Inspectors praise leadership and learning at island primary school and nursery
Posted on 25 Apr 2024
Our photo shows Headteacher Julie McAleese with some of her pupils at Cumbrae Primary School.
The headteacher of an island primary school and her team have received a top-class report from inspectors.
Education Scotland inspectors visited Cumbrae Primary School and Nursery, in Millport, on the Isle of Cumbrae, in January.
The glowing report’s findings include:
• There are positive nurturing relationships between all staff and children in the school and nursery. Children are confident, secure and engage very well in learning and
• The quality of experiences including outdoor learning, community projects and learning through play is high and learning is well planned and effectively supported by a range of partners.
The report describes Headteacher Julie McAleese as “highly respected and aspirational”, stressing that she is “supported very well by an effective and resilient staff team” which is improving children’s attainment, experiences and outcomes.
Ms McAleese said: “I am privileged to work with such a fantastic team, who are devoted to giving our pupils the best start possible in life.
“We work very closely with parents, families and – of course – the children themselves to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
“This positive inspection report is testament to the hard work that is done all year round by the teaching staff, support staff and pupils.”
The report also states that Ms McAleese has worked hard to ensure the school, which has 51 pupils, is “very much at the heart of the rural island community” and one example of this is pupils meeting older people through an intergenerational group called Warm Wednesday to play games together.
And it praises the fact that children take part in various committees, including digital technology and sustainability and health. There is also a committee that focuses on The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The UNCRC ensures that all children’s rights are respected and that they are free to learn, play and develop. And awareness is currently being raised among North Ayrshire Council staff to ensure that everyone knows about their ongoing responsibility to protect the rights of our children.
In the school, all four quality indicators - leadership of change; learning, teaching and assessment; Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion and raising attainment and achievement – were gauged as “very good”.
The same four indicators in the nursery class were described as “good” and inspectors found that Ms McAleese’s leadership supports the nursery well in integrating with the school.
Andrew McClelland, the Council’s Head of Service for Education, added:
“I was delighted to read this inspection report. This is a clear reflection of the fantastic work being done by the whole school community.
“The staff, pupils and their families should be rightly proud of the outcome of this very strong inspection.
“I would like to thank our staff teams, under the leadership of Ms McAleese, for their hard work and commitment to improving outcomes for our learners.”
In line with all inspections, specific areas are identified that would lead to further improvements. Examples of potential improvements for Cumbrae Primary include: children being provided with further opportunities to lead their learning; development of the nursery environment – indoors and outdoors – continuing and play and development of learning experiences in the nursery continuing to ensure pupils are engaged and challenged in their learning.