Staff and pupils at St Matthew’s Academy are celebrating after the school achieved ‘very good’ ratings in a recent inspection report by Education Scotland.

Stephen Colligan, head teacher at St Matthew’s Academy, said: “This report reflects extremely well on the work of Saint Matthew’s Academy.

“All members of our wider school community can be pleased to note that Education Scotland have evaluated our school as ‘very good’ in two key quality indicators.

“I am also pleased to see that, with regards to areas of improvement, we have been asked to continue with the work already under way. This shows our priorities are appropriate and will lead to further improvements in the years ahead.

“I am grateful to all members of the wider school community for their ongoing work which contributed to St Matthew’s Academy being recognised in this fashion.”

Andrew McClelland, head of Service for Learning, Teaching and Curriculum for North Ayrshire Council, added: “We are delighted with this report and would like to congratul at everyone at St Matthew’s Academy on achieving such a positive result.

“To receive ‘very good’ ratings shows both the dedication of staff and the commitment of pupils and is to be commended.”

The team of inspectors, who visited the Saltcoats school in January, praised the strong leadership of head teacher, adding that he is supported well by the senior leadership team, together providing “clear strategic direction”.

Inspectors praised the school for using Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) to ensure targeted provision in literacy and numeracy.

The high quality of relationships between young people and staff across the school is noted as another strength.

Three areas for improvement were identified, to help staff develop understanding of national standards, to develop young people’s skills in digital technologies and to improve flexible learning pathways in the senior phase.