Wallace High School
Stirling Council
15 December 2009
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, you will also be able to find descriptions of good
practice in the school and a report on the learning community
surrounding the school.
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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
Wallace High School is a non-denominational school which serves an
area including the north of Stirling, Bridge of Allan, and Fallin. The roll
was 958 when the inspection was carried out in October 2009. This
included 13 young people in Ochil House, which provides for young
people from across the local authority with severe and complex
additional support needs. Young people’s attendance was below the
national average in 2007/2008.
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2. Particular strengths of the school
•
Staff commitment to improving young people’s learning
experiences.
•
The wide range of opportunities for young people to achieve.
•
The positive relationships between staff and young people.
•
The opportunities for leadership for all staff and for young people,
particularly those in S6.
3. How well do young people learn and achieve?
Learning and achievement
Young people benefit from positive learning experiences which are
helping them develop confidence. Most are motivated to learn and
contribute well to lessons. Young people enjoy learning together and
respond effectively when given opportunities to work together in
groups. Increasingly, teachers are setting clear learning targets to
help young people improve their learning. In some lessons, staff give
very useful feedback which helps young people to reflect on their
progress. These positive features of learning need to be more
consistently applied across the school. Almost all young people feel
safe and cared for in school. They think they are treated fairly and
with respect. Almost all think the school is helping them become more
confident. Young people in Ochil House respond well to questions and
are able to express their views in a range of ways. Most work well
together and respect and trust staff. They feel safe and secure in
school.
Young people in S5 and S6 are gaining leadership skills and increased
confidence from a range of opportunities both in and out of the
classroom. They are taking on responsibilities as captains and
buddies including supporting younger peers in paired reading. They
gain valuable experience of working with others through organising
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social and charity events and their involvement in the community
sports leadership programme. Young people from S3 to S6 develop
new skills and interests through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
Scheme. They have had notable success in gaining gold, silver and
bronze awards. Young people across the school also enjoy success in
a range of sporting activities. This includes three years of winning the
Stirling Sports School of the Year award. They also show
responsibility and leadership skills by leading and organising clubs.
Their participation in the Soul Touch Uganda project is raising their
awareness of global issues. Young people in Ochil House are
developing literacy and numeracy skills in a range of contexts. They
are developing their confidence and self esteem by success in sporting
activities and participating in community projects.
By the end of S2, the majority of young people attain appropriate
national levels in reading and mathematics. Less than half achieve
these levels in writing. The school recognises that it needs to do more
to track the progress young people are making from the start of S1 to
the end of S2. At S4, results in national examinations are below or
well below the national average. By this stage, young people perform
less well overall than those in other schools which serve young people
with similar needs and backgrounds. By the end of S6, examination
results are in line with or above the national average. The proportion
of young people gaining Higher awards is better than in schools which
serve young people with similar needs and backgrounds. In Ochil
House, young people are achieving well at Access level 1 in a range of
subjects. They are making good progress towards the achievement of
targets in their individualised educational programmes.
Curriculum and meeting learning needs
The curriculum is suitably broad and provides choice for young people.
There is a wide range of opportunities for broader achievements.
Young people develop confidence and important skills by taking part in
school shows, trips and competitions. “Challenge days” provide young
people with tasks which help them to develop important skills such as
problem solving and teamwork. The tasks help young people to
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connect their learning in different areas of the curriculum. Planning
and organising the tasks is helping staff to develop their thinking in
moving forward with Curriculum for Excellence. Staff should continue
to work to ensure courses at S1 build more directly on what young
people already know from primary school. The school works in
partnership with Forth Valley College to enhance provision for a few
young people from S3 to S6. Several young people in Ochil House
also benefit from college provision. The Award Scheme Development
and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) programme is helping to meet a
wider range of needs among young people. The range of vocational
courses and work-related learning is too limited. The school now
needs to develop a broader range of practical courses to better meet
the needs of all young people. At S5/S6, young people do not yet
have two hours of high quality physical education in line with national
advice, or continuing learning in religious and moral education.
