Praise from inspectors for Lennoxtown Primary

Lennoxtown Primary School and Nursery Class were visited in December by inspectors from Education Scotland. The roll at the time of the inspection was 120 youngsters at the primary stages and 84 in the early years centre.

All areas of the school were judged to be “good”. Inspectors can make one of six grades and an evaluation of good means that there are important strengths within the setting’s work yet there remains some aspects which require improvement

The key strengths of the school were found to be the “positive, nurturing relationships between children and staff across the school and early years centre”. Inspectors also found that children were happy, curious and resourceful in their early years centre. At the primary stages, children had a strong voice through their leadership roles.

They also praised the “vision and drive of the headteacher, Rona Coughlan, and senior leaders to empower staff and practitioners”, adding this created the right conditions to build the confidence of the staff and practitioner team. The inspectors report added: “As a result, they are working well together to address barriers to learning and improve outcomes for children”.

However, the inspectors did identify areas for improvement which were discussed with the headteacher and a representative from East Dunbartonshire Council.

In the early years centre and school, they want staff to continue to improve approaches to learning and teaching which they said will help ensure “greater consistency, depth and challenge in children’s learning”.

In a bid to improve further children’s learning experiences, teachers should plan learning and teaching more often together, adding: “This will help provide more meaningful learning experiences and enable children to use their skills more readily across all their learning and achievements”.

Inspectors are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and have indicated they will make no more visits in connection with this inspection.

East Dunbartonshire Council will continue to inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of all its schools.