Junior High School
2010 / 2011
Standards and Quality Report
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Contents Introduction 1 Work and life of our school community 4 Successes and Achievements 6
Attainment in National Assessments 9 Wider Achievements 10 Progress with our Improvement Plan 13 Conclusion 20 Gender Equality Report 21
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Dear Parent/Carer
Welcome to the 2010/2011 School Standards and Quality
Report
This report is designed to give you an update on the progress we are making
and to let you know how you can continue to support the school. It is an
annual report for the academic year 2010 – 2011 which provides information
about each of our improvement projects, the work and life of our school, our
successes and achievements, our vision and leadership.
At the heart of all we aim to achieve is our vision, values and aims. Leadership
refers not only to the staff but to the ways in which all in the school are
developing these skills. We hope it also gives you a flavour of all the aspects
our school and shows how we are celebrating the successes of our pupils.
In addition to our own on-going self evaluation process, this year we also have
the HMIE inspection report to support us as we strive to continually improve
what we do. Importantly the inspectors agreed with our evaluations and
identified the following key strengths:-
The very wide range of achievement by children and young people
The imaginative approaches to deliver a wide range of experiences, in the
context of a very small school with many constraints
The positive attitudes to learning shown by children and young people, and the
Very positive relationships amongst the school community
The good start made by the Head Teacher to improving the school, with the
support of staff
Curriculum for Excellence has been implemented from August 2010 from the
early years to S1. The inspectors noted the positive progress that has been
made during the year and indicated that we should continue to build on this.
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Our vision
To be an active and healthy learning community where everyone respects, motivates and inspires others.
Our values
In Stronsay we all aim to act in a way which shows that
we are:-
Honest
Caring
Cooperative
Respectful
Tolerant
Responsible
Friendly
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Our Aims
To establish a culture where every member of the school
community feels valued, safe, respected and involved.
To create a motivating and inspiring environment which
supports every member of the school community to develop
and grow intellectually, emotionally and socially
To provide opportunities for every member of the school
community to access a wide range of experiences building on
their strengths and developing new skills to prepare them
to play an effective role in and make a positive contribution
to their community now and in the future.
To ensure our focus remains on providing the highest quality
of teaching possible for our young people.
To encourage every member of the school community to be
active and healthy, by raising awareness and providing a
range of opportunities for all to achieve this.
To involve parents, carers and the wider community in the
life of our school – to have the school at the heart of the
community and the community at the heart of the school in
order to contribute to the sustainability of both.
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Work and life of our school community
Staffing
Mr Meason’s time in Stronsay was reduced to one day and we welcomed Mr
Smith who took up the post of Craft and Design Teacher in August 2010 for
the other day as he had been relocated from Stromness Academy.
Mrs Jane Barber was appointed to a permanent Social Studies post for two
days per week and started in August 2010.
Mrs Cate Evans was appointed to as teacher of Home Economics and started
in August 2010. She is also a qualified Biology teacher.
Mr Wayne Duncan joined the staff as Music teacher to replace Mr McKinley
who continued in his post of Acting Head at North Walls, Hoy.
Due to additional funding we had applied for Mrs Bowen and Mrs Groat
worked in the Support for Learning department along with Mrs G Smith
The school is fortunate to have staff who continually strive to ensure that
our young people have the highest standard of education and the widest range
of opportunities possible.
Changes to the school day
We have now been able to evaluate the impact of the changes made to the
school day during the summer timetable and it is clear that this has had a
positive impact on learning allowing the pupils to access far more specialist
teacher time.
The curriculum
The changes made to the curriculum which allowed all S3 pupils to follow the
courses of their choice has worked well and was continued this year, as a
result we now have pupils able to study three sciences and two languages if
they wish. Engineering, Hospitality and we offered the Angling for Youth
Development course continued to be delivered. S1 and S2 pupils had the
option of choosing an elective and these ranged from Engineering, extending
English skills, developing the outdoor area for nursery to Latin. The range of
courses available continues to match that of other secondary schools and was
praised by HMIE.
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Pupil numbers
Seven pupils left school at the end of S4 and four pupils joined P1 in August
2010 and two pupils joined the secondary department with another pupil
joining during the year which keeps the school role relatively stable for the
time being.
Our Leaver’s Ceremony was held on the last day the S4 pupils were in school.
The ceremony was very well organised by the S3 pupils, S4 pupils were
presented with a certificate and mementoes of their time in Stronsay. The
ceremony was attended by parents, staff and pupils. The S3 pupils also
arranged a dinner for the S4 pupils which was held after the SQA
examinations, again this event was enjoyed by all and the I was very
impressed by the work of the S3 pupils who arranged this.
Pupil council
The pupil council continued to actively support fund raising for charities and
are proactive in suggesting improvements that can be made to the school.
