Appendix 1 - Dunbarney Primary and Nursery School
Perth and Kinross Council · 24 August 2026
Back to Executive Sub-Committee of the Learning and Families Committee — 24 August 2026 and its agenda
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1 | Dunbarney Primary School and Nursery Class, Perth and Kinross Council, 5341825 © Crown Copyright 28 April 2026 Dear Parent/Carer In February 2026, a team of HM Inspectors of Education visited Dunbarney Primary School and nursery class. During our visit, we talked to parents/carers and children and worked closely with the headteacher and staff. The inspection team found the following strengths in the school’s work. • Senior leaders and staff have created a calm, nurturing learning environment across the school and nursery, underpinned by the school values. Children are caring, kind and considerate, and engage very well in their learning. They enjoy warm, supportive relationships with each other and with staff. • Led by the headteacher alongside the depute head teacher, staff use a wide range of information about children’s learning very well to improve outcomes. This helps all children, including those needing additional support, to make very strong progress in literacy and numeracy. • Across the school children are developing a broad range of skills and use these well when leading clubs and activities. These experiences help them become more independent learners and responsible citizens, and they can explain how these skills matter in their everyday lives. • Staff in the nursery use planning systems very well to provide a balanced mix of child-led and adult-initiated learning. This ensures children experience a wide range of meaningful and varied learning opportunities across the curriculum that supports their development well. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Perth and Kinross Council. • Senior leaders and staff should continue to strengthen creative approaches to teaching, providing children with greater opportunities to lead and direct their learning to ensure all children consistently experience high-quality learning and teaching across the school. • Senior leaders and staff in the ELC should ensure all children have progressive targets in their learning plans. This will ensure all children received the correct level of support and build on what they already know to ensure all children make the best possible progress.
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2 | Dunbarney Primary School and Nursery Class, Perth and Kinross Council, 5341825 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the school’s work using two quality indicators from How good is our school (4th edition). Quality indicators help schools, local authorities and inspectors to judge what is working well and what needs to be improved. Following the inspection of each school, the Scottish Government gathers details of our evaluations to keep track of how well Scottish schools are doing. Here are HMIE’s evaluations for Dunbarney Primary School and Nursery Class Quality indicators Evaluation Learning, teaching and assessment good Raising attainment and achievement very good Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our school (4th edition) Appendix 3: The six-point scale We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the ELC’s work using three quality indicators from the Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors. Quality indicators for the nursery class Evaluation Curriculum good Learning, teaching and assessment good Wellbeing, inclusion and equality good A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the HMIE website at: Dunbarney Primary School | Inspection Report | His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland
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3 | Dunbarney Primary School and Nursery Class, Perth and Kinross Council, 5341825 © Crown Copyright What happens next? 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. Perth and Kinross Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools. Emma McFarlane HM Inspector On behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland