Education Scotland Inspection of St James PS Paisley ECSPB
Renfrewshire Council · 15 January 2026
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 15 January 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 PUBLIC ___________________________________________________________________ To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 15 January 2026 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services _______________________________________________________________ Heading: Education Scotland Inspection of St James’ Primary School, Paisley ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 St James’ Primary School was inspected by Education Scotland in September 2025 as part of a national sample of education. Education Scotland uses different models of inspection and at St James’ Primary School the short model approach was deployed. Inspectors assessed the school with a focus on two quality indicators which are referenced in How Good is our School? 4 Quality Indicator 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment. Quality Indicator 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement. 1.2 This was a very positive inspection which evaluated all quality indicators as ‘ Quality Indicator 2.3 Good Quality Indicator 3.2 Good 1.3 As part of the inspection model the following area was also reviewed: Quality Indicator 2.1 Safeguarding Education Scotland do not attach an evaluative grade to this. Instead in the Summary of Inspection Findings there are evaluative statements provided which are positive and contribute to the overall school ratings. 1.4 The inspection report in the form of a letter to parents, published by Education Scotland on 25 November 2025, is attached as an appendix to this report and is also available from the Director of Children’s Services or from the Education Scotland website.
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2 PUBLIC 1.5 The letter to parents identified three key strengths of the school. • Senior leaders and staff work very well together to create nurturing and inclusive learning environments for children. These are underpinned by shared values and positive relationships. • Children are polite, friendly and respectful. They are proud of their school and engage well with their learning. • Senior leaders and staff have developed effective ways to check children’s progress in learning. They use this information well to inform strategic decisions which is helping to improve learning and teaching and raise attainment. 1.6 The inspection report also identified two areas for further improvement: • Continue to develop approaches to ensure all children understand the progress they are making and their next steps in learning. Teachers should ensure children who are capable of achieving more are appropriately challenged in their learning. • Continue to focus on raising attainment in literacy and numeracy. 1.7 There is an agreed set of procedures for responding to inspection reports which will support the school and Children’s Services to plan how the area for further improvement will be addressed. Actions are detailed within the school improvement plan which is shared with parents. In addition, the school will be supported in its improvement journey by Children’s Services. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations 2.1 Members of the Education and Children’s Services Policy Board are asked to note and celebrate the key strengths and recognise the areas for further improvement in the Education Scotland report on St James’ Primary School, Paisley. ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 Children’s Services welcomes the process of audit undertaken by Education Scotland as supportive to continuous improvement in Renfrewshire’s education establishments. The school team at St James’ Primary School, Paisley approached the inspection in a positive manner and embraced it as a professional learning opportunity in partnership with colleagues from Education Scotland. 3.2 The report includes two areas for further improvement, and progress in addressing this will be monitored by Children’s Services staff through the Quality Improvement Framework. 3.3 The inspection report will inform planned improvement activity and will enable the school to build on the recognised strengths and focus further development on areas for improvement to enable the school to continue to deliver a quality educational provision.
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3 PUBLIC _________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - None 2. HR & Organisational Development – None 3. Community/Council Planning – engaging with, and learning from external inspection, ensures that our Renfrewshire is thriving. High standards of education provision ensure that children and young people are given the best start in life so that they promote and contribute to a more prosperous, fairer society. It also ensures our Renfrewshire is well – by providing an environment which encourages care, welfare and development, establishments play a crucial role in developing children and young people so that they become responsible citizens. The inspection process also supports delivery of the Council Plan cross- cutting theme of improving outcomes for children and families as well as other Council Plan key strategic outcomes, for example: Economy Equipping all children and young people to achieve success in life Fair • Creating inclusive and supportive learning environments for children and young people. • Embedding children’s rights in our decision-making processes 4. Legal – None 5. Property/Assets - None 6. Information Technology - None 7. Equality & Human Rights – The Recommendations contained within this report have been assessed in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights. No negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights have been identified arising from the recommendations contained in the report. If required following implementation, the actual impact of the recommendations and the mitigating actions will be reviewed and monitored, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council’s website. 8. Health & Safety – None 9. Procurement – None 10. Risk – None 11. Privacy Impact - None
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4 PUBLIC 12. Cosla Policy Position – N/A 13. Climate Risk – None 14. Children’s Rights - This links to, Article 28 (right to education) Every child has the right to an education. Primary education must be free and different forms of secondary education must be available to every child. Discipline in schools must respect children’s dignity and their rights. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this. _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers - The inspection report and additional evidence is published on the Education Scotland website. __________________________________________________________ E Henry, 25 November, 2025 Author: Emma Henry, Head of Education, emma.henry@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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1 | St James’s Primary School (Paisley), Renfrewshire Council, 8629722 © Crown Copyright 25 November 2025 Dear Parent/Carer In September 2025, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited St James’s Primary School (Paisley). 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 work very well together to create nurturing and inclusive learning environments for children. These are underpinned by shared values and positive relationships. • Children are polite, friendly and respectful. They are proud of their school and engage well with their learning. • Senior leaders and staff have developed effective ways to check children’s progress in learning. They use this information well to inform strategic decisions which is helping to improve learning and teaching and raise attainment. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Renfrewshire Council. • Continue to develop approaches to ensure all children understand the progress they are making and their next steps in learning. Teachers should ensure children who are capable of achieving more are appropriately challenged in their learning. • Continue to focus on raising attainment in literacy and numeracy.
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2 | St James’s Primary School (Paisley), Renfrewshire Council, 8629722 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the school’s work using 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 Education Scotland’s evaluations for St James’s Primary School (Paisley) Quality indicators Evaluation Learning, teaching and assessment good Raising attainment and achievement good Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our school? (4th edition), Appendix 3: The six-point scale A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: St James's Primary School | Inspection Report | His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland 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. Renfrewshire Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools. Robyn McIlroy HM Inspector