5 June 2012
Dear Parent/Carer
Bannockburn High School
Stirling Council
In March 2010, HM Inspectors published a report on your child’s school. We
subsequently returned to the school to look at how it had continued to improve its
work, and published another report in May 2011. Recently, as you may know, we
visited the school again. During our visit, we talked to young people and worked
closely with the headteacher and staff. We heard from the headteacher and other
staff how the school has continued to improve. We looked at particular areas that
had been identified in March 2010 and at aspects of the school’s work, as proposed
by the headteacher. As a result, we were able to find out how well young people are
now learning and achieving and how the school is continuing to support them to do
their best. This letter sets out what we found.
How well do young people learn and achieve?
Young people at Bannockburn High School continue to be keen to learn. They work
and behave well. They enjoy offering their opinions and sharing ideas during class
discussions. Young people continue to evaluate their own work and the work of
others regularly. They are benefiting from departmental supported study classes
which extend their learning. More young people are confident in taking on roles of
responsibility within group activities. There is scope for staff to enable all young
people to take further responsibility for their own learning. Teachers should build on
the good practice in this aspect of learning which is already developing in some parts
of the school.
Young people are gaining confidence and skills for life through a range of
opportunities to achieve in different contexts. They are developing skills in
leadership very well and recently, a few young people were successful in
interviewing leading politicians. Young people are growing in personal skills and in
their awareness of citizenship through their roles as house prefects and global
student leaders for example. Some are developing those skills through leading
charity work and from participation in the amnesty group. At S4 to S6, tighter
procedures for monitoring and tracking the progress of individual learners are having
a positive impact on young people’s attainment and achievements. At S1/S2, the
school does not yet monitor young people’s progress systematically across all
subjects. However, the school is working with the authority to put systems in place
which will give the school a clearer picture of young people’s progress at these
Education Scotland
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Transforming lives through learning
stages. Attendance rates have begun to improve. The school should continue to
monitor young people’s attendance rigorously.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
Across the school, young people continue to enjoy good relationships with staff who
are now providing more varied activities to help young people learn better. Staff are
becoming more confident in using the principles of Curriculum for Excellence in
developing new courses. Links to local universities and “Dragon’s Den” enterprise
activities are making a positive contribution towards providing a broader curriculum.
All young people at S4 benefit from certificated work experience as part of the
school’s skills for work programme. Staff continue to plan learning effectively across
subject areas.
Young people value the opportunities to set and discuss their individual learning
targets during lessons. In a few classes, learners are not able to work at the pace
appropriate to their needs because lessons are too teacher led. The school has
continued to improve its approaches to identifying the needs of young people who
may require more support in their learning. Specialist staff are working more closely
with staff across the school to maintain more effective support for these young
people. This work needs closer monitoring to decide how it should develop next in
order to continue meeting learning needs better. The school should continue to
expand its partnership with the Parent Council which is keen to work more closely
with staff on aspects of learners’ experiences in school. Young people and staff are
working together more to improve their school and this has led to a greater sense of
pride in the school community.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
We are confident that the staff at Bannockburn High School are committed to
improving the quality of their work. The new headteacher shows strong
determination to take the school forward. He is doing this in partnership with the
senior management team which supports fully the level of change required to
continue to improve the school. Faculty leaders and many unpromoted staff across
the school are leading change and improvement. Young people are now influencing
school improvement better through, for example, pupil council meetings, the eco
group and the Curriculum for Excellence group, as well as participating in regular
questionnaires. Staff use nationally recognised benchmarks to evaluate the quality
of their work and this is helping them see more quickly where improvement is
needed. The headteacher promotes an ‘open door’ policy actively and this has led
to a better sense of teamwork. Young people and their parents are benefiting from
this approach. Staff share good practice and new ideas with enthusiasm through
teacher-led improvement groups. They continue to work together to put in place new
processes for observing each other’s teaching and raising standards. Leadership
roles for all staff are developing very well. All staff should continue to develop their
work to take greater account of the views of learners.
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What happens next?
There are clear signs of improvement since the original inspection. The school now
performs better overall. Improvements in performance are now at a satisfactory level
or better. We will make no further visits in connection with the inspection report of
March 2010. However, our District Inspector will remain in contact with the school
and education authority to monitor improvements in outcomes for all learners. 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.
Aileen Monaghan
HM Inspector
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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