Bathgate Academy
West Lothian Council
11 November 2008
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.
HMIE would like to thank the education authority, headteacher,
all staff, young people and parents for their constructive
contributions to this pilot of new inspection approaches.
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
Bathgate Academy is a non-denominational school which serves the
town of Bathgate and surrounding area. The inspection was carried
out in June 2008 at which time the roll was 1023. Young people’s
attendance was above the national average in 2006/07. During the
inspection, young people at S4-S6 were on examination leave.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Encouragement of pupils’ broader achievements.
•
The progress made by pupils with additional support needs.
•
The clear and comprehensive strategy for encouraging positive
healthy living.
•
Very effective arrangements for supporting pupils and meeting
learners’ needs.
•
A well organised curriculum, with emphasis on innovation to meet
the needs of pupils.
•
The clear sense of direction from the headteacher and the
management team.
•
Robust and comprehensive quality assurance arrangements and a
culture of self-evaluation.
•
Strong links with the local community.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Curriculum innovation, including the strong emphasis on
international education.
•
The comprehensive quality assurance systems.
•
The service offered to pupils with additional support needs.
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4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most pupils in Bathgate Academy were confident, responsible and
contributed well to activities organised by the school and community.
Most were well motivated, enthusiastic and actively involved in
classwork. The school was improving the number of pupils who did
well in examinations. Young people’s examination results compared
favourably overall to those of young people in schools whose young
people have similar needs and backgrounds.
•
The majority of S2 pupils were achieving national levels in reading,
writing and mathematics. Most were making clear progress from
their prior levels of attainment.
•
The number of S4 pupils gaining awards at Foundation and
General level had increased significantly over the last few years
and compared favourably with other schools whose young people
have similar needs and backgrounds.
•
The numbers of pupils gaining Highers by the end of S6 was in line
with the national picture, but had improved over the last two years
by comparison with other schools whose young people have similar
needs and backgrounds.
•
The proportion of pupils gaining Advanced Highers in S6 was
above that of similar schools.
•
Pupils who had additional support needs were making very good
progress from their prior levels of attainment.
The school encouraged pupils’ broader achievements through whole
school activities and the wide range of sporting, cultural and
community activities it offered. The strong commitment to enterprise
education, health education, education for citizenship and sustainable
development provided many pupils with useful life skills and
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experiences. Almost all pupils went on to college, university, training
or employment. The school was planning systematically to improve
pupils’ achievements, particularly the need to increase the numbers of
S4 pupils achieving Credit awards at Standard Grade.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The school had a very well planned curriculum, which was
continuously improving to meet pupils’ needs. The introduction of
additional choices for S1 pupils and the increasing emphasis on
vocational learning from S3 onwards were important innovations. The
school worked hard to meet pupils’ individual choices. Those who
wished to take part in vocational activities had a wide range of
opportunities, including links with local employment opportunities. The
emphasis on healthy and positive living was maintained across the
school. Pupils were benefiting from the opportunities offered in
enterprise education and Eco-school activities. The school’s approach
to education for citizenship included activities in the local community
and extensive links with schools abroad through the European Union
Comenius Project. The school now needed to build more
systematically on pupils’ prior experience in primary schools as it
moved towards the implementation of the national Curriculum for
Excellence initiative.
Overall the school responded very well to the range of pupils’ needs,
through well planned teaching, innovations within the curriculum, well
organised pastoral care and the commitment of staff towards
promoting healthy lifestyles. Some very well targeted teaching and
support was evident in a number of subject areas. ICT was used
effectively to engage pupils with their learning. Pupils with additional
support needs received a very good level of service from support for
learning staff. Pupils were positive about the efforts made in some
departments to seek their views about the quality of courses. Some
still needed better feedback about how to improve their work. A few
were less well motivated and were not engaged with their learning in
some classes.
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5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
Staff, particularly the guidance, support for learning and pupil support
teams, knew pupils very well and provided sustained support for those
who needed extra help. The school worked well with its associated
primaries to help new pupils settle in to S1, particularly those for whom
the change would be a challenge. The school also helped pupils to
prepare for when they would leave Bathgate Academy. Very good
work with partner agencies along with the school’s own information
ensured swift action in indentifying and addressing barriers to pupils’
learning. The school was also working hard to establish constructive
links with parents and families in supporting pupils’ learning and in
identifying priorities for improvement. The constructive partnership
with community police officers and youth workers was a major strength
of the school. This included working with the wider community to
combat vandalism and substance misuse and providing information
about personal safety and risk.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Staff throughout the school were highly committed to improving the
quality of pupils’ learning. Teachers felt fully involved in curriculum
development and were positive about the opportunities they had for
continuous professional development. Most pupils felt included in the
life of the school and that staff listened to them. They had an
appropriate level of responsibility in the school as a whole. A sizeable
minority felt that they should have a greater say in how to make
learning better. The school had strong links with its wider community
and worked well with community groups to improve pupils’ learning.
Pupils’ community involvement included a wide range of environmental
activities, charity involvement and local community events.
There was a strong culture of self-evaluation across the school.
Approaches were comprehensive and rigorous. Staff were open to
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change and improvement. Their widespread involvement in
self-evaluation was critical to the further improvement of the
school. The school also consulted other stakeholders regularly,
including pupils and parents, and used external consultants where
appropriate to evaluate progress with initiatives.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
The overall school ethos was positive. Relationships between
teachers and pupils were constructive in the main, although a small
number of pupils did not behave well and disturbed the learning of
others. The school worked hard to achieve an inclusive culture, with
all pupils encouraged to engage in all aspects of school life. Pupils
appreciated the efforts made on their behalf to encourage healthy
lifestyles. There were clear and suitable procedures for safeguarding
pupils’ welfare, including child protection and addressing incidences of
bullying. Arrangements for religious observance were appropriate.
Most pupils felt safe and well cared for. There was a clear race
equality policy and many areas of the curriculum promoted respect for
fairness, human rights and cultural diversity. Most pupils felt they were
treated fairly and with respect. Teachers’ expectations of pupils were
high overall and the school recognised personal achievements well. In
a few classes there needed to be a higher level of expectation about
pupils’ potential achievements and work.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher, depute headteachers and curriculum leaders
provided the school with strong collective leadership. The
headteacher provided a very clear sense of direction in relation to the
school’s aims and values for positive and healthy living. He was well
supported by staff. The comprehensive nature of the school’s
processes for self-evaluation left the school well placed to improve
further.
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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 progress
in improving the quality of education.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Continue to innovate within the curriculum to meet pupils’ needs
effectively.
•
Continue to develop strategies for raising attainment.
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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 Bathgate Academy.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
Good
Good
Very good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the
school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Lachlan MacCallum
11 November 2008
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Very good
Very good
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 2008
HM Inspectorate of Education.