Lochgilphead High School Attainment Report
Argyll and Bute Council · 7 June 2023
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre & the Islands Area Committee — 7 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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1 ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL SECONDARY SCHOOL ATTAINMENT REPORT AREA COMMITTEE SCHOOL BADGE Lochgilphead Joint Campus (High School)
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2 9th May 2023 School information/school context – include SIMD etc. Lochgilphead Joint Campus is a 3 - 18 school situated in Lochgilphead overlooking Loch Fyne. There are currently 410 secondary age pupils, 194 primary and 28 within Early Learning and Childcare. The school has Learning Centre provision for both primary and secondary age pupils. The current building was opened in October 2007. The school serves several communities in Mid Argyll, from Cairndow in the East, Achahoish in the South and Ardfern in the North and takes secondary school aged pupils from nine local primary schools. The vast majority of pupils enter high school from either Lochgilphead or Ardrishaig Primary Schools. Fewer than 10% of our pupils reside in Quintile 1 or Quintile 5 in the Social Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), around 40% of pupils reside in SIMD Quintile 3, 20% in Quintile 2 and 30% in Quintile 4. We know, however that these are data that need a local level of understanding as two people can reside in the same SIMD area and have vastly different levels of deprivation. The overall attendance rate for the high school was 88.35% last session and there were 4 exclusions totalling 15 days. Like all schools, Lochgilphead Joint Campus continues to recover from the impact of COVID-19. The current head teacher of campus took up post in August 2022. After careful analysis of data from 2021/2022, a three year improvement strategy has been developed that focusses on key areas: - Well-being and engagement - Relationships and positive behaviour - Quality of teaching and learning - Assessment and moderation - Tracking and intervention based on robust data intelligence
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3 S3 ACEL Attainment in Literacy and Numeracy School Level % Achieved Reading Writing L&T Literacy Numeracy Lochgilphead High School Third Level or better 77.8 79.2 77.8 69.4 72.2 Argyll & Bute Third Level or better 88.3 87.0 88.2 83.9 87.8 Lochgilphead High School Fourth Level 29.2 20.8 40.3 20.8 47.2 Argyll & Bute Fourth Level 49.8 47.6 51.5 45.9 57.6 Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength in BGE Attainment: Most students achieve third level in either reading, writing and listening and talking by the end of the BGE. The majority achieve third level in all aspects of literacy and in numeracy. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development in BGE Attainment: There are inconsistencies identified through tracking numeracy that demonstrate moderation work needs to be undertaken to improve accuracy and consistency of teacher judgements in the BGE phase. This is, and will remain an aspect of school and departmental improvement focus in the coming years.
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4 The school has just developed a tracking policy from primary through to senior phase which will enable earlier intervention for pupils with literacy and numeracy difficulties. The school has now implemented an early (S1) literacy intervention for pupils identified in primary schools as having difficulties with reading. This Fresh start programme will take two more years before the impact is seen at the end of BGE. We have also introduced tutorials in numeracy and literacy for pupils who have difficulty in these areas. More pupils in S3 now have access to flexible learning pathways that include a focus on literacy and numeracy – this builds on the work previously undertaken with S4-6 pupils by the Principal Teacher for enterprise and DYW.
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5 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 29 22 75.9 85.50% 82.60% Higher 197 162 82.2 80.90% 80.30% National 5 440 331 76.2 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% LHS 34.1%) (Nat. 23.00% A&B 25.57% LHS 24.1%) (Nat. 17.43% A&B 18.69% LHS 17.0%) (Nat. 10.79% A&B 12.73% LHS 13.6%) (Nat. 7.60% A&B 7.60% LHS 10.0%) (Nat. 64.20% A&B 61% LHS 58.2%) (Nat. 81.60% A&B 79.70% LHS 75.2%) (Nat. 92.4% A&B 92.4% LHS 88.9%) S4 40.1 25 14.8 10.7 9.3 65.1 79.9 90.7 S5 3.3 23.3 31.7 31.7 8.3 26.7 58.3 90.0 S6 0 7.1 14.3 14.3 35.7 7.1 21.4 35.7 Higher (Nat. 36.50% A&B 35.60% LHS 40.6%) (Nat. 24.32% A&B 24.56% LHS 21.3%) (Nat. 19.49% A&B 20.8% LHS 20.3%) (Nat. 11.74% A&B 12.61% LHS 12.2%) (Nat. 7.90% A&B 6.50% LHS 5.6%) (Nat.60.90% (A&B 60.00% LHS 61.9%) (Nat. 80.3% A&B 80.90% LHS 82.2%) (Nat 92.10% A&B 93.50% LHS 94.4) S4 100.0 0.0 0. 0 0.0 0.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 S5 44.5 23.3 18.5 9.6 4.1 67.8 86.3 95.9 S6 25.0 16.7 27.1 20.8 10.4 41.7 68.8 89.6
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6 Advanced Higher (Nat 35.00% A&B 30.80% LHS 24.1%) (Nat. 26.28% A&B 26.09% LHS 24.1%) (Nat. 21.35% A&B 28.99% LHS 27.6%) (Nat. 11.27% A&B 11.59% LHS 13.8%) (Nat. 6.20% A&B 3.20% LHS 10.3%) (Nat 61.2% A&B 56.7% LHS 48.3%) Nat. 82.60% A&B 85.50% LHS 75.9%) (Nat. 93.80% A&B 96.8% LHS (89.75) S5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 S6 24.1 24.1 27.6 13.8 10.3 48.3 75.9 89.7 Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Pass rates at Higher (measured by % of A grades and A-C grades) were above A&B and national data. