Lhanbryde Primary inspection report

Date Added - 10/03/09

A Moray primary school will receive all the assistance it requires from the local education authority to implement improvements highlighted by inspectors in a report published today.

The 200-pupil Lhanbryde Primary and its nursery class were inspected in January.

All three areas of the work of the nursery class evaluated by the inspectors were rated as ‘very good’.

However, of the five areas assessed within the primary school, one was ‘good’, one was ‘satisfactory’ and three were ‘weak’.

The report said that nursery children were making very good progress but across the primary stages children were not making sufficient progress from their prior levels of attainment.

It said children were proud of their school and well motivated to learn.

"Children behave very well in classes and around the school. They are confident that the school will deal effectively with any incidents of bullying.

"Children feel safe and valued in school and know what to do if they have any concerns. Staff have very positive relationships with children."

The report said pupils in the upper stages worked very well together in helping younger children to feel confident, safe and successful at school.

It said staff needed to improve children’s classroom experiences, particularly in ICT, maths, reading and writing and needed to help children to understand more clearly the links in their learning across different aspects of the curriculum.

"In the primary classes, tasks and activities are not sufficiently well matched to learners’ needs. The pace of learning is not consistently good enough for all children to make enough progress."

The report said the headteacher, with the support of the education authority, had clearly identified areas for improvement but progress in making improvements had been too slow.

It adds: "The school needs the help of the education authority to improve further."

The inspectors will carry out a follow-through inspection visit within the next year to monitor progress.

Councillor Jeff Hamilton, chairman of Moray Council’s children and young people’s services committee, said: "At first glance this might seem a rather disappointing report, but there are many positive aspects which the inspectors have identified.

"They have highlighted a number of particular strengths, including the enthusiasm of the children and the commitment of staff to take on extra responsibilities to improve the school.

"Everyone at Lhanbryde Primary is clearly very well motivated and I have every confidence that, with the help of the education department, they will rise to the challenges set by the inspectors.

Donald Duncan, the council’s director of education services, said the school could rely on the education department for all the support and assistance it required.

"We will work closely with the school to ensure that the areas for improvement identified in the report are addressed and I too am confident that the school will make good progress," he said.