Education Scotland Inspection of Williamsburgh PS ECSPB
Renfrewshire Council · 23 May 2024
Back to Education and Children's Services Policy Board — 23 May 2024 and its agenda
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1 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Education and Children’s Services Policy Board On: 23 May 2024 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Children’s Services ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Education Scotland Inspection of Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 Education Scotland Inspection of Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class was inspected by Education Scotland in February 2024 as part of a national sample of education. Education Scotland uses different models of inspection and at Brediland Primary School the full model approach was deployed. Inspectors assessed the school and Early Learning and Childcare Class 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 quality indicators in the school as Quality Indicator 1.3 Very Good Quality Indicator 2.3 Very Good Quality Indicator 3.1 Good Quality Indicator 3.2 Good 1.3 This was a very positive inspection which evaluated quality indicators in the Early Learning and Childcare Class as Quality Indicator 1.3 Very Good
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2 Quality Indicator 2.3 Very Good Quality Indicator 3.1 Very Good Quality Indicator 3.2 Very Good 1.4 As part of the inspection model the following area was also reviewed: Quality Indicator 2.1 Safeguarding 1.5 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. The inspection report in the form of a letter to parents, published by Education Scotland on23 April 2024, 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. 1.6 The letter to parents identified four key strengths of the school and early learning and childcare class. The highly effective headteacher, who is providing very strong leadership and direction to the work of the school and nursery. She is supported well by the senior leadership team and is ambitious for all children in the school and nursery. The strong focus on promoting inclusion and diversity. This is building caring, positive and trusting relationships that are supporting children to feel included and valued in the school and nursery. Children who are happy, enthusiastic and confident. They enjoy learning in school and nursery. They show respect, care and kindness as they learn and play together. Children are very proud of their school and nursery. High quality approaches to learning teaching across the school and nursery. All staff work very well together as a team. They engage well with professional learning and reflect on their practice. Well-considered, engaging approaches to learning and teaching are impacting positively on children’s progress and achievement. 1.7 The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Renfrewshire Council. 1.8 Senior leaders and practitioners in the nursery should continue to develop the curriculum outdoors to ensure children experience greater breadth in their learning. 1.9 Staff in the school should continue to develop systems to track children’s wellbeing. This should provide staff with helpful information on how best to plan for and further meet the wellbeing needs of all children. 1.10 Senior leaders and staff in the school should continue to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations
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3 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 Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class. ___________________________________________________________________ 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 Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class 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 three 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 – No financial implication 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 crosscutting 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
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4 young people. Embedding children’s rights in our decision-making processes 4. Legal - The full model inspection includes a focus on QI 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equity and inclusion. In evaluating this QI, one of the themes that HM Inspectors evaluate is the school’s Fulfilment of Statutory Duties related to attendance, exclusions, ASL Act and Associated Code of Practice, Bullying, Equality Act, Health and Nutrition, and Gaelic education. 5. Property/Assets – No risks to property/assets. 6. Information Technology – No information and technology risks. 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 – No negative impacts on health and safety. 9. Procurement – No procurement risks 10. Risk – No risks identified. 11. Privacy Impact – No impact on privacy. 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. __________________________________________________________ EH Author: Emma Henry, Interim Head of Education, emma.henry@renfrewshire.gov.uk
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1 | Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class, Renfrewshire Council, 8626820© Crown Copyright 23 April 2024 Dear Parent/Carer In February 2024, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate visited Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare 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 and nursery’s work. • The highly effective headteacher, who is providing very strong leadership and direction to the work of the school and nursery. She is supported well by the senior leadership team and is ambitious for all children in the school and nursery. • The strong focus on promoting inclusion and diversity. This is building caring, positive and trusting relationships that are supporting children to feel included and valued in the school and nursery. • Children who are happy, enthusiastic and confident. They enjoy learning in school and nursery. They show respect, care and kindness as they learn and play together. Children are very proud of their school and nursery. • High quality approaches to learning teaching across the school and nursery. All staff work very well together as a team. They engage well with professional learning and reflect on their practice. Well-considered, engaging approaches to learning and teaching are impacting positively on children’s progress and achievement. The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Renfrewshire Council. • Senior leaders and practitioners in the nursery should continue to develop the curriculum outdoors to ensure children experience greater breadth in their learning. • Staff in the school should continue to develop systems to track children’s wellbeing. This should provide staff with helpful information on how best to plan for and further meet the wellbeing needs of all children. • Senior leaders and staff in the school should continue to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy.
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2 | Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class, Renfrewshire Council, 8626820© 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) and How good is our early learning and childcare?. 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 Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class Quality indicators for the primary stages Evaluation Leadership of change very good Learning, teaching and assessment very good Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion 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 Quality indicators for the nursery class Evaluation Leadership of change very good Learning, teaching and assessment very good Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion very good Securing children’s progress very good Descriptions of the evaluations are available from: How good is our early learning and childcare? Appendix 1: The six-point scale
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3 | Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class, Renfrewshire Council, 8626820© Crown Copyright We gathered evidence to enable us to evaluate the early learning and childcare setting using the quality indicators from A quality framework for daycare of children, childminding and school-aged childcare. The framework supports settings, providers and inspectors to assess what is working well and what needs to be improved. Following the inspection of each setting, the Scottish Government gathers details of our evaluations to keep track of how well early learning and childcare settings are doing. The Care Inspectorate evaluations are also used by local authorities when considering how settings are meeting the national standard for funded early learning and childcare. The Care Inspectorate’s evaluations for the early learning and childcare setting are: Detailed evaluations Evaluation Key question 1: How good is our care, play and learning? very good 1.1 Nurturing care and support very good 1.3 Play and learning very good Key question 2: How good is our setting? very good 2.2 Children experience high quality facilities very good Key question 3: How good is our leadership? good 3.1 Quality assurance and improvement are led well good Key question 4: How good is our staff team? very good 4.3 Staff deployment very good During the previous Care Inspectorate inspection, the setting had no requirements and no area for improvement. As a result of this inspection, there are no requirements and no area for improvement. A more detailed document called Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF) will be available on the Education Scotland website at: Details | Find an inspection report | Find an inspection report | Inspection and review | Education Scotland.
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4 | Williamsburgh Primary School and Early Learning and Childcare Class, Renfrewshire Council, 8626820© 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. Renfrewshire Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools. Victoria Morgan Lynn Carruthers HM Inspector Care Inspector