Preston Lodge High School
Prestonpans
East Lothian Council
7 September 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) inspects schools in order to
let parents1, young people and the local community know
whether their school provides a good education. Inspectors also
discuss with school staff how they can improve the quality of
education.
At the beginning of the inspection, we ask the headteacher and
staff about the strengths of the school, what needs to improve,
and how they know. We use the information they give us to help
us plan what we are going to look at. During the inspection, we
go into classes and join other activities which young people are
involved in. We also gather the views of young people, parents,
staff and members of the local community. We find their views
very helpful and use them together with the other information we
have collected to arrive at our view of the quality of education.
This report tells you what we found during the inspection and the
quality of education in the school. We describe how well young
people are doing, how good the school is at helping them to learn
and how well it cares for them. We comment on how well staff,
parents and young people work together and how they go about
improving the school. We also comment on how well the school
works with other groups in the community, including services
which support young people. Finally, we focus on how well the
school is led and how staff help the school achieve its aims.
If you would like to learn more about our inspection of the school,
please visit www.hmie.gov.uk. Here you can find analyses of
questionnaire returns from young people, parents and staff, and
details about young people’s examination performance. We will
not provide questionnaire analyses where the numbers of returns
are so small that they could identify individuals. Where applicable
there will also be a report on the learning community surrounding
the school.
1
Throughout this report, the term ‘parents’ should be taken to include foster carers,
residential care staff and carers who are relatives or friends.
Contents
1. The school
2. Particular strengths of the school
3. How well do young people learn and achieve?
4. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving their
school community?
6. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
8. What happens next?
1. The school
Preston Lodge High School is a non-denominational secondary school
which serves the communities of Cockenzie, Port Seton, Longniddry,
Prestonpans and surrounding area. The roll was 1052 when the
inspection was carried out in June 2010. Young people’s attendance
was in line with the national average in 2008/2009.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The high morale and improving ethos of the school community.
•
The contributions of young people to improvements in the climate
for learning.
•
The work of staff across the school in supporting young people’s
learning.
•
The strong leadership of the headteacher on school improvement.
3. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Almost all young people are developing confidence in their learning
and are well motivated. In most lessons, teachers share the
purpose of lessons well. They use open questions effectively to
enable young people to develop and explain their understanding. In
the best lessons, learners take part in well-planned activities that
enable them to discuss and develop their ideas and thinking. When
given these opportunities, young people take responsibility for, and
are active in, their learning. In most lessons, young people are
developing their knowledge and understanding well. Overall,
teachers need to take greater account of learners’ previous
experiences and to ensure that young people have a clear idea of
what they need to do to improve their learning. Most young people
feel they are treated fairly and with respect. They feel safe and well
cared for in school.
Young people are developing their skills and talents through taking
part in an extensive range of sporting, cultural and social
experiences. Activities such as paired reading in the primary
school, community sports leadership and membership of the
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student council help them to become responsible citizens. They
develop new skills and interests through The Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award Scheme. The recent project on Italy helped learners across
the school to develop their creative skills whilst learning about
Prestonpan’s twin town of Barga. Young people are developing
their citizenship skills well through work in the local community.
This includes developing team working skills as they work together
to build a rowing boat as part of a local project. Young people are
actively involved in a wide range of sports activities provided by the
school. They enjoy success at local and national level, both on an
individual and a team basis. All of these achievements contribute to
young people’s confidence and sense of wellbeing. The school is
aware of the need to track young people’s achievements more
effectively to ensure they progress in their skills and learning.
By the end of S2, the majority of young people reach appropriate
levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Further work is needed
to track the progress of young people in other curriculum areas from
P7 to S2. At S4, in recent years, results in examinations have been
variable and do not show overall improvement. At S5/S6
examination results are in line with or below national averages. By
this stage, young people perform less well than those in other
schools which serve young people with similar needs and
backgrounds. The school is taking important steps aiming to
improve young people’s attainment. Young people who require
additional support are making good progress. When young people
leave school, most go on to university or college, or are successful
in gaining a training opportunity or employment.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The curriculum provides a broad learning experience and choices
for young people. The range of courses meets the needs of most
young people well. A few courses do not offer suitable progression
and challenge for learners. The curriculum develops young
people’s skills through a range of well-planned experiences in and
out of school such as cultural and sporting events and outdoor
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education. Staff are working to develop the curriculum to take
account of Curriculum for Excellence. They are planning to
introduce tasks to help young people in S1 make links in their
learning and develop important life skills. Staff should continue to
work to ensure learning at S1 builds more directly on what young
people know from primary school. The school prepares young
people for the world of work through, for example, work experience
and pre-vocational courses at the East Lothian Skill Centre.
Several areas of the curriculum are used to successfully promote
health and well-being. However, young people from S3 to S6 do
not yet have two hours of quality physical education. There is no
continuing element of religious and moral education in S5/S6. Staff
need to continue to work to ensure a shared vision for further
improving the curriculum.
