16 June 2015
Dear Parent/Carer
Hollybrook Academy
Glasgow 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
leadership, achievements and the school’s links with the local community. 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?
Across the school, young people are happy, polite and keen to learn. They respond
well to warm, nurturing relationships with staff which are a very strong feature at all
stages. This helps young people feel safe and secure and helps them overcome any
anxieties with their learning. Most staff are skilled at supporting young people to
behave well and be respectful of others. In most classes, young people are motivated
and keen to learn. They were most enthusiastic about learning opportunities which
develop their skills for learning, life and work. For example, the ‘Diana Award’ winning
‘Scribbles of Hollybrook’ initiative is helping young people build skills in employability,
enterprise and resilience. Staff need to consistently engage young people by
providing high-quality learning experiences across the school. In almost all lessons,
staff share with young people what they want them to learn and give feedback on their
progress. Young people are taking responsibility for their learning but would benefit
from more opportunities to reflect on what they have learned and to plan and choose
what they are going to learn next.
Young people are achieving very well through a range of sporting, practical and
vocational opportunities which build confidence and develop skills in team work,
communication and leadership. Young people participate in a very wide range of
physical activities both in and out of school including, cross-country running, tennis,
cycling, canoeing and boccia. Commendably, the school has a strong record of
success at the Special Olympics. A number of young people gain awards for their
achievements including, The Princes Trust XL, John Muir Trust, Sky Sports ‘Sport For
Living’ and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Young people contribute to aspects of
school improvement through questionnaires, consultation exercises and by
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
participating in the pupil council. This has led to changes in homework, the school’s
house system and the layout of the playground. Staff should continue to identify and
develop ways to enable all young people to be involved in improving the school,
including younger pupils in particular.
In recent times, young people attending Hollybrook Academy left school with a very
good range of National Qualifications and units. Young people are now achieving in a
wide range of newer courses, including volunteering, cycling, personal achievement
and Scottish studies. In mathematics and numeracy, young people are making good
progress across the school. They are achieving well in developing key skills in
number, shape and position, information handling and problem solving. Young people
are improving their skills in listening, reading, writing and talking. In almost all classes,
they contribute to group discussions, respond well to questions and use PowerPoint
and other visual supports to share their views effectively. A very successful ‘World
Book Day’ event provided opportunities for young people to support local primary aged
children to read for personal enjoyment and enjoy listening to a range of texts and
stories. There is a strong focus on health and wellbeing across the school, helping
young people to be aware of how the choices they make can impact on their lives.
Most young people spoke knowledgeably about keeping themselves safe, personal
hygiene and healthy eating. Staff should continue to develop opportunities for young
people to use literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing skills across all areas of the
curriculum.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
The school supports young people to develop and learn very well. Staff provide a very
welcoming, caring environment for young people. Young people and their families
speak very highly of the pastoral support they receive from staff in Hollybrook
Academy. Almost all staff plan tasks and activities well to meet young people’s needs.
In a few classes, the pace of learning is too slow and tasks are not sufficiently
challenging for young people. Teachers and pupil support assistants are very
knowledgeable about young people’s needs. They work very well together to support
effectively young people to progress with their learning and make positive behaviour
choices. Identification of learning needs is a key priority within the school. Staff work
very closely with partner agencies to help identify and meet the needs of young
people, ensuring they receive specialist help when required. A few young people
would benefit from increased input from speech and language therapists. Young
people’s needs are assessed using Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC)
wellbeing indicators. All young people and their families are appropriately involved in
setting wellbeing targets, with almost all young people making very good progress
towards achieving their agreed goals.
The school has an appropriate curriculum in place for young people. The curriculum
has a clear focus on developing young people’s skills for learning, life and work to
support them to be as independent as possible when they leave school. Staff are
becoming more confident in using Curriculum for Excellence guidance to plan suitable
learning experiences in, and across curriculum areas. New courses and programmes
are offering increasing opportunities for young people in real and relevant contexts.
These include working in the school garden, visits to local businesses and a wide
range of work experience and college placements for senior pupils. The school
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recognises that systems need to be developed to track young people’s progress with
their learning. The school has well-established planning in place to support children
and young people at crucial transition points. All young people move on to further
learning, training or employment when they leave Hollybrook Academy.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The school has a very strong commitment to continuously improving the quality of its
work, led by the vision and leadership of the headteacher. She is ably supported by
two depute headteachers and, collectively, they have the respect of parents, staff and
the community. Across the school, a number of staff and young people are accessing
opportunities to lead others. For example, staff lead on working groups and support
colleagues through the ‘Tri-Learning Group’. Young people act as house captains,
participate in Sports Leaders programmes and lead school assemblies. There are a
number of highly effective systems in place to help the school identify its strengths and
areas for improvement. Young people, parents and partners are given a range of
opportunities to contribute to this process and their views often influence school
improvement in areas, including homework, nurturing approaches, Children’s Right’s
and school refurbishment. There is scope for the school to further seek others’ views
when planning and developing the curriculum. The school has clear, appropriate
improvement priorities in place for implementing Curriculum for Excellence and
meeting the needs of all young people. Senior managers place great emphasis on
providing extensive professional development opportunities for all staff to help secure
these improvements. Staff spoke very highly of the range of training opportunities
available to them.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Warm, nurturing relationships across the school.
Young people’s attainment and achievement.
Pastoral care and welfare provided for young people and their families.
High quality training opportunities available to staff.
We discussed with staff and Glasgow City Council how they might continue to improve
the school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Improve consistency of learning and teaching.
Develop effective tracking and monitoring of young people’s progress with their
learning.
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. As part of its arrangements
for reporting to parents on the quality of education, Glasgow City Council will inform
parents about the school’s progress.
Steven McPherson
HM Inspector
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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/Holly
brookSchoolGlasgowCity.asp
If you would like to receive this letter 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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