Leith Primary School Supported Self Evaluation Report
To support the school’s self-evaluation, a team of council officers and headteachers visited the school on 15th and 16th November 2023. The team consisted of two Primary Quality Improvement Education Officers, one Teaching and Learning Development Officer, two ASL Service Leaders and one Primary Head Teacher. The team visited fifteen lessons, covering every year group, with a member of the Senior Leadership Team. The team also led focus groups with a range of stakeholders, pupils, parents and carers, partners and staff. The team met with the Pupil Council, the Rights Champions, and the Equalities pupil group.
The Nursery was visited separately on 22nd November 2023 by an Early Years and Childcare Manager and an Early Years Quality Improvement Education Officer.
The review team agree with the Standards & Quality Self-evaluation grades.
Strengths
- Staff provide a calm, nurturing and purposeful learning environment that supports children’s learning well. Relationships between staff and children, and between children, are very positive.
- All staff demonstrate a commitment to professional development. Teachers engage enthusiastically with Practitioner Enquiry work and value opportunities to learn from one another through sharing practice.
- Teaching staff have previously engaged with the Teachers’ Charter as part of school improvement work on Formative Assessment and Differentiation and are currently engaging in work to develop their understanding and use of feedback in the classroom. This work has supported developing a more consistent approach to using formative assessment strategies in the classroom and in differentiating lessons more appropriately to support meeting the needs of learners.
- Over the last few years, staff have been developing play-based approaches to learning. Learners respond well to the opportunities given to be independent and lead their own learning. Interactions between adults and learners during play experiences are positive and responsive.
- Parents value the different opportunities and experiences which are provided for learners and spoke highly of the school’s approach in developing and supporting children’s understanding of additional support needs.
- Partners spoke very positively about the school’s attitude and approach in supporting learners and their families to overcome barriers. They welcome the staffs’ openness and desire to get it right for learners and enjoy being part of the encouraging and nurturing school community.
- Learners across the school enjoy a variety of responsibilities which contribute to developing citizenship skills. For example, litter picking, community singing, leading tours at nearby Trinity House (Maritime Museum) in partnership with Illuminate, taking artefacts from Trinity House to local Nursing Homes, participating in the Leith Gala, developing local green spaces as part of the Wilding Wee Spaces project, and buddying up with other classes to engage in learning about the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Staff have a very good understanding of the socio-economic factors affecting children and families. They are aware of their attainment gaps, the cost-of-living crisis and the cost of the school day and take appropriate steps to support their families. Senior leaders and monitor children’s attendance carefully and promote the importance of children attending school every day well. They are proactive in ensuring that barriers to children’s attendance are minimised which is leading to improvement.
Areas for Improvement
- Continue to empower learners within pupil leadership groups to lead and drive school improvement.
- Ensure that learning is differentiated to meet learners’ needs, providing appropriate levels of support and challenge.
- Ensure that verbal and written feedback supports learners to understand progress being made and their next steps in learning.
- Consider the use of Pupil Support Assistants to support individuals and groups of learners to ensure that they are utilised effectively.
- Continue to ensure that bullying, prejudice, and racism procedures are consistently followed by all staff and that all stakeholders are aware of how actions are followed up.
- Continue to embed Children’s Rights across all aspects of the curriculum on your journey towards achieving your Gold Award.
- Analyse data gathered in more depth to identify and support further improvements to be made in raising attainment.
- Provide opportunities for learners to lead learning within the classroom to utilise their skills, knowledge, and talents.
Believe. Persevere. Achieve. 