Dunoon Grammar School
Argyll and Bute Council · 6 June 2023
Back to Bute and Cowal Area Committee — 6 June 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL SECONDARY SCHOOL ATTAINMENT REPORT AREA COMMITTEE DUNOON GRAMMAR SCHOOL JUNE 2023
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School Name Dunoon Grammar School School Address Ardenslate Road, Dunoon, PA23 8LU Head Teacher David Mitchell CONTEXT OF THE SCHOOL Dunoon Grammar School has a very long and distinguished history spanning over 350 years of growth, of which high standards of academic and personal development have been the hallmarks. Dunoon Grammar School is a mixed sex, interdenominational school which caters for pupils aged from eleven to eighteen years of age and serves the area of Cowal. Catchment is rural in nature and includes two large primary schools in Dunoon and 9 other primary schools. There are 742 pupils on the school roll. The teaching staff compliment is 58.2FTE. The Senior Leadership Team comprises of the Head Teacher and four Depute Head Teachers. There are 8 Principal Teacher Curriculum and 4 Heads of House (Guidance). In our school we are committed to providing appropriate learning opportunities for the young people, both in and out with school, and to secure positive destinations for all of our students. This is done in partnership with parents/carers and takes into account the needs of our young people. Our SIMD ranges from SIMD1 to SIMD 6. The pupil equity funding for session 2022-23 was £80,000. We have used this money to build on the excellent work that we started in our wellbeing hub. Our wellbeing officer has introduced a structured mental health strategy working with See me, we have employed a youth worker, a life coach and introduced a number of Principal Teacher posts to support improvement and to close the attainment gap. These Principal teachers include, PT DYW, PT Learning and Teaching and PT Raising attainment.
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S3 ACEL Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy School Level % Achieved Reading Writing L&T Literacy Numeracy Dunoon Grammar School Third Level or better 77.8 71.9 76.3 68.1 89.6 Argyll & Bute Third Level or better 88.3 87.0 88.2 83.9 87.8 Dunoon Grammar School Fourth Level 26.7 25.9 30.4 25.9 58.5 Argyll & Bute Fourth Level 49.8 47.6 51.5 45.9 57.6 S3 ACEL – Gaelic (if relevant) School Level % Achieved Gaelic Reading Gaelic Writing Gaelic L&T Dunoon Grammar School Third Level or better 80 80 80 Dunoon Grammar School Fourth Level 20 20 20
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Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength in BGE Attainment: Our Numeracy results at 3rd and 4th level are consistency above the Argyll and Bute Average. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development in BGE Attainment: Reading, writing, listening and talking and literacy are all considerably lower than the A&B average. In extensive discussion with the English department, this is a result of lack of staff understanding and awareness of 3rd and 4th level leading to a lack of professional confidence in selecting an appropriate level achieved. The English department has taken steps to rectify this for next session - namely the implementation of moderation sessions and clearer course plans that allow for more appropriate assessment opportunities. Gaelic comments Our Gaelic department continues to thrive with 80% of the cohort achieving level 3.
