School inspectors have rated Raploch Primary School as ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory’.
A team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited the Stirling school in December 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 Raploch Primary inspection. One – learning, teaching and assessment – was rated as good. This means there are important strengths but some aspects should be improved.
The other – raising attainment and achievement – was rated as satisfactory which means strengths just outweighed weaknesses.
About Raploch Primary School
Raploch Primary School has 235 children across 11 classes, serving the Raploch area of Stirling.
More than 9 out of 10 of its pupils live in the most deprived areas and just over half have an additional support need. English is not the first language of 13% of Raploch children.
Head teacher Caroline Currie has been in post since August 2021 and the depute head teacher since January 2020.
10 highlights from Raploch Primary inspection report
- Staff know their community very well and treat children with care and compassion
- Children are welcoming, polite and respectful towards each other, staff and visitors
- Teachers have improved classrooms with low lighting, flexible seating and consistent displays using calm tones.
- In P4 to P7, most teachers provide regular access to digital tools and equipment so most children are developing skills such as programming, coding and research
- A majority of children achieve expected levels in literacy and numeracy but a few could achieve more
- Over time a majority of children have made satisfactory progress in literacy but there has been a decline in numeracy attainment
- Attendance has improved steadily in recent years and, at 92%, is in line with comparator schools. Employment of a family support worker has aided this
- Achievements in and out of school are celebrated with star of the week awards and entries in the ‘shiny book’
- Staff run blocks of ‘masterclasses’ in areas such as drama, art and sign language
- There school’s strong partnership with a music charity helps children to develop skills and a love of music
Where Raploch Primary School must do better
Inspectors have recommended improvements be made by:
- Senior leaders reviewing plans and approaches for ensuring better attainment in literacy and numeracy
- Teachers better using assessment results to plan how they meet the needs of pupils, particularly those needing more challenge.
Conversation