Top marks for Bonar Bridge primary
BONAR Bridge primary school has been awarded high marks by Education Scotland.
The 53-pupil, five-teacher school, which has a Gaelic medium unit, has emerged with flying colours from an inspection earlier this year.
A report by inspector Joan Esson has just been published and states that the children at the school are happy and confident and are learning and achieving well.
Ms Esson found that pupils, both at primary and nursery level, were reaching national standards in the important cores subjects of literacy, English, numeracy and mathematics.
Her report states: "By the end of primary seven, almost all (pupils) are exceeding expected levels in literacy and English... by primary seven, almost all children have strong skills in reading and writing."
The youngsters in the Gaelic Medium class were found to be making good progress in the language.
Ms Esson singled out for praise the school’s environmental ethos and its achievement in gaining two Eco-Schools Scotland green flags and also a soil award for its vegetable garden from local group Greening Kyle.
She also commended the links it had formed with outside organisations such as East Sutherland Sports Association, which offered children a varied programme of sports, and Feis Rois which promotes Gaelic music and culture.
Education Scotland’s inspection system awards quality ratings ranging from the top "very good" grade to good, weak and unsatisfactory.
Ms Esson awarded the primary school a quality rating of "good" in four areas – meeting learning needs; improvements in performance; learners’ experiences and improvement through self-evaluation.
She judged the school’s curriculum to be "satisfactory".
The nursery class was deemed to be "very good" in the quality of its care and support; the quality of its environment; and the children’s experiences.
The nursery class was awarded a "good" grade for the quality of its staffing; management and leadership; improvements in performance and the way it meets learning needs.
The tiny north west Sutherland primary school at Scourie, which received a disappointing report two years ago, has improved to the extent it no longer needs to be closely monitored by Education Scotland.
Pupils at Scourie Primary School, which has a roll of 17, were found during an inspection in January 2014 not to be making enough progress in literacy, English, numeracy and maths.
A programme of improvements was put in place by Education Scotland and Highland Council and inspectors made a
follow-up visit to the school in August last year.
However, although it was judged the school had improved significantly and had effective leadership, inspectors deemed that not all children were achieving as well as they should have been for their age and stage.
But Education Scotland has now announced that it is confident the school has the capacity to continue to improve. A statement issued said: "Since August 2015, Education Scotland has continued to engage with the school and with Highland Council to monitor progress with the points
for action agreed at the time of the inspection.
"In May, Highland Council provided a detailed progress report which outlined the improvements the school had made since the inspection.
"Taking account of the progress report, we are now confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve.
"We shall make no further visits to the school in connection with the 2014 or 2015 inspections. As part of its arrangements for reporting to parents on the quality of education, Highland Council will inform parents about the school’s progress."
