Education / Tingwall primary school ranked ‘satisfactory’ by inspectors
INSPECTORS from Education Scotland say they will not need to return for a follow-up after visiting Tingwall Primary School in March.
The nursery was not included in the inspection as it was separately visited by the Care Inspectorate last year.
The inspection’s findings, which were published today (Tuesday), found that ‘learning, teaching and assessment’ and ‘raising attainment and achievement’ at the school was “satisfactory”.
According to Education Scotland this means that the “strengths within this aspect of the school’s work just outweigh the weaknesses”.
The report outlined the school’s strengths as providing a welcoming learning environment, a strong focus on teamwork and a wide range of cross-curricular activities in art, music and PE.
The report states: “Children are happy, benefitting from positive relationships between each other and with staff.
“They are confident, proud of their school and most children enjoy learning.”
Areas recommended for improvement were related to planning, raising expectations in literacy and numeracy and motivating pupils to read literature for fun.
The report said that “there is a need to review timetables to ensure that all available time with teaching staff is used effectively.
“Children experience too much reduced learning time due to transitions from one activity to another, or before set break time,” it added.
Education Scotland concluded that “we are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection”.
Tingwall Primary School has a roll of 81 children across four classes.
The report said that the headteacher was appointed permanently to the school in August 2022.
“Prior to this appointment, the school had experienced several changes in leadership over the past four years,” it said.
Davie Sandison, chair of the council’s education and families committee, said: “I want to thank school staff for their hard work and commitment to the children at Tingwall Primary School and their families.
“I am sure the school can look forward to the future, under the guidance of the new headteacher, where the planned improvements can be made.”
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