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National Qualifications – Pass rates NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 2021-22 A-C Number of Presentations Number Attaining A-C % Attaining A- C Argyll and Bute % Attaining A-C National % Attaining A-C Advanced Higher 45 33 73% 85.50% 82.60% Higher 314 246 78% 80.90% 80.30% National 5 700 555 79.3% 79.70% 81.60% Level/Stage 2022 A B C D No Award Grade A-B Grade A-C Grade A-D National 5 (Nat. 41.20% A&B 35.40%) (Nat. 23.00% A&B 25.57%) (Nat. 17.43% A&B 18.69%) (Nat. 10.79% A&B 12.73%) (Nat. 7.60% A&B 7.60%) (Nat. 64.20% A&B 61%) (Nat. 81.60% A&B 79.70%) (Nat. 92.4% A&B 92.4%) National 5 39.14% 21.71% 16.43% 12.86% 7.86% 60.86% 77.29% 90.14% S4 42.71% 23.44% 16.32% 10.24% 4.86% 66.15% 82.47% 92.71% S5 18.48% 13.04% 18.48% 29.35% 20.65% 31.52% 50.00% 79.35% S6 34.38% 15.63% 12.50% 12.50% 25.00% 50.00% 62.50% 75.00% Higher (Nat. 36.50% A&B 35.60%) (Nat. 24.32% A&B 24.56%) (Nat. 19.49% A&B 20.8%) (Nat. 11.74% A&B 12.61%) (Nat. 7.90% A&B 6.50%) (Nat.60.90% (A&B 60.00%) (Nat. 80.3% A&B 80.90%) (Nat 92.10% A&B 93.50%) Higher 28.66% 24.20% 25.48% 13.38% 8.28% 52.87% 78.34% 91.72% S5 34.30% 24.64% 22.71% 11.11% 7.25% 58.94% 81.64% 92.75% S6 17.76% 23.36% 30.84% 17.76% 10.28% 41.12% 71.96% 89.72%
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Advanced Higher (Nat 35.00% A&B 30.80%) (Nat. 26.28% A&B 26.09%) (Nat. 21.35% A&B 28.99%) (Nat. 11.27% A&B 11.59%) (Nat. 6.20% A&B 3.20%) (Nat 61.2% A&B 56.7%) Nat. 82.60% A&B 85.50%) (Nat. 93.80% A&B 96.8%) Advanced Higher 20.00% 28.89% 24.44% 26.67% 0.00% 48.89% 73.33% 100.00% S5 100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% S6 18.18% 29.55% 25.00% 27.27% 0.00% 47.73% 72.73% 100.00% Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Our S4 attainment at National 5 level continues to be strong. We are above the National average and Argyll and Bute average for A and B passes, We also have a lower percentage of S4 pupils getting a No Award than the National average and the Argyll and Bute average. Our S5 attainment at Higher level A-C passes is Higher than Argyll and Bute and the National average The A-D pass rate at Advanced Higher is 100% Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development Our National 5 performance in S5 and S6 needs to improve, Our school has been looking at appropriate pathways and alternative courses to ensure our young people are courses at the relevant level. Departments have been investigating possible alternatives using the SCQF framework. Our S5 and S6 performance at Higher level requires further development. Our A-C pass rate performance at Advanced Higher requires further development
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Insight Dashboard What is Insight Scotland? Insight is a professional tool, aimed at teachers and other staff. It is used to help secondary schools and local authorities identify areas of success and where improvements can be made for pupils in the senior phase. The dashboard has 4 measures.
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Improving attainment in literacy and numeracy Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength During session 2022-23 our overall performance in Literacy and Numeracy has improved from last year. We are now above our virtual comparator for those leavers achieving a Level 5 Literacy and Numeracy. The Maths and English department have developed appropriate packages of support to ensure our young people achieve at least a level 4 Literacy and Numeracy qualification before their point of exit. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development We are just below our virtual comparator at level 4 Literacy and Numeracy although we have improved from session 2021. Further development is required to ensure improvement in our Literacy data. We have now implemented earlier banking of literacy and numeracy awards (start of S3) and more holistic tracking and monitoring of each pupil’s achieved level of literacy and numeracy. We have also incorporated an ‘upgrade’ opportunity to ensure that pupils’ achieved level is maximised.
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Increased post-school participation Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength A great of interventions have been introduced to ensure our young people move onto a positive and sustained destination. The previous 4 years we were below our measures. However, this session our leavers data is better than our virtual comparator, Argyll and Bute, The Northern Alliance and the National establishment. We have educated our young people on different routes to employment, further and Higher Education. The appointment of a PT DYW has supported improvement. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development Continued work on Foundation apprenticeships is required within our school
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Improving attainment for all Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Our lowest 20% of learners have performed well. Their total tariff point in better than our virtual comparator, Argyll and Bute, The Northern Alliance and the National Establishment Our Middle 60% of learners have performed well. The have performed better than Argyll and Bute, The Northern Alliance and the National establishment. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development Our Middle 60% of learners did not perform as well as our Virtual comparator Our Highest 20% of learners performed lower than our virtual comparator, Argyll and Bute council, The Northern Alliance and the National establishment. Further development is required for our more able pupils.
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Attainment versus Deprivation Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Young people in SIMD 2-6 performed better than the National trend Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development Young people in SIMD 1 and SIMD 9 performed lower than the National Trend. Work is ongoing to support our more able pupils and to ensure appropriate courses are available for our young people to study.
