IMPROVEMENTS have been made at a Clacks primary school after a follow-up visit by Education Scotland.

Inspectors visited Alva Primary School and Early Learning Centre to see if work had been done on a number of recommendations made in an early inspection in March 2023.

Among the recommendations made, inspectors had called for Alva to improve the strategic leadership and pace of change across the school, which has been met with the appointment of a new headteacher.

The report stated: “The new headteacher is highly regarded by staff, children, parents and partners.

“She has worked tirelessly and has been instrumental in leading change and improvement, ably supported by the depute headteacher.

“Staff created a school improvement plan which addresses the areas for improvement identified in the original inspection.

“As a result, children’s levels of engagement, achievement, attendance and attainment are improving.

“Across the school, staff now feel more valued and that their views are listened to. Staff within the school, the Ochil class (ASD provision) and ELC  now meet together to review the work of the school.”

Work at the school was also hailed with the announcement that they have received both a Language Communication Friendly School Award and a Sports Scotland Gold Award.

In the nursery, recent improvements have been made to the learning environment, with senior leaders and practitioners urged to ensure the changes lead to high quality learning experiences for children.

The report continued: “Practitioners should continue to review the experiences they provide to ensure children are challenged appropriately through their play.

“Practitioners should now develop partnerships with colleagues and settings beyond the ELC. This should help practitioners to develop further their understanding of planning high-quality learning experiences for children.”

Improvements to ways that positive behaviour is supported and rewarded in the school has also been positively received.

The report explains that children now enjoy receiving house points and awards for good behaviour, with the school values promoted at assemblies and during teaching times.

Children are also given the opportunity to take on the role of a playground rep during playtime, supporting their peers to play with others.

Alva PS and ELC have been given suggestions to “continue to develop approaches to teaching, learning and assessment to increase the pace of learning and raise attainment for all children”.

The report said: “Teachers at the primary school have made a number of important improvements to their approaches to teaching, learning and assessment.

“The school has made good progress since the original inspection.

“We are confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection.”

Councillor Graham Lindsay, education spokesperson, said: “The staff team, school community and education officers have worked hard to ensure that positive progress has been made.

“I am pleased to see that inspectors have recognised the impact of everyone’s hard work and commitment.”

The full report can be found on the Education Scotland website.