Taylor high HMI follow up report

1. The Inspection

HM Inspectors of Education (HMIE) published a report on standards and quality in Taylor High School in February 2004. In May 2004 North Lanarkshire Council, in collaboration with the school, prepared and published an action plan indicating how they would address the main points for action in the HMIE report within a two-year period.

North Lanarkshire officers assessed the extent to which the school was continuing to improve the quality of its work, and evaluated progress made in responding to the main points for action in the original report.

The headteacher and senior management team had given clear guidance to staff. Teachers and support staff had worked effectively as a team with senior managers, to ensure that points for action were addressed and that improvements could be fully monitored. Important developments were rigorously evaluated and appropriate staff development and support were provided. The strong emphasis on whole school improvements had resulted in an increase in pupil attainment, an increase in pace of learning and improved self-evaluation. Pupils were actively involved in their learning and were involved in setting challenging targets for their own progress and learning, well supported by teachers and senior managers. Teachers used a good variety of approaches to learning and teaching. Their understanding of different learning styles enabled them to challenge pupils and increase the pace of learning. A very strong programme of personal, social and health education (PSHE) had been established from S1 to S6. The guidance given to teachers on sharing expected learning outcomes with pupils had ensured a very positive impact on learning and teaching across the school. There was increased rigour and stronger leadership from principal teachers. Staff, parents and pupils had been widely consulted throughout developments and their views had a clear influence on the decisions taken. The school had increased the use of information and communications technology (ICT) as a management tool. Pupil results were carefully monitored and targets were set and reviewed using appropriate software. The very innovative system of peer reviewing for teaching staff made use of ICT to record good practice providing teachers with useful information. Self- evaluation procedures had been reviewed and increased consistency established across departments. Senior managers validated departmental self-evaluation ensuring high standards and actively promoting a sharing of good practice across the school.

The school was now very well placed to sustain and build on its achievements.

3. Progress towards the main points for action

The initial inspection report published in February 2004 identified four points for action. This section evaluates the progress made with each of these action points and the resulting improvements for pupils and other stakeholders.

The school should continue to maintain and enhance the quality of education it was providing. In doing so, it should take account of the need to:

3.1 share good practice in achieving more active involvement of pupils in their own learning, and ensuring that all experience appropriate challenge and pace.

The school had put in place a structure to facilitate pupils being actively involved in their own learning. The sharing of good practice across departments had provided a consistency of approach across the school, shared high expectations of pupils' attainment and achievement and established a clear focus for staff. Departments had improved planning to include target setting and tracking, ensuring appropriate challenge and pace for all year groups. Departments had regularly shared good practice under the guidance of the senior management team (SMT) resulting in effective professional dialogue on learning and teaching. Some departments had embedded a rigorous approach to challenge and pace, involving pupils in their learning, and others were developing approaches supported by their colleagues and by the senior managers. The school shared good practice within the school and with other North Lanarkshire secondary schools. The learning and teaching working party had ensured consistency and high standards in developments through careful dissemination of information and through seeking and using the views of all staff. A large number of staff had been trained in co-operative learning techniques and all had been trained in important approaches to assessment. These staff development activities, along with the increased awareness of pupils' learning styles, had a significant impact on active learning and pupil involvement in all subjects. P7 pupils' performance had been observed in their primary schools. This had enabled appropriate national attainment targets to be set by secondary staff and more pupils were now achieving level E in S1 and S2. Pupils' learning targets were regularly reviewed to ensure an appropriate pace of learning. The mathematics department had focussed support on higher achieving pupils and pupils had been assessed at an earlier stage. The English department had presented pupils for Standard Grade at S3. Enterprising approaches encouraged pupils' involvement in their own learning

Teachers were engaged in peer evaluations. Good practice was identified and recorded in a database open to all teachers encouraging recognition and sharing of good practice among staff. The process was well managed by the headteacher. Learning outcomes and success criteria had been shared with pupils. Evaluations had focussed on achieving increased pace and challenge. Clear guidance had been given to staff, pupils and parents about expectations. Coursework had been changed to ensure appropriate work for pupils. Senior managers and principal teachers reviewed progress with teachers in searching discussions. Principal teachers had been fully involved in all developments

3.2 continue to improve performance of pupils' inS5/S6 in national examinations)

The school had improved the attainment of pupils in S5/S6 and procedures were in place to ensure continued improvement and careful monitoring of attainment. In S5 the proportion of pupils gaining 3 or more awards at Higher or better was above similar schools. The proportion of pupils gaining 5 or more awards at Higher or better was above similar schools and there was an improving trend. In S6 there had been improvement in the proportion of pupils gaining 1 or more, 3 or more and 5 or more Highers or better. In all categories the school performed better than similar schools. There was an improving trend in the proportion of pupils gaining Advanced Higher.

