Working together to inspire

learning and achievement in

Highland Communities
Standards and Quality Report
The Highland Council
Education, Culture and Sport Service
Mallaig High School
2016/2017

Our school vision, values and aims

We aim to be a school full of people who see learning as a good thing and
who work together to learn and to improve their skills.

We will put our best efforts into everything that we do. We will aim high and
try to constantly improve our performance by looking at what we have
already done.

We will make special efforts to make sure that everyone feels cared for and
well supported.

We want everyone in the school to be happy and making healthy choices for
their lives.

We will be open in our work and try to listen to everyones opinion.

We will show respect for everyone.

We will treat everyone fairly.

We will learn about, investigate and participate in the world beyond the
school gates and the world beyond Lochaber.

The Core Areas of our Practice

This report summarises the strengths of our school, our recent improvements and
what needs to improve further. We gather this information throughout the year in
a variety of ways so we can make sure our report is as accurate as possible. We
take time to compare what we do with national examples of best practice. We
visit each others classes to share standards in learning and teaching. We look at
children and young peoples work to see how they are progressing. We cross
mark work. We make use of factual data and information including attainment
results responding and adapting our teaching in line with childrens needs. We
assess using our own expertise, standardised testing, cross marking and results
tracking. Children peer assess and self assess. We gather the views of children,
parents, staff and members of the local community. We use all of this information
to arrive at our view of the quality of education we provide.
Our Key Strengths

Pupil Attainment is well above national averages, particularly for the

highest attaining 20%
All pupils are well supported in their learning
The Curriculum offers a range of appropriate and challenging courses.
Teachers know pupils well: they are treated as individuals
There is a well ordered atmosphere which is conducive to learning.
All pupils move on to employment, training or Further and Higher
Education when they leave school
Almost all pupils are well motivated and engaged in the life of the school

Our Improvements Last Session

Implementation of remaining new Higher and Advanced Higher courses.

This includes building on new assessment and quality assurance
procedures established for Nationals and Highers in previous years.
Improved attainment for the middle 60% in SQA exams
Consolidating and further developing the Health & Wellbeing course for
S1 S3 following staff changes and appointment of a Principal Teacher to
lead this area.
Developing programmes with Skills Development Scotland
Links with West Highland College to enhance the curriculum
Established the use of Progression Frameworks in S1-S3 with a review and
evaluation
Building on the monitoring and recording of pupil achievements so that
the information is used for the benefit of pupils
Aligning Assessment, Tracking and Monitoring, Reporting, Cohort Reviews,
Profiles & Mentoring
Partners in place for Duke of Edinburgh & John Muir Awards
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Greater provision of curricular fieldwork and trips enabled by the new

minibus.
Improvements to BGE curriculum greater choice; summative
assessment for all S3 pupil and a review of Inter-disciplinary Learning
resulting in improvements
Introduction of the Youth Philanthropy Initiative
Further develop the use of IT to allow pupils to be more independent in
their learning

Our Priorities For Improvement for Next Session

Further improve Management structure

Achievement embed DoE & John Muir Awards
Engage with partners for Developing Young Workforce
Plan for 33 period week
Further develop monitoring of pupil progress
Share Good Practice among staff
Further align Professional Review & Development with Self-Evaluation and CPD
Further development of Health & Wellbeing
Involvement of Parents
Skills development among pupils
Further develop the use of Google accounts ahead of the roll out of
Chromebooks
Ensure that learning and teaching attainment and achievement are not
adversely affected by falling roll and cuts

1. How well do young people learn and achieve?

1.1.Improvements in performance
Standards of attainment over time
Overall quality of learners
achievement
Impact of the school improvement
plan

2.1 Learners experiences

The extent to which learners are
motivated and actively involved in
their own learning
and development

Our key strengths are:

