A school in Shetland has been granted more time to improve on recommendations given following an inspection in 2019.
Sandwick Junior High School was the subject of an inspection in September 2019.
It was graded “weak” in a number of areas by the Education Scotland board and “satisfactory” in others.
The school was issued with a number of recommendations to improve its service before inspectors returned nine months later.
Their return was delayed due to the pandemic, but when inspectors visited the school last week they found more time was needed for changes to be made.
The school now has until January 2023 to improve before inspectors return again.
What did the report say?
In the 2019 report, leadership of change, learning, teaching and assessment and raising attainment and achievement were all graded as “weak”.
It said the school needed to “improve the structure of the curriculum” as a “matter of priority” and that “approaches to learning, teaching and assessment need to be improved across the school.”
The report also said staff needed to work together to understand key improvement priorities and the school “needs to improve its approaches for checking the progress of children.”
However, it did also note that Sandwick Junior High School “has experienced considerable challenge recently in relation to changes in staffing and recruitment difficulties.”
‘Every step will be taken’
Davie Sandison, chairman of the education and families committee at Shetland Islands Council wanted to assure the community that work would be done at the school.
He said: “The inspection team have concluded that the school needs more time to take forward the four recommendations from the 2019 inspection, which related to strategic leadership, the curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment, and approaches to checking the progress of children.
“As chairman of the education and families committee I am going to work closely with the director of children’s services, her team and the staff in the school to ensure these recommendations are comprehensively achieved by January 2023 when the Education Scotland team will return.
“I wish to reassure the community that every step will be taken to ensure this school meets the same high standards as those applicable to all schools in Shetland.”
You can read the full 2019 report here, last week’s follow up report is due to be published in August.
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