'Superb report': Joy for East Kilbride school after inspection visit

A YOUNG football superfan celebrating Scotland's men's team getting to the Euros had even more reasons to cheer this week.

His school scored too, after inspectors delivered a “superb report” following a recent visit.

Three-year-old Caiden Kondol, who is in the nursery class at Canberra Primary, was jumping for joy along with fellow pupils, teachers and parents at the East Kilbride school.

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

Head Teacher Angela Heasman, pictured with nursery team leader Julie McNulty and principal teacher Lynsay Gourlay, said: " I am so proud of our school community who have worked tirelessly to ensure our school is the best that it can be, providing our children with high quality learning experiences and opportunities to shine.

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

“The superb report we received from Education Scotland is testament to the creativity and innovation of staff, the can-do attitude of our children and the support of our families.”

Key strengths highlighted by inspectors included the children’s "very good progress" in reading, helped by the addition of a fantastic new library at the school, and a popular reading buddies scheme.

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

The inspectors said: “Children are rightly proud of the newly-created library facility within the school, developed through their active engagement in the participatory budget process.

“This has resulted in large scale change and improvements for all children and staff in the school. Children are developing an increased sense of enjoyment and interest in reading as a result of this, and the successful reading buddies programme.”

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

Pupils Matthew, Max and Conner, Sophie and Zara, and Jessica and Saranya (pictured), are huge fans of the new library.

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

The school also enjoyed recent success in the Roads to the Future sustainability awards. Canberra Primary made it to the final for the second year in a row, with judges impressed by their model of a sustainable road, and they received the "best teamwork" prize.

(Image: South Lanarkshire Council)

In their report, the Education Scotland team highlighted the “strong, authentic leadership of the headteacher” and added “her highly inclusive approach …has created a culture of respect and belonging for all.”

The inspectors also praised the school’s “calm, purposeful learning environment … in which children are eager to learn” and added: “In the nursery, children are motivated and engage very well with the range of natural and open-ended resources which support their creativity and curiosity very well.”

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The report added: “The wellbeing of children sits at the centre of the work of the school and nursery.

“The headteacher empowers staff and children to lead change....there is a strong sense of wanting to improve together.”

The inspectors noted that “children’s attainment in literacy and numeracy is very good" and added: "Children, supported by the reading buddies initiative, make very good progress in reading.”

Areas for improvement identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from South Lanarkshire Council suggested the school should “develop further staff’s understanding of high-quality learning, teaching and assessment” and across the school and nursery, staff should “refine approaches to checking children’s progress, including in curriculum areas other than literacy and numeracy.”

The full report is available on the Education Scotland website.