All Saints Secondary
School
Glasgow City Council
8 December 2009
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, 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
All Saints Secondary School is a denominational school which serves
an area in the north east of Glasgow City. The roll was 1017 when the
inspection was carried out in October 2009. It includes around
120 young people including some with asylum seeker status, and
others for whom English is not their first language. Young people’s
attendance was in line with the national average in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Courteous and helpful young people.
•
The support provided by partners in the community for learners’
wider achievement.
•
High quality pastoral care and support for all young people, in
particular those with additional learning needs.
•
Effective support for young people moving on to employment and
training, and increased numbers progressing to higher education.
•
Strong leadership from the headteacher, staff and young people at
the senior stages.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Learning leaders in English.
•
Raising aspirations and supporting transitions.
4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most young people are keen to learn. They work well with their
teachers and each other. Young people feel safe, and believe that
they are treated with equality, fairness and respect. They enjoy the
increased emphasis on active learning approaches. In a small number
of lessons, including some in English, learners are inspired by
outstanding teaching. Across the school, most young people join
enthusiastically in class discussions. They answer questions well, but
some teachers could extend their progress by asking more demanding
questions. In the majority of lessons, young people work well without
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the need for constant direction from teachers. However, young people
are sometimes unclear about their progress and what they need to do
to improve. Some teachers do not always state clearly enough what
young people are meant to learn. The pace of lessons is sometimes
too slow, losing young people’s concentration and interest.
The school actively encourages young people’s wider achievements in
the school and community. Young people at all stages demonstrate
important skills of citizenship and enterprise. They perform well in
activities associated with sustainability such as Fair Trade initiatives,
and in health education events. Young people serve on the pupil
council and year councils. School captains, elected on the basis of the
quality of their contribution to the life and ethos of the school, present a
very positive impression. Staff recognise the need to record
individuals’ achievements more effectively, to enable them to build on
their successes.
The majority of young people at S1/S2 attain appropriate standards in
reading and writing. These attainments have improved steadily in
recent years. Attainment in mathematics has been weaker overall. At
all stages S4-S6, young people’s attainment is generally below
national averages. Too many receive no awards in National
Qualifications courses. By the end of S4, young people generally
attain standards in line with schools which serve young people with
similar needs and backgrounds. By the end of S6, young people attain
standards which are generally better than those in similar schools.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The curriculum reflects the school’s ethos and Catholic values very
well, and provides a range of valuable experiences for young people.
The headteacher has led the introduction of more effective approaches
to improving the curriculum over recent months. Project teams are
working well, with a clear focus on improvement priorities. These
projects relate closely to Curriculum for Excellence, for example
developing interdisciplinary topics involving a range of different
subjects. Teachers develop young people’s skills in literacy very
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effectively but need to give more attention to numeracy skills. Staff are
working well to broaden young people’s opportunities through a range
of certificated programmes in and beyond the school. The school
provides more than two hours weekly of good quality physical
education for young people at S1-S4. Young people at S5/S6 do not
yet have enough time allocated to physical education. The school’s
policy of presenting young people earlier than normal for National
Qualifications has had an adverse effect on the learning experiences
of many, in particular those currently in S4. Whilst some were
successful in achieving Standard Grade awards early, the majority
have been left confused by changes in policy.
Staff across the school know young people and their learning needs
well. The majority of teachers provide tasks and activities which meet
learners’ needs but others do so less well. The school has recently
improved its approaches to tracking young people’s progress and
setting targets for their learning, helping to ensure that tasks provide
appropriate challenge. The school is effective in meeting the needs of
vulnerable groups and individuals. Young people with a range of
different needs, for example those with English as an additional
language, make strong progress in their learning as a result of their
needs being well met.
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
The school has strong relationships with parents and the community.
Staff communicate well with parents, providing helpful information
about the school, and informative reports about young people’s
progress. These communications help parents play a more effective
part in supporting their children’s learning, for example through
homework. Parents’ evenings are well attended. The Parent Council
provides valued support and links with most of the wider body of
parents. It should ensure that all groups in the community, including
minority interests, are represented to ensure their views are heard.
The school works well with a range of partners, such as health and
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support agencies, to enhance the curriculum and meet learners’
additional support needs. The education liaison officer plays a key
role, working closely with pastoral and administrative staff. They
ensure that parents and young people understand the importance of
regular attendance. Catering staff actively encourage young people to
make healthy food choices. The school deals promptly and sensitively
with any complaints which it receives.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Staff show strong commitment to improving the school’s performance
and to sharing good practice, and are becoming more skilful at doing
so. All are involved in enhancing young people’s experiences and
outcomes. Senior staff, faculty heads and teaching staff use
increasingly effective ways of judging the school’s performance and
identifying improvements. Senior staff have recently reinstated
effective approaches to analyse information about young people’s
progress, achievement and attainment, in order to identify areas for
action. Senior staff and principal teachers are helping to improve
learning, for example by observing lessons and providing teachers
with helpful feedback. The school seeks the views of parents and
takes action to address any concerns they raise. Young people are
invited to give their views about the quality of their experiences in
some subjects. This approach needs to be more widely used across
the school. Community partners should be more closely involved in
helping the school to evaluate its work. Their knowledge and
experience would add to the effectiveness with which the school
judges its performance.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
The school sets high standards for young people’s attendance and
their contributions to the school’s ethos. The “Success” policy
promotes positive behaviour and supports effective learning. It has
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contributed to the school’s success in reducing exclusions significantly.
Staff respond well to any occasional incidents of bullying. The school
promotes important qualities such as respect through its Catholic
ethos and also through a weekly focus on specific themes. The school
values and celebrates its multi-cultural community and successfully
promotes equality and diversity amongst all young people. The
curriculum offers a wide range of opportunities for young people to
explore issues of diversity, for example through the tutor programme
and religious and moral education. Learners’ health and wellbeing is
developed through contributions from specific staff. All staff need now
to find appropriate ways to support health and wellbeing, relevant to
their different subjects. The school has effective arrangements for
religious observance.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The school now demonstrates a clear sense of direction. Led strongly
by the headteacher since his return to the school in January 2009, the
senior leaders work well as a team and lead a number of key
developments well. Faculty leaders and staff provide positive
leadership, for example in project teams. Learners at S5/S6
demonstrate clear leadership qualities, through their duties in the
school and as ambassadors in the wider community. The headteacher
has introduced a wide range of well-judged initiatives designed to
improve young people’s learning and achievement. Whilst these have
yet to demonstrate significant gains in learning experiences for young
people, they provide a strong basis for progress and have the
confidence of staff and young people.
9. 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
and the education authority will inform parents about the school’s
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progress in improving the quality of education. Our District Inspector
will maintain contact with the education authority to monitor
improvements in learners’ achievements.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
As a priority, improve learning and achievement for those young
people adversely affected by the school’s policy of presenting them
earlier than normal for National Qualifications.
•
Complete implementation of important school improvement
projects, including tracking and target setting, and evaluate their
impact on young people’s learning and achievement.
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 All Saints Secondary School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
good
good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Bill Geddes
satisfactory
good
8 December 2009
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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 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education