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development The percentage of passes and high quality passes at Advanced Higher is below A&B and National data. The gap between LHS data and both A&B and national data at National 5 presents the biggest area of priority improvement. The data for S4 (when the majority of National 5 Qualifications are attempted) is comparable to overall national and Argyll data but performance of National 5 is lower. This will be the case in most schools, and in order to improve, we must focus on National 5 improvement for pupils in all parts of the senior phase, and not just in S5 and 6. Given the school’s relatively small cohort size (compared to national), each pupil represents a relatively high percentage of the population. This means that, as well as universal improvements (e.g. improved teaching and learning, more effective tracking and moderation and more accurate predictions), interventions targeted at individual pupils should have a noticeable impact on overall data. Last session, there was a shift towards a more ambitious presentation policy (students who previously would have not been entered for National 5 qualifications were entered to give them a chance. While in many subjects this led to an increased total number of passes, it also increased the number of no awards. This year, we have introduced a mentoring programme for all pupils in S4 which specifically focusses on N4 and N5 attainment. Every pupil has a teacher mentor who regularly meets with them to discuss targets and next steps as well as advice for studying and revision. This programme will be extended to include S5 and S6 pupils by 2024. We have re-drafted and shared study support advice for pupils and parents to support exam preparations and added to the site of additional study support classes (live and online).
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7 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. Add dashboard Add dashboard Add dashboard Add dashboard
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8 Improving attainment in literacy and numeracy Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength The percentage attaining SCQF level 4 literacy increased to pre-COVID levels with 89.9% of pupils in S4, 92% in S5 and 96.4% in S6 attaining at least level 4 literacy). This shows a steady improvement year on year for level 4 literacy attainment. At SCQF level 5 literacy the percentage of S4 pupils attaining literacy increased to higher than pre-Covid levels and was up to 73.42%. For pupils in S5 and 6 levels remained similar to previous years. Students in S6 performed as well or better than virtual comparator data for attainment at both level 4 and level 5 literacy. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development Though there was improvement in literacy across SCQF levels 4 and 5 based on previous years, it remained lower than Virtual Comparator (VC) data. There was not a significant dip in numeracy performance in S4 and 5 based on previous attainment at LHS, though it remained significantly lower than VC data for S4 and S5. We have made significant changes to the maths and numeracy coursing this session and introduced level 5 numeracy qualifications in S4 to run Add image
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9 alongside level 5 maths. We have also now started a policy of dual entry for N4 and N5 maths for pupils who are at risk of not attaining level 5 maths. This is alongside the wider focus on teaching and learning, tracking and moderation in the School Improvement Plan. Increased post-school participation Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength The gains made in session 2020/21 for positive destinations were maintained in session 21/22. This is due to the continuing work the school does to develop and strengthen partnerships with Argyll College, universities and local employers. Pupils who do not intend to follow a route into higher education are very well supported in finding routes into college, employment and more increasingly a mixture of both (e.g. through Foundation Apprenticeships). This usually begins in S4 when pupils begin a much more tailored learning pathway that can involve vocational and skills based courses and opportunities alongside academic and core subjects. The development of FLPs of youngster at risk of dis-engaging is highly effective in securing positive destinations for almost all pupils (98.9%). Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development
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10 This is an area of real strength for the school and we aim to build upon this. Our target every year now is 100% of pupils who leave school going into a positive and sustainable destination. We also aim to further develop more bespoke learning plans for earlier than S4 for those who require it, incorporating core literacy and numeracy into these. Improving attainment for all Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength
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11 Breaking the data down to year groups shows that S4 pupils in the top 20% at LHS gained more points than VC, A&B and national data. For the middle 60% in S4 performance was in line with national and A&B data and slightly above VC. In S5, the highest 20% of pupils performed similarly to those in VC, A&B and national data (this is based on ‘complementary tariff points’ a measure that takes the best 5 of each pupils’ performances into account and is determined to remove variances of curriculum structures between schools). Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development In S4, the lowest 20% performed poorer than VC data. By S5 the lowest and middle performing students at LHS perform lower than VC, national and A&B data. By S6 pupils in each of the three categories performed lower than VC, national and A&B data When looking at total tariff points (as per the graph above) students in each category perform lower than all comparators. In session 22/23 we have introduced additional opportunities for pupils to gain qualifications (tariff points) in a number of different awards (numeracy, modern studies, IT and admin and National Progress Awards) and we now have plans to further adds to this in the coming years (Outdoor Learning, Health and Beauty, RMPS Media Studies, Applications of Maths are all to be added before 2024). This session, the school has introduced the mentor programme for all pupils in S4 and this will be extended next year to include S5 and S6 pupils with each pupil retaining the same mentor year on year wherever possible. Improved approaches to tracking and monitoring across the BGE and senior phases are now in place and this will help to ensure that estimates and presentations for qualifications are more accurate as well as identifying pupils require additional support and intervention earlier. Moderation and assessment processes in departments and subject areas are now in place and are beginning to improve the consistency and accuracy of teacher judgement.
