26 March 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Bucksburn Academy
Aberdeen City Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I inspected your child’s school. During
our visit, we talked to parents and young people and worked closely with the
headteacher and staff. We wanted to find out how well young people are learning and
achieving and how well the school supports young people to do their best. The
headteacher shared with us the school’s successes and priorities for improvement.
We looked at some particular aspects of the school’s recent work, including the extent
to which young people have a say in the school. We also looked at how the school
was developing a culture of leadership and positive ethos and its approaches to
encouraging good health and wellbeing. As a result, we were able to find out how
good the school is at improving young people's education.
How well do young people learn and achieve?
Young people have a positive attitude and most learn well. Attainment is improving
and young people achieve success in a very wide range of activities.
Almost all young people enjoy learning at school. They feel they are getting on well
and that they are safe and well looked after. They are confident that staff will provide
good advice and support when needed. Across the school, young people behave
responsibly and contribute very well to the school’s positive learning environment.
Young people in the Additional Support Needs (ASN) Wing are developing in
confidence as a result of a wide range of enjoyable and challenging activities. Across
the school, young people’s learning experiences are enhanced by a very wide range of
out-of-class activities and through the involvement of many partners in the community.
Some lessons are too teacher-led and young people would benefit from having more
opportunities to plan their own learning and have greater independence.
Across the school, young people achieve well in a very wide range of activities. They
respond well to opportunities to act responsibly and to develop leadership skills. For
example, pupils at S1 help younger children when they visit the school and those at S2
have helped older members of the community to develop skills in information and
communications technology. Recently, a group of young people at S6 travelled to
Norway to lead a pan-European conference on Rethinking Energy. In the ASN Wing,
young people take on a wide range of responsibilities, including serving as prefects
and organising a tuck shop. Commendably, the young people with autism involved in
the Travel and Lifeskills Education (TALE) project are organising all aspects of a
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
residential visit to Croatia. Young people are developing a good understanding of the
importance of active lifestyles and healthy eating. Increasing numbers of young
people now gain national accreditation for their achievements, including Caledonian
Awards and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. There are very positive arrangements in
place for recognising and acknowledging young people’s achievements. At S1 to S3,
most young people are developing appropriate skills in literacy and numeracy. The
attainment of young people in examinations is improving and is now in line, overall,
with national averages. Staff monitor young people’s progress very carefully and have
identified where there are areas needing further improvement.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
The school meets the needs of its young people well. Arrangements for meeting the
needs of young people who require additional support are very strong. The curriculum
provides young people with a very broad range of well-planned learning opportunities.
In most lessons, staff provide young people with a broad range of appropriate tasks
and activities. In these lessons, young people respond enthusiastically and work very
well together. In some lessons, however, staff could expect more of young people, for
example, by ensuring that work is consistently and appropriately challenging for each
learner. Staff are very caring and committed to young people’s wellbeing within a
positive and inclusive environment. A sizeable number of staff provide well-received
mentoring support for young people at S4 to S6. Across the school, staff know young
people’s learning needs very well. Very positive arrangements are in place to identify
and meet the needs of young people who require additional support. Support staff,
including Pupil Support Assistants provide well-judged support, for example, in
assisting some young people in the ASN Wing to benefit from lessons across the
school.
Staff have developed a very strong rationale for the curriculum, taking Curriculum for
Excellence appropriately into account. Plans for further improvements are clear and
well thought through. Young people benefit from a wide range of activities, including a
residential experience and enterprise and healthy activities. Local businesses and
other partners make a very strong contribution to the curriculum experienced by young
people. Medical mentors and law ambassadors offer very good opportunities for
young people to gain relevant vocational experience in these areas. The school offers
a range of Skills for Work courses, some in cooperation with the local college, and
these too help young people to prepare for the world of work. Across the school,
young people, benefit from a broad range of courses. At S5/S6, well-established links
with a neighbouring school help staff to provide more options for young people. Staff
have strong links with associated primary schools. They should now develop these
links further to help young people to build on their earlier learning in all curricular areas
on moving into S1.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school’s very strong approaches to self-evaluation are leading to important
improvements in the quality of its work.
The headteacher provides very strong leadership and has judged the pace of
improvements very well. There is a very positive ethos and staff are committed to
improving the school. Staff respond well to opportunities for sharing good practice.
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Across the school, promoted staff have put in place sound arrangements to monitor
young people’s progress in learning and their attainment in national examinations.
Staff should continue to look to ensure that these approaches are consistently rigorous
and lead to improvement. Young people have opportunities to work with staff to help
lead important developments and a few meet regularly with senior staff to share their
views.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Young people’s positive attitude to learning and their achievements in a wide range
of activities.
The contribution of partners in the community to young people’s learning
experiences.
The quality of support provided for young people within a caring learning
environment.
Approaches to improving the curriculum.
The effectiveness of the headteacher in leading improvements across the school.
We discussed with staff and the education authority how they might continue to
improve the school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Improve the consistency and quality of young people’s learning experiences across
the school.
Continue to raise expectations for what young people can learn and achieve.
What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that the
school’s self-evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a result, we will
make no further visits in connection with this inspection. The local authority will inform
parents about the school’s progress as part of the authority's arrangements for
reporting to parents on the quality of its schools.
Alistair Brown
HM Inspector
Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations, for
your school can be found on the Education Scotland website at
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/primsec/Buck
sburnAcademyAberdeen.asp.
If you would like to receive this report in a different format, for example, in a translation
please contact the administration team on the above telephone number.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact us
by telephone on 0141 282 5000, or e-mail: complaints@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
or write to us addressing your letter to the Complaints Manager, Denholm House,
Almondvale Business Park, Livingston EH54 6GA.
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