Angry parents claim their children are being failed after damning inspection report for Badenoch primary school
Education inspectors’ findings at a Badenoch primary school have been described as ‘shocking’ with parents saying their children are being failed.
They have claimed Highland Council has neglected the facility in Newtonmore for too long despite raising concerns with the local authority and councillors over the past two years.
Education Scotland has just published its report into the primary school and nursery class which comprises six ‘unsatisfactory’ grades - the lowest rating - and the two other assessments being deemed as ‘weak’.
HM Inspector Katharine Crombie states: “As a result of our inspection findings we think that the school needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements.
“We will liaise with the Highland Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve.”
“Inspectors will return to carry out a further inspection within six months’ time.
But the school’s parent council has pointed out that the facility was already receiving extra support from the local education authority six months before the inspectors’ visit and there has been little sign of improvement.
The school roll was 107 children when the inspectors visitors.
There is teaching in English with 38 per cent of children in Gàidhlig Medium Education at the school known as Bun-sgoil Bhail’ Ùr an t-Sleibh in Gaelic.
There are 56 per cent of children who require additional support with their learning or wellbeing.
Some of the problems appear to stem from June 2024 when the headteacher and principal teacher left the school although parents’ concerns go back beyond that time.
Inspectors said since then there has been ‘significant instability in leadership’.
The subsequently appointed headteacher was in post between August and October 2024 and since then there have been two acting headteacher was in posts for just four weeks apiece and since January 2025, a local authority officer has served as the acting headteacher.
The Gàidhlig Medium Education classes has also been blighted by a lack of staffing in the past few years.
The school’s parent council office bearers have demanded an immediate meeting with Highland Council officials to thrash out the problems and get the school back on the right course.
They told the Strathy in a joint statement they are are ‘deeply saddened’ by the findings.
They stated: “The inspection results are shocking, and we are angered by the extent to which the children of Newtonmore have been failed.
“The areas identified for improvement validate concerns that parents have repeatedly raised - both individually and collectively - with the Highland Council and local representatives over the past two years.
“The educational attainment of our children is being jeopardised and, on the current trajectory, many risk failing to reach their full potential.
“The inspection clearly shows that Highland Council policies, approaches and resources to meet their duty to deliver quality education in Newtonmore have not been effective given that the inspection took place six months after additional support and measures were put in place in response to our concerns.
“We know, from reviewing inspections conducted across Scotland since May 2022, that of 498 schools, only one school received an unsatisfactory quality indicator, and the majority of schools have received ratings of satisfactory or above across the quality indicators.
“In this context, the inspection findings for Newtonmore reflect how significantly the council has failed our children, making it clear that the local authority has been neglecting and failing to support the school for too long.”
The parents are calling on the local authority and elected representatives to immediately meet with parents to share their improvement action plan and set out:
· the specific changes that will take place to address the urgent actions outlined by the inspectors.
· What improvements will be seen within the next six months, and how improvements will be measured.
· How, in the absence of a permanent headteacher, the council will ensure continuous improvement and that an improved quality of learning is sustained.
· How the council will improve support for children with additional support needs.
The school’s parent council added: “The school is a central part of the Newtonmore community, and as a provider of Gàidhlig and English education, is vital to the Badenoch and Highland region.
“There are no other local providers of Gaelic medium education, and Newtonmore is the last remaining provider of English medium education in the Highlands south of Kingussie.
“It has community support and an active parent body that has worked constructively to support school staff.
“It has been, and can again be, a great school.”
The ratings given by eduation inspectors were as follows:
Newtonmore Primary School:
Leadership of change: unsatisfactory.
Learning, teaching and assessment: weak.
Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion: unsatisfactory.
Raising attainment and achievement: unsatisfactory.
Newtonnmore nursery class:
Leadership of change: unsatisfactory.
Learning, teaching and assessment: unsatisfactory.
Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion: weak.
Securing children’s progress: unsatisfactory.
There were some key strenghs identified at the school but there were heavily outweighed by areas in need of big improvements.
The overview of the inspection stated: “In the nursery, children are settled and happy as they play and learn.
“Children in the school are well-mannered and keen to learn. Across the school and nursery, children are respectful and welcome visitors warmly to their school.
“Younger children in learning through the medium of Gàidhlig – Gaelic in the school are developing their skills in literacy and Gàidhlig well through immersion approaches such as singing and interacting with others in Gàidhlig.”
However, inspectors foudn that the local authority needs to take urgent action to improve the leadership and staffing of the school and nursery, through the medium of Gàidhlig and English.
All staff, supported by the local authority, need to develop thorough approaches to evaluate, improve, monitor and track the work of the school.
Local authority officers need to support staff to lead and take forward areas for improvement.
The local authority needs to take urgent action to re-instate the sgoil-àraich and progressive total immersion for children learning in the medium of Gàidhlig.
Across the school and nursery, the local authority needs to support staff to improve the quality of learning, teaching and assessment in Gàidhlig and English medium.
With support from the council, the staff must improve approaches to planning and supporting children who require additional support through the medium of Gàidhlig and English.
This includes those children with reduced attendance in the school and nursery.
They must ensure that children’s needs are identified clearly and planned for effectively. In addition, children’s progress should be monitored closely, tracked appropriately and evaluated regularly.
Senior leaders must ensure that all approaches result in improved progress for children who require additional support.
The local authority needs to support staff in the school to improve approaches to ensuring equity for all children learning through the medium of Gàidhlig and English.
They must plan carefully for and use additional funding appropriately to close gaps in children’s learning and improve the progress of all children.
Findings on the quality of education… many children say their learning is too easy
The inspectors stated: “Across the school, almost all children are polite, friendly and well behaved. There are positive relationships between almost all children and staff.
“A few children require one-to-one adult support to regulate their behaviour. At times, a few children find it upsetting when others display dysregulated behaviour.
“As a result, they become anxious and display dysregulated behaviour also.
“Most children demonstrate well ‘more kindness’ in their interactions with each other. Children and staff work together well to create class charters to support positive relationships and better behaviour…
The report goes on to say: “Across the school, the majority of children are eager to learn. They carry out predominantly textbook and worksheet tasks well.
“In most lessons, teachers plan activities which are task based and do not meet the needs of all children. Children learn in too many whole class lessons which do not take enough account of the learning needs of individuals and groups.
“Local authority officers need to support all staff to develop a shared understanding of what high-quality learning and teaching looks like. They should work with teachers to ensure prompt action to plan and deliver learning that is stimulating, engaging and focussed on meeting the needs of every learner.
“All teachers need to ensure that all lessons provide the correct balance of support and challenge. A significant minority of children report that learning is too easy.
“In most lessons, the pace of learning is too slow. As a result, most children are passive in their learning and are overly reliant upon teacher direction.
“Local authority officers need to support teachers to plan learning experiences which support children to work collaboratively and take increasing responsibility for their own learning.”
The full inspection report can be read by clicking here.