Improvements had been made in procedures to support pupils' subject choice, helping young people to focus on subjects appropriate to their chosen career. This process was further supported by the use of staff tutors in S5. A good induction programme and study support in S5/S6 ensured that pupils' learning targets were being met, and that any concerns were raised early enough to allow remedial action. A calendar of key dates, drawn up and evaluated by teachers and pupils, provided a focus for completion of work. Improvements in courses and programme planning, the use of the 'Scholar' programme and Easter schools have contributed to pupils' achievements at S5/S6. The very successful S6 conferences involved a number of outside agencies and businesses supporting pupils in decisions about careers. Departments were achieving greater consistency in their approaches to meeting senior pupils' needs.

3.3 follow through plans to review arrangements for support for pupils to improve the pupil support and health education (PSHE) course, providing clear advice on expected learning outcomes.

This whole school development had been of a very high standard. The PSHE programme had been reviewed and developed, with a rigorous approach to staff development and clear advice on learning outcomes. This experience had given the school a good model for developments in other curricular areas. Units of work had been constructed giving clear criteria for the teacher and learning outcomes for pupils. A whole school approach had ensured that all topics were covered and that prior learning was considered and built upon. The course materials had been kept under review through regular discussions with staff and evaluations by staff and pupils. The school had an effective pupil support policy, handbook, standards and quality report and calendar for support activity. These ensured a consistency of approach and expectations. Each principal teacher of pupil support assumed responsibility for a theme in PSHE from S1 to S6. This had allowed the school to monitor and evaluate the programme in a rigorous way that ensured consistency. The home school partnership officer had enhanced the programme and had played a full part in developing broader aspects of pupil support.

Joint Assessment Team Meetings (JATs) had been successful in supporting pupils. The school had introduced additional informal meetings and had achieved improvements in the time it took to address issues for individual pupils. The school had been actively involved in moves to improve social inclusion and in many community involvement initiatives. Other key agencies had been used effectively to support pupils.

3.4 should further improve effective self-evaluation procedures at departmental level to promote continuing improvements in learning.

There had been effective developments in the area of self-evaluation. Staff had been given much support with the prospect of long term benefits from the very good procedures put in place.

The learning and teaching workshops had supported staff in self-evaluation procedures and encouraged the sharing of good practice. The PSHE programme provided clear learning intentions and success criteria which had supported improvements in learning, teaching and attainment.

Departments used a standard format for standards and quality reports, ensuring consistent quality. Senior managers monitored the performance of a number of departments each year, to quality assure and to ensure a consistency of approach across the school. All departments will be validated once every three years. Departmental action plans had been monitored, a policy for self-evaluation was in place and staff had a clear guidance and a calendar of key dates to monitor progress.

The school had used national documentation to support staff in improving their self-evaluation processes. Teachers had used quality indicators for learning and teaching to benchmark their own practice. Steps had been taken to increase awareness of pace of learning across the school and to share understanding of the focus for improvement. Departments worked closely with senior manager. Some principal teachers played a significant part in this development. The headteacher presented an analysis of results from national examinations and worked with principal teachers to ensure that every department understood the implications. Classroom monitoring had been undertaken by senior managers, by principal teachers and by peers. The school had produced a policy on lesson observation to provide a clear focus for class visits including peer observation. Quality Improvement Officers from North Lanarkshire Council had been involved in supporting departmental developments. Cross curricular meetings had given a rigour and consistency to the self-evaluation procedure and had ensured continued improvement in learning.

With effective support from North Lanarkshire Council, Taylor High School had responded very well to the recommendations of HMIE and had improved the pace of learning and self-evaluation. All staff had been fully engaged with senior mangers in establishing rigorous and systematic procedures that enabled them to undertake the recommendations in the action plan. There had been some very good developments across the school and a very clear focus on raising attainment and improving learning and teaching. The school was well placed to continue the improvements achieved to date. North Lanarkshire Council will not publish further reports in relation to the 2004 HMIE report.

Back to school page

Summary of Hyperlinks

• Back to school page