ONE of South Ayrshire's most remote schools has come in for high praise following an inspection.

Education Scotland were glowing in their appraisal of Barrhill Primary School and Early Years Centre when they published their report findings this week following a visit back in April.

Staff at the school, 12 miles south of Girvan, came in for particular plaudits in the "very good" inspection report.

Education Scotland worked closely with the staffing team throughout their visit, as well as talking to parents, carers and children at the school.

They highlighted the school's strengths afterwards, and the leadership team came in for high praise.

Inspectors commented: "(A key strength is) the highly effective leadership of the headteacher who is supported very well by the acting principal teacher and staff.

"She has successfully created the culture and conditions where children and staff work very well together.

"They feel trusted and supported to lead and improve the life and work of the school."

While the report also looked to highlight the "positive relationships" established by staff across both the school and nursery.

It added: "Children feel safe, supported and nurtured as a result of the family ethos that has been created.

"Staff in the nursery make highly effective use of their environment and spaces. Children benefit from the rich variety of experiences they offer through this creative environment.

"The enthusiasm and expertise of staff to develop children’s skills in the expressive arts, in particular, art and design and music. As a result, children are developing well their creativity skills."

Four areas were assessed across both the primary school and nursery class, with "very good" ratings a common theme.

Both stages were evaluated as very good in: leadership of change; learning, teaching and assessment; and ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion.

The nursery class obtained a further very good rating in "securing children's progress" while the primary stages were ranked 'good' in their "raising attainment and achievement" category.

Few areas of improvement were identified from the inspection though Education Scotland say that all staff "should continue to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy".

It was added: "Teachers should revisit their approaches to how they assess children’s learning in unfamiliar contexts.

"This will support further their judgements of attainment and increase greater retention of learning for all children."

The report said no further inspections would be necessary in view of the positive report.

South Ayrshire Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools.