Islay High School
Argyll and Bute Council · 5 June 2024
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre & the Islands Area Committee — 5 June 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL SECONDARY SCHOOL ATTAINMENT REPORT AREA COMMITTEE SCHOOL BADGE Islay High School 5th June 2024
Page 2
Islay High School is a non-denominational fully comprehensive secondary school with a roll of 188 and part of a cluster that includes five primary schools; four on Islay (Bowmore, Port Ellen, Port Charlotte and Keills) and one on Jura (Small Isles). The catchment area covers both islands of Islay (population about 3,000) and Jura (population about 200) and is rural, remote and isolated. The students from Jura commute to the school on a daily basis. Agriculture, distilleries and tourism are the main industries on the islands. The school’s curriculum model has S1 and S2 separately timetabled in the Broad General Education (BGE). S3 to S6 are all integrated in the Senior Phase, where pupils select 5 courses per year every year from the same option choice menu. This allows for much greater efficiency of staffing giving pupils much greater personalisation and choice. Due to the remoteness of the islands, the school is completely inclusive and by necessity caters for all students however complex and severe their needs are. A new Learning Centre will operate in the school from August 2024. The school has a high percentage of pupils with ASN (56%) and this includes two autistic pupils with severe and complex needs. There is no Gaelic Unit in the school but Gaelic / Gaidhlig is taught for learner and native speakers to Higher level and even Advanced Higher if requested. SIMD data shows that the catchment population fits into bands D4 (18%) and D6 (81%) but due to the small size of the community, the SIMD criteria do not accurately reflect a much wider range in poverty and affluence. The school was awarded £9,800 in Pupil Equity Funding in session 20232/4. This money was used to employ a teacher for 0.2 FTE to work with vulnerable children to help them access the curriculum, to develop their self-esteem and confidence, and to support school attendance. The school was inspected in January 2023 and was graded as follows: • Quality Indicator 1.3 Leadership of Change: Satisfactory • Quality indicator 2.3 Learning, Teaching and Assessment: Satisfactory • Quality Indicator 3.1 Ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion: Good • Quality indicator 3.2 Raising attainment and achievement: Good
Page 3
Section 1 S3 ACEL Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy School Level % Achieved Reading Writing L&T Numeracy Islay High School Third Level or better 93.7 93.7 91.8 81.3 Argyll & Bute Third Level or better 88.5 86.9 89.0 86.0 Islay High School Fourth Level 37.5 37.5 37.6 39.6 Argyll & Bute Fourth Level 54.4 51.4 53.8 56.4 S3 ACEL – Gaelic (if applicable) School Level % Achieved Gaelic Reading Gaelic Writing Gaelic L&T Islay High School Third Level or better 100 100 100 Islay High School Fourth Level 50 50 50
Page 4
Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength in BGE Attainment: At S3, the literacy values at third level or better are 3 - 6 % better than the Argyll and Bute average. The Gaelic literacy levels at third level or better are excellent and at fourth level as good as the Argyll and Bute Literacy levels in English. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development in BGE Attainment: The numeracy values at third level or better are slightly lower than the Argyll and Bute average. The literacy and numeracy values at fourth level are all lower than the Argyll and Bute averages. However, the school bases the data on SCQF levels and not BGE levels as with other schools, which seems to have caused this discrepancy. When you look at the literacy and numeracy values for leavers (see section 3a below), which is based on SCQF levels, the school’s attainment matches favourably with authority averages. Section 2 National Qualifications 2023 – Percentage of Awards – A-C and A-D 97.10% 98.70% 100.00% 90.70% 92.10% 93.00% 90.50% 90.50% 92.70% NAT 5 Higher Adv H IHS % A-D Awards IHS A&B National 88.40% 90.90% 75.00% 76.93% 77.12% 79.44% 78.80% 77.10% 79.80% NAT 5 Higher Adv H IHS % A-C Awards IHS A&B National
Page 5
Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength The percentage values for both A-C and A-D values for both National 5 and Higher are significantly above both the authority and national averages. There are strong results across almost all subjects, which is very much a strength of the school. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development The Advanced Higher results are not significant as the numbers are small and vary considerably from one year to the next. Also as we are a small school with very low numbers doing Advanced Highers, so pupils have to be much more responsible for their own learning and will only be allocated 2 periods per week as tutorials compared to larger schools with full classes of AH students and allocated 5 periods of full teaching. Section 3 Insight Data 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 four measures: • Improving Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy (presented below as separate Literacy and Numeracy graphs) • Increasing Post-School Participation • Improving Attainment for All • Attainment Versus Deprivation The school’s data below is compared to what is termed The Virtual Comparator. The virtual comparator consists of a sample group of school leavers from schools in other local authorities who have similar characteristics to the school leavers from the school in question. This allows the most accurate and meaningful comparison of attainment data. Unfortunately, Insight does not include SQA results achieved in S3. In Islay High, the senior phase starts in S3 and all S3 pupils will study 5 one-year SQA courses and these results are not included in the Insight data.
Page 6
3a Improving Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy The two graphs below show the percentage of leavers attaining literacy and the percentage of leavers attaining numeracy as seen on Insight, without the S3 results.
Page 7
The next two diagrams show the same graphs but with the S3 data included.
Page 8
The added bars represent the S3 data, which is not shown on Insight
Page 9
The added bars represent the S3 data, which is not shown on Insight Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Without the S3 data the graphs do not show Islay High School favourably in comparison to the virtual comparator. However, once the S3 data is included Islay High school is consistently above the virtual comparator at level 4 for both Literacy and numeracy. The same picture is seen at level 5 , although in 2023 the values are slightly lower in literacy and about the same in numeracy. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development It is difficult to make any valid conclusions from one year to the next with small cohorts and differences in ability. However, the school will continue to ensure that pupils leave school with the best possible qualifications they can get.
Page 10
3b Increased post-school participation Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Over the last 3 years, the high percentage of Islay High school pupils leaving to positive destinations measures favourably against the virtual comparator and particularly against the authority and national percentages. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development We will continue to work closely with SDS, our DYW coordinator, and all the businesses and organisations on the islands to ensure the pupils get the best possible start to post-school careers.
Page 11
3c Improving attainment for all
Page 12
Evaluative Comment When you look at the 2023 data the overall tariff points for Islay High school do not measure favourably with the virtual comparator and the authority and national averages. However, the year before, 2022, it is quite the opposite and this just shows the differences in cohorts from one year to the next. The school does provide a wide-ranging curriculum and tries to offer a good mix of vocational courses together with the academic courses and does everything it can to meet the needs of all the pupils in the school. 3d Attainment versus Deprivation
Page 13
Evaluative Comment It is not possible to make any judgement on this measure. The SIMD data on Islay and Jura does not reflect the true levels of poverty and affluence in the area. Section 4 Wider Achievement Qualifications
Page 14
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: SCHOOL/COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 2022-23 A-C (including Passes) Number of Presentations Number Attaining A-C % Attaining A-C % of those commencing college course completing course Higher 5 4 80% 89% National 5 10 10 100% National 4 7 5 71% SCHOOL/COLLEGE PARTNERSHIP NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS 2022-23 A-D (including Passes) Number of Presentations Number Attaining A-D % Attaining A-D % of those commencing course completing course Higher 5 5 100% 89% National 5 10 10 100% National 4 7 5 71% The two main courses offered in 2022-23 session were very successful but clearly there were not nearly enough college courses delivered due to the unavailability of tutors. This year the situation is much more healthy with three new tutors taken and Construction, Hospitality, Practical Cookery, Beauty and Make-Up all been delivered this session on top of Early Education and Child Care at 3 different levels and Rural Skills at 2 levels. It is important that this is now maintained. Section 5 Equity and Attainment – Evaluation of Key Factors
Page 15
Factor in attainment Attendance School Ave. Att. 22-23: 89.3% Exclusion No. of Exclusion Incidents 22-23: 1 No. of Exclusion Openings 22-23: 4 Additional Support Needs 55.6% SIMD D4 - 17.5% D6 - 81% Unknown - 1.6% Free School Meal Entitlement 10.3 % Care Experienced (and previously Care Experienced) 9.5% English as Additional Language 3.2 %
Page 16
Pupil Equity Funding Impact of PEF on closing the attainment gap Our PEF funding employs a member of staff one day a week to analyse attendance data, develop strategies for learner and family engagement and to support individual students. The impact of this funding has resulted in the ability to put key interventions in place for individuals and groups of students in order to close the attainment gap. In order to improve attendance overall, and hence address any wider attainment gap issues, our PEF funding is further used to regularly communicate information to pupils and parents (in line with recent Authority guidance) and to liaise with relevant staff and Faculties, as well as external agencies. Through our data analysis, we can very clearly identify positive patterns and any areas for improvement, which are then shared with all stakeholders. From this, we plan for whole school and year group activities which promote positive attendance both within the BGE and Senior Phase, as well as at key transition stages. Section 6 Other information The ethos in the school is very good. Visitors comment on what a relaxed and calm atmosphere there is in the school. This is down to strong positive relationships between staff and pupils. SQA results are good. The school offers a wide range of extra-curricular events at lunchtimes and after school as well as a large number of residential trips. The trips are so important for our island pupils. The school benefits enormously from the strong partnerships with estates, employers, organisations and the community in general. This has positive impacts on pupil achievement but also results in achieving a very positive reputation within the community. The Head Teacher will be retiring at the end of this academic year but the school is in a good place for the transition to a new Head Teacher.