Glasgow school's glowing report is 'public celebration'

Alison McGill, who is headteacher at Saracen Primary in Possilpark, explained: “It is widely reported that Possilpark is an area hugely impacted by poverty.

“What is not so widely reported is the excellent work that goes on in our schools here. I feel the community deserve for this report to be a public celebration because a grade of ‘very good’ for learning and teaching is really outstanding.”

She added: “All visitors to the school remark upon the same thing: Saracen Primary is a very special place, where the learning environment is calm and purposeful.”

The Education Scotland team highlighted a number of key strengths in its report, including the headteacher’s very strong leadership, the “positive and calm” school culture and the high quality of teaching.

The report added: “Senior leaders and teachers monitor children’s progress in learning very effectively. They demonstrate clearly the positive difference their support makes to children and their families.”

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Alison said: “Inspiring our children to positively influence the future is our bold mission statement.

“We have high aspirations for our children and we know that the highest standards of learning and teaching will lead to doors being opened for them, resulting in positive destinations for them and their families.

“Every staff member has a strong awareness of the socio-economic context here, so we are pleased that inspectors highlighted ‘equity as the enabler'.”

To celebrate, the school organised a summer fun day for the pupils, with games, obstacle courses and ice cream.

“What jumps out from the report is that the key is teamwork,” added Alison. “It takes the focus of every adult, every child, every day.

“We work as a team to find and address barriers to learning, whatever they may be, giving our children every chance to succeed.”

Councillor Christina Cannon, education convenor at Glasgow City Council, said: “Saracen Primary’s inspection report is full of praise for the strong leadership of the headteacher and a positive and calm school culture which results in a high-quality learning environment.”

The report noted two areas of improvement, which were identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from Glasgow City Council. The school should, said inspectors, “continue to raise the attainment of all children in all curriculum areas” and “continue to develop approaches to play at the early stages".

The full report is available on the Education Scotland website.