Caldervale High School
Airdrie
North Lanarkshire Council
31 March 2009
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.
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 and details about young people’s
examination performance. 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
Caldervale High School is a non-denominational school which serves
the east of Airdrie and the surrounding areas. The roll was 914 when
the inspection was carried out in January 2009. Young people’s
attendance had improved but remained below the national average in
2007/2008.
1
2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The engagement of staff in the life and work of the school and their
readiness to show leadership and initiative.
•
The quality of support provided for young people with additional
needs, through effective partnerships within the school and with the
community.
•
The impact of vocational courses on developing young people’s
positive attitudes to learning, ambition and responsibility.
•
The impact of enterprising approaches to learning on the quality of
young people’s experiences and achievements.
•
The range of opportunities in school and the community for wider
achievement.
3. Examples of good practice
•
The way the school helps young people to make links across their
learning.
•
Developing ambition, personal responsibility and skills for life.
4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Young people feel that they are treated fairly, that staff respect them
and that they are safe and well cared for in school. They work well
independently and on group activities, when tasks challenge their
thinking and develop responsible attitudes. They express their own
views confidently in class and most listen courteously to each other
during discussions. Young people are keen to improve their work but
some teachers do not yet provide clear enough feedback to help them
2
do so. Teachers do not consistently take young people’s views of their
learning into account when planning future work.
Young people are improving their performance in a number of
important areas. They are developing effective personal and social
skills. Across the school, they show creativity and successful problem
solving skills. At S3/S4, young people developed two innovative
projects which won prestigious national awards. Those involved in
projects such as Airdrie Remembers, the Bookies’ Burns’ Supper, the
Battle of the Bands and the Great Scots from Lanarkshire calendar
have increased their self-esteem and effective team working skills.
Young people in the community sports leadership programme show
initiative and leadership qualities in their work with associated primary
schools. Those studying a range of vocational courses are ambitious
and readily take responsibility for planning and completing projects.
The school actively promotes young people’s involvement in
community activities and decision making. Young people take part in
the Smarties Youth Forum and the election of members of the Scottish
Youth Parliament.
At S1/S2, young people’s attainment in mathematics has shown
consistent improvement. In 2008, a large majority achieved
appropriate national levels of attainment. Attainment in reading has
declined and just over half attain appropriate national levels. In
writing, less than half of young people attain appropriate national
levels. Young people’s learning in mathematics, French and
enterprise benefits from effective links with associated primary
schools. The school has begun to improve links between young
people’s experiences at the primary stages and S1/S2 to help them
make better progress. At S3/S4, young people involved in the Skill
Force programme have been very successful over the past five years.
Those studying vocational courses and a range of units at college
have achieved National Qualifications. However, the school performs
less well at S4 to S6 than schools nationally, and schools which serve
young people with similar needs and backgrounds. In S5/S6, too
many young people gain no award from their courses.
3
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The school provides young people with a balanced range of activities
to develop their skills, especially in enterprise. Teachers have
introduced a number of projects to help young people make links
across their learning. For example, the information literacy project
helps develop responsible attitudes to handling research information,
social skills from working with others and effective presentation skills.
Well-established partnerships with Motherwell and Coatbridge
Colleges support a variety of vocational courses and units from S3
onwards. Young people have good opportunities to take their
vocational studies further in S5. The school does not give all young
people in S5/S6 sufficient physical education, or a continuing
experience of religious and moral education.
The school has developed successful approaches to help meet
learning needs. These include well-planned tasks which encourage
young people to think and investigate for themselves and share their
findings with others. However, some tasks do not allow them to build
well on their prior learning. Sometimes activities are not demanding
enough to help them make good progress. Pastoral and learning
support staff work effectively with senior managers and a wide range
of outside agencies to identify and help young people with additional
needs. A few teachers do not make full use of the helpful information
provided by pastoral and learning support staff. As a result, they do
not always have appropriate expectations of young people who need
additional help.
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
Staff work well with parents and a wide range of local partners and
voluntary organisations to support and enrich young people’s learning.
Helpful links with parents include projects like Getting the Homework
Habit and Safetynet workshops. These help parents support learning
and promote young people’s personal safety. Senior managers have
introduced a new series of presentations for the associated primary
4
schools. These provide helpful information for children and their
parents about transferring to S1. The school has effective links with
educational and health support services. Its business partnerships
help young people with, for example, work placements, mock
interviews and stress management techniques. The school works
closely with a team of five local chaplains. Their contributions support
innovative, effective arrangements to help young people’s spiritual
development. Young people benefit from the opportunities to learn
through the school’s partnerships in the local community. These
include associated primary schools, care homes and the local hospital.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
The majority of young people feel that they have a say in improving
how they learn. They would like more encouragement from the school
to have a healthy diet. There is scope for them to be more involved in
the school’s health promotion group. Young people help organise and
take the lead in presenting important events such as the Christmas
show and assemblies, and through the pupil councils. They contribute
effectively to the wider community through imaginative fundraising
activities. Many staff take part in working groups to develop new
projects and approaches, share effective practice and improve the
school. They also provide regular opportunities for young people to
attend supported study, to develop socially and learn new skills at
lunchtime and after school. Promoted staff observe learning and
teaching and provide teachers with helpful feedback. Increasingly,
teachers from different subjects are visiting each other’s lessons and
working together on projects. This experience is helping to share good
practice and develop more consistent approaches to learning and
teaching. The headteacher discusses examination results in detail
with principal teachers. Senior managers monitor what departments
are doing to improve young people’s achievements. They target
young people in S4 and S5 to help raise their attainment.
5
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
Young people and staff have worked together very well to create an
atmosphere of mutual respect across the school. Staff plan well to
meet young people’s health, emotional and social needs and are very
clear about their responsibilities for child protection. Young people
behave well in lessons and around the school and have positive
relationships with staff. They are proud of their school and of each
other’s achievements. The school celebrates young people’s
successes and encourages them to achieve in a wide range of
activities. When teachers set appropriately high expectations for
young people’s work, they respond very well. Some tasks do not allow
young people to fulfil their potential. Young people would benefit from
more opportunities to broaden their understanding of cultural and
ethnic diversity, for example to further develop their confidence in
tackling discrimination.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The school has clear aims and values, based on providing a high
quality of experience for all young people. The new headteacher has
high, realistic ambitions and expectations for young people’s
achievement and attainment. Staff are developing a shared sense of
responsibility for improving the school. They are increasingly
committed to improving learning and teaching, by understanding better
where improvements are needed. In some departments, young
people have a clear role in reflecting on the quality of their learning
experiences and discussing improvements. Staff need to promote this
good practice across the school. Parents and community partners
need a stronger role in planning improvements to help the school to
make progress and achieve its vision.
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
6
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.
•
Ensure consistently high expectations of young people’s work,
to improve their attainment and encourage their ambition.
•
Build on existing good learning and teaching by sharing
teachers’ good practice and improving their skills in
self-evaluation for improvement.
•
Increase young people’s opportunities for attaining appropriate
certification, including through their wider achievements.
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 Caldervale High School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
satisfactory
good
satisfactory
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Mary Ritchie
good
satisfactory
31 March 2009
7
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 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education.