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12 Attainment versus Deprivation Evaluative Comment – Areas of Strength Due to the relatively small numbers of pupils in each SIMD centile, and the rural nature of the areas we serve, SIMD data is less reliable as a predictor of success and a tool to guide improvement actions as it is for most schools in Scotland. Evaluative Comment – Areas for Development The data, however is congruent with the information in the tables above – that there is a general need to improve attainment for pupils in each year group and from each of the different demographic types that we serve. This is particularly true for children who are identified through the PEF processes (those who live with financial poverty, are isolated due to rurality, who are care experienced, who have suffered trauma, who have mental health difficulties, who have a carer responsibility etc.) these are pupils who form part of the current and future PEF planning process.
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13 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: The Foundation Apprenticeships (FA) offer has increased over past two years. FA engineering led pupils to graduate apprenticeships. FA social services, children and young people run through council has been established and take up has been promising. The school and local employers have established (or re-established) level 4/5 work placement and level 4 employability programmes as well as the young enterprise company programme (SCQF lvl 6) Flexible Learning Plans (FLPs) - Over the session we had 15 FLPs running. We also have two that have carried over to this session and two more about to start. This is a rolling programme based on pupil need. From FLPs alone, 4 pupils were offered and accepted apprenticeships in 2021/22. Overall through FLPs, work placements and employer requests, 11 pupils secured apprenticeships in session 2021/22 and at least one full time job some of these employment opportunities have come for pupils who had previously disengaged and then re-engaged in school. This has had a significant impact on the very positive rate of pupils who enter positive post-school destinations. We also facilitated extended work placement with Two S6 boys who have both been given Graduate Apprenticeships with Renewable Parts ltd. Renewable parts also took an S6 pupil for a week placement and a summer job has resulted from this. FA engineering ran this year for first time and was successful and 2/3 pupils achieved engineering apprenticeships through our help and support. We have begun a partnership with YPI (Youth Philanthropy Initiative) and now plan to run this programme for S3 pupils in the summer term of session 22/23. We have worked closely with partners from Argyll College and Live Argyll to develop girls’ and boys’ football teams and this session, our senior girls’ team reached a national final. We now have staff qualified to deliver Duke of Edinburgh awards and this programme was launched in session 2022/23 with plans to extend the offer in subsequent years.
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14 Equity and Attainment – Evaluation of Key Factors Factor in attainment Attendance School Ave. Att. 21-22: 88.35% Exclusion No. of Exclusion Incidents 21-22: 4 No. of Exclusion Openings 21-22: 15 The relationships and behaviour policy gave been reviewed, as has the Argyll and Bute exclusion procedure and this has led to a significant drop in exclusions since August 2022. Additional Support Needs All pupils with ASN have a child’s plan, many of which include targets for literacy and numeracy. We have introduced tutorials for pupils with significant additional needs in literacy and numeracy as well as an S1 literacy intervention programme for those who joined S1 with a reading age below 9.0 SIMD This is not an accurate predictor for us. Many people in the same SIMD bracket have vastly different life experiences. We focus on engagement and barriers to engagement as the main factors (these might be caused by health issues, anxiety, rural isolation, young carer responsibilities, care experienced etc.) Free School Meal Entitlement We have a relatively low FSM entitlement and it isn’t always the most accurate indicator of need. We know we have some parents who chose not to apply, even though they may be entitled. Care Experienced (and previously Care Experienced) We have a small number of care experienced young people who are supported through the GIRFEC and child’s planning process. This includes regular reviews, 1:1 mentoring and supported interventions. Some care experienced pupils have flexible learning plans. English as Additional Language We have three pupils who have arrived from Ukraine and have English as a second language. All three receive support in class (1:1 for some of the time, differentiated learning and access to translation devices as well as other differentiation strategies) Pupil Engagement For a variety of reasons, including COVID-19, 2021/22 saw an increase in the number of pupils who disengage from learning. This ranges from pupils who are school refusers, through to those who find specific elements of school too difficult to engage with. This formed the key part of our PEF plan for session 2022/23 and we are starting to see the impact of the new ‘Well-Being Den’ and the Family Liaison Well-Being Officers.
