26 November 2013
Dear Parent/Carer
Dumfries Academy
Dumfries and Galloway 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: innovative
approaches to learning and teaching; the use of information and communications
technology (ICT); the leadership opportunities for young people; and the impact of the
tutor support system in helping young people to be clear about their progress and next
steps. 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 are well-behaved and engage well in their learning. They feel
safe, supported, encouraged and well cared for in school. Almost all feel they are
becoming more confident as a result of their learning experiences. Relationships
between staff and young people are positive and support effective learning. Most
teachers share the purpose of lessons with young people and, in the majority of
lessons, provide high-quality feedback. Most staff support young people well to reflect
upon and evaluate their own work. This helps them to become more independent and
to take more responsibility for their own learning. Young people often use ICT well to
support them in reflecting on and evaluating their progress. Overall, young people
would like more of a say in how they can improve their learning. The school has
recognised the need to ensure that young people are aware of how their views have
been acted on. Teachers are beginning to make progress in helping young people to
be more aware of how they are developing their skills and building on their
achievements.
Young people in Dumfries Academy achieve very well. At the senior stages, young
people appreciate the opportunity to lead and volunteer as buddies, mentors and
paired readers and in leading sports activities and clubs for junior pupils. They take a
lead role in organising numerous aspects of school life including through the work of
the Senior Events Committee and in the publication of regular newsletters. Leadership
opportunities for younger pupils need to be extended. Young people are developing
their confidence in performing, teamwork and presenting through drama festivals and
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Transforming lives through learning
workshops, and music events. Groups of young people participate in outdoor learning
giving them greater appreciation of the natural environment as well as the opportunity
to learn new skills and recognise and manage risk when outdoors. Increasing
numbers of young people are successful in having their skills recognised through
awards such as Dynamic Youth Award and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Young
people participate in a range of sporting activities each week including a very
successful and popular basketball club which helps to enhance their levels of physical
activity and social skills. Young people value greatly the offsite trips and outings
locally, nationally and internationally which enhance their understanding of what it is to
be a global citizen. By the end of S2, the majority of young people are making good
progress in most curricular areas. By the end of S4, young people’s attainment is
improving in all measures and is consistently above national averages in all of the
main national measures of attainment. By the end of S5 and S6, young people
continue to achieve consistently better than, or in line with, the national average in all
of the main measures. Young people with additional support needs are making good
progress in their learning and achieve national qualifications in a range of subject
areas. The proportion of young people who secure a positive destination on leaving
school has been increasing and is now above both the local authority and national
average.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
Young people are well supported to achieve, develop and learn new knowledge, skills
and attributes. In most lessons, the pace of learning is brisk and teachers provide
appropriately challenging tasks which helps young people make effective progress.
This is not yet consistent enough in all lessons across the school. In some lessons,
tasks and activities need to be more stimulating and in a few lessons, teachers need to
have higher expectations of what young people can achieve. In some lessons,
teachers need to ensure that time is used more productively and take more consistent
account of young people’s prior learning. Almost all staff in the school work well
together to provide a very effective level of personal support for young people. Young
people value the support they receive and appreciate the positive way staff respond to
their learning needs. Young people with additional needs are well supported through a
range of successful interventions, including in lessons. Staff with specific additional
support remits play a significant role in supporting all young people across the school.
The curriculum continues to evolve gradually since the school made the decision last
session, to move on from presenting young people early for national qualifications in
S3. Young people experience a broad general education and develop their knowledge
and skills across all curricular areas in S1. They then specialise in some curricular
areas at the end of S1. This means that many young people are making some choices
before they have had enough experience of particular subjects to make informed
decisions. Young people take part in cross-curricular projects in arts, creativity, health
and wellbeing and technology. Some of this work needs to be planned better to
ensure young people are making suitable progress. The school works well with a
range of partners to enhance young people’s learning and to widen their experiences.
The curriculum supports young people’s achievements well through, for example, the
Junior Award Scotland in S2 and S3. From S1 to S3, the timetabling model means
that young people are not experiencing sufficient learning in modern languages or
religious and moral education. From S4 to S6, young people, including those with
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additional support needs, are able to choose from an impressive range of courses
which meet their diverse needs. This includes a good range of vocational options. All
young people from S1 to S4 have at least two periods of physical education each
week in line with national recommendations. Those in S5 and S6 also have two
periods of physical education each week which helps to support their health and
wellbeing development. The school should continue to monitor the arrangements for
tutor time at all stages, and personal study in the senior phase, to ensure that best use
is made of this time. The school has strengthened its curricular links with cluster
primary schools to good effect through its work in science, health and wellbeing,
numeracy and literacy. This is helping staff to share their understanding of standards
and build greater confidence.
How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
The senior management team gives a very positive lead to improving the school’s
work and, as a result, staff are focussed on providing the best learning experiences for
young people. A significant number of staff are involved in groups to share best
practice and benefit from professional learning with each other. Several staff have
considerable expertise in leading on developments in national qualifications. More
needs to be done to share this expertise across the school so that all staff and young
people can benefit. The school has improved its approaches to tracking and
monitoring young people’s progress and has been successful in bringing about greater
consistency in learning and teaching. It now needs to strengthen further its
approaches to tracking young people’s progress. In particular, staff need to take
account of assessment evidence from a wider range of subject areas from S1 to S3.
We have asked the school to involve partners more in evaluating its work. While it
often gathers the views of parents and young people, it needs to respond to these
views more regularly. Staff in all subject areas, including tutors, are reflecting on their
practice. The school now needs to strengthen its approaches to evaluating its work. It
needs to ensure planning for improvement has greater impact on young people’s
learning experiences and achievements.
This inspection found the following key strengths.
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Supportive and encouraging learning environment.
Relationships between and amongst staff and young people.
Partnership working to improve young people’s learning experiences and
achievements.
Staff commitment to career-long professional learning.
Impact of the school’s work in improving transition arrangements.
We discussed with staff and Dumfries and Galloway Council how they might continue
to improve the school. This is what we agreed with them.
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Continue to develop the curriculum and ensure more consistently high-quality
learning across all curricular areas.
Ensure young people’s learning needs are met more effectively through more
challenging learning activities and higher expectations of what can be achieved.
Further improve approaches to self-evaluation to ensure continuing improvements.
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What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that most of the
school’s self-evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a result, we will
make no further visits in connection with this inspection. As part of its arrangements
for reporting to parents on the quality of education, Dumfries and Galloway Council will
inform parents about the school’s progress.
Donald A Macleod
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/Dum
friesAcademyDumfriesandGalloway.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.
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