Goodlyburn’s a school on the up

Jun 27 2008 by Martin Couper

A PERTH primary school criticised in a Government inspection report is now back on track and performing well, according to its head teacher.

Goodlyburn Primary on Crieff Road received a visit from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) in March last year. The report found the school to be failing in certain areas, including “the behaviour of a significant minority of pupils in the school”.

But Head Teacher Mrs Irene Thomson told the PA that following an interim visit in January, inspectors were impressed by the efforts of the school.

“There is a very strong commitment from everybody,” she told the PA. “It is a school on the up.

“The whole ethos of the school is promoting positive behaviour and creating a culture where everybody is working together.”

Goodlyburn has now adopted what they describe as “a positive reinforcement method for improving behaviour”.

In a nutshell, it means a green, yellow and amber card system gives children the chance to conduct themselves how they believe appropriate.

Children who are good and on a green card receive “golden time” on a Friday – where they can take part in a range of activities. Children who do not follow the rules will not be rewarded.

“It’s all about making choices,” said Mrs Thomson.

“If the children decide to make the wrong choices then they can go onto a red card. It’s a positive system. For each time they stay on green they get some golden time. If they’ve been on a red card they will lose golden time.”

Linked to behaviour was the problem of attendance with some pupils at Goodlyburn. However, since taking over in January, Mrs Thomson has put in place a new system for monitoring absences and truancy.

“We have a classroom assistant who goes round the classroom with a clipboard and if anyone is off, the classroom assistant phones the parents. We have to find out who isn’t at school and why, so you don’t have missing children,” Mrs Thomson said.

She added: “I’ve had meetings with several parents to explain the importance of their children being here. There are some children who might not have been at school, who have come in late. It’s better to come in late than not at all.”

Goodlyburn has also taken steps to improve the attainment of grades in Maths and English following poor performance levels at the time of the inspection. Thanking PKC and service manager Sheena Devlin, Mrs Thomson insists grades will now improve.

She enthused: “We’ve got somebody who comes in and she’s helping raise attainment in Primary 1 to 3, because this will have a knock-on effect right the way up the school.”

Inspectors will return to Goodlyburn next year and Mrs Thomson believes the strong community spirit will see the school reach all the targets set.

“Everyone is committed to meeting the recommendations of the HMIe and there is a strong commitment involved in the strength of community in the school,” she said.