School inspectors have rated tiny Kirkmichael Primary as ‘good’ in their latest report.
A team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited the Perthshire school in October and have now published their findings.
We’ve scrutinised their report to pull out some of the highlights – including 10 things which they praised.
Two areas of the school’s work were assessed during Kirkmichael Primary inspection. Both were rated as good. This means there are important strengths but the school needs to improve some aspects.
Inspectors assessed the school’s learning, teaching and assessment and how it raises pupils’ attainment and achievement.
About Kirkmichael Primary School
Kirkmichael Primary School has 33 children in two multi-stage classes.
It serves the village of Kirkmichael and surrounding communities of Glenshee, Bridge of Cally, Blacklunans and Straloch.
Craig Loudon has been the head teacher for six years.
10 highlights from Kirkmichael Primary inspection report
- Children are polite and articulate. They are kind and respectful to each other and to adults, creating a warm and welcome ethos.
- All staff are committed to helping children do their best. They work very well together to support pupils who need it.
- Teachers provide clear instructions and explanations. So the majority of children understand the purpose of their learning
- Children use digital technology regularly. This includes older children using apps to create visuals for presentations
- Teachers use assessments to gather evidence of children’s progress and identify gaps in learning
- There are warm, nurturing relationships between all staff and children and between children
- Children use strategies to cope with challenging emotions and as a result almost all behave well almost all of the time
- Across the school attainment is good. Most children reach expected levels for their stage in numeracy, literacy and English
- Attendance of 96.5% is above the national average. Persistent absence of 10% or more is not an issue at the school.
- Pupils enjoy a wide range of activities in and out of school, including skiing for older children
Where Kirkmichael Primary School can do better
- The school should make better use of data to close gaps in attainment
- A few children would benefit from greater challenge in lessons
- Children would benefit from more regular reading aloud in class. Young children need to develop fluency in reading and older children need to use more expression
- Staff need to track and monitor children’s progress in all curriculum areas.
The Education Scotland report did not include the school’s nursery as the Care Inspectorate inspected it in September 2023.
Conversation