During the last year they supported Children in Need, Make a Wish Campaign,
Tommy’s campaign. Certificates are displayed in school to show how much was
raised each time and recognise the achievements of all involved.
The pupil council is made up of representatives from each class, elected at
the beginning of each school year. They meet on a regular basis with Mrs
Dennison. The pupils have been working hard this year to ensure that all pupils
are involved in the decisions made by the pupil council. The members of the
council consult with their class, display their minutes on the pupil council
notice board, they are responsible for running the Healthy Tuck Shop and
speak to Mrs Robertson about any changes they would like to make, for
example this year we have changed the time the pupils go for lunch, improved
the Social Area for the S3/4 pupils.
They continue to be very proactive in contributing suggestions to improve the
school in terms of what is taught, what opportunities they would like to see
and how the building can be improved and know they are listened to. This year
a representative of the Pupil Council has been attending the Parent Council
meetings.
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Parent Council
The Parent Council meets twice during each term in the school. They are very
supportive of the school. The Parent Council will be instrumental in enabling
all parents to gain greater knowledge and understanding of the Curriculum for
Excellence. Parent Council minutes are displayed in the local shop and there is
now also a display board in the school in the corridor going to the pool for
anyone to look at.
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SUCCESSES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Key events 2010 - 2011
During the last year we have tried to put articles written by pupils and staff in
the Limpet on a regular basis to keep parents and the community informed
about and involved with the school, for this reason this section is shorter than
it usually is.
August 2010
School sports took place with the now customary barbecue
September 2010
Pupils watched a piece of drama delivered by the Eco Drama company visiting
the island arranged by Marion MacLeod. The S1 pupils went to Kirkwall to
watch the Road Safety play. The Food group from the Stronsay Past, Present
and Future project visited the Agronomy unit of the University of the
Highlands and Islands to look at the work they were doing with bere. John
Holloway visited the nursery to speak to the children about birds as they had
been busy bird watching and putting out the feeders. Pupils attended the Tag
Rugby festival now an annual fixture.
November 2010
A group of pupils attended a Crofting Connections event at Holyrood,
Edinburgh. They impressed a prestigious audience with their talk about what
and how they were learning about local crafts and food – its history and its
sustainability. Diane also played the cello and people who attended the event
are still talking about this!
As usual pupils attended the Senior Instrumental Course held in Kirkwall.
Three pupils attended the Orkney Youth Conference in Hoy and again were a
credit to the school and community; they were complimented on their ability to
contribute meaningfully to discussions in a confident manner. The pupils took
the lead on delivering the range of events to raise money for Children in Need
and as usual this was achieved extremely competently which pupils putting their
team working and leadership skills to good use. They raised £
A highlight of this month for all was the school’s performance of Oliver. Thank
you to everyone for all their hard work and support.
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December 2010
For most of us December will be remembered for the severe bad weather. For
the school this inevitably meant early morning calls to Maurice and the Council
and on some days planes not arriving with staff or pupils unable to get to
school. Our use of GLOW for learning and teaching was in its infancy at this
stage however it is a credit to staff that they quickly got to grips with this and
pupils were able to access learning remotely, which is an important skill in
itself. The individual pupil’s SQA exam results reflected that the pupils had
not been disadvantaged by this. We have continued to work on refining this
and trying to make sure it is available to all pupils. Schools are charged by the
Scottish Government to ensure that learning can continue despite school
closures. On a positive note three pupils attended and passed a Pre Sea Course
which they all enjoyed and gained valuable qualifications they will be able to use
in the future. We had the Christmas Craft evening which again was really
enjoyed by all, it is always good to see adults and children learning together.
The year ended with a Carol Service and Christmas party.
February 2011
For the first time in a while we ran the Babysitting course, this was delivered
by staff who came over from Kirkwall. The aim of the course was to teach the
young people about childcare and to provide them with an experience of this. I
think we were all impressed with the quality of the ‘baby’, which made the
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whole experience very true to life. Some pupils had to give the baby back,
some managed to drop the baby or not feed it on time, all the data analysed
from a chip inside. While the intention was not to put our young people off
having babies at some stage in the future, one young man was heard to
pronounce that this had totally put him off!!
March 2011
March was an action packed month with the Troot in the Shed project on the
go with the troot being released into Muckle water on the 16th. The pupils are
to be commended for their whole approach to this project. Jenny Taylor from
Orkney Woodland trust came out to help us plant trees to try and create some
shelter out the back and also worked with the pupils. We finally managed to
find a football coach and are grateful to Richard Groat for taking this on and
enabling the pupils to take part in the Soccer One programme. The Upper
Primary had been learning about Fair Trade and shared this with the rest of
the school, parents and members of the school community during a very
successful afternoon.
