East Renfrewshire primary schools get glowing reports

Published: 19 September 2024

Two East Renfrewshire primary schools have received glowing report cards from inspectors.

Carolside Primary School, in Clarkston, was praised by inspectors who scrutinised four areas of work during a week-long visit, with the school achieving one 'excellent' evaluation and three as 'very good'.

The quality of 'leadership of change' was recognised as being sector-leading, whilst 'raising attainment and achievement', 'ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion' and 'learning, teaching and assessment' were evaluated as very good.

Also gaining a glowing report is Cross Arthurlie Primary, in Barrhead, which was inspected using Education Scotland's short model, with two areas of work evaluated during the process.

Both 'learning, teaching and assessment' and 'raising attainment and achievement' were evaluated as very good.

The inspection at Carolside Primary highlighted the staff's strong culture of learning and the range of innovative approaches used to deliver effective learning for pupils.

Head Teacher Bryan MacLachlan's "outstanding and inspirational leadership" was singled out for high praise, due to the collaborative culture which has been created across the school, with all staff, pupils and parents taking pride in leading change and improving attainment.

Carolside Primary Head Teacher Bryan McLachlan said: 'We are absolutely delighted with this inspection report, which is the culmination of a number of years of focus on school improvement. Ensuring all the children have quality experiences when they come to school every day has been our driving force and it's fantastic for this to have been recognised. I can't offer enough thanks to the whole school community. We're really fortunate to have such an engaged and involved group of parents. All our families are so supportive of the school and we're so privileged to be able to work with them. The staff team have been exceptional throughout my eight years as Head Teacher, and they are all truly professional and committed to delivering the very best for all our children. The children are amazing too, and a real delight to work with. We're so proud of them and it's such a pleasure to work with them every day. They excelled themselves during the inspection process - and they excel themselves every day when they come to Carolside.'

The Cross Arthurlie Primary report also highlighted two areas of best practice, with the professional learning of teachers praised, as well as the school's approach to teaching and learning in French.

Cross Arthurlie Primary Head Teacher Fiona MacDonald said: 'We are delighted that the inspectors recognised the kindness, respect and confidence of our children. This is only possible through the hard work of staff and support we receive from our families, which creates a truly caring community of learners. We will continue to develop our approaches to ensure we build on the good practice highlighted in the report as we focus on providing excellent experiences to all our young people.

The Education Scotland team noted some areas for improvement at both schools, and action plans will now be put in place to take forward the recommendations made.

Councillor Andrew Anderson, Convener for Education, Equalities, Culture and Leisure, said: 'It's fantastic to see these two outstanding inspection reports and I'm delighted for everyone at Carolside and Cross Arthurlie primaries. We continue to see excellent practice across all our schools, and the sector-leading learning demonstrated within both of these schools will be shared across the area to the benefit of all. This is another demonstration that our approach to providing all our pupils with a wide range of excellent experiences throughout their educational journey plays a massive part in developing and improving our already high-achieving schools.'