Dalwhinnie Primary School's Favourable HMIE Report
Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools have published a favourable report on Dalwhinnie Primary School. They noted the pride felt by pupils, staff and parents in a school which had created a “caring and stimulating environment for learning” with “a climate of mutual respect and trust where pupils and staff feel value”.
Inspectors praised the friendly, courteous pupils who were keen to learn, the high quality relationships between pupils and staff, the very positive partnerships with parents and the wider community, in addition to the well maintained building and bright classrooms. They concluded overall that the school provided a very high standard of education.
Other key strengths identified by the inspectors included the wide range of activities which encouraged pupils’ creativity, the very good quality of teaching and of pupils’ learning experiences.
The Head Teacher, Mrs Karen Craig, provided very good leadership with a clear vision for the school community and had achieved significant improvements to aspects of work, including reading, science and ICT.
Mrs Craig, cluster Head of both Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore schools, welcomed the report. She said: “I am delighted that this report recognises the dedicated and hard working team of staff who all make a valuable contribution to Dalwhinnie School along with the strong support and involvement of the parents and members of the community. Our pupils were seen to be polite and well behaved as well as being motivated and hard working. We may be a small school but the opportunities which the pupils access here are varied and stimulating. The cluster arrangement has brought about many enhanced opportunities for pupils’ learning.”
The nursery class was highlighted for the wide and interesting range of learning opportunities, developing observation skills in the outdoors as well as expressing ideas creatively using art and craft materials.
Chairperson of the School Council, Mrs Christine Crichton, welcomed the inspector’s praise for pupils, staff and the community. “Our children are very proud of their school and we recognise that the teachers set high standards for our children and encourage them to work to the best of their ability.”
The main points of action were;
• to improve pupils’ attainment in mental calculation and writing;
• improve approaches to monitoring and evaluating the work of the school.
The school and local authority will now prepare an action plan to improve provision even further and share progress with parents within two years.
The school has nine primary and nursery pupils.