29 April 2014
Dear Parent/Carer
Linlithgow Academy
West Lothian 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
development and structure of the curriculum and the school’s approach to pastoral
support. 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?
Almost all young people, including those in the autism resource, learn and achieve
very well within a friendly atmosphere and purposeful learning environment. They are
proud of their school and an ethos of respect is evident through their mature attitude to
learning and relationships with each other and staff. Almost all are very well behaved,
able to work well independently and apply themselves responsibly to their work. In a
few lessons, activities are too teacher-directed and young people do not have
sufficient opportunity to take responsibility for their learning. Young people are
articulate and discuss and share their learning with others and their teachers with
confidence. Their creative thinking shines through in the high quality of work produced
in areas such as design and technology and art and design. As they progress through
the school, they improve their learning and social skills well. A wide range of clubs,
activities and educational trips such as the exchange programme with a school in
Texas, USA, enhance young people’s learning further. Young people achieve
success, and develop informed attitudes and important skills for life and work through
these experiences. At all stages, young people evaluate their strengths as learners
and set targets for improvement with their subject and register teachers. Young
people in the autism resource engage positively in their learning and are highly
involved in setting and reviewing their learning targets. From S1 to S3, young people
would benefit from better feedback on what they do well and what they need to do to
improve. Young people feel safe and cared for by staff. They told us that their views
are listened to but feel they should have a greater say in decisions that affect them.
A significant number of young people engage enthusiastically and achieve success by
participating in an extensive range of enterprise, cultural, musical, sporting,
Education Scotland
Longman House
28 Longman Road
Inverness
IV1 1SF
T
01463 253115
F
01463 253075
E inverness@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
Textphone 01506 600236
This is a service for deaf users. Please do not
use this number for voice calls as this will not
connect.
www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Transforming lives through learning
volunteering and leadership activities and events. They gain a wide range of important
skills through their involvement in these activities, such as teamwork and are
developing well as young citizens. Their many achievements are recognised through
the school’s merit system, annual awards ceremony, local and national trophies and a
range of media including the recent national television broadcast of the S6 pupils’
‘Teen Canteen’ enterprise project. Young people in the autism resource won an award
to display their photographs in athletes’ rooms at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A
number of young people achieve success in a range of award programmes, including
the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and Sports Leadership Awards. Those in the
autism resource achieved a John Muir award as part of their outdoor learning
activities. Young people at the senior stage express themselves well and take on a
high level of responsibility for their younger peers and the wider community. The
school is aware of young people’s involvement in wider activities through its profile
management and pupil tracking system (PROMPTS).
Young people from S1 to S3 are progressing well across their learning with strong
progress being made in a number of subject areas such as art and design and
science. Most young people attending the autism resource have made significant
progress in literacy and numeracy from prior levels of attainment. From S4 to S6,
young people achieve very highly in national examinations. The school has
significantly improved performance from a consistently high level in the last five years.
In almost all key measures, the school performs well above national averages and
significantly better than in schools which serve young people with similar needs and
backgrounds. The quality of young people’s attainment has improved notably, with
significant numbers achieving Credit level and grade A Intermediate and Higher
awards. The proportion of young people achieving an Advanced Higher is more than
twice the national average and well above schools which serve young people with
similar needs and backgrounds. Almost all young people are successful in moving on
to employment, training or further learning on leaving school. The proportion of young
people leaving school to progress onto higher education is significantly higher than the
national average.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
The high-quality support which young people receive to help them develop and learn is
a major strength of the school. Pastoral and pupil support staff make effective use of
PROMPTS to share very useful information with staff to help them support young
people’s learning. Teachers are proactive in using PROMPTS to report any concerns
and to access relevant information to meet young people’s needs in the classroom.
Support staff work very effectively with a range of specialist partners to access
appropriate support, particularly for those young people with the greatest needs.
There are particularly effective arrangements to support young people in moving from
P7 to S1. Across the school, in most lessons young people undertake tasks, activities
and resources which meet their needs well. There is scope to challenge young people
more by developing their inquiry and critical thinking skills through effective
questioning and increasing the pace of learning. In the autism resource, the pace of
learning and level of challenge is appropriate for all individuals. Young people speak
positively about the extra out-of-class help they receive from teachers with their work.
The school’s partnership work with Skills Development Scotland is providing very good
support to those leaving school.
2
The school is working successfully to provide a curriculum which aims to meet the
needs, interests and aspirations of all young people in Linlithgow Academy. The
rationale for the curriculum is strongly influenced by educational research and national
guidance resulting in staff having a clear understanding of what the curriculum aims to
achieve. The school now needs to re-engage with parents and young people to
develop a shared understanding of the opportunities the curriculum provides from S1
to S6. Teachers work confidently with the Curriculum for Excellence guidance to plan
learning and for progression from S1 to S3 and into the senior phase. Young people
are provided with a range of opportunities for choice, specialisation and depth whilst
maintaining experiences within all curriculum areas. They would benefit from more
planned opportunities to link different areas of their learning to develop, reinforce and
deepen understanding. In S3, young people can choose to continue to study two
modern languages or elect to participate in learning leading to an accredited award
such as a Sports Leadership award. The curriculum from S4 to S6 allows young
people to work towards National Qualifications over one and two-year courses of
study. This flexible approach is providing opportunities for young people to deepen
their learning and is meeting their needs well. The school needs to do more to explain
the benefits of these approaches to parents. The school is increasing opportunities for
young people to study a range of short and vocational courses. The school plans to
review the curriculum to ensure that young people from S1 to S6 benefit fully from all
the key aspects of Curriculum for Excellence, for example development of their health
and wellbeing. The autism resource provides young people with a suitable blend of
individualised support within a small group setting, along with access to a good range
of curriculum areas delivered by subject teachers.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We are confident that the school has the capacity to improve further the quality of its
work. The headteacher demonstrates a determination to achieve the highest
standards for all through the opportunities afforded by Curriculum for Excellence. He
has been well supported by the depute headteachers, principal teachers and other
staff. Staff across the school are committed to ensuring young people learn and
achieve very well. Principal teachers use a range of evidence to evaluate the
experiences they provide for young people in their specialist areas, and this has led to
continuing improvement. Staff involved in local and national development groups,
such as National Qualification design teams, use these experiences to good effect to
improve learning, teaching and assessment in their subject areas. The ‘S6 Legacy’
review allows young people to use their experience to influence improvements such as
the level of support given to school leavers regardless of their destination. The school
has recently revised approaches to evaluating its own work. These need to be used
consistently and more effectively across the school to bring about continuing
improvement in young people’s experiences and achievements. Parents would
welcome more information about their children’s progress. Overall, the school needs
to continue to increase the role of young people, parents, staff and community partners
in school improvement.
This inspection found the following key strengths.


Young people’s outstanding attainment.
Well-mannered, articulate young people who are highly motivated to learn.
3


The high quality of pupil support provided by staff across the school, including in
the autism resource.
The overall leadership provided by the headteacher, including driving
improvements to the curriculum.
We discussed with staff and West Lothian Council how they might continue to improve
the school. This is what we agreed with them.

Continue to improve the quality and consistency of young people’s learning
experiences through more focused self-evaluation.
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 evaluative visits in connection with this inspection. During the
inspection, we identified an aspect of innovative practice which we would like to
explore further in order to share it with others. As a result, we will work with the school
and West Lothian Council to record and share the innovative practice more widely.
Fiona Robertson
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/Linlit
hgowAcademyWestLothian.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.
4