Morebattle PS - HMIE report
Thursday, January 17 2008
Morebattle Primary School and nursery class were inspected in October 2007 as part of a national sample of primary and nursery education.
The inspection covered key aspects of the work of the school at all stages. It evaluated nursery children’s and pupils’ achievements, the effectiveness of the school, the environment for learning, the school’s processes for self-evaluation and innovation and its capacity for improvement. There was a particular focus on attainment in English language and mathematics.
HM Inspectors identified the following key strengths:
• opportunities provided to enable pupils to achieve in a wide range of areas
• pupils’ positive behaviour and application to their work
• strong partnerships with parents and local community
• the headteacher’s promotion of effective staff teamwork and positive relationships
• the quality of provision in the nursery class.
The inspection team found that parents were pleased with almost all aspects of the nursery and school’s work, saying that their children enjoyed being at school. All parents thought the school was well led and felt welcome in the school. They also found parents’ evenings helpful and informative and felt the school had a good reputation in the community.
Pupils enjoyed being at school and thought staff helped them to keep safe and healthy. Pupils were aware of their learning targets in English language and mathematics and were hardworking, well behaved and could work independently without close supervision.
The nursery class provided a broad and balanced curriculum and children were highly motivated and enthusiastic. The quality of pastoral care was very good. Staff knew pupils very well as individuals and were sensitive to their needs. Pupils felt safe in the school and were confident that they could discuss sensitive issues with staff.
At all stages, pupils were making good progress in developing confidence and self‑esteem and the school took good steps to help pupils develop their wider achievements.
Sandra Davidson, headteacher of Morebattle Primary School said: “Overall this is a positive report and I am particularly pleased that the inspectors have highlighted the very good teamwork within the school and the good relationships we have with parents and the wider community.
“The staff and parents work well together to ensure that the children are safe and happy and are making good progress in their learning. I was also delighted that the report acknowledged the high quality of our nursery provision. We have already begun to tackle the points for action and I feel that we are now in a strong position to move forward as we work with parents and the local authority to further improve the work of the school.”
Clare de Bolle, Chair of Morebattle Parent Council, added: "We are pleased with the inspection report. Morebattle Primary School has undergone a lot of changes in the last two years and the Report provides an excellent template to take the school to the next stage and build on its firm foundations."
Both the school and local authority are looking forward to working in partnership to address the main points for action outlined in the report in order to secure improvement:
• continue to improve aspects of the curriculum particularly in environmental studies and personal and social education
• review learning and teaching approaches to develop more collaborative and active learning
• ensure that the pace of learning and level of challenge are sufficient to meet the needs of all pupils and raise overall levels of attainment
• improve approaches to monitoring and evaluating the work of the nursery and school.
The school and the local authority have been asked to prepare an action plan indicating how they will address the main findings of the report and to share the plan with parents. HM Inspectors will engage with the school and the education authority to monitor progress, and will undertake a follow through inspection within two years.
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