No inspections carried out at 33 Glasgow primary schools in last decade

More than 30 primary schools in Glasgow have not been inspected by Education Scotland for ten years or more.
St Bride's is one of the schools not inspected for over 10 years.St Bride's is one of the schools not inspected for over 10 years.
St Bride's is one of the schools not inspected for over 10 years.

Figures released following a Freedom of Information request show around one in five primary schools in the city have not been visited since 2010 at the earliest.

It is approaching 12 years since Mount Florida Primary School was last inspected, on September 2, 2008.

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Inspectors have not been to three other city primary schools since 2008: St Bride’s in Govanhill, St Fillan’s in Cathcart and St Paul’s in Shettleston.

Glasgow Labour’s education spokeswoman Bailie Soryia Siddique said: “This appears to be a lack of oversight from the Scottish Government.

“If education is a top priority, then Glasgow schools must receive adequate support and funding to enhance learning and teaching.”

In total, 604 of 2012 primary schools in Scotland have not been visited by Education Scotland over the past decade, with 33 in Glasgow.

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A spokeswoman for Education Scotland said scrutiny functions had been “significantly strengthened” and the number of inspections increased.

“In the academic year 2018/19 Education Scotland completed 252 school inspections, an increase of over 30 per cent on the previous year,” she said.

Schools are selected for inspection each year on a proportionate basis, using a sampling approach and predetermined set criteria rather than a cyclical approach.”

She added: “In Scotland, overall responsibility for the quality of education and securing continuous improvement sits with the local authority.

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“There is a three-level approach to evaluating and improving education: schools have a responsibility to evaluate their performance; local authorities have responsibility for the quality of education in their area; and the third level is scrutiny activity carried out by HM Inspectors of Education.”

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said staff work “very closely” with schools to ensure “a consistent approach to quality learning and teaching”.

“Through Glasgow’s Improvement Challenge, our schools are very focused on improving outcomes for all children and young people,” she said.

“Our quality improvement officers and Leaders of Learning support headteachers and school staff – this includes frequent visits and any additional help a school might need from time to time to help improve learning outcomes.

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“Glasgow’s education services received an excellent rating following an HMIE inspection in 2019 and we will continue to do all that we can to make sure that our children and young people receive the very best education on offer.”

Several primary schools which had not been inspected for over ten years have been visited this year.

Reports on Gowanbank, Caldercuilt and St Timothy’s Primary School were published last month.

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