Top marks for school after inspectors visit
Staff and pupils at Orchard Primary in Overtown have been given a massive thumbsup by school inspectors.
The school, which opened its doors in August 2016 following the merger of Castlehill and Overtown Primaries, was visited by HM Inspectors in the last school year.
And the inspectors’ findings rated the school as either good or very good in all eight categories.
Orchard Primary head teacher Jill Woodward said: “Our HMI completely endorses our self-evaluation of the school.
“It recognises the hard work of the children, staff team, parents and our wider partnerships within the community and beyond.
“Since the school opened we have worked to ensure that Orchard Primary, Nursery and Language and Communication Support Centre (LCSC) is a safe and inclusive environment for learning and development.
“The report celebrates the success of the partnerships we have developed at Orchard Primary and how we effectively use evaluation to continue our improvement and meet the children’s needs.”
In her report, HM inspector Dennise Sommerville found the key strengths of the school were the “strong, strategic leadership” of the headteacher, polite and wellbehaved children and staff who worked well as a team to create a caring ethos across the school community.
The inspector noted that staff should continue to provide more opportunities for children to lead their own learning and raise expectations and aspirations to improve children’s attainment further.
However, despite noting areas for improvement, inspectors were satisfied the school had the capacity to keep improving and would not be making any follow-up visits.
The school’s deputy head Helen Mackenzie added: “We are very proud of what has been achieved since we opened in August 2016.
“We are a very strong team and this report has validated and recognised our successes.
“Our strong partnerships and inclusive approaches were identified as very good.
“We are well placed to continue our journey into excellence as our leadership of change was a key strength within the school.”