Staff plan relevant tasks and activities and are effective in meeting
the learning needs of most young people. Most teachers use a
range of approaches to engage young people in their learning.
Activities in some classes do not always offer sufficient challenge to
ensure young people make appropriate progress with their learning.
Pupil support staff work very well as a team and link closely with
subject staff to ensure that the learning and emotional needs of
young people are well met. Staff provide effective pastoral support
for young people as they move into S1. Young people in the
Enhanced Learning Provision are well supported. Targets in
individualised educational programmes are broadly appropriate but
would better support progress if they were more specific. Building
on existing effective practice, staff need to improve their approaches
to meeting the needs of young people with social, emotional and
behavioural needs.
4. How well do staff work with others to support young
people’s learning?
Staff work well with a wide range of partners to enhance young
people’s learning and achievements. Young people benefit from
strong links with the Community Learning and Development
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Service. Other partners include the local rugby club, the community
council and the emergency services. Links with local businesses,
and other organisations such as John Muir Trust and the Royal
Highland Education Trust, enhance and promote learning about
health and well-being. The school works well with a range of
partner agencies, including health, social work and the integration
team, to support young people. The effective 16+ Learning Choices
Hub is helping to improve outcomes for vulnerable young people
and those at risk of missing out. Parents are happy overall with the
school. The Parent Council supports the school well and has raised
funds to enhance the school environment. The school responds
well to parental queries and concerns.
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Staff and young people work very well together to improve their
school. They are currently refreshing the school aims and values to
provide a clear, shared sense of direction for improving the school.
Young people’s views are valued in the school. They are proud of
the high-quality displays of their work which enhance the school
environment. They contribute to improving the climate for learning
through the student council, class representatives and consultations
about the quality of provision. Young people in S5/S6 act effectively
as prefects and buddies, helping to build positive relationships in the
school. They have supported the work of the eco group in
successfully reducing litter in the school and local area. The school
has recently revised the arrangements for reviewing the quality of its
work. There is a renewed focus on learning and developing
approaches which will help improve outcomes for young people.
The school needs to further develop it’s approach to monitoring and
tracking the progress of young people’s learning across the
curriculum to ensure appropriate challenge and progress for all
learners.
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6. Does the school have high expectations of all young
people?
The school has a supportive ethos which encourages young people
to be responsible members of their school community. Young
people are friendly, well behaved and supportive of each other.
They benefit from the very positive relationships between staff and
young people. Staff have increasingly high expectations of attitude
and effort. The wide range of activities outwith the classroom
supports a culture of achievement. Young people’s achievements
are celebrated at assemblies and through the school website and
local press. There is scope to increase expectations of attainment.
The school has appropriate arrangements for religious observance.
All staff are trained in child protection and are aware of their
responsibilities. The school promotes young people’s
understanding of equalities well across the curriculum.
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The new headteacher has built successfully on prior progress and
reinvigorated the school community. He has earned a high level of
respect across the school community and has a strong focus on
improving learning. He is ably supported by the depute
headteachers and together they provide very effective leadership.
They have high expectations and ambitions for the school. Staff are
involved in leading and developing approaches which will help the
school continue to improve. Staff lead a wide range of activities
beyond the classroom. They are committed to their own
professional development and improving the school. This progress
will serve the school well in further raising expectations and
improving learning and achievement at all stages.
8. What happens next?
We are confident that the school will be able to make the necessary
improvements in light of the inspection findings. As a result, we will
make no more visits in connection with this inspection. The school
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and the education authority will inform parents about the school’s
progress in improving the quality of education. We have agreed the
following areas for improvement with the school and education
authority.
•
Develop approaches to track and monitor young people’s
progress, to help raise their expectations, attainment and
achievement.
•
Continue to improve the quality of learners’ experiences to
ensure challenge and progression in learning.
•
Continue to improve the curriculum, taking account of national
developments.
Quality indicators help schools, education authorities and inspectors to
judge what is good and what needs to be improved in the work of the
school. You can find these quality indicators in the HMIE publication
How good is our school?. Following the inspection of each school, the
Scottish Government gathers evaluations of three important quality
indicators to keep track of how well all Scottish schools are doing.
Here are the evaluations for Preston Lodge High School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
satisfactory
good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Carol McDonald
good
good
7 September 2010
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When we write reports, we use the following word scale so that our
readers can see clearly what our judgments mean.
excellent
very good
good
means
means
means
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
means
means
means
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas
for improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
If you would like to find out more about our inspections or get an
electronic copy of this report, please go to www.hmie.gov.uk.
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a
different format, for example, in a translation, or if you wish to
comment about any aspect of our inspections. You can contact us
at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at BMCT,
HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business
Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Text phone users can contact us on 01506 600 236. This is a service
for deaf users. Please do not use this number for voice calls as the
line will not connect you to a member of staff.
You can find our complaints procedure on our website
www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can contact our Complaints
Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
Crown Copyright 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education