St John’s RC Academy Standards and Quality Report 2014 15€¦ · Standards and Quality Report...
Transcript of St John’s RC Academy Standards and Quality Report 2014 15€¦ · Standards and Quality Report...
St John’s RC Academy Standards and Quality Report 2014-15
School Aims and Values
Mission Statement
In St John’s RC Academy, we seek to grow together as a community of faith and learning in which every member feels welcomed, valued and safe. Guided by the gospel values of Jesus Christ, our staff will work to provide the highest quality of education for the young people in our care. In doing so, we will help them to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to our school and to society.
Aims
The work of everyone associated with our school is directed by the following aims:
we will help each other to grow in faith and to develop our values and spiritual lives we will inspire in each other a lifelong love of learning with a positive culture of
achievement we will encourage our pupils to take responsibility for their learning and lifestyle we will support our families and the life of the wider community we will promote self respect and show consideration for others we will develop our gifts in the service of others promoting a spirit of peace and
forgiveness
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Achievement
Attainment
The April 2014 HMI report highlighted our
improvements in performance among our
children and young people as a very good
strength. In 2014/15 the overall trend in
attainment across the broad general
education has continued to be very positive,
particularly mathematics throughout the
primary department and across all areas of
Literacy and English (Listening and Talking,
Reading and Writing) in the secondary
department.
In Primary 1 most children are achieving at
the expected level or better in Listening and
Talking (84%) and Mathematics (88%). The
majority of children are achieving at the
expected level or better in Reading and
Writing.
In Primary 4 most children are achieving at
the expected level in all areas of Literacy and
English (Listening and Talking, Reading and
Writing) with 69% achieving this in
Mathematics.
In Primary 7 the majority of children are
achieving at the expected level across
Reading, Writing and Mathematics with
Listening and Talking being the strongest
elements with most children achieving the
expected level or exceeding it.
In Secondary 3 (S3) the majority of children
are achieving at the expected level across
Listening and Talking, Writing and
Mathematics with most achieving this level or
exceeding it in Reading.
Pupils in S4 studied National Qualifications,
mostly at National 3, 4 and 5 and achieved the
school’s best-ever results. 43% of our pupils
achieved five awards at National 5 level, an
increase of 15% from 2014. 88% of our S4
cohort achieved at least five qualifications at
National 4, up from 87%. When compared
against pupils of similar profiles from across
Scottish schools, our S4 pupils performed
better across all relevant measures.
In S5, 54% of our pupils gained at least one
SCQF Level 6 (Higher) award. This is an
increase of 5% from the previous year. 26% of
S5 pupils achieved three Highers and 12%
achieved five Higher awards, an increase of
2%
In S6, there was an expected drop in
Advanced Higher awards, with 15% of the S4
roll achieving at least one Advanced Higher.
56% of our pupils achieved at least one Higher
award – an increase of 3% from 2014. 41% of
S6 pupils gained at least three Highers, while
27% gained five SCQF level 6 (Higher) awards,
an increase of 3% from last year. Again, when
our S5/6 pupils’ achievements are compared
with pupils with similar profiles, our pupils are
performing better against most relevant
measures.
Wider achievements
We continue to recognise and celebrate the
achievements of our pupils in and out of
school, including through our portfolios,
assemblies and award ceremonies, including
our 2015 Dux, Ewan Morrison, who achieved
3 Advanced Higher awards at A.
Our nursery department has developed very
successful ‘Stay and Play’ and craft sessions
for parents and carers, and we have enhanced
our outdoor area and increased opportunities
for outdoor learning.
Within our primary school, highlights in 2014-
15 included the P3 class café and the excellent
P2 nativity play. Primary 7 piloted SCIAF’s
Talented Fundraisers Initiative, which helped
them to develop creativity and enterprise
skills while raising awareness and funds for
the work of SCIAF. In addition, half of our
Primary 7 achieved the Pope Francis Faith
Award, an award by the Bishops’ Conference
of Scotland. This award is designed to help
children to show ‘signs of love’ in their daily
lives and be active members of their local
Church or faith community. P7 also excelled in
their production of Zoom and participated in
the transition week at Dalguise with pupils
from Our Lady’s, Perth and St Stephen’s,
Blairgowrie. As always, a particular highlight
of the year was the reception of the
Sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and
Confirmation for many of our P3 and P4
pupils. Our partnership with our local Catholic
parishes continues to be strong throughout
the school, aided by our chaplains and youth
workers.
