Education Scotland Inspection of Bishopton PS ECSPB
Renfrewshire Council · 18 January 2024
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 18 January 2024 and its agenda
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1 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 18 January 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Education Scotland Inspection of Bishopton Primary School ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Bishopton Primary School was inspected by Education Scotland in August 2023 as part of a national sample of education. Education Scotland uses different models of inspection and at Bishopton Primary School the full model approach was deployed. Inspectors assessed the school with a focus on four quality indicators which are referenced in How Good is our School? 4 Quality Indicator 1.3 Leadership of Change Quality Indicator 2.3 Learning, teaching and assessment. Quality Indicator 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion. Quality Indicator 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement. 1.2 This was a very positive inspection which evaluated all quality indicators as ‘ Quality Indicator 1.3 Very Good Quality Indicator 2.3 Good Quality Indicator 3.1 Very Good Quality Indicator 3.2 Very 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 5 December 2023, is attached as an appendix to this report and
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2 is also available from the Director of Children’s Services or from the Education Scotland website. 1.5 The letter to parents identified four key strengths of the school. o The headteacher and senior leaders encourage and support staff effectively to take responsibility for leading improvements. All staff feel trusted to lead changes to improve and enhance learning experiences for children. o Staff use a range of nurturing approaches to maintain a very positive and supportive environment. Children respond well to the encouragement and support they receive and are able to progress well as a result. o Children are confident, articulate, and happy in school. They respect each other and are proud of their school. They welcome opportunities to take on leadership roles. o Across the school, children have high levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy, Children have meaningful opportunities to apply their learning and skills in a variety of situations and through a wide range of activities beyond the school day. 1.6 The inspection report also identified two areas for further improvement: Continue to develop whole school approaches to assessing children’s progress and attainment, involving parents in the review of how and when information is shared. To support this improvement, staff should further develop the work they currently do with other schools to continue to ensure that national standards are applied and maintained. Staff should build on the highly effective practice that already exists to develop greater consistency in delivering high quality learning and teaching across the school. 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 Bishopton Primary School. ___________________________________________________________________
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3 3. Background 3.1 Following a pause to inspections due to the pandemic, Education Scotland’s routine programme of inspection of schools and early years settings resumed in September 2022. 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 Bishopton Primary School approached the inspection in a positive manner and embraced it as a professional learning opportunity in partnership with colleagues at 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. ___________________________________________________________________ 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
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4 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 12. Cosla Policy Position – N/A 13. Climate Risk – None. _________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers - The inspection report and additional evidence is published on the Education Scotland website. __________________________________________________________ TMcG 7 December 2023 Author: Tracy McGillivray, Head of Education, tracy.mcgillivray@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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1 | Bishopton Primary School, Renfrewshire Council, 8621527 © Crown Copyright 5 December 2023 Dear Parent/Carer In September 2023, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Bishopton Primary School. 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. • The headteacher and senior leaders encourage and support staff effectively to take responsibility for leading improvements. All staff feel trusted to lead changes to improve and enhance learning experiences for children. • Staff use a range of nurturing approaches to maintain a very positive and supportive environment. Children respond well to the encouragement and support they receive and are able to progress well as a result. • Children are confident, articulate, and happy in school. They respect each other and are proud of their school. They welcome opportunities to take on leadership roles. • Across the school, children have high levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy, Children have meaningful opportunities to apply their learning and skills in a variety of situations and through a wide range of activities beyond the school day. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Renfrewshire Council. • Continue to develop whole school approaches to assessing children’s progress and attainment, involving parents in the review of how and when information is shared. To support this improvement, staff should further develop the work they currently do with other schools to continue to ensure that national standards are applied and maintained. • Staff should build on the highly effective practice that already exists to develop greater consistency in delivering high quality learning and teaching across the school.
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2 | Bishopton Primary School, Renfrewshire Council, 8621527 © Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the school’s work using four 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 Bishopton Primary School Quality indicators Evaluation Leadership of change very good Learning, teaching and assessment good Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion very 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 A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: Inspection and Review | Education 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. Teri McIntosh HM Inspector