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. However, some teachers did not always set
tasks at the right levels for individuals. The school has particular
strengths in meeting the learning needs of young people with more
complex additional support needs. Support for learning staff, including
those working in the flexible support base, provide suitable support for
young people with additional needs. In Ochil House, teachers and
support staff know the young people very well and the supportive
environment meets most of their learning needs well. Young people
with the most complex needs are well supported. Staff are skilled in
altering teaching approaches in response to learners’ reactions.
4. How well do staff work with others to support young people’s
learning?
The school works well with a wide range of partners, including Youth
Services and Careers Scotland, to support young people’s learning.
Partners find the school welcoming and encouraging. Staff work well
with support services to help young people requiring additional
support. For example, young people in Ochil House benefit from the
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support of speech and language therapists and physiotherapists. The
Wallace Children’s Community Partnership helps to raise awareness
of issues which affect young people. Effective links with primary
schools help young people to move confidently into S1. Young people
on the school’s sports leader programme offer coaching to local
primary schools. Parents on the Wallace High Action Team are
working with the school to find ways of involving parents more in
young people’s learning. Parents think that the school keeps them
well informed about their children’s progress. They receive helpful
information on sensitive health education issues. The school has
appropriate arrangements for dealing with complaints.
5. Are staff and young people actively involved in improving
their school community?
Young people take part in and organise a wide range of events that
help build the ethos of the school. The Fairtrade group planned and
organised a fashion show with support from local businesses. Young
people share their views through the pupil council and focus groups.
In some classes, young people’s comments on their learning leads to
improvements. This process could be helpfully applied across the
school. Staff are enthusiastic and committed to working to improve
experiences for learners. Various working groups, led by staff from
across the school, are identifying and sharing good practice. Senior
managers, and more recently faculty managers, visit classes to
evaluate the quality of learning. The school now needs to build on this
approach to ensure an impact on learning and achievement. The
school and authority should continue to monitor and review the
provision in Ochil House.
6. Does the school have high expectations of all young people?
The school has a positive ethos which is evident through the good
relationships staff have with young people. There is a shared pride in
the school and its achievements. The ethos promotes positive
attitudes to learning and achievement. The use of restorative
approaches promotes positive behaviour, including in the flexible
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support base. All staff are trained in child protection. They are alert to
the care and welfare needs of young people. The improvement of
attendance remains an important priority for the school. Staff also
recognise the need to improve approaches to monitoring the progress
of young people across all aspects of their learning. Young people
would benefit from more opportunities to learn about equality and
fairness issues through the personal and social education programme.
The school is not yet providing religious observance in line with
national guidance.
7. Does the school have a clear sense of direction?
Staff have very positive views about the school. The headteacher is
well respected by staff, parents and young people. She has
succeeded in giving the school a sense of direction and has
established an ethos and climate which encourages all staff to be
involved in improving the school. Some faculties are particularly well
placed to go on improving. There is commitment from staff and
leadership at faculty and classroom level for driving forward
improvements. Staff respond well to opportunities to lead school
working groups. This gives the school a sound foundation on which to
build continuing improvements. Young people take on leadership
roles such as head boy and head girl and house captains. The school
should continue to increase the involvement of all young people in all
aspects of the life and work of the school.
8. What happens next?
We are confident that, with support from the education authority, 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. Our District Inspector will maintain contact
with the education authority to monitor improvements in learners’
achievement.
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We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the school
and education authority.
•
Increase the impact of self-evaluation on the quality of learning and
teaching through more consistent approaches and improved
monitoring of young people’s progress.
•
Improve attainment, particularly by the end of S4.
•
Improve the curriculum in line with national developments.
•
Review arrangements for religious observance.
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 Wallace High School.
Improvements in performance
Learners’ experiences
Meeting learning needs
satisfactory
good
good
We also evaluated the following aspects of the work of the school.
The curriculum
Improvement through self-evaluation
HM Inspector: Carol McDonald
satisfactory
satisfactory
15 December 2009
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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 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education