SALEN Primary School has made “insufficient progress” since HM Inspectors of Education Scotland’s visit last year, the governing body has said.
Inspectors initially visited the Mull school in June 2025, setting out a number of areas for improvement which were agreed with the school and Argyll and Bute Council.
But a report from a follow-up visit has said that there has been limited or insufficient progress in some of those areas, including improving the standards of learning, teaching and assessment across the school.
However, the report recognised “a promising start” to raising attainment in literacy and numeracy. Inspectors will now liaise with the council regarding the school’s capacity to improve, and will return to the school again within a year.
A report published by inspectors said: “The head teacher and staff require more time and further support from the local authority to develop clear processes to support the identification, delivery, and review of improvement priorities in the school.
“Staff in the Gàidhlig Medium sgoil-àraich and the English Medium Early Learning and Childcare setting are beginning to use national guidance to improve children’s experiences. They should continue to use Gàidhlig specific guidance and resources to support their self-evaluation activities.
“Staff in the school have worked effectively with children to review and streamline the school’s vision and values. They consulted well with parents to ensure that these are relevant and reflect better the school’s unique Gàidhlig context.
“Staff now need to work together to ensure that the vision and values underpin, and are reflected in, all aspects of school life. The head teacher should now work with staff and the wider school community to develop further the school’s aims to ensure that they fully embody the aspirations of the whole school community.”
The document added: “Almost all children continue to engage well in their learning. However, in the majority of lessons, the pace of learning is still too slow. This can lead to children becoming disengaged.
“The headteacher and teachers have started to develop useful guidance to support high-quality learning, teaching, and assessment since the original inspection. They have engaged collaboratively in professional learning relating to the key features of effective learning and teaching.
“This has had little impact of the quality of learning and teaching across the school. With the further support of the local authority, the head teacher now needs to work at pace to improve teachers’ understanding of high-quality learning, teaching, and assessment.
“She needs to ensure a clear, consistent narrative that assists staff to understand the standards expected of them.”
On raising attainment in literacy and numeracy, the report also said: “There has been a promising start to addressing this area for improvement. Whilst overall reported attainment has raised across the school, teachers still need to develop better their understanding of national standards.
“Across the school, the majority of children continue to make satisfactory progress in literacy and numeracy. Most children requiring additional support with their learning continue to make satisfactory progress towards their individual targets.”
It concluded: “The school has made insufficient progress since the original inspection. We will liaise with Argyll and Bute Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve.
“We will return to carry out a further inspection of the school within one year of the publication of this letter. We will discuss with Argyll and Bute Council the details of this inspection.”