Looking internationally, almost half of our S2
pupils developed their winter sports skills in
the Italian Alps and many our S4 pupils
travelled to the Battlefields of Belgium and
France to mark their respect and deepen their
understanding of World War 1. Following on
from Mr Hagney’s visit to Ethiopia, the school
raised a record-breaking £9000 for SCIAF (and
this was doubled by the UK government). This
was the largest donation to SCIAF from any
school in 2015. Pupils also supported
MacMillan, CRY UK and Perth Autism Support
(through the YPI programme) this session.
The Charities pupil group were recognised by
being chosen as winners in the PKC Spirit of
Youth Awards with many other individuals
and pupils groups reaching the finals.
Towards the end of 2014, we became the first
all through school in the UK to achieve Level 2
status as a UNICEF Rights Respecting School.
The report recognised as key strengths our
“polite, confident pupils who were proud of
their school”; a “high level of pupil
participation throughout the school”; “the
extent to which the wider community is
actively involved in RRSA”, and “the clear
connections between initiatives such as
Fairtrade and the UNCRC”.
The school has also been developing and
extending our links with Romania, building on
our links with the Recuperare Clinic in
Bucharest. In February a formal partnership
agreement between St John’s RC Academy
and St Joseph’s College (an all-through
Catholic school in Bucharest) was signed, and
opportunities to learn from one another are
being developed.
The Duke of Edinburgh Award continues to
grow at St John’s RC Academy with some of
our S3 and S4 pupils accumulating 5000 hours
of volunteering, skills development and
physical activity at Bronze and Silver level,
including outdoor expeditions led by our
instructor and staff. From across S1 to S4, 150
pupils achieved bronze, silver or gold
navigational awards with the National
Navigation Award Scheme.
Pupils also had opportunities through the
school to be Sports Ambassadors with Active
Schools, achieve Food Hygiene and
Employability awards, and offer their time to
the school and local faith communities
through the Caritas Award.
Through our transition and health and
wellbeing initiatives, 69 of our young people
from across S1, S2 and S3 were recognised
through the Saltire Award and 14 S4 pupils
received Heart Start Awards from the British
Heart Foundation. In addition, 45 S1 and S2
pupils gained SCQF credits at Level 3 and
achieved Dynamic Youth Awards through
their commitment to overcoming a range of
personal challenges.
As part of the pilot for Careers Academy
within Perth and Kinross, 15 S6 pupils
graduated in an award ceremony at the
Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, with Elinor
Mooney winning the regional award and an
internship with Standard Life.
Learning
The HMI report in April 2014 stated that our
learners’ behaviour and positive attitudes to
learning were key strengths. Across the
whole school, we are developing the children
and young people’s skills for learning, life and
work.
We recognise that the key to ensuring all our
learners’ needs are met is through high
quality learning and teaching. Since the
inspection, we have been building on our
approaches to improving the quality of
learning experiences which meet the needs of
all learners in a wide variety of ways.
Staff have undertaken a range of continuous
professional development (CPD) activities,
within whole school, department and
individual settings. Whole school staff CPD has
included a focus on how our school can meet
the needs of some of the most vulnerable
members of our community as a result of
mental health issues, abuse and poverty. A
significant number of staff have been working
in ‘teacher learning communities’ focusing on
developing their practice in assessment for
learning approaches and this is building a
greater consistency of approach across the
whole school. In the primary, pupil support
assistants have benefited from a range of CPD
opportunities which are developing their skills
in working with pupils with particular needs.
Individual staff have been improving their
knowledge and skills, including at Masters
level, across a wide range of activities. These
activities are having a positive impact on the
learning opportunities which they lead, for
example, in developing pupil mentors,
opening up opportunities for international
learning and delivering Scottish Qualifications
Authority and other qualifications.
Observations of teaching, where teachers are
provided with feedback on the children’s and
young people’s learning, have improved
through paired observations across the whole
school. This allows us to be more consistent
with feedback which is focused on strengths
and next steps.
In the secondary department we are
continuing to work with our learners and their
parents/carers to ensure that curriculum
pathways are appropriate for all and that all
of our young people achieve positive leaver
destinations. We have been developing these
pathways in light of the Scottish
Government’s ‘Developing Scotland’s
Workforce’ policy and Perth and Kinross’
Enterprise and Employability strategy.
We are continuing to have a focus on learning
conversations all through the school which is
allowing our learners to better develop their
language of learning, and enables them to talk
about their progress and achievements. This is
also enabling our children and young people
to formulate short and long term goals.
We have also developed a number of specific
approaches to improve the quality of learning
and teaching at particular stages and for
particular groups or individuals. In the upper
stages of primary, we have reviewed our
maths provision in light of current research
and in consultation with staff. This is already
having a positive impact on attainment in
maths and numeracy. In primary and in the
early years of secondary, we are continuing to
develop approaches to peer and paired
reading. Primary teachers have been auditing
their classroom environments to ensure they
are ‘dyslexia friendly’ and we continue to
promote approaches to learning and teaching
which take account of specific learning needs.
This has included reviewing our support
resources within the secondary department
so that they are now more responsive and
flexible.
We are continuing to develop outdoor
learning opportunities in the primary and
secondary departments, including the P7
residential as well as the John Muir,
Navigation and the Duke of Edinburgh Awards
for secondary learners. For children and
young people with identified needs, we have
been improving targets within Individual
Education Plans, Coordinated Support Plans
and Additional Support Needs planning, and
with the sharing of successful approaches
with staff. We are also working well with
partners to improve the support we can offer
our learners and families. Support around the
development of health and wellbeing skills,
including social skills, anger management and
resilience, have been particularly effective.
Leadership
The 2014 HMI visit recognised that ‘leadership
at all levels…is leading to continuous school
improvement’.
As leaders of learning, all teaching staff have
been engaging with the General Teaching
Council of Scotland’s new requirements for
professional update, aligned to teachers’
Standards. Our teachers meet and exceed
these Standards through a wide variety of
professional activities. In the nursery and
primary, staff lead aspects of school
improvement such as chaplaincy and World
Book Day, and work closely together in stages
to plan learning. In the secondary
department, many teachers have taken lead
roles in developing new national qualification
courses. Staff all through the school have
been leading teacher learning communities
and improvement working groups and,
together with our forum for principal
teachers, are committed to driving
improvement by providing opportunities for
professional dialogue and learning. Teachers
have also led activities and excursions,
including during Health and Activities Week in
May, leading lunchtime and after-school clubs
and study support sessions, as well as leading
outdoor learning activities, charity events and
supporting our Fairtrade, Rights Respecting
School, Eco and sports programmes.
We have continued to develop the role of
pupil voice within the school, promoted
through the House Captains in the primary
and secondary departments. We are actively
listening to parents’ views and are developing
a programme of greater engagement for
session 2015-16 in response to feedback.
St John’s RC Academy continues to develop a
wide range of leadership opportunities for our
pupils. Younger leaders have developed their
skills, for example through the development
of Peer Mentoring in Maths, being part of
whole school groups such as the Rights
Respecting School, Eco and Fairtrade groups,
being sacristans or paired reading buddies.
Others have led through helping in the infant
playground or being primary House Captains
and Vice-Captains. Our outgoing Head Girl,
Zap Paderog, and Head Boy, Ruaridh Neil,
were supported by a team of deputes, house
captains and prefects, and our new team, led
by Andrew Blain and Laura Wardlaw, have
already made a real impact. Senior student
leadership opportunities have included daily
duties to enable the school to run smoothly,
supporting parents’ evenings, hosting special
guests and representing the school at various
events, including the Referendum and
General Election counts, the Kirking of the
Council, SCIAF’s Wee Box launch and speaking
at a national Education Scotland conference.
High level strategic outcomes
We are a successful learning community.
We are an inclusive learning environment meeting the needs of all learners.
All members of our community actively contribute to improving our school.