Ross High School
Tranent
East Lothian Council
15 March 2011
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
Ross High School is a non-denominational secondary school which
serves the community of Tranent and surrounding area. The school
roll was 960 when the inspection was carried out in January 2011.
This included 23 young people in the additional support needs (ASN)
department, a provision for young people from across the local
authority with severe and complex additional support needs. Young
people’s attendance was in line with the national average in
2008/2009.
1
2. Particular strengths of the school
•
The enthusiastic involvement of all staff in taking forward
improvements to support the learning of all young people.
•
The range of approaches to support and help young people
achieve.
•
Partnership working, including partnerships to support young
people with additional support needs.
3. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Most young people are keen to learn and work purposefully on
tasks. They enjoy being actively involved in their learning and work
well with each other and their teachers. Where young people are
engaged in tasks which allow them to work collaboratively, they
speak positively about how this has helped their learning. Most
young people are well-behaved and feel the school is helping them
become more confident learners. Increasingly teachers are using
approaches which encourage young people to be more active in
their learning. In some lessons, staff give very useful feedback
which helps young people to reflect on their progress. Staff now
need to ensure these positive features of learning are more
consistent across the school. Almost all young people in the
additional support needs (ASN) department are motivated by their
learning. They enjoy being at school and are developing skills to
prepare them for life after school. Across the school, most young
people feel they are treated fairly and with respect. They feel safe
and well cared for in school.
2
Many young people achieve well and are increasing their
confidence through a range of activities. Young people in S5/S6 are
improving their leadership skills through a range of opportunities
such as the Community Sports Leadership Award and supporting
younger learners in school, including in the ASN department.
Across the school, young people are developing their citizenship
skills as they contribute to the life of the school and community
through membership of house councils, the pupil council and eco
group. Young people are increasingly aware of their skills as a
result of recognising achievements through, for example the John
Muir Award, Princes Trust and Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme.
The recent Christmas Fair, organised and run by S4, helped
develop their enterprise skills. In order to recognise and celebrate
achievements the school has made an effective start to tracking
young people’s achievements in and beyond school.
The school is aware of the need to improve the information it
gathers to monitor the progress of young people’s learning across
the curriculum in S1/S2. By the end of S4, young people’s
attainment at Foundation and General levels is above the national
average. Attainment at Credit level is in line with schools which
serve young people with similar needs and backgrounds. By the
end of S5, the number of young people achieving three or more
Higher awards is in line with these schools. More young people
could achieve five or more Higher awards at S5. By the end of S6,
young people are achieving in line with schools which serve young
people with similar needs and backgrounds. The number of young
people going from school into higher or further education has
increased in recent years. Young people in the ASN department
are making very good progress against targets set for them in
literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
Young people study a broad range of subjects from S1 to S6. Staff
are working well to develop the curriculum to take account of
Curriculum for Excellence. Young people in S1 are experiencing a
3
range of learning activities increasingly designed to challenge them
and engage them more fully in their learning. Staff should continue
to work with local primaries to ensure learning at S1 builds more
directly on their primary school experience. Across S3 to S6 the
school offers a wide range of courses leading to certification. Some
courses do not offer suitable challenge and progression for young
people. Developing the curriculum has, at times, led to a variety of
pathways which have not always benefited all learners. The school
now needs to develop the curriculum to ensure a coherent
experience which provides appropriate progression for all learners.
Young people benefit from learning beyond the classroom. This
includes outdoor education, international excursions and trips to
local and national places of interest. The school provides two hours
of quality physical education for young people in S1 and S2. Young
people from S3 to S6 do not yet benefit from two hours of physical
education. Well-planned partnership work supports young people to
make a successful transition from school. The curriculum in the
ASN department is well planned and personalised to ensure young
people progress in developing appropriate skills.
Staff know young people well. They plan tasks and activities that
meet the needs of most learners. In the most effective lessons,
these activities offer suitable levels of challenge to all young people.
However, at times, lessons do not always meet the diverse range of
needs in class. Staff in the pupil support and ASN departments
work effectively with partners and colleagues to identify young
people’s support needs. They provide sensitive and well-judged
support for groups and individuals. They have a clear
understanding of the needs of learners and share this effectively
with staff across the school. Young people benefit from a wide
range of well-planned interventions to support their learning and
develop their skills in different ways. In the ASN department, staff
use individualised educational programmes with the experiences
and outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence to effectively track
young people’s progress. Throughout the school, support workers
are valued team members and make important contributions to
meeting learners’ needs.
4
4. How well do staff work with others to support young
people’s learning?
The school works very well with a wide range of partners to support
and improve young people’s learning. This includes psychological
services, community police, health service professionals,
community learning and development and family support workers.
Partners feel valued and included in many aspects of the work of
the school. Therapists work very effectively with young people, staff
and parents in the ASN department. Strong links with associated
primary schools help ensure that young people are well supported
as they transfer into S1. The Parent Council works well with the
school to support learning. The school has effective links with
parents through its regular newsletters and developing website.
Most parents find progress reports about their child’s work
informative. They found the recent Connections evening helpful.
The effective partnership work with Skills Development Scotland
and community learning and development is helping to support
young people into positive destinations on leaving school. The work
of the school Sport and Physical Activity Coordinator is encouraging
young people to make choices which support the development of a
more active lifestyle.
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
The pupil council makes a positive contribution to the life and work
of the school, including organising successful charity events. Young
people take on leadership roles such as in the senior leadership
team and house teams. Staff are committed to making young
people’s learning experiences better. They share good practice
with each other and value the “good practice lunches” where staff
meet to discuss improvements to learning and teaching. Senior
managers work with link departments to monitor improvements.
These approaches are being developed to ensure a more
consistent impact on learning and teaching.
5
6. Does the school have high expectations of all young
people?
Overall, staff have high expectations of young people’s work and
behaviour. The school has developed a more positive approach to
supporting behaviour. This is helping staff and young people to
resolve any issues which arise. Staff help to raise young people’s
aspirations by celebrating their success in school. Equality and
diversity is discussed and promoted in a number of ways, including
through social education and religious and moral education. The
school provides regular opportunities for religious observance.
Young people with additional support needs are well integrated and
feel valued and happy in school.
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
The headteacher knows the strengths of the school and the areas in
which it needs to improve. The deputes share her strong
commitment to improving outcomes for all young people. Staff are
involved in working groups which provide opportunities for leading
improvements to learning and teaching. The senior management
team should continue to work with staff to ensure there is a shared
understanding of the vision for improving the school. With further
involvement of parents, partners and young people, the school has
the capacity to continue moving forward positively.
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.
6
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the
school and education authority.
•
Continue to develop a coherent curriculum which provides
appropriate progression for all young people.
•
Ensure learning experiences consistently provide appropriate
levels of support and challenge.
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 Ross 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 A McDonald
15 March 2011
7
satisfactory
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 2011
HM Inspectorate of Education