April 2011
Pupils were again raising funds this time for Comic Relief with their Red Nose
day and activities. The engineering group went to Orkney College to take part
in a Bridge Building competition; they were highly commended for their planning
and learnt a lot about how to improve on the actual building. They all enjoyed
the competition. Highland Football Academy staff came to the school to work
with pupils. There was a great deal of learning about volcanoes and the effects
of volcanic ash this month!
May 2011
Pupils took part in a UK wide Maths challenge at which some of our pupils
excelled. The second Tag Rugby competition took place and pupils also attended
a netball tournament on the 28th. Thanks to all staff, parents and volunteers
who accompany our young people on the wide variety of events they go to. The
annual Junior Instrumental course took place and was again attended by our
talented musicians who are supported throughout the year by their music
instructors Mrs Maxwell and Mrs Hamilton and their teacher Mr Duncan.
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June 2011
An additional Book Fair took place and as usual was well attended. Pupils taking
the Angling for Youth Development took part in a competition on Orkney
mainland where Craig won one of the events. S1/2 and S3/4 Standard Grade
Home Economics pupils went to Kirkwall during the last week of term to visit
the Cooking Bus in order to develop their skills. The feedback for the S1/2
group was that their skills and knowledge were of such a level that they would
have been able to cope with the session designed for the older age group. This
was a real compliment as Orkney was the last authority to be visited by the
cooking bus and has travelled across Scotland with the same staff manning the
bus and they felt this was the only group who would have benefitted from a
more challenging session. The S3/4 pupils are also to be commended. As each
session was half a day pupils also had either a rugby session with Bruce or a
session with Catherine – our Active Schools co-ordinator. The term ended with
the usual End of Year Awards Ceremony with merits being presented and the
special award for outstanding contributions to the life of the school going to
Jacqui Smith. The second last week on term Her Majesty’s Inspectors of
Education visited the school.
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Primary trips
We continue to work to enable pupils to gain a greater understanding of their
own world and its place in the wider world and as part of this the whole primary
studied different aspects of life in Stronsay and participated in a series of
visits to different parts of the island. All pupils will be working towards a John
Muir Award.
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Residential trips and Outdoor Education
This year the Secondary pupils participated in a three day Geography and
Science field trip to Birsay using the camping equipment and funding gifted to
us by the Stronsay Footprints. Field trips are an important element of these
curricular areas and we are aiming to ensure that all pupils now have this
opportunity to learn in the outdoor environment and put into practice skills
learned and developed in the classroom The S2 pupils did not go to Hoy this
year as usual as only four out of the nine pupils wanted to go. This will be
reviewed next year.
My thanks to all staff, parents and volunteers who make all these trips possible
especially those of you who go on days where there is an early boat and at the
weekends.
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Attainment
It is more important to us that all pupils are making progress against their own
targets. We are able to personalise learning and help all pupils to make
progress against agreed and realistic targets. This progress is carefully
monitored. During the past year all of the pupils in primary and secondary have
continued to make progress.
For pupils from early years to S1, we are now measuring attainment in terms of
the levels of Curriculum for Excellence and we reported on these in June 10.
Evening workshops have been held for parents interested in knowing more
about the levels and leaflets and information has been sent home. A
presentation was also made to the Parent Council in order for them to able to
support parents as well.
From HMiE report:-
Almost all young people are making appropriate progress in their learning. This is
measured by progress through levels of Curriculum for Excellence up to S1.
Attainment is also measured and tracked against PIPs and MidYis scores. By the
end of S4, young people have been attaining broadly in line with their MidYis
indicators across all subject areas.
• Because of small numbers, there is no meaningful statistical analysis of
attainment. However, it is clear that the quality of learning has been improving
and staffing is more stable, which is leading to better outcomes for children and
young people.
Standard Grade
At Standard Grade there were seven pupils in this year’s cohort. Pupils took
between 6 and 8 Standard grades chosen from; English, Mathematics, German,
Chemistry, Biology, Geography, History, Music, Craft and Design, Home
Economics and French.
Pupil attainment at Standard Grade continues to be very good with grades
attained in line with or above the MIDYIS indicators in almost all subjects for
almost all pupils. It is a credit to their application and the quality of teaching
that they managed to achieve to this level despite a difficult year due to staff
absence and staff unable to reach the school because of the weather and
volcanic ash. The use of GLOW to allow pupils to be in touch with their
teachers during these conditions was a key element of learning continuing.
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Wider Achievements
John Muir Award - All pupils to S2 are working towards a John Muir Award.
Music Grades
Diane Smith has chosen to take the music exams and has now achieved
distinction at Grade 3 in cello. All pupils who have music tuition may choose to
take external examinations if they wish, entry costs are paid by parents
however preparation for exams is supported by Mrs Maxwell and Mrs Hamilton
our music instructors
Maths Challenge Awards - Pupils entered this nationally recognised competition
and achieved very well, with Cameron excelling.
Enterprise in Education - This year the main focