An angry parent has hit out at claims that standards at Blair Atholl Primary School are slipping.
Catherine Sutherland contacted The Courier in a bid to defend the reputation of the school, after it was criticised by a fellow local resident.
Following a recent HMIe inspection, which saw the primary being rated “satisfactory” in five out of eight categories, Brian Farron had expressed his concern over these results.
He said, “I find it strange that, with the exception of the nursery, the school appears to have achieved a less favourable evaluation than in its last HMIE inspection in 2002, yet no follow-up report has been commissioned, as was the case last time.
“After all of these years of ‘improvements’ I would be expecting the evaluations given in the latest HMIE report to have reached more than the dizzy heights of ‘satisfactory’.”
However, Mrs Sutherland claimed the latest report, while not an improvement on the one completed in 2002, was certainly no worse as it also included three positive marks.
Using the quality indicators of the time, the previous inspection noted that a total of 10 different aspects were either “fair” or “unsatisfactory”, while another 13 were deemed “good” or “very good”.
Since then, the inspection system has altered and schools are now marked on five separate categories and eight if there is a nursery attached.
Although Blair Atholl was seen to be “satisfactory” in many of these, Mrs Sutherland told The Courier this was mainly down to changes still being implemented.’Change can be scary’She said, “We have a new headteacher who has inherited the school from a long-standing predecessor, as well as a new Curriculum for Excellence.
“This has all resulted in lots of change and change can be scary, but it takes time to happen and hopefully, with support, it will happen.
“As a parent, I do know that ‘satisfactory’ is not acceptable but, in light of all the changes, we are hoping we can have an improvement and will get support from Perth and Kinross Council, as well as support from parents.”
Defending the current leadership, Mrs Sutherland also highlighted the recent results of an inspection at Logierait Primary School, which has joint headship with Blair Atholl.
Both reports had similar findings, stating that the headteacher was “very committed” to the respective schools and had identified areas for improvements.
As a result, inspectors have indicated that they will not be making follow up visits to either school.
“HMIe obviously feel confident enough that we can do this because they are not coming back,” added Mrs Sutherland. “They are confident that these changes can be made and we will prove that we can do it.”