Top marks for Our Lady of the Missions Primary School

Inspectors evaluated two areas of work within the Giffnock school during a two-day visit and were praised for their extremely high standards.

The quality of ‘raising attainment and achievement’ was evaluated as excellent and ‘learning, teaching and assessment’ at the school deemed to be very good.

In achieving the excellent for ‘raising attainment and achievement’, Our Lady of the Missions Primary is the only school in Scotland to have achieved the top evaluation for this category.

The particular strengths highlighted by the inspection team included highly articulate, confident and ambitious children, as well as effective leadership of all staff and their team work, which focuses on improving outcomes for children.

The extremely high levels of attainment in literacy, numeracy and science were also noted, as was the close cluster working and careful tracking of children’s progress.

Councillor Paul O’Kane, Convener for Education and Equalities at East Renfrewshire Council, was delighted to drop into the school on Wednesday (May 29) to congratulate the staff and pupils.

Councillor O’Kane said: “This is a fantastic report on Our Lady of the Missions Primary School and it is especially pleasing that the leadership of the head teacher and senior management team has been rightly recognised, as has the highly effective leadership of all staff and the very high levels of children’s attainment in literacy, numeracy and science.

“We continue to see excellent practice across all our schools, but for Our Lady of the Missions to receive such a glowing report, and to be the first school in Scotland to get an excellent for raising attainment is truly exceptional.

“Well done to all the pupils, staff, parents and wider school community for building such a strong sense of belonging which has been clearly recognised by the inspectors.”

In recognition of the outstanding report, the council’s Education Committee accredited the school for its achievements.

This means that the council will not carry out any formal quality assurance activities in Our Lady of the Missions Primary School for a period of three years.

Headteacher Catherine Dillon-Ruddy said: “We are delighted to have received such an exceptional report from Education Scotland, which reflects the hard work and dedication from everybody across the school community throughout the year.

“We are delighted that the council has recognised our achievement by accrediting the school.

“We will continue to work hard to ensure we deliver excellent experiences and outcomes for all our pupils, as they move through our school.” To view the full report, go to the Education Scotland website at www.education.gov.scot/inspection-reports/east-renfrewshire/8600325