Councillors have joined parents in praise of staff at Uphall Primary and Nursery and gave the headteacher top marks for “re-energising” the school.
Education Scotland’s Inspectors visited the schools in October, three years after a report detailed areas where the school needed to improve.
The report from HMI said: “The school has made significant progress addressing recommendations and responding to the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.”
There was praise for headteacher Julie Bruce’s stewardship. “The calm and effective leadership provided by the headteacher ensured children, families and staff were well supported.”
Details of the report went before West Lothian Council’s Education Quality Assurance Committee. The report added that the “staff team demonstrated a real commitment to ensuring positive outcomes for all children.”
The report added: “The headteacher has re-energised the school. Children and staff confidently shared their successes, the challenges they have faced and steps they have taken to support recovery and renewal. Children spoke proudly of each other and staff.
“All staff, led by the headteacher, have made significant progress in addressing
school improvement in a number of important ways.”
It added: “Local authority and school recovery plans have a strong focus on recovery and improvement. Health and well-being is central to these plans and there are signs of the positive impact this is having across the school. Staff have created individual well-being and learning supports to meet the needs of all children.
“The school continues to strengthen its relationships with children and their families through regular communication.”
Mrs Bruce told the committee: “As headteacher I was pleased and immensely proud that our hard work was so positively recognised by the inspection team. In particular how the strength of our whole school community were highlighted.”
She added: “With relationships at the heart of everything that I do and central to our school vision my leadership style seems to be working well to support the school community and lead change.”
This strategic leadership approach had created “strong collaboration among all staff across the school and was contributing to positive outcomes from all learners,” the headteacher added.
“I’m very proud of the progress we have made since. We continue to focus relentlessly on improving outcomes for learners at Uphall.”
Uphall Primary School and Nursery serves the villages of Uphall and Ecclesmachan, set within the Broxburn Cluster. The school has 11 classes with 3 composite classes at P2/1, P3/2, P5/4. There is also a small group setting provision for identified pupils with additional support needs. Mrs Bruce was appointed in November 2020.
In 2019 HMI had recommended better direction in classrooms for the school, as well as improvements to learning and better planning.
Local councillor Chris Horne congratulated Mrs Bruce on the report, adding: “I’ve certainly been hearing good reports in the community.”
He praised the “really robust foundation” installed in the school in the last three years and said he looked forward to continuing improvements.
Mrs Bruce said the school was continuing to develop its transition work within the local high school cluster and within the school itself as the children moved through from nursery and onto high school.
Chairing the committee, Councillor Stuart Borrowman said: “This is a really happy story. This appears to be all going in the right direction. Really well done, I’m really pleased to hear that report.”
The report concluded: “Inspectors are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection.”
Don't miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here
