West Lothian primary school gets gold star in report

Pupils and staff at Eastertoun Primary School and Nursery in Armadale are celebrating a very positive report from Education Scotland inspectors.

Both the school and nursery were assessed as ‘Very Good’ across all four of Education Scotland’s quality indicators.

The watchdog spent time visited in April 2024 talking to parents/carers and children, and worked closely with head teacher Lynn Dare, who said: “We are all really delighted with the extremely positive outcome of this inspection.

“The feedback reflects the amazing community we have at Eastertoun where our fantastic whole staff team, across both the nursery and school, provide high-quality learning and teaching opportunities for all our children, in our nurturing and caring environments.

“It was also brilliant to see our children highlighted so positively in the report. I was delighted that the inspectors saw what we see every day – that our youngest children in the nursery right up to our primary six and seven pupils, who are currently learning at Armadale Academy due to a school refurbishment, are kind, respectful, enthusiastic about learning and live by our school values.

“We will take learnings from this visit and look to apply it as we continue to further develop our practices at Eastertoun. I am so proud of our school, our children and my whole staff team.”

Key points included the school’s highly-effective head teacher, who is providing very strong leadership and direction. The head teacher is supported very well by the depute head and the newly-appointed principal teacher. Together they are ambitious for all children.

All staff work very well together. They engage effectively with professional learning and reflect on the impact of their practice. High-quality learning and teaching is leading to strong attainment in literacy and numeracy.

Inspectors observed children who are happy, enthusiastic, and confident. They enjoy learning in school and are achieving important skills for learning, life and work. They show respect, care, and kindness as they learn and play together. Children are very proud of their school.

The inspection also team found a welcoming, nurturing, and caring ethos which is underpinned by the school values. This is leading to positive relationships and a strong sense of community and is helping children to feel happy, secure and to flourish.

Meanwhile in the nursery, the inspection team found the children enjoy high-quality learning experiences, particularly when playing outdoors. They have fun and adventure when they are involved in exciting challenges where they can take risks under careful, adult supervision.

Children achieve a range of skills and progress very well in communication and language, mathematics and health and wellbeing and all staff are sensitive and intuitive.

They ensure that children are included and as a result, learners are developing a sound understanding of equality and fairness from an early age, staff know children and families well and they work hard together to provide a broad range of supports which have a positive impact on addressing barriers to children’s learning.

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