AN East Renfrewshire school has become the first in Scotland to receive a top evaluation in ‘raising attainment and achievement’ following a two-day inspection.

Teachers and pupils at Our Lady of the Missions Primary, in Giffnock, were celebrating after they had two areas of the school evaluated during the visit and were praised for their ‘extremely high’ standards.

The quality of raising attainment and achievement was evaluated as ‘excellent,’ while learning, teaching and assessment at the school was deemed to be ‘very good.’

In achieving the excellent status, Our Lady of the Missions Primary is the only school in Scotland to have secured the top evaluation for this category.

The particular strengths highlighted by the inspection team included highly articulate, confident and ambitious children, as well as the effective leadership of all staff.

The extremely high levels of attainment in literacy, numeracy and science were also noted, as was the close cluster working and careful tracking of children’s progress.

Councillor Paul O’Kane, East Renfrewshire’s education and equalities convener, said: “This is a fantastic report on Our Lady of the Missions Primary School and it is especially pleasing that the leadership of the headteacher and senior management team has been rightly recognised, as has the highly effective leadership of all staff and the very high levels of children’s attainment in literacy, numeracy and science.

“We continue to see excellent practice across all our schools but for Our Lady of the Missions to receive such a glowing report and to be the first school in Scotland to get an excellent for raising attainment is truly exceptional.

“Well done to all the pupils, staff, parents and wider school community for building such a strong sense of belonging, which has been clearly recognised by the inspectors.”