Inspectors set to make a return to two Aberdeenshire schools following latest reports
Two Aberdeenshire schools have received a visit from inspectors with the reports published this week showing improvements from previous inspection visits.
In their report of Banchory Primary School and Nursery Class inspectors said: “The school has made some progress since the original inspection. “We will liaise with Aberdeenshire Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve. We will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of this letter. We will discuss with Aberdeenshire Council the details of this inspection.”
Comments said in the report: The local authority worked with the headteacher to create an action plan following the initial inspection. The plan is beginning to help the leadership team set improvement priorities with a stronger focus on improving children’s experiences across the school. The headteacher has taken steps to share with the school community the schools’ strengths, and areas where improvement is needed. Staff have engaged in a range of professional learning on effective questioning, providing feedback and the elements of a good lesson. Most children engage well in their learning. In most lessons, teachers’ explanations and instructions are clear. Most teachers use questioning well to check children’s understanding. Staff have introduced a whole school focus on skills. Most children now benefit from an understanding of the skills they are developing across a range of activities.”
The same comment was made for Aboyne Primary School and Nursery Class: “The school has made some progress since the original inspection. We will liaise with Aberdeenshire Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve. We will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of this letter. “
Comments pointed out that: There has been a high level of instability of leadership in the past year. This has had a negative impact on the pace of progress and improvement since the original inspection. As a result, there has been limited progress made in this area since the original inspection. The overall quality of learning, teaching and assessment is beginning to improve. Staff need to build on this positive start to increase the pace of change to further improve children’s learning.Children’s learning experiences are improving. However, staff need to increase the pace of improvement to ensure this improves children’s progress and attainment . Staff are at the early stages of identifying with rigour children’s progress and attainment in literacy and English and numeracy and mathematics.
In both cases officers will return to the schools for further inspection.
