Thumbs up for Pinkie St Peter's
Steven MacDiarmid • Published 16 Feb 2012 09:20
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THE headteacher of Musselburgh's Pinkie St Peter's Primary School is "very pleased" with feedback received from East Lothian Council's education department.
In common with all county primaries, the Burgh school receives regular visits from a council quality improvement officer (QIO). Writing on the school's website last week, headteacher Richard Wilson revealed the contents of the latest feedback from David Scott, Pinkie's QIO.
Mr Scott identified the school's strengths as a "very good school ethos, which includes improving pupil behaviour, staff commitment to whole-school improvement and the reputation of the school in the community".
His report goes on: "[The school] has made good progress with last session's improvement plan. This session's plan is linked to both its vision for the development of the curriculum and local/national priorities. These include development work in literacy, mathematics, health and well-being and moderation.
"The school is now starting to make better use of standardised information. This is still at an early stage and staff should think about how to use the data more effectively both to inform self-evaluation work and in planning learning activities at a class/group and individual level."
Turning to literacy, Mr Scott continues: "Staff have worked very hard to develop a whole-school approach to reading.
"This approach provides clear guidance in a range of areas including phonics, reading strategies and teaching writer's craft through reading."
The report highlighted several areas of development within the school. They were: continuing to develop the curriculum in line with East Lothian's Planning Ahead document; continuing to work at school and cluster-level to develop shared understanding of standards; and improving the use of standardised information.
In terms of the school's curriculum, Mr Scott again found much positive work being done.
"The school is making good progress with the development of the curriculum," he stated. "Teaching staff are familiar with curriculum for excellence experiences and outcomes and use them to plan learning.
"The school is now tracking class/group/pupil progress through the curriculum for excellence levels.
"This should highlight those pupils who need challenge or support."
Commenting on the report, Mr Wilson said: "Overall we were very pleased with this evaluation and look forward to working with our quality improvement officer after the Easter holidays."
Meanwhile, the mid-term break came early for Pinkie St Peter's pupils last Friday after a "water failure" shut the school.
Scottish Water was investigating the source of the problem and the school is expected to be able to reopen as planned on Monday.
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