Inspectors praise Barrhead school’s ‘caring ethos’

An Education Scotland inspection, which took place before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, evaluated the school across a wide range of areas, identifying particular strengths and areas for improvement.

The quality of ‘ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion’ was evaluated as very good, with ‘leadership of change’, ‘learning, teaching and assessment’, and ‘raising attainment and achievement’ all deemed to be good.

Particular strengths highlighted by the inspection team included the sense of belonging created by staff in which children feel happy and valued, the leadership which has established strong relationships across the school community and teachers’ enthusiastic approach to professional learning to support improved experiences for pupils.

The school’s effective approaches to digital learning, which are enhancing and enriching learning across the curriculum, were also noted.

Councillor Paul O’Kane, Convener for Education and Equalities, said: “Well done to everyone at St John’s Primary for achieving such a positive report. It is particularly pleasing that inspectors highlighted that children feel happy and valued within their school.

“The work that the senior leadership team has done to create a real community ethos has also been recognised and I know that this hard work will continue as everyone connected with the school strives for further improvements.

“It is a team effort to ensure that our schools continue to go from strength to strength, and this report is testament to the hard work which goes on every day by all the pupils, staff, parents and wider school community.”

St John’s Primary Head Teacher Rosemary Crossan added: “All our staff work hard every day to provide the best experiences possible for our pupils, so I am delighted that this report has highlighted the impact of their leadership and the significant progress we are making as a school.

“We are proud of our approach to digital learning and I’m pleased that this has been recognised as an area of strength. Our pupils are a credit to the school and their families and the recommendations which are made in the report will help us to continue to make improvements as we strive to improve the learning opportunities available to all.”

The inspection team also identified two areas for improvement, which includes the newly established senior leadership team continuing to improve the monitoring and tracking of children’s progress to ensure a clear focus on raising attainment across all curriculum areas.

A cohesive and consistent approach to assessment across the school is also to be developed.

An action plan will now be developed by the school to address the agreed areas for improvement.

To view the full report, go to the Education Scotland website