School is praised for positive relationships

A team of inspectors has praised a North Ayrshire school for creating positive relationships, having strong leadership and empowering pupils.

The glowing report on St Peter's Primary School, in South Isle Road, Ardrossan, comes following an inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in Scotland in May.

Inspectors spoke with parents, carers and children and worked closely with Headteacher Susanne Dunne and her staff.

They found strengths, including:

• positive, caring, nurturing relationships among staff, children and the wider community
• staff know the children and their families very well
• children learn in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, making them happy, confident and eager to learn
• Mrs Dunne and her team offer effective leadership and staff have high expectations of children’s behaviour and achievement levels – wanting the best for every child and
• senior leaders manage the pace of change well and promote leadership across the school effectively, and as a result of this staff and children feel empowered and motivated to lead change and improvement.

It was also noted that staff throughout the school use a wide range of effective supports and interventions to meet all children’s needs very effectively, and almost every child who needs extra support makes strong progress in their learning.

The inspectors found that staff value the views of all children and provide them with a wide range of opportunities to influence and lead change. This supports the children to contribute effectively to the life and the work of the school and develop a wide range of skills.

Mrs Dunne said: “Our school vision is that St Peter’s is a safe, loving and ambitious place of learning. And the staff and I feel that we are creating an environment where children feel nurtured and are given every opportunity to thrive.

“We are pleased that the HMIE team acknowledged the strong relationships between staff, pupils and our community and also found the children to be happy and comfortable when it comes to change.

“While I recognise that we are making good progress, my aim is to continue on this positive journey to make our children's learning experiences even better.

“I would like to thank my leadership team, the wider school staff, pupils, the local church community and parents for helping to create an environment where every pupil knows they have a voice and are heard.”

Three areas for improvement that were identified and discussed with Mrs Dunne and a Council representative were:

• that staff should continue to work together to improve further the quality of learning and teaching – and ensure that lessons are well paced and planned at the right level of challenge
• staff should continue to raise children’s attainment in literacy and numeracy and
• senior leaders should continue to extend opportunities for children, staff and parents to plan, lead and review aspects of school improvement.

The four quality indicators used by inspectors are: leadership of change; learning, teaching and assessment; ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion and raising attainment and achievement. St Peter’s scored “very good” in ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion and was found to be “good” in the other three categories.

Inspectors say they are “confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve”, meaning no further visits are required and the Council will inform parents and carers about future progress.

Wellbeing is one of the Council’s strategic priorities, and the work that is being done in schools shows how that commitment is being put into practice by helping children flourish.

Published: 08 September 2026