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Wider Achievement Qualifications National Certificates; Higher National Certificates; Scottish Vocational Qualifications; National Progression Awards; Skills for Work qualifications; Foundation Apprenticeships; Scottish Baccalaureate Overall evaluative comment/narrative on Wider Achievement Qualifications in your school: Dunoon Grammar School recognises the need to celebrate wider achievement both within school and out with school. A member of teaching staff has been allocated the task of tracking the achievements of our young people. These achievements are celebrated in a number a number of ways. Termly, achievement assemblies are held for each year group, the Head Teacher regularly sends out praise letters to our young people and we have House notices boards that highlight achievements. Our Business and Computing department have developed a large number of enterprising opportunities for our young people including, Apps for Good, YPI and the tenner challenge. The pupils thrive on these opportunities and have won a number of awards. NPA – Computer games Development – 9 young people NPA Drama – 2 young people S4 Construction Craft Skills – 11 young people – 8 young people passed Hairdressing National 4 and National 5 – 23 young people Maritime National 5 – 5 young people – 1 pass Early Education and Childcare National 4 – 10 passed NPA Beauty Skills – 8 passed NPA make up skills – 5 passed Higher Beauty – 5 passed Higher Psychology Higher Sociology Subject departments are now looking at alternative level 5 and level 6 qualifications. Time has been allocated at collegiate and staff development days. SCQF lead Donnie Woods will be attending In-service day in November. Time has bene allocated for principal Teachers to meet with him and he will give a presentation to all staff. We are introducing a new course called e-sports. This is being developed in partnership with SQA and will be at level 5 in the first instance.
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SCHOOL/COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 2021-22 A-C (including Passes) Number of Presentations Number Attaining A-C % Attaining A-C % of those commencing college course completing course Higher 15 9 60% 92% National 5 15 11 73% National 4 29 23 79% SCHOOL/COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 2021-22 A-D (including Passes) Number of Presentations Number Attaining A-D % Attaining A-D % of those commencing course completing course Higher 15 10 67% 92% National 5 15 11 73% National 4 29 23 79%
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Equity and Attainment – Evaluation of Key Factors Factor in attainment Attendance School Ave. Att. 21-22: 88.48% Exclusion No. of Exclusion Incidents 21-22: 40% No. of Exclusion Openings 21-22: 89% Additional Support Needs 354 young people have been classed with an additional Support Needs – 47% SIMD Our SIMD profile ranges from SIMD 1-SIMD 7 Free School Meal Entitlement Number of pupils 148 - 19.73% of cohort Care Experienced (and previously Care Experienced) 28 young people – 4% of cohort Young people’s attainment is being tracked by the DHT support. Interventions have been put in place like in-school supporters English as Additional Language Young people’s attainment is being tracked by the DHT support. Interventions have been put in place like in-school supporters We have allocated a member of our support staff to lead and support young people with English as an additional Language. Young people meet with the teacher in small groups and in one to one situation. Other (give details)
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Pupil Equity Funding We have used our Pupil Equity Funding to fund the following: Wellbeing Officer PT Learning and Teaching PT DYW PT raising attainment A youth worker A life Coach Live “n” learn inputs Individual support for young people with examination preparation
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Other information Dunoon Grammar School has had a positive and productive year. The school continues to develop confidence in our young people and ensure and develop them both academically and socially. The school continues to be recognised at local, National and International Level. The school won the Scottish Education Award for Gaelic Education Our Gaelic Teacher Rachel Kellow won the Young Gaelic Ambassador at the National Gaelic awards Dunoon Grammar School was named as the “World’s Best School for Community collaboration” We continue to work with our community partners on a number of projects - Dunoon Burgh Hall - Dunoon Film festival - Our Local primary schools - Dunoon Museum - Historic Kilmun - Learning Centre activities - The Dunoon Project We continue to work with our National partners, The Wood Foundation and Apps for Good We continue to offer a wide range of Extra Curricular activities and school trips A group of our young people took part in a trip to Tanzania this session The Gaelic Department has been nominated and short listed for the Scottish Education Award for a 2nd year Our Head Teacher has been nominated and short listed for the Head Teacher of the Year at the Scottish Education awards