St Peters School Review Summary Report

The Review Programme

The review programme comprised four areas:

1 Self-evaluation

2 Pupils’ learning experiences

3 Leadership - the authority focus

4 The school chose not to take up the option of a fourth area for review

The Review Process

A team from the Quality Services and peer reviewers reviewed St Peter’s Primary School in January 2007. The review team used the level five illustrations from How good is our school? (HGIOS) as its frame of reference and made their evaluation on the basis of evidence provided by the school and their own observations. The results of their findings are given below.

In order to make their evaluations, the team consulted a number of school documents, including the school development plan, interviewed samples of pupils, staff and parents, and observed learning and teaching. In total, 11 lessons were observed.

Strengths of the school

The school demonstrated particular strengths in the following areas:

The processes for self evaluation and improvement that involves all stakeholders
The annual calendar and processes for quality assurance
Communication with all stakeholders
Stimulating, inclusive learning environment that promotes continuous improvement and celebrates success
Very good programmes of work supported by well organised resources
Good opportunities for learning beyond the classroom that include the use of school grounds and the local environment
Leadership of the headteacher as a leader of learning
Delegated leadership throughout the school with planned approaches to the development of team work

Areas for development

The deployment of principal teachers in the monitoring of developments within their specific remits
Further ways of formally involving support staff in school improvement planning
The planned school website to increase further means of communication
Continued developments in mathematics to monitor the pace of learning
The planned use of peer observation and further sharing to ensure that the very best of practice is extended to all classrooms

Highly commendable practice

The very effective leadership of the headteacher
The effective delegation of leadership in the school
The quality assurance calendar for the year
The consultation processes to involve all stakeholders

What happens now?

The headteacher, in consultation with the review co-ordinator and the school quality improvement officer, will produce an action plan in response to the action points identified in the review. This action plan will be incorporated into the school improvement plan for the 2007-08 session.