Arbroath High School
Angus Council
9 March 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) inspects schools in order to
let parents1, young people and the local community know
whether their school provides a good education. Inspectors also
discuss with school staff how they can improve the quality of
education.
At the beginning of the inspection, we ask the headteacher and
staff about the strengths of the school, what needs to improve,
and how they know. We use the information they give us to help
us plan what we are going to look at. During the inspection, we
go into classes and join other activities which young people are
involved in. We also gather the views of young people, parents,
staff and members of the local community. We find their views
very helpful and use them together with the other information we
have collected to arrive at our view of the quality of education.
This report tells you what we found during the inspection and the
quality of education in the school. We describe how well young
people are doing, how good the school is at helping them to learn
and how well it cares for them. We comment on how well staff,
parents and young people work together and how they go about
improving the school. We also comment on how well the school
works with other groups in the community, including services
which support young people. Finally, we focus on how well the
school is led and how staff help the school achieve its 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 from young people, parents and staff, and
details about young people’s examination performance. We will
not provide questionnaire analyses where the numbers of returns
are so small that they could identify individuals. Where applicable
there will also be 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. How well do young people learn and achieve?
4. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving their
school community?
6. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
8. What happens next?
1. The school
Arbroath High School is a non-denominational secondary school which
serves the west side of the town of Arbroath and the rural area to the
west and north-west of the town. The roll was 957 when the
inspection was carried out in January 2010. Young people’s
attendance was in line with the national average in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The impact of a wide range of activities, in and beyond the school,
on young people’s personal development and achievements.
• The participation of staff and partners in enhancing young people’s
experiences.
• The high level of commitment shown by staff to developing their
own practice in order to improve young people’s learning
experiences.
3. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most young people, including those at risk of missing out, are
making good progress in their learning. Most are keen to learn and
work conscientiously on tasks. Almost all young people feel safe
and well looked after in school. They benefit from well-structured
activities which require them to show responsibility and share their
findings and views with others. In some lessons, teachers’ high
expectations led to high-quality discussions and independent
thinking. However, young people’s experiences do not always help
them to be independent in their learning and to think for themselves.
Teachers’ feedback does not always help young people to confirm
their strengths and plan their next steps in learning.
Young people work well together and grow in confidence through
successfully undertaking a range of challenging activities and
volunteering in the local community. Activities such as supporting
disadvantaged groups, both locally and abroad, help them to
become responsible citizens. They develop new skills and interests
through The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. Most young
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people are actively involved in a range of sports and activities
provided by the school. All these achievements contribute to young
people’s self respect and sense of wellbeing. A large number of
them have been successful in regional and national competitions,
both as individuals and in teams. This success helps them to
become more confident and aim high. Young people develop
further skills through a range of out-of-class activities, including
international science conferences, skiing, field work and residential
trips. Young people would benefit from more formal recognition of
their broader achievements.
By the end of S2, the majority of young people achieve appropriate
levels in reading, writing and mathematics. At S4, in recent years
results in examinations show no improvement. By this stage young
people perform notably less well than those in other schools which
serve young people with similar needs and backgrounds. By the
end of S6, examination results are broadly in line with national
averages. By this stage the proportion of young people gaining
three Higher awards, or at least one Advanced Higher, is in line with
that in similar schools. Young people who require additional
support are making good progress towards achieving targets in their
individualised educational programmes. When young people leave
school, most go on to university or college, or are successful in
gaining a training opportunity or employment.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The curriculum reflects the school’s vision to enable all learners to
achieve as well as they can. It provides them with a broad
education and helps them to make progress in their learning. The
school has improved the curriculum in line with Curriculum for
Excellence. For example, studies linking learning in different areas
of the curriculum are progressing well. Various areas of the
curriculum are used to promote health and wellbeing. Young
people have a very good range of opportunities for broader
achievement, including activities which focus on sport, culture,
learning outdoors and charity work. Young people at all stages
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benefit from two hours of good quality physical education each
week. At S5/S6, a wide range of Advanced Higher courses meet
the needs of learners, including the Science Baccalaureate. At this
stage, the Active Health programme helps promote healthy lifestyles
and offers young people a range of activities, including budgeting
and food preparation, to prepare them for life after school. The
school does not meet the requirement for continuing learning in
religious and moral education in S5/S6. The school has a range of
links with associated primary schools, including enterprise challenge
and joint P7 and S1 activities. Effective links with partners,
including Angus College, help learners develop skills for
employment. The On2Feet programme supports some young
people in making sensible choices when preparing to leave school.
