Tinto Primary School highly praised by inspectors

Published: Monday 24 February 2025

Tinto Head Teacher Alex Stark is pictured at the front door of the school surrounded by eight of the school's pupils. The school name can be seen in the background.

Children attending Tinto Primary School and Nursery Class are ‘highly motivated’ and feel ‘safe, valued and cared for.

These are among the main findings of a team of inspectors from Education Scotland following their visit to the campus, just outside Biggar, in May 2024.

In fact, the report, issued earlier this year, ranked the school as ‘very good’ and ‘good’ in all areas, and the nursery class ‘very good’ across the board.

Inspectors also took time to speak to parents/carers and children and worked closely with the headteacher and staff during their visit.

The report further highlighted:

Pupils leading meaningful change in their school and community
positive outcomes for children
strong leadership
engaging outdoor spaces and learning opportunities
Children feel safe, valued and cared for

The Inspection team encouraged the school to build on the existing positive work and ethos to ‘improve further approaches to learning and teaching so that all children are challenged in their learning’.

Ms Alex Stark, Head Teacher, warmly welcomed the final report. She said: “The inspection experience was extremely positive, and has validated the work of the school community, recognising our value-led ethos as the foundation of all that we do.

“Our outdoor environment and learning in which we have invested so much time and effort was praised as being an asset to the school. This is a real source of pride to staff in both settings.

this is a photo of a nursery pupil wearing a red hooded jacket. She is pictured in the playground of the school.

Above - nursery school pupil Ella Burrell loves being outdoors.

"As a rural school at the heart of our village, we have worked hard to build positive relationships with our local community. HMIe recognised that this strengthened the children’s sense of belonging, and their place as included and respected members of the village.

"However, we were particularly proud of the Managing Inspector’s personal reflection on her visit to the school. She said: ‘There is something special about the team at Tinto.’ We couldn’t agree more.”

Councillor Lynsey Hamilton, Chair of the council’s Education Resources committee, said: “This is a fantastic report for Tinto PS and nursery class, and one that truly reflects its ethos, approach and values.

“My thanks and congratulations go to the leadership team, all teaching and support staff, parent body, and of course, our wonderful young people, who together have created such a stimulating, inclusive, and nurturing community.”