Standards of attainment have been consistently high for the last ten years. Very small
cohorts do lead to fluctuations in attainment, outside of statistical norms;
nevertheless, standards of attainment are well above national averages, particularly
for the highest performing 20%. Insight data, three years ago, revealed a dip in
performance for the middle 60% of leavers but this has been addressed.
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation data is of very limited use in identifying the
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attainment gap between the most deprived and most affluent pupils in the school.
The school is developing its own criteria, working on an individual basis, to address
this issue.
For the last three years the School Improvement Plan has been dominated by the
introduction of new SQA courses and by the development of our Health & Wellbeing
courses and our scheme for Universal Support.
Standards of attainment have been sustained and a slight underperformance of the
middle 60% has been improved through our focus on the progress of targeted
individuals.
Our learners are motivated and eager participants in their learning. They are actively
involved in their own learning and development and show increasing skills as
learners. In almost all classes, high quality feedback makes them aware of their
progress and strengths as learners. They are responsible and contribute actively to
the life of the school. In our school, learners are treated with equality, fairness and
respect. Almost all, including those at risk and vulnerable, have progressed well and
make very good progress from their prior levels of attainment and wider
achievement.
Learners tell us that they are very satisfied with the schools provision; they feel that
they are valued, but are looking for a more effective Pupil Council and more
consultation on the way they learn
The quality of learners experiences is good. Almost all staff successfully create a very
positive and inclusive environment for learning. Pupils of all levels of attainment and
at all stages work enthusiastically and cooperatively with their teachers.
Learners feel safe, nurtured, healthy, achieving, active, included and respected. A
significant number of pupils report that the school should do more to promote healthy
eating and should, also, review its handling of bullying incidents.
They relate well to one another and respond positively when given the opportunity to
work in pairs or in small groups. Almost all teachers provide pupils with helpful
feedback that assists them to plan the next steps in their learning. They help pupils
become more responsible for their learning through planning and assessing some
aspects of their own work. Almost all staff work to provide more consistent
opportunities for pupils to be independent learners.
Our developments are:
o Extend opportunities for pupils to talk about their progress in learning and
next steps and work to offer pupils more opportunities for taking
responsibility for their own learning.
o Plan to encourage pupils to be actively involved in the development as well
as the evaluation of learning and teaching.
o Continue to provide more opportunities for pupils to contribute to
community/society through the Health & Wellbeing programme and other
areas.
o Continue to develop learners literacy and numeracy skills appropriate to the
curriculum area through existing Literacy and Numeracy groups.
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o Continue to promote wider achievements, and help learners to grow as

citizens.
o Continue to develop systems of monitoring and universal support

2. How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
5.1 The Curriculum
5.3 Meeting learning needs
The rationale and design of the
Tasks, activities and resources
curriculum
Identification of learning needs
The development of the curriculum
The roles of teachers and specialist
Programmes and courses
staf
Transitions
Meeting and implementing the
requirements of legislation
Our curriculum was developed in 2010 with a clear rationale based on shared values.
It was designed to promote challenge, enjoyment, breadth and depth, progression,
relevance, coherence, personalisation and choice in learning for all pupils. It took
account of local circumstances, and local and national advice. It leaves scope for
teams and individual teachers to introduce well-considered innovations to meet the
needs of learners.
We develop and refresh our curriculum on a regular basis, involving all staff. For
future developments we need to take more account of the views of parents and
learners. Staff teams reflect on the range and quality of experiences for learners, the
impact of these and the outcomes they achieve. We have planned carefully in making
curriculum innovations, adaptations to meet needs, and opportunities for choice and
specialisation, although we recognise that we need to make further progress with
vocationally based courses, particularly in the Senior school.
Our programmes and courses are challenging, relevant and enjoyable, although in
some knowledge based subjects, they do not feature sufficient explicit development
of skills.
We respond to, and meet, the needs of learners. Timetabling supports progression
within curriculum.
The curriculum provides most pupils with broad and balanced learning programmes.
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The school should broaden its consultation with parents beyond the Parent Council.
The school has been creative in maintaining its curriculum while reducing staffing in
line with its falling roll and cuts in council funding. The school has consulted staff on
changes to the curriculum and is developing improved approaches to extend learning
opportunities for all pupils. The roll will continue to fall for a number of years and
consultation with parents will be crucial during this period.
Particular features of the curriculum include the following.
o Provision for a separate Health & Wellbeing course and Individual Personal
Support
o Almost all pupils in S2-S6 are offered a range of courses that provide
appropriate opportunities for choice and progression.
o Exit points from S3 that allow pupils to progress to Higher in S4
o There is a range of Open and Distance Learning courses for the Senior school
which form a valuable function in extending the breadth of the curriculum.
o All subject areas have programmes of work S1-S3 with experiences and
outcomes mapped and embedded and assessment is based on National
Frameworks of Assessment.
o Curricular links with associated primary schools are not well established. Recent
changes to the management structures of the local primary schools will
facilitate progress in this area.
o Links with partners for vocational education have been slow to develop, but
there has been good progress on partnership working with West Highland
College, in the last year.
o Ensure that all course promote and monitor the development of skills for life,
learning and work.
Our key strengths are:
We match the learning activities to the needs of individual learners and groups with
differing abilities or aptitudes. Our tasks, activities and resources provide appropriate
support and challenge to enable all learners to maximize their progress. Our courses
and programmes meet the varying needs of almost all learners. The pace of learning
is appropriate for individuals in most courses, although the school continues to closely
review the expectations associated with BGE courses.
We identify, review and evaluate learners needs. We do this through working closely
with our learners, their parents and partner services. In the next session, the school
will develop strategies to respond to a greater range of needs in response to the
intake of new learners.
We take positive and proactive steps to ensure that factors, such as the learning
environment, family circumstances, health or disability, or social or emotional factors
which may hinder learning are promptly identified and addressed effectively. At
present, the school lacks a promoted member of staff to coordinate advice and
support to staff and individual learners and to contribute towards meeting learning
needs. This gap will be addressed early in the new session.
Individualised education programmes and coordinated support plans contain
appropriate learning targets for our learners. We involve parents and learners well in
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reviewing learners needs and learning plans.

