Inspector finds 'insufficient progress' made at Nairn primary school after damning report
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A Nairn primary school still has work to do after inspectors found "insufficient" progress has been made on improving performance.
Last year standards watchdog Education Scotland rated Rosebank Primary weak in key inspection areas including leadership of change; learning, teaching and assessment; and raising attainment and achievement.
Inspectors found too few children were making progress in line with expected national standards in terms of literacy and numeracy attainment – adding that the majority of children were capable of greater progress.
Now a letter has been published following a further unannounced inspection carried out recently at the school.
Although progress was noted in most areas, the report found that improvement overall since the last inspection was "insufficient".
In terms of improving children’s progress and attainment across the curriculum inspectors said: "The school has made some progress towards addressing this area of development. Senior leaders plan all improvement activity with a clear focus on literacy and numeracy."
However they added: "This work has not yet had an impact on raising attainment across the school due to many improvements being at an early stage of development."
When considering the requirement to improve the consistency of learning, teaching and assessment they stated: "Whilst staff have worked well together to make some initial improvements within this area of development, there remains some inconsistency in practice."
It was also noted that only "a minority" of teachers were using data well to inform planning for learning.
Good progress was said to have been made by nursery staff in building on existing strengths, and continuing to develop approaches to planning in the nursery to support all children to make improved progress.
Pupils and parents were also questioned about their experiences of the school, with most reporting positively on issues such as how safe they or their child felt within the school and how fair and approachable staff are.
Nevertheless inspectors concluded: "The school has made insufficient progress since the original inspection."
They added: "We will liaise with the Highland Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve.
"We will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of this letter."
A spokesperson for Highland Council said: "Following on from the recent visit with Education Scotland, the school are continuing to implement the agreed action plan as part of school improvement planning.
"Positive progress has been made and this was noted in the recent letter.
"Officers are engaging with the team to support and ensure this continues to achieve the best outcome for children and staff at Rosebank Primary."
