COUNCILLORS today voiced their confidence in the staff and headteacher of a school which has come under fire for failing to meet learning targets.

Wallyford Primary School received a ‘weak’ grade from education inspectors, who said that "too few" children were reaching national attainment levels in literacy and numeracy.

The inspectors said that, while the majority of children in P1-P4 were hitting national attainment targets, only a minority were doing so in P7.

Wallyford Primary School moved into a new building on a new housing estate on the edge of the community in 2019 and, at the time of the inspection, had a roll of 459; however, the school is expected to expand as more housing on the estate is occupied.

A meeting of East Lothian’s education and children’s services committee heard that the inspection was carried out in September last year, just five weeks after current headteacher Zena Diggle took over the top post.

It followed a "difficult time" for the school, with the committee told that it had had three headteachers during a short period.

READ MORE: Wallyford Primary School reading and writing 'weak', say inspectors

And councillors backed the current leadership at the school to tackle concerns raised.

Ward councillor Lee-Anne Menzies said that, while the inspectors' report was concerning, she had confidence in the school’s future and she reminded the committee that the school was constantly growing, with new pupils coming into the area from the expanding housing estate every week.

She said: “The school, the pupils and the whole community have been through a lot.

"Wallyford is still growing exponentially, the school changes weekly and that is a lot on its own.

“You can drive through that part of Wallyford with the brand new school and brand new houses and think everything is spanking new and great, but actually Wallyford has pockets of abject poverty and families across Wallyford have complex needs, and this school has to manage all of it in a constantly changing environment.

“So while this is a concern, and we should all be looking at it, we should also qualify it by saying things have greatly improved and are on a great trajectory and are constantly improving.”

'A lot of positives'

Councillor Colin Yorkston said that the education inspectors had recognised strengths in the staff team and plans moving forward for the school which should be acknowledged.

He said: “There are a lot of positives in the report and I am confident that the follow-up inspection will show a lot of improvement.”

Councillor Fiona Dugdale, education committee convenor, said she also had confidence that the school would see improvements in future inspections.

She thanked the headteacher and her team for the work they were doing.

Ms Dugdale said: "There are areas for improvement and we are reassured that the school staff and the wider team are working really hard to strive towards improvement.”

The report to committee was noted by members.