Staff meet pupils learning needs very well. As pupils progress through the school, a
range of courses, at appropriate levels, help teachers to meet pupils needs. In almost
all classes, staff carefully match tasks and activities to pupils learning needs.
Teachers support pupils so that they work at an appropriate pace and make very good
progress. They keep pupils changing needs under review, and give effective
additional support as required. All staff freely give of their time at lunchtime or after
school to give pupils additional support. Staff are sensitive to any personal
circumstances that might be a barrier to learning. In particular, any challenging
behaviour is effectively addressed to ensure that it does not disrupt learning.
The support for learning (SFL) department should play a central role in
helping teachers to meet pupils needs, particularly those pupils with
additional support needs. New staff in August 2016 will need support and
training to enable them to give effective support to pupils in class. Flexible
timetable arrangements will be necessary to enable SFL staff to support individual
pupils in the SFL base to meet their individual needs. The schools effective
partnership with a range of agencies will ensure that those agencies are very well
involved in providing this support.
Weekly meetings of staff to discuss a wide range of issues with pupils enhance
communication for the benefit of learners.
Our developments are:
o As part of curricular transition, build on pupils prior learning, particularly in
English and Mathematics.
o Further develop the support for all pupils learning, making effective use of
supervised study sessions, the Health & Wellbeing programme and Student
Planners
o Build on initiatives in Geography and Science to work on curricular transition
and the sharing of standards from Primary to Secondary, including teaching
methodologies, to ensure continuity of learning.
o Continue to develop improved links and flexible provision through the West
Highland College.
o Appoint a Principal Teacher of Learning Support
3. How well does the school improve the quality of its work?
5.9 Improvements through self-evaluation
Commitment to self-evaluation
Management of self-evaluation
School improvement
Our key strengths are:
As individuals and with colleagues, we evaluate our own class work as reflective
practitioners and make improvements. We work as a school community to
evaluate provision in order to secure continuous improvement, including major
change where this is needed. We are developing effective systems for gathering
the views of staff, parents, learners and partners about the quality of our work.
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We work in active partnership with other services for children to secure

improvement. Our vision, values and aims are used as a basis for reviewing our
work.
Our self-evaluation focuses on key aspects of learners successes and
achievements. It draws on a range of advice and evidence and is increasingly
rigorous. All our teachers reflect on current practice and evaluate any new
initiatives, ideas and changes we have introduced. We clearly identify strengths
and areas for improvement. We need to extend the sharing of good practice,
both within the school and with other schools.
Our school community takes a joined up approach to improvement across all
that it does. We are committed to acting on results of self-evaluation. Our
improvements focus on improvements to learning and teaching and the
achievements of all learners.
The school is committed to obtaining the views of staff, pupils and parents to
help it reflect on its performance. In the forthcoming year, staff will put in place
practical ways of seeking the views of pupils on the effectiveness of teaching
and learning. Senior managers use the evidence from self-evaluation, and from
examination results, to support teachers. This evidence includes the results of
lesson observations by senior managers. Staff share the vision and values of
the school. They are encouraged to bring forward ideas, to lead developments,
and to represent the school. The work of staff is clearly and openly valued.
o
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Our developments are:

Continue to monitor and evaluate L&T across the school, with particular
emphasis on classes within BGE.
Continue to link classroom observation and other monitoring to Professional
Development Reviews
Monitoring and evaluating the impact of cuts in staffing and resources and
increased class sizes
Embed peer observation through scheduling and the use of trios.
Further develop staff knowledge and understanding of How Good is Our School
4 (HGIOS4), GTCS Standards and Self Improvement Through Self Evaluation
(SISE) at all levels across the school.
Give partners opportunities to evaluate progress and areas for improvement.
Partners will be more formally involved in evaluation, planning and
improvement.

The Highland Council Education Service Quality Improvement Team

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