Inspectors seek more improvement at St Peter’s Primary in Buckie

Inspectors have said a Moray primary school has made “insufficient progress” after a number of areas for improvement were identified.

Education Scotland returned to St Peter’s in Buckie, after concerns were raised in 2023, and found not enough had been done to tackle the issues highlighted.

It said leadership across the school needed to be stronger, and teaching should be more consistent.

Moray Council’s head of education, Vivienne Cross, said: “The authority is working closely with the school to strengthen leadership and raise attainment and make sure every child has the best possible learning experience.”

Inspectors said overall progress had been limited after their recent visit.

They said teachers were using assessments better but needed to make sure this was used consistently to plan lessons.

It said they also needed to make sure pupils in mixed-age classes received learning at the right level.

They found that Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) had not yet had much impact on closing the gap between pupils from different backgrounds and pointed out that frequent changes in leadership had slowed progress.

St Peter’s acting head teacher, Lesley Maclennan, said: “We’re working on the areas highlighted by inspectors and building on the positive steps we’ve taken so far.

“Together we’re focused on strengthening learning, raising attainment and making sure every child at St Peter’s gets the best possible support to succeed.”

Education Scotland said it would liaise with Moray Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve, and would carry out a further inspection at a later date.