High praise for Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre

Published: 12 December 2022

Pupils and staff at Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre are celebrating after receiving a strong report from inspectors.

The Education Scotland inspection took place in October, when inspectors evaluated the school and family centre across a wide range of areas, identifying particular strengths and areas for improvement.

Both the school and family centre received one evaluation of Very Good for 'Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion', and three Good evaluations for 'Raising Attainment and Achievement', 'Leadership of change' and 'Learning, teaching and assessment'.

The particular strengths highlighted by the inspection team included:

• The positive relationships across the whole school community which are based on the school values. Senior leaders and staff know children and their families well and work effectively with the local community. They support and create a nurturing environment and an inclusive ethos.
• The very effective use of digital technologies to support children in their learning and develop their skills for learning, life and work.
• Enthusiastic and confident children who feel valued and supported. They enjoy learning in Neilston Primary School and are proud of their school.
• The warm nurturing ethos throughout the nursery setting, created by senior leaders and practitioners. Children benefit from strong relationships with practitioners who respect and care for them. Children have made close friendships, which are important to them.

Councillor Andrew Anderson, Convener for Education, said: 'This report for Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre highlights the fantastic work which goes on every day. This inspection is one of the first carried out by Education Scotland since the Covid pandemic, so for Neilston and Madras to receive such a strong report is testament to the hard work of the pupils, staff, parents and wider school community who all work closely to ensure the school and family centre continue to go from strength to strength. I also welcome the Action Plan that acknowledges the areas for improvement, which will further enhance this hard work.'

Neilston Primary and Madras Family Centre Head Teacher Gerard Curley said: 'I am delighted to have received such positive reports from Education Scotland which recognise the quality experiences of all our children across the school and family centre. It is clear that the inspectors recognised the strong relationships which are developed across the whole school community. We have worked extremely hard to develop an inclusive culture and ethos and this clearly shone through. We are committed to developing enthusiastic and confident children who are best placed to lead their learning and will continue to work hard to strive for further improvements in the years ahead. The dedication of the staff has also been highlighted and we will continue to work together to keep raising the bar for all. As we look ahead to the future, and all the opportunities that our new school and family centre building will bring, there really are exciting times ahead.'

The inspection team also identified two areas for improvement in both the school and family centre. These relate to family centre staff continuing to engage with national guidance to develop consistently high quality interactions across the team and developing approaches to learning to allow the nursery age children to lead their own learning more easily.

School staff have also been tasked with develop clearer strategic approaches to lead the direction and pace of school improvement activities, as well as ensuring that learning is set at the right level of difficulty for all children.

An action plan has now been set out by the school to address the agreed areas for improvement.