
To view the public Education Scotland inspection report of Bridgend Primary School, visit www.education.gov.scot and search ‘Bridgend Primary School’.
