Newbattle Community High
School
Dalkeith
Midlothian Council
2 June 2009
This report tells you about the quality of education at the school.
We describe how young people benefit from learning there. We
explain how well they are doing and how good the school is at
helping them to learn. Then we look at the ways in which the
school does this. We describe how well the school works with
other groups in the community, including parents1 and services
which support young people. We also comment on how well staff
and young people work together and how they go about
improving the school.
Our report describes the ‘ethos’ of the school. By ‘ethos’ we
mean the relationships in the school, how well young people are
cared for and treated and how much is expected of them in all
aspects of school life. Finally, we comment on the school’s aims.
In particular, we focus on how well the aims help staff to deliver
high quality learning, and the impact of leadership on the school’s
success in achieving these 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 and details about young people’s
examination performance. Where applicable, you will also be
able to find descriptions of good practice in the school and 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. Examples of good practice
4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving their
school community?
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
9. What happens next?
1. The school
Newbattle Community High School is a non-denominational school
which serves Mayfield, Easthouses, Gorebridge, Newtongrange and
the surrounding area in Midlothian. The roll was 848 when the
inspection was carried out in March 2009. Young people’s attendance
was below the national average in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The strong ethos and positive relationships between most young
people and staff.
•
Staff commitment to young people’s wellbeing.
•
The headteacher’s strong leadership in seeking to transform young
people’s life opportunities through higher achievement.
•
Staff’s determination to be innovative to improve learning and to
provide rich and varied opportunities for young people to achieve.
•
The range, nature and impact of high-quality partnership working.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Peak performance activities at S2, S5 and S6
•
Academies in sport, dance and art at S3/S4
4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most young people are well behaved and motivated. In most classes,
they engage in their learning, answer questions appropriately and work
well individually. Teachers ensure that young people understand what
they are learning. Increasingly, young people work in groups but this
requires to be extended more widely. They need to be given more
opportunities in lessons to think independently. In the majority of
classes, young people receive appropriate feedback to help them to
improve their learning. Young people would like to have more of a say
in the way they learn.
2
Young people develop various skills and self-confidence through an
extensive range of sporting, cultural and other activities. Many take
part in musical events, fashion shows, dance festivals and art
exhibitions. The sport, dance and art academies in S3/S4 encourage
high achievement. Individuals and teams have gained local and
national recognition in sport. Young people have many opportunities
to participate in the life of the community. Those at S5/S6 develop
their leadership skills well through taking on various roles of
responsibility including supporting and coaching their younger peers.
A very informative video made by young people and staff on global
citizenship was premiered at the Scottish Parliament.
Over many years, staff have been working hard to improve attainment.
Whilst success has not yet been consistent year on year, the school
has been successful overall in achieving a steady increase in the
number of young people who gain qualifications and at increasingly
high levels. In S1/S2, the majority of young people now achieve
appropriate levels in mathematics, but less than half do so in reading
and writing. By the end of S4, almost all now gain awards in English
and mathematics. Over the past three years, a higher proportion of
young people have gained five or more awards at Credit level by the
end of S4. The proportion achieving awards at Higher level by the end
of S6 showed a marked improvement in 2008. Overall, young people
perform much less well in National Qualifications at S3/S4 and S5/S6
than those in other schools which serve young people with similar
needs and backgrounds. However, the proportion leaving the school
to progress to higher or further education has increased over the past
three years.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The curriculum is well designed with a number of innovative features.
Young people start a fast track programme in English, mathematics
and science in P7 and continue this through S1/S2. The school has
established “peak performance” activities with all young people at S2,
S5 and S6 coming together. Each of these activities culminates in an
end of year public event. Young people at S3/S4 can choose to join
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academies in sport, dance or art. These choices offer specialisation
and have significantly increased engagement in learning. The school
offers a wide range of courses at S3 to S6. These include a number of
vocational courses with some delivered in partnership with the Jewel
and Esk College and Midlothian Training Services. The school is
working towards ensuring that all at S3 to S6 receive sufficient
physical education. It also has to ensure that all at S5/S6 have a
continuing experience of religious and moral education. Young
people’s enterprise and citizenship skills are developed through a wide
range of well-planned activities. They receive good support in making
course choices and are well prepared to move into employment or
further studies.
In most classes, young people’s learning needs are well met through a
range of carefully chosen tasks, activities and resources. The school
recognises that best practice in meeting learning needs should be
more widely developed to ensure that all learners are consistently
challenged. Young people with additional needs are provided with
very good support by the learning support staff, both in and out of
class. Learning support staff share information about learning needs
with subject teachers and give them useful, general advice about how
to help young people best. Some young people have individualised
support plans which help them build on their learning and make better
progress. Those with additional needs benefit from the extra support
offered in small classes in English and mathematics at S1/S2. Overall,
young people are well cared for and receive very good pastoral
support. The school has appropriate child protection procedures in
place. The school has recently improved the way it checks young
people’s progress and sets them targets. Subject and guidance
teachers need to work together and ensure that these arrangements
are applied more consistently to benefit young people’s learning.