Overall, the school meets the learning needs of young people well.
Most teachers use a range of approaches effectively to engage
young people in their learning. In most lessons, learning is brisk
and the level of difficulty appropriate. However, in a few lessons,
too little account is taken of individual learning needs. In the
support for learning base, teachers set tasks that are imaginative
and effective. Young people gain from positive relationships and
regular contact with pupil care and support staff. Support for
learning staff deal sensitively with young people’s needs and
concerns. Staff have received training and support to develop their
role as tutors and mentors. The mixed-age groupings in tutor group
classes allow younger people to benefit from the support of older
pupils who, in turn, develop leadership and interpersonal skills. The
school has recognised the need for earlier intervention to identify
and support behavioural needs more consistently.
4. How well do staff work with others to support young
people’s learning?
Staff work well with a wide range of partners to support young
people and extend their learning experiences. Young people
benefit from strong links with a number of community organisations
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including the police, the fire brigade, the Royal National Lifeboat
Institute and Angus College. Staff work with the family support
team, the school nurse and the local multi-agency resource team to
meet the needs of vulnerable young people. The Parent Council
and parent-teacher association support the school by raising funds
and arranging events such as a recent drugs awareness evening.
Parents receive helpful information on sensitive health education
issues. The school deals effectively with any complaints.
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Young people and staff are involved in a number of groups such as
the eco-group and Fair Trade group that help build the ethos of the
school. Groups of senior pupils act effectively as buddies and
reading partners for younger pupils. In some classes, teachers ask
young people for their views on learning and teaching and use
these to plan improvements. Overall, however, young people do
not have an important enough role in influencing school decisions,
especially on how to improve their learning experiences. The
school has effective arrangements for reviewing the quality of its
work, such as analysing examination results and surveying the
views of young people, parents and staff. Many staff at different
levels are involved in developing and leading approaches which will
help the school continue to improve. They are highly committed to
developing their own practice. They are also ready to increase the
range of out-of-class activities in response to young people’s needs
and interests.
6. Does the school have high expectations of all young
people?
The school has a positive ethos, which is evident in the good
relationships between staff and young people. The wide range of
activities outwith the classroom develop a culture of achievement.
5
Most young people are well behaved in class and around the
school. They are supported to achieve personal goals for health
and wellbeing. The school is now ready to build on the work of the
Health Improvement group in encouraging young people to take
active roles in leading developments. The school has appropriate
arrangements for religious observance. All staff are trained in child
protection and aware of their responsibilities. Young people have
appropriate opportunities across the curriculum to increase their
understanding of equalities.
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher is well respected and has a clear sense of
direction. The senior management team supports the headteacher
well and is effective in taking forward their individual areas of
responsibility. The emerging leadership role of Curriculum Group
Heads is enhancing the school’s focus on improving learning and
teaching. Task groups involve a wide range of teachers who are
encouraged to follow their own ideas and lead initiatives. The
school needs to communicate its vision more widely and ensure it is
understood. In doing this, it should involve all young people more
fully in planning and implementing improvements.
8. 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 develop approaches to monitor young people’s
progress, to help raise their attainment.
•
Improve the consistency and quality of young people’s learning
experiences by carefully identifying strengths and areas for
development.
•
Increase the involvement of all young people in reviewing and
influencing decisions about their learning.
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 High School.
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: Carol McDonald
9 March 2010
7
very good
good
When we write reports, we use the following word scale so that our
readers can see clearly what our judgments mean.
excellent
very good
good
means
means
means
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
means
means
means
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas
for improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
If you would like to find out more about our inspections or get an
electronic copy of this report, please go to www.hmie.gov.uk.
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a
different format, for example, in a translation, or if you wish to
comment about any aspect of our inspections. You can contact us
at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at BMCT,
HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business
Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Text phone users can contact us on 01506 600 236. This is a service
for deaf users. Please do not use this number for voice calls as the
line will not connect you to a member of staff.
You can find our complaints procedure on our website
www.hmie.gov.uk or alternatively you can contact our Complaints
Manager, at the address above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
Crown Copyright 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education