The school

St Patrick’s Primary School is a denominational school with a nursery class. It serves the town of Strathaven and the surrounding rural area of South Lanarkshire. The roll was 139, including 35 in the nursery, when the inspection was carried out in November 2010. Children’s attendance was in line with the national average in 2008/2009.

Particular strengths of the school

• The high-quality learning experiences in the nursery.
• Extremely polite, well-behaved children who are very keen to learn.
• The high-quality relationships between children, and between children and staff.
• The outstanding leadership of the headteacher.
• The commitment to and effective roles played by the principal teacher and all staff in improving the school.

The following areas for improvement have been agreed with the school and education authority:

• Further increase the impact of the school’s strong processes for self-evaluation on children’s learning and achievement.
• Continue to improve learning by using Curriculum for Excellence