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
The school works very well with a wide range of partners to support
young people’s learning. It makes good use of support agencies
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including psychological services, social work and health services to
ensure high-quality support for young people. Good links with primary
schools help ensure those entering S1 have a positive experience.
The school has a strong link with the Jewel & Esk College allowing it to
offer a wider range of courses. Partnerships with community
organisations provide a rich experience for young people. For
example, many take part in environmental projects and support the
local gala days. Musicians from the school regularly play at
community events. Partner agencies consistently make important
contributions to personal, social and health education. Almost all
parents are happy with the school. However, some parents feel that
the school does not ask them enough for their views. The school, the
Parent Council and Friends of Newbattle work well together.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
The school uses a range of suitable approaches to identify its
strengths and areas for improvement. It has gathered the views of
parents, young people and staff but could do this more frequently. The
Pupil Voice Group has been responsible for some practical
improvements around the school. However, young people need to talk
about how to improve their learning more often together and with their
teachers. Promoted staff make regular class visits to evaluate the
quality of learning and teaching. This process provides valuable
information, but it now needs to focus more consistently on the impact
of improvement strategies. The school has a rigorous approach for
analysing attainment in national examinations which helps teachers to
make improvements. Staff actively participate in working groups to
improve different aspects of the school. Young people in S5/S6 are
actively involved in promoting healthy lifestyles. For example, they
successfully run a snack bar and provide coaching and support at after
school clubs and primary sports competitions.
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7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
The school has high aspirations for its young people. Well-planned
improvements over the past few years have had a positive impact on
relationships and the climate for learning. Staff have been successful
in raising most young people’s sense of pride and identity in their
school. The school celebrates achievements at assemblies, at award
ceremonies and through high-quality displays in corridors and public
spaces. It also does so through Newbattle News and the school’s
website. Staff have high expectations of behaviour and attendance.
In most classes, young people have a positive attitude to learning and
respond well to teachers’ expectations. However, further work is
needed to improve young people’s commitment to homework,
attendance and study routines to impact positively on learning. The
school recognises this and is working hard with some success to
improve motivation.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The school has a very clear sense of direction. It is participating very
successfully in the national Schools of Ambition programme. The
headteacher, supported by his senior team, provides a very strong
lead. The school has established sound core values in consultation
with young people, parents and staff. It has a clear vision based on
transforming the life opportunities of its young people. Whilst teachers
at times have been frustrated by an apparent lack of a decisive
breakthrough in attainment levels, there are encouraging signs that
their work will continue to raise levels and expectations in the longer
term. The school knows itself well and uses self-evaluation
information to plan improvements. Staff are highly committed to
improving the school and many are leading developments. Overall,
the school has a strong capacity for further improvement.
9. What happens next?
The school’s self-evaluation is leading to improvements in young
people’s learning. As a result, the inspection team was able to change
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its focus during the inspection to help the school plan to improve even
more. HMIE will make no further visits in connection with this
inspection. The education authority will inform parents about the
school’s progress. It will do this as part of its normal arrangements for
reporting on the quality of its schools. We have agreed the following
areas for improvement with the school and education authority.
•
Improve tracking and target setting to help identify next steps for
individual young people.
•
Focus self-evaluation approaches consistently on improving
learning and achievement.
•
Continue to improve achievement by building on the school’s best
innovative learning and teaching through developing Curriculum for
Excellence.
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 Newbattle Community 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
Managing Inspector: Nigel Lawrie
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very good
good
2 June 2009
To find out more about inspections or get an electronic copy of this
report go to www.hmie.gov.uk. Please contact the Business
Management and Communications Team (BMCT) if you wish to
enquire about our arrangements for translated or other appropriate
versions.
If you wish to comment about any of our inspections, contact us
at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or alternatively you should write in
the first instance to BMCT, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm
House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way,
Livingston EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure is available from our website
www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can write to our Complaints
Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our
complaints procedure, you can raise your complaint with the Scottish
Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is fully independent
and has powers to investigate complaints about Government
departments and agencies. You should write to SPSO, Freepost
EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR. You can also telephone 0800 377 7330,
fax 0800 377 7331 or e-mail: ask@spso.org.uk. More information
about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website
at www.spso.org.uk.
This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements
made by inspectors.
excellent
very good
good
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas for
improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
Crown Copyright 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education.