Education Scotland
Foghlam Alba
Education Scotland, 1st and 2nd Floor, Endeavour House, 1 Greenmarket, Dundee DD1 4QB
t 01382 576700
f 01382 576701
Textphone 01506 600236
e dundee@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
w www.educationscotland.gov.uk
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24 April 2012
Dear Parent/Carer
Holy Cross High School
South Lanarkshire Council
Recently, as you may know, my colleagues and I visited and inspected your child’s school.
Throughout our visit, we talked to many parents and young people and we worked closely
with the headteacher and staff. We wanted to find out how well young people were learning
and achieving and how well the school supported 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 approaches to active
learning, the school’s strong promotion of sport, leadership opportunities for young people
and how well the school works in partnership with parents. As a result, we were able to find
out how good the school was at improving young people’s education.
How well do young people learn and achieve?
Young people learn in a very safe, welcoming and caring environment. Catholic values and a
commitment to improving young people’s life chances are embedded in the very positive
culture of the school community. Relationships between and amongst staff and young people
are consistently very positive. In almost all lessons, learning is stimulating and motivating.
As a result, young people’s knowledge and skills for future learning, work and life are
developing well. From S1 to S6, most young people engage in high-quality discussions which
deepen their learning. They challenge each other to think more and present well reasoned
arguments. Young people take responsibility regularly for assessing their own and others
work. This supports them well in knowing how to improve. Across the school there are a few
strong examples of young people working with teachers to set and review targets. This good
practice should be shared and extended to ensure young people are consistently challenged
by their learning.
A significant number of young people have increased their confidence and teamwork skills
through the Dynamic Youth and Youth Achievement Award schemes. The school’s sports
ambassadors in S4, S5 and S6 are very impressive leaders in this field. Through their efforts
to set up a school sports council, other young people are increasing their understanding of the
ways physical activity can improve health and wellbeing. The significant number of S6 young
people engaged in the Caritas Award are developing their personal faith commitment and
gaining valuable interpersonal skills through their service to the school and in their parish. A
significant number of young people in S1 and S2 have developed positive attitudes to learning
through the Success Maker programme. As a result, they are making good progress in
literacy and numeracy. Young people demonstrate their strong sense of responsibility to
others through respectful behaviour to visitors, to each other and those in the wider
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community. They support others in the community very well including raising considerable
funds for local and international charities such as SCIAF and the local hospice. Many young
people increase their creativity and choose to continue with their interests in sport and the
expressive arts. They often achieve success in local and national competitions. The school
recognises and celebrates well young people’s successes. Young people who take on
leadership responsibilities for example, as school captains, are very positive role models for
younger pupils.
Across all subjects, most young people in S1 and S2 are working well within the third
curriculum level. They are developing a range of appropriate skills to support them as
independent learners. Almost all young people use their literacy and numeracy skills well in
contexts across their learning. In recent years, the school has significantly increased the
number of young people who achieve five or more awards at Standard Grade foundation or
Intermediate 1 level. Overall, young people’s attainment at S4 to S6 is above national
averages. In comparison with schools serving young people with similar needs and
backgrounds there is scope for further improvement. Young people who follow Advanced
Higher courses generally do very well in them. Over recent years, the school has achieved
commendable success in securing positive post-school destinations for its young people.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
The outstanding relationships between staff and young people have created an environment
where young people feel very confident about seeking help when they need it. In almost all
lessons, teachers plan learning which takes very good account of young people’s varying
needs and abilities. Young people have lots of good opportunities to work both independently
and in groups. They are often encouraged to choose activities which follow their own
interests and to work in ways which suit them as individuals. In a few classes, young people
use information and communications technology well to support their learning. However, this
is not consistent across the school. All staff, including learning assistants and support for
learning staff and young people in S6 provide high-quality support to young people who
require some extra help during lessons. Arrangements to provide ongoing specialist support
for young people with individual education plans are very effective. As a result these young
people are making very good progress in their learning.
The school has made good progress in taking forward Curriculum for Excellence. Across all
curriculum areas, learning in S1 and S2 has been reviewed to take account of new national
guidance. As a result, young people find their learning interesting and relevant. They are
active participants who thoroughly enjoy their learning in many subjects. Approaches to
literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing across learning are developing well but there is
scope for some subjects to do more to promote these skills. Events such as the recent
Holocaust Memorial Day successfully bring together learning from different areas of the
curriculum and deepen young people’s understanding of important social and global issues.
From S3 to S6, young people have increasing opportunities to focus on their own interests
and ambitions. There is a strong emphasis on learning which increases young people’s
problem solving skills through working in teams. The curriculum is further enriched by
well-planned outdoor learning experiences. For example, a group recently visited Stirling
Castle as part of a project linking learning in technical, history and drama. The school has
sound plans to develop courses and approaches for the senior phase of the new curriculum to
meet the needs of all learners. Staff should continue to strengthen the involvement of
community partners to maximise learning opportunities.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
Since taking up post in January 2011 the headteacher has firmly established a culture of
collective responsibility for school improvement. Staff and young people have responded with
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enthusiasm to his clear vision for the school. Staff at all levels now lead important aspects of
the school improvement plan through the new working group structure. The impact of this
teamwork can be seen for example, in the high quality teaching and learning and in the more
rigorous ways staff have begun to evaluate their work. The Parent Council is increasingly
involved in supporting school improvement. Staff, young people and parents find the senior
leadership team professional, supportive and approachable. Depute headteachers play a
very effective role in encouraging staff and young people to take responsibility for improving
their school. Young people contribute greatly to the success of their school. Many are
capable of increased leadership roles from S1 onwards. We are confident that with the
support of all members of the school community, the headteacher is successfully building on
the school’s achievements. Under his very effective leadership the school is moving from
strength to strength.
This inspection of your school found the following key strengths.
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Positive relationships and a tremendous pride in belonging to the school.
High quality, stimulating learning experiences which meet young people’s needs well.
Confident and capable young people who take responsibility for their learning.
Leadership and teamwork at all levels which is contributing to school improvement.
Approaches to promoting health and wellbeing through sport.
The headteacher’s highly effective, empowering leadership of improvement and change.
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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Further develop approaches to self-evaluation to ensure consistent improvements in
attainment across all areas of the curriculum.
Continue implementing Curriculum for Excellence by taking forward plans for the senior
phase and strengthening partnerships with parents and the wider community.
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.
Patricia Watson
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.hmie.gov.uk/ViewEstablishment.aspx?id=8970&type=3.
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format, for example,
in a translation. You can contact us at enquiries@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us
at BMCT, Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale
Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact 01506
600200, or write to us at the above address or e-mail:
feedback@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk.
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