Dundee City Council has been accused of failing children after inspectors branded teaching at a city primary school as “weak”.
A team of inspectors from Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate visited Rowantree Primary School in Birks Terrace in April.
They found learning, teaching and assessment in primary classes was “weak”.
Education Scotland also said work to raise attainment and achievement in primary classes was “unsatisfactory” as were efforts to ensure “wellbeing, equality and inclusion”
Half the 18 teachers who responded to a survey about the school said they did not feel “adequately” supported to undertake their role.
More than a quarter of respondents (28%) said they did not believe the school deals adequately with bullying.
Rowantree has more than 200 pupils and 21 teachers.
The inspection team said the school must provide strong and sustained leadership to raise standards at the school.
These include improving approaches to assessment and to put clear processes in place to track and review children’s progress in learning.
The school has also been told it needs to “considerably improve” how it identifies and meets the learning needs of individual training.
However, the report states there have been “recent improvements to culture across the school and that staff are committed to help the school improve.
It also noted the “enthusiasm and eagerness” of pupils. The nursery class was judged “satisfactory” in all areas.
Labour group leader Kevin Keenan called it: “An extremely poor report that shows Dundee City Council education department has let this school down.
“There needs to be a robust action plan put in place to address this report and get the school on a sound footing. The administration had clearly been aware of this for some time and have taken their own action by way of replacing the education convener which is just the first step.
“There are a number of questions which need to be asked about recruitment and retention of staff as I know there have been problems in the past with this.
“Another question which needs answered is how effective is the education department’s quality assurance team.
“If the same things were not picked up by our own quality team as was picked up by Education Scotland, it would suggest to me that our quality assurance team is totally ineffective and we need to start rethinking how we assess our own schools.
“No doubt the administration’s budget cuts will have had its negative effects, however we cannot continue to let children down.”
Councillor Georgia Cruickshank, spokesperson for children and families services said: “These are shocking findings and fall a million miles short of getting it right for every child (GIRFEC). Not only has the education department let our children down, they have also let our teaching staff down badly.
“The administration has allowed standards to slip through cuts to Support for Learning Staff and Early Years Practitioners going forward.
“I am seeking an early meeting with the Executive Director of Children and Families Services to seek assurances that there is an action plan in place with the appropriate resources to support the staff and pupils to make the necessary improvements.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “The school and the Children and Families Service will be taking forward the recommendations contained in the report.
“The new school leadership team will take forward the report recommendations with the support of the whole school community of Rowantree Primary School.
“In the nursery class the nurturing ethos and culture acknowledged by the inspection team will support the improvement work for the school’s youngest children.”
