Inspectors praise improvements at Forres school

INSPECTORS have praised the improvements made at a Forres primary school.

Following an inspection of Applegrove Primary School in June 2017, inspectors made several recommendations and carried out a follow-up visit recently.

At the most recent visit, inspectors noted that the school has made progress since the original inspection.

In a follow-up letter, which is being issued to parents today, Education Scotland noted: “The environment and climate for learning across almost all classes is positive and respectful, with most children appropriately motivated and eager to learn.

“Staff are working well together to support learners, enhance practice and extend their own professional learning. Teachers across the school work well together to plan learning, teaching and assessment.

“The headteacher and leadership team have worked well with the local authority to establish a more rigorous and regular approach to evaluating the work of the school.

“Staff are embracing leadership opportunities to help improve the school further. Staff working groups have led improvements to planning for progression in literacy, numeracy and technologies. They now have more say and are more involved in improving the school.”

Chair of Moray Council’s Children and Young People’s Services Committee, Cllr Sonya Warren, praised the Applegrove staff.

“I’m pleased to see that inspectors have recognised the hard work the Applegrove Primary School and education staff have put in to implement the recommendations by Education Scotland. We’ll continue to support the school to make further improvements that benefit the pupils, staff and school community.”