In June 2017, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited Renton Primary School.
During their visit, they talked to parents/carers and children and worked closely with the head teacher and staff. They gathered evidence to evaluate the quality of leadership and management, learning provision and children’s successes and achievements.
The evaluations by Education Scotland inspectors considered the quality of:
How the staff team worked together to develop a shared vision for change and improvement.
Planning for continuous improvement and change.
The pace of change and impact on outcomes for children.
Learning experiences of children.
How well children were involved in planning for their own learning.
Approaches to children’s wellbeing and inclusion.
Policies and practices to reflect current legislation.
The implementation of wellbeing entitlements to support all children.
How they celebrated children’s’ successes and achievements.
Planning for individual children’s development.
Learning and care to ensure that the attainment gap is closed; to ensure equity for all; to secure future attainment success.
They also commented positively on the school’s collegiate planning approaches to meet the needs of children in overcoming barriers to learning and communication with a range of partners.
Education Scotland identified key strengths within the school’s work, in particular:
Children who are keen to learn and play together with their peers. They acknowledge and celebrate diversity and are welcoming of others.
The work of the whole staff in developing a strong ethos of inclusion across Renton Primary School and the Language and Communications Unit (LCU).
Teachers’ commitment to professional learning and developing themselves as reflective professionals.
Highly effective communication approaches, helping overcome barriers to learning.
Education Scotland has given an overall positive evaluation with this report which maintains our target from the Single Outcome Agreement.
The following areas for improvement were identified and discussed with the head teacher and a representative from West Dunbartonshire Council:
A need to ensure children experience consistently high quality learning and teaching across the school.
Develop more focused strategies which lead to change and improvement in literacy and numeracy.
Develop Renton Primary School curriculum further so that it fully reflects the context of the school and the needs and aspirations of the children.
Education Scotland are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve with the continuing support of the Authority. They request a report on progress after one year.
West Dunbartonshire Council will inform parents/carers about the schools progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its settings. Educational Services will continue to support the school through the Service’s Improvement Framework.
The Council will continue to liaise with Education Scotland reporting in one year on school improvement.
The Headteacher will keep parents informed as to progress through the Standards and Quality Report.
The inspection report is available here:
https://education.gov.scot/inspection-reports/west-dunbartonshire/8303622
West Dunbartonshire Councillor Martin Rooney 