School is a supportive and caring place to be

Oct 24 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

NORTH Muirton Primary School has been praised by HMI inspectors for the excellent quality of its care and welfare arrangements, and for the outstanding contribution of the headteacher.

In an inspection report published today, the school and its nursery class are also praised for the quality of its curriculum and its improving performance in a number of areas.

North Muirton was inspected in May 2008. At the time of the inspection the roll was 297 pupils, including 49 children in the nursery class and 14 in the support base for children with additional support needs.

Inspectors found that the school’s key strengths were:

Parents’ involvement in the life of the school.

Pupils’ achievements including their work on keeping healthy and caring for the environment.

The outstanding contribution of the Headteacher to the care and welfare needs of children and pupils.

The stimulating experience of learning in the nursery class.

The willingness and involvement of staff in moving the school forward.

The report said that almost all parents were positive about the work of the school, nursery and the support base. They thought the school had a good reputation and were well led. Staff were also positive about work.

The report praised the school’s pastoral care as “excellent” and said its child protection procedures were “exemplary”. North Muirton was a “warm and caring environment based on a strong sense of respect and trust”, it added.

The school had also taken a range of positive steps to help develop pupils’ wider achievements in areas such as sports, citizenship and environmental projects.

Inspectors said the overall quality of the curriculum was good, with the nursery class proving a very good breadth and balance of learning. Homework setting was linked well to classroom activities, the inspection found.

North Muirton had successfully improved its performance in a number of important areas such as environmental education and ICT, and the nursery class had made good improvements in performance in areas like communication and language.

At primary stages the majority of pupils were achieving appropriate national levels of attainment in listening, talking and reading, and nearly half were attaining these levels in writing.

Nursery class children were making good progress in maths, and in primary stages standards in maths were satisfactory.

The inspectors also recommended some points for action. They said the school should:

continue to raise pupils’ attainment in English language and mathematics.

monitor and track pupils’ progress more systematically.

further improve arrangements for meeting pupils’ learning needs.

Because of North Muirton’s strong overall performance, no follow-up inspections are necessary.