Positive relationships praised at Riverside

A Livingston primary school and nursery class has been praised for the care and support it provides local children and their families

Riverside Primary School and Nursery Class was assessed by inspectors from Education Scotland earlier this year, who evaluated the primary school as satisfactory and the nursery class as good in four key areas.

As well as singling out the relationships across the school community, inspectors also reported a number of key strengths including: friendly children are proud of their school; staff working well as a team; the high-quality nursery environment; and children's improved interest and progress in reading.

They also singled out a number of areas for improvement, which included: reviewing whole school self-evaluation processes; improving strategic leadership, learning, teaching and assessment; and continuing to raise attainment and achievement for all children.

Riverside has a school roll of 234 pupils and serves the Craigshill area of the town, and the catchment area is ranked number 1 out of 67 schools in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) scale.

Riverside headteacher Fiona MacPhail said: "Thanks to everyone from the school community who took part in this Education Scotland inspection.

"It's fantastic to see inspectors recognise our positive relationships with our school families as among the key strengths in their report.

"We recognise the need to continue to make improvements at Riverside, and will use this report to help focus our efforts to further help our pupils to achieve their full potential."

Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: "We share the confidence of Education Scotland inspectors that Riverside has the capacity to continue to improve.

"I know the dedicated staff team at Riverside, supported by the Quality Improvement Team, will build on the strengths of the school to ensure the areas identified for improvement are achieved at pace."