PUPIL motivation and engagement in learning has increased at a Clacks primary school following a disappointing inspection in 2019.

Significant improvements have been noted at St Serf's PS and ELC by inspectors when they returned for a follow-up visit in November 2021.

The improvements will be shared with councillors of the People Committee tomorrow, Thursday January 27, following a debate over the inspection report at the time.

The school implemented an urgent plan of action after the February 2019 inspection, when it was rated "weak" in three areas.

While it was not all bad news, as the report also detailed a number of strengths, councillors were disappointed that the results did not meet "the high standards we expect from all our schools".

However, the recent follow-up report said: "The strategic leadership of the school has improved significantly since the original inspection.

"The headteacher, supported ably by the depute headteacher, have a clear, appropriate and aspirational vision for the school.

"Both leaders are highly effective in their role and work extremely well together as a senior leadership team.

"This is having a notable impact on school improvement."

Inspectors explained how the views of children, parents and staff are used to inform improvement planning and measure the impact of work undertaken.

Opportunities for pupils to be actively involved in decision making have increased "significantly" with a house system and the Junior Leadership Team since introduced.

Children across the school speak confidently about their values and are " rising to the challenge these new opportunities provide".

A collaborative approach to planning classroom topics has been instrumental in driving forward learning and teaching improvements, said the most recent inspection report.

It added: "As a result, children are more easily seeing connections in learning with other year groups across the school.

"Their motivation and engagement in learning has increased and they are enjoying the use of relevant and current contexts, such as the Conference of the Parties 26 (COP26).

"Staff and children's digital skills have increased significantly as a result of remote learning and these skills are now evident in classroom practice."

The Tullibody school was also praised for reflecting well on the experiences of the first lockdown with a much greater focus on learning when pupils had to transition to remote learning a second time.

Inspectors said staff have successfully addressed recommendations and as a result, there will be no more visits in connection with the 2019 inspection.