St Ignatius’ Primary School praised following glowing inspection

The caring learning environment created at St Ignatius’ Primary School and Nursery Class has been praised by Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate, highlighting that, “Staff are successfully closing the poverty-related attainment gap.”

The inspection team visited St Ignatius’ Primary School in January this year and worked closely with the teaching staff, parents, caregivers, and children during their visit, noting that,” Across the school, children benefit from the positive culture of ambition and ‘can do’ approach that is promoted and nurtured by senior leaders and all staff.”

The report highlighted a series of key strengths. These included:

• A culture of mutual respect and trust among staff, children, and families fosters a nurturing environment where all can thrive.
• The senior leadership team together with staff ensure consistently high-quality approaches across the school, have a clear focus on raising attainment and strive to achieve equity and inclusion for all.
• Senior leaders have devised an innovative digital programme to analyse the wide range of information about the progress of children, helping staff to ensure the specific needs of all children are met very effectively.
• The headteacher and promoted staff have established a clear and effective strategy for raising attainment and staff clearly demonstrate the positive impact of intervention strategies.
• There is an improving trend in attainment for both literacy and numeracy across the school.
• There is strong evidence of the impact of the school’s work in promoting the wellbeing of children and families and in securing the best outcomes for all. They frequently go the ‘extra mile’ to provide practical advice and support for families, to ensure that no child misses out.
• Staff are successfully closing the poverty-related attainment gap. This is based on the clear vision and direction of senior leaders, and the collective efforts of the staff team and valued partners.
• The school demonstrates excellence in teaching and learning, with well-planned and engaging lessons tailored to individual needs.
• Successful relationships with parents, the community, and other professionals enriches the learning experience and contributes to the school's caring ethos.
• Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) is used very carefully to plan the interventions and targeted support necessary to successfully close gaps. This is making a difference for children and families.

Head Teacher of St Ignatius’ Primary School, Mrs Anne Marie Pearson, expressed her joy at the positive report, saying, "We are extremely proud of the outstanding feedback received from the inspection team. I am delighted that it recognises the dedication, enthusiasm, care, and hard work of our whole staff team and highlights the support we receive from of our wider school community and Parish who come together to provide the best possible outcomes for our children and their families. We’d like to thank the inspection team for their feedback. As a team, we will build upon this exceptional feedback and continue to improve St Ignatius’ Primary School for all of our pupils."

Parent Council Chair, Lynsay Mackey, expressed her delight, saying, “We’re bursting with pride that the inspectors have beautifully captured the ethos and essence of the school in this exceptional report. It highlights the outstanding performance and tireless efforts of the senior leadership, teachers, and all staff who go above and beyond to create a nurturing environment that allows all children to thrive, learn, and grow, while attaining true equity and inclusion. The recognition is well deserved and the whole school community is extremely proud.”

Michael McBride, Convener of Education, Children and Families added: "This is a very positive report and one all the staff and wider school community at St Ignatius’ can be very pleased with.

“We continually strive to improve standards to ensure every child receives all the support they need to allow them to flourish and reach their potential. We note all the findings from the inspection report and will look to improve upon the areas highlighted and to share the examples of best practice across our other schools.”

For more information, visit: Education Scotland’s website.