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15 Pupil Equity Funding Impact of PEF on closing the attainment gap There were three main areas of investment of PEF in session 21/22 1. Literacy and numeracy targeted interventions Development of tutorial programmes for groups and individuals has improved the literacy and numeracy attainment of PEF identified young people (evidenced through progress in reading, writing and talking and listening based on teacher judgements and assessments). 2. Raising attainment PT raising attainment collated and shared specific progress data with each department. This has led to a more consistent understanding of standards across the whole school (both BGE and senior phase). This led to a more ambitious presentation policy (the number of N5 and higher pupils entered for qualifications significantly increased on the previous year) which in turn led to an increased number of qualifications in specific subjects. 3. Digital Learning PT established 1:1 device access for pupils in BGE so that all S1-3 pupils have home and school access to a Chromebook. All pupils in S1-2 now have ICT and enterprise education as part of core timetable and this is beginning to lead to better skill development. This session, PEF has been specifically targeted at increasing engagement and attendance of specific pupils (those identified by need or characteristic e.g. Care experienced, economically deprived, those suffering with poor physical or mental health, young carers, trauma experienced etc.). Though the implementation is ongoing, there are already signs of improvement for pupils and the full impact will form part of the annual Standards and Quality Report due in June 2023.
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16 Other information Session 2021/22 was one of recovery where COVID-19 infection levels rose and fell meaning that attendance levels of staff and pupils was impacted. Staff worked diligently to ensure that hybrid approaches to learning remained available so that pupils who were absent form school, but still able to engage in work were able to do so remotely. The School enterprise project was a huge success with pupils in the BGE phase learning and using entrepreneurial skills alongside school staff and local businesses. We were able to hold a scaled down version of the Christmas craft Fayre and look forward to extending this next session. School sports teams were re-established and there were thriving football, cricket, rugby, netball, badminton, basketball and squash clubs run in the school. Teams represented the school in local tournaments in rugby and football (boys and girls teams). The school film club was also re- established. A new initiative to increase reading and enjoyment of literature was introduced called ‘Regi-Reading’. This meant that once every four weeks registration periods were extended to give more time for pupils to read texts of their own choosing for pleasure. It has helped more pupils to see reading as a fun pastime and also helped some improve their literacy skills. In the summer term, we were able to welcome visitors in and re-establish our awards ceremony and Leavers’ Formal. The school filled long-standing teacher vacancies in RME and Business and IT and are now looking forward to being able to offer more courses at National 5 and Higher in these subjects. The Modern Foreign Language department established a Pen-Pal scheme with pupils from schools in Europe and this has increased the interest, engagement and achievement of pupils in different languages (the school now offers German as well as Spanish and French).
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17 The school worked alongside Live Argyll and established a Sports Mentor and a Well-Being Mentor programme where senior pupils were given leadership training and then helped to promote sports participation as well as advocate for well-being across the campus. A well-being club was established by the mentors and supported pupils during the post-COVID return to school. The school remembered a much loved and missed member of staff when we unveiled the Isobel Hamilton memorial bench and inaugurated the Isobel Hamilton Award for Citizenship. The first winner of this award was head-boy, Archie McColl-Smith for his support of fellow pupils and all round outstanding contribution to school life. Pupils and staff created a variety of celebration, days to raise awareness and money for local and national charities. In total, over £15,000 was raised by members of the school community in session 2021/22. The annual careers fair was re-established and was very well attended by pupils from across various year groups. This was hosted at the school and involved local and national business and academic partners and helped many pupils to choose subject options that lead toward their chosen post-school destination. Session 2021/22 saw a focus on whole campus activities and opportunities to build on the inter-connectedness of the ELC, primary, secondary and learning centres within the joint campus. All departments now share a common set of values: Ambition, Attainment, Equity and Respect and we had a number of successful campus wide events such as the Scottish Salmon skills for work day where pupils in all parts of the campus learned from visitors about the role of aquaculture in the local economy, the skills required for success in work, learning and life and the employment opportunities locally.