Thirteen Stewartry schools haven’t been inspected by Education Scotland for a decade.
And a further five – including one of the district’s secondary schools – haven’t been inspected in at least five years by the executive agency of the Scottish Government which is tasked with improving the quality of the country’s education system.
A Freedom of Information request by The News revealed schools such as Kirkcudbright Primary, Gatehouse Primary and Dalbeattie Primary and High School were among nearly 50 across Dumfries and Galloway which haven’t been inspected in the last 10 years.
Andrew O’ Halloran, EIS regional general secretary, said: “The frequency of school inspections is a matter for Education Scotland and in the early years the Care Inspectorate.
“Education Scotland moved some time ago from a generational cycle of inspection – where a school is inspected every six to seven years – to a sampling model where around 250 inspections will take place each year across the school sectors and 140 in nursery/ early years settings.”
According to the FOI, Stewartry Schools not inspected in the past decade are: Borgue Primary, Crossmichael Primary, Colvend Primary, Dalbeattie Primary, Dalbeattie High, Dalry Primary, Gatehouse Primary, Hardgate Primary, Kells Primary, Kirkcudbright Primary, Lochrutton Primary, Palnackie Primary and Springholm.
And in the past five years, there have been no inspections at primary schools in Auchencairn, Creetown, Gelston and Twynholm, as well as at Kirkcudbright Academy.
Education Scotland pointed out that on March 13 2020 they paused all routine inspections of early learning and childcare settings and schools activity in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Routine inspections resumed in September 2022.
An Education Scotland spokesperson said: “In Scotland overall responsibility for the quality of education and securing continuous improvement in schools sits with the local authority in line with the three-level approach to evaluating and improving education.
“Firstly schools have a responsibility to evaluate their performance; secondly local authorities have responsibility for the quality of education in their area; and the third level is inspection carried out by HM Inspectors of Education.”
The council was contacted for comment.
