Arbroath Academy
Angus Council
18 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.
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
Arbroath Academy is a non-denominational school which serves the
north-east of Arbroath and surrounding rural area. The inspection was
carried out in September 2008 at which time the roll was 630. A high
proportion of young people live in deprived areas. Young people’s
attendance was in line with the national average in 2006/07.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The success of the senior management team in leading
improvements over the past three years.
•
The wide range of approaches to support young people and
improve their personal and social skills.
•
Young people’s pride in the school.
•
The range of opportunities for young people to take responsibility
and carry out leadership roles.
•
Strong teamwork with community partners to help young people
achieve.
3. Examples of good practice
•
Development of leadership skills in staff and young people.
•
The support provided by the community in helping young people to
read.
•
The involvement of young people in helping teachers to improve
the quality of learning and teaching.
•
Improvements to the relationships within the school and young
people’s behaviour.
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4. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most young people are friendly and respectful. They feel safe and well
cared for in school. The majority feel that they are treated fairly. They
would like all teachers to recognise good behaviour and effort more
consistently. Young people play an active part in most lessons and
they have many opportunities to work together. They like the way
teachers use information and communications technology (ICT) to
make lessons more interesting. Young people do not always have a
clear understanding of what they need to do to improve their work.
Young people learn well from their involvement in a wide range of outof-school clubs and activities. Large numbers have developed skills of
leadership and responsibility through their involvement in Junior and
Senior Sports Leaders schemes. A significant number have achieved
success and contributed well to the community through taking part in
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and Eco School team. Young people
from S3 to S6 have willingly contributed to the school by, for example,
organising various sports and dance events and by helping younger
children with their learning. Recently, a group of young people
successfully led an assembly at which they shared the findings of a
survey they had carried out on effective learning.
Achievement in mathematics by the end of S2 has recently improved.
Young people’s progress in reading and writing by the end of S2 has
been more variable. The results in national examinations for young
people in S4 to S6 have been below the national average. However,
in recent years the results have been getting better. For example, the
number of young people achieving at least five awards at both General
and Credit levels has steadily improved. Those with additional support
needs are making good progress. Most young people leave school for
university, college or a job. The proportion excluded from school is
above the national average.
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Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Young people study a broad range of suitable courses. From S3, a
significant number are benefiting from courses provided by Angus
College. At all stages, young people are well prepared for leaving
school and starting work. Through working with local employers,
young people are learning new skills and contributing well to the
community. Staff have developed good links in a few subjects with
primary schools and they plan to develop these more widely. The
recently appointed Transition Teacher has helped young people with
their learning, including those who need extra support, in moving from
P7 to S1. Staff have started to plan and deliver activities to help
learners to understand links between different subjects. For example,
a highly successful Information Literacy Skills programme designed by
the school librarian has engaged young people in S1 and staff from
several subjects.
Most of the tasks set by teachers in class are at a suitable level of
difficulty to meet young people’s learning needs. The pace of learning
is generally right but in a few cases it is either too fast or too slow.
Staff knew that some courses and programmes needed improvement
to meet learning needs better. Most teachers use ICT well to make
lessons interesting. Recently, the school has been successful in
identifying and meeting the needs of young people including those with
additional needs. Support for Learning staff provide effective extra
help for young people in classes and in small groups. They have
prepared helpful profiles which outline how staff can best meet
learning needs. Some young people have specific targets in
individualised educational programmes. Across the school, teachers
need to know about these targets and do more to help young people to
meet them.
5. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
The school has developed good ways of working with parents to help
their children to learn. Most parents are happy with the school and
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feel that they are kept well informed about the progress made by their
child. The majority of parents feel that the school takes good account
of their views. The active Parent Council helps the school and has
worked well with staff to identify school priorities and plans for
improvements. Pupil care and support staff work very well together
and with others to identify and meet young people’s needs. A group of
staff and young people have developed good links with catering staff
to promote healthy eating. The successful Parent Teacher Association
gives strong support to the school.
6. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
The school regularly gathers the views of young people and staff. A
group of young people had effectively collected and presented the
thoughts of learners on a range of important matters, including
teaching and learning. Overall, though, young people would like to
have a greater say in how to improve learning. The school has taken
the results of surveys of young people’s views and is acting upon
them. A significant number of young people are improving the school
community, for example by leading and coaching sports activities. The
views of staff have been used to plan improvements at faculty and
school levels. A significant number of staff show initiative and play
leading roles in school improvements. Teachers are beginning to
share good practice. Some steps are being taken by senior managers
and heads of curriculum areas to evaluate how well young people are
learning and performing in examinations. This good practice needs to
spread throughout the school. In a number of curriculum areas, young
people’s learning has not yet been effectively or regularly evaluated.
7. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
Over the past three years teachers have worked well to encourage
young people to have higher standards of behaviour. Young people
have responded very well. The school now has a calm atmosphere
and most young people feel well looked after. Young people and staff
are proud of recent school improvements. Most young people feel that
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staff are approachable and can give help if needed. Staff are good at
helping them when they have problems. The school actively promotes
healthy living. Almost half of young people take part in out-of-class
activities and school clubs. The breakfast club encourages young
people to make healthy choices in eating. Young people are involved
in setting their own learning targets. They feel that teachers
encourage them to work to the best of their abilities. Some young
people at S6, along with members of the community, have worked well
in helping younger learners in their reading.
8. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher’s commitment to the school and his vision that all
young people should achieve has helped to give a positive lead to staff
and the community. His very effective team of deputes has been
responsible for a number of recent improvements. Senior managers
and principal teachers have worked successfully with staff and young
people to raise standards and improve relationships and behaviour in
the school. Many members of staff and young people have
enthusiastically taken leadership roles in groups and activities to raise
achievement. The school has developed strong links with its
community. A wide range of organisations make a positive
contribution to the achievement of young people.
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.
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We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Continue to improve young people’s results in examinations.
•
Build on the good practice in learning and teaching and make sure
that it is spread across the school.
•
Improve arrangements for monitoring young people’s progress and
evaluating the quality of learning and teaching.
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 Arbroath Academy.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
good
good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Alistair Brown
18 November 2008
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very good
satisfactory
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.