Council Officials Escort Head Out of School Move After Inspection Report

By ANDREW DENHOLM EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT

THE headteacher of the largest primary school in the Scottish Borders has been escorted from her office after a damning report from inspectors led to her suspension.

Education officials from Scottish Borders Council took the highly unusual step of visiting Priorsford Primary School in Peebles to help Karen Smith, the headteacher, clear her desk. Parents of the 400 pupil school were later informed about the move by letter.

Mrs Smith, who took over at Priorsford in 2004, came in for heavy criticism last year after a government inspection.

AnHM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) report said her leadership and management of the school had “important weaknesses”.

It is understood officials felt she had failed to act on the recommendations of the inspectors or adopt an action plan for improvement which led to her suspension.

A Scottish Borders Council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that the headteacher of Priorsford Primary School in Peebles, Karen Smith, is on special leave for an undetermined period.

“In the interim, the senior depute headteacher, Keith Russell, has been appointed as acting headteacher and will be working closely with the education department to ensure the smooth running of the school.”

The move is a reflection of the growing seriousness with which some local authorities treat negative inspection reports.

In March, the headteacher of a Scottish secondary school that introduced the controversial practice of letting pupils sit Standard Grade exams a year early was suspended.

John MacDonald, headteacher of Kirkintilloch High in East Dunbartonshire, was removed from his post after HMIE criticised the way the school had introduced the practice of letting pupils sit exams in S3 rather than S4 – so-called early presentation.

After an inspection in September last year, concerns about the running of Priorsford was raised in a survey of parents, which always accompanies an inspection report.

Whilst parents recognised that their children were generally happy at school and making steady progress in their learning, families raised a number of concerns about key aspects of the school’s work.

They felt that the school’s communications with them were inadequate and often “last minute”. Parents felt that the challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils was putting at risk the learning environment of others and wanted to be better assured of pupils’ safety during breaks.

Many parents thought the leadership of the school was in need of improvement and that any concerns raised with the school were not dealt with well. They also thought there was a lack of educational challenge for pupils and expressed a concern that the reputation of the school was not as good as it should be.

Originally published by Newsquest Media Group.

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