St Luke’s High School
Barrhead
East Renfrewshire Council
20 January 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
St Luke’s High School is a denominational school which serves the
towns of Barrhead, Neilston and Uplawmoor. The inspection was
carried out in November 2008 at which time the roll was 638. Young
people’s attendance was above the national average in 2006/07.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Young people’s consistently high levels of success in examinations.
•
Success across a range of activities brought about by the
dedication of staff and the motivation of young people to achieve.
•
High levels of involvement in the community by young people.
•
Focus of all staff on meeting all learning needs which leads to
almost all young people achieving success.
•
All young people are included and take an active part in the life of
the school.
•
A culture among staff of seeking improvement and making sure
changes improve teaching and learning continuously.
•
Highly effective leadership at all levels which motivates staff to
continue to improve.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Planning to ensure positive destinations for young people.
•
Tracking wider achievements.
•
Developing activities across faculties.
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4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Almost all young people are highly motivated and determined to
succeed. Regular discussions about targets encourage them to work
extremely hard to pass their examinations. Almost all young people
take on a range of responsibilities through relevant learning activities,
including exciting activities which promote their health and wellbeing,
such as the very well attended cooking club. They are very proud of
their achievements and promote the school’s values at all times.
Young people learn very well from an exceptionally wide range of
opportunities for personal achievement. Their achievements are
monitored carefully and they are encouraged to develop skills through
a range of activities which best meet their needs. Teachers
consistently recognise young people’s successes through local and
national prizes and awards, including Barrhead Young Citizen of the
Year, Youth Scotland awards, and a range of in-school awards. Most
young people take part in activities in school which develop their
confidence and help them to contribute effectively to society. For
example, young people participate in local community improvement
groups and anti-sectarianism projects. Many others develop these
skills through activities in the community, which the school monitors.
High numbers develop confidence and responsibility through taking
part in sporting and cultural activities such as school shows, charity
and fundraising groups, and football and netball teams. They learn
well from taking part in outward bound activities, musical trips to
Europe and a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Achievements in reading, writing and mathematics in S1/S2 are high
and continue to improve. In recent years, the performance of young
people from S4 to S6 in national examinations has been well above
the national average and much stronger than those of young people
with similar needs and backgrounds in other schools. Results in
almost all key national measures of attainment from S4 to S6 have
remained consistently high. Young people with additional support
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needs are making outstanding progress. Large numbers of young
people have their achievements in vocational education and personal
development recognised formally. High numbers of young people
leave school to attend university, college or enter employment.
Vulnerable young people are supported into employment or college
through very effective transition programmes.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The school provides an excellent, broad and challenging curriculum
both in and out of class. In S1/S2, teachers work very effectively with
each other to provide challenging, enjoyable and well-linked learning
activities. Young people make the connections between their learning
in different subjects and see the relevance of what they are studying
by, for example, working with members of the local community.
Teachers meet regularly with colleagues from local primary schools to
ensure young people progress very well from their prior learning. The
arrangements to help those who need extra support to make a
successful start to secondary school are outstanding. The curriculum
from S3 to S6 meets the needs of young people very well. Young
people find the courses challenging, enjoyable and stimulating.
Practical, skills-based courses develop young people’s work and life
skills very well. The progress of young people receiving part of their
education at local colleges is monitored and supported very effectively.
Very good steps are being taken to ensure literacy and numeracy skills
are taught in a systematic way across the school. The school is very
well placed to continue to develop its curriculum in line with the
principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
Almost all teachers have a detailed knowledge of young people’s
needs and provide them with suitably challenging tasks. In English,
young people use skills and language they have developed in drama
to talk confidently about texts. In mathematics, young people have
worked on a survey which was linked to their work in modern
languages. In history, young people in S2 used their knowledge of
Word War One to produce a Remembrance Day assembly. In biology,
young people made a range of visits, for example to universities, to
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see the relevance of science to society. Across the school, young
people’s progress is checked very carefully by all teachers and
reported on very regularly. Almost all young people experiencing
short- or long-term difficulties are supported in a variety of ways.
Teachers know the support being provided and adapt their teaching if
necessary.
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
The school has very strong partnerships with parents, the local
community and local businesses. Parents appreciate the regular
updates on their child’s progress. They are very satisfied with the way
senior staff handle any issues they raise. Parents, including those on
the Parent Council, work alongside teachers and other community
agencies to help plan school improvements and support the work of
the school, such as a bid to fund a market garden project. The strong
links with a number of local colleges, businesses and community
groups help to broaden learning experiences in colleges and the world
of work. Community learning and development workers and teachers
work together to deliver very effective learning opportunities such as
the Prince’s Trust XL programme. There are several examples of
innovative programmes, such as the work with the youth counselling
service, which focus on young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Young people are very positive about the range of opportunities they
have to take an active part in school life. Their involvement in
developing the school’s new aims has ensured they are written and
presented so that all young people can understand them. Young
people are pleased they can influence and improve their learning. An
excellent programme involves staff and young people working to gain
awards for enterprising teaching and learning. Staff draw on a large
amount of information, gathered in a range of effective ways, to help
them improve the school. For example, young people walk around the
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school and show principal teachers and the headteacher what they
have learned in each subject. Teachers regularly watch each other
teach and these opportunities are used to identify where teaching and
learning across the school can be improved. All teachers in the school
track young people’s progress. The innovative target-setting groups
enable young people to discuss their next steps with teachers and
each other, helping them to do as well as they can.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
The school has a hardworking and caring ethos. Staff and young
people have high expectations in all that they do. The pastoral support
team offers highly effective support and is continually helping young
people to do their best and achieve. Young people are very positive
about the support they receive from all staff and the way they are
treated. Behaviour across the school is very good and young people
support each other very well. The school expects young people to
have high standards for their own achievements and celebrates their
successes well through regular awards at assemblies and through
award postcards, articles in the local press, celebration plasma
screens and lively displays across the school.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher provides exceptional leadership which motivates
staff and young people to work to the best of their abilities. Her
continuous drive to improve teaching and learning and her sensitive
support of staff and young people promotes a hardworking and caring
ethos. The senior management team is highly effective and very well
respected by staff. Both promoted and unpromoted teachers,
including those who are newly qualified, take on a range of leadership
roles. The teamwork of the principal teachers is excellent and they
support the work of the senior management to ensure important
changes are made across the school. Non-promoted teachers lead a
number of improvements. For example, the teaching and learning
co-ordinators work with the principal teachers of development to take
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forward well-planned improvements to teaching and learning in
classrooms.
9. What happens next?
The school’s self-evaluation is leading to improvements in young
people’s learning. As a result, the inspection team was able to change
its focus during the inspection to help the school plan to improve even
more. HMIE will make no further visits following publication of this
report. The education authority will let parents know about the
school’s progress. It will do this as part of its normal arrangements for
reporting on the quality of its schools. We have agreed the following
areas for improvement with the school and education authority.
•
Build on the good practice of most teachers to ensure that young
people understand their next steps in learning in every subject.
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 St Luke’s High School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
excellent
very good
excellent
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: David Gregory
excellent
excellent
20 January 2009
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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