A north-east school due to close later this year will be reviewed by councillors for the final time next week.
Markethill Primary School will shut in the summer after a £12million project to build a new school in Turriff, which students will begin attending after the holidays.
Local councillors from the town will meet today to discuss Markethill’s final inspection report – taking in a year which included both remarkable highs for its pupils and crushing lows for the community at large.
Inspectors reviewed the school just weeks after vandals broke into the property and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to its facilities.
Including destroyed possessions, a stained glass window that was set to be transferred to the new school nearby was also damaged.
About £20,000 of damage in total was caused during the incident.
Five people, including a 14-year-old girl, have since been charged in connection.
Maria Walker, Aberdeenshire Council’s director of education, will present the inspectorate’s findings to councillors at committee next week.
In her report, she said: “The school has more effective programmes in place for numeracy and mathematics which take account of local and national advice.
“The quality of children’s experiences in the nursery class remains a strength of the school.
“Across the primary classes, the learning environment is now much calmer and promotes a more consistent and positive ethos for learning. Children continue to enjoy their learning and there is now a greater consistency in the quality of learning experiences across most classes.”
In his own report on the school, HM Inspector Alan Urquhart said Markethill had shown “greater stability” since the appointment of new teachers.
He added: “Whilst we now have more confidence in the school, and its capacity to sustain improvements, we will maintain contact with the school and Aberdeenshire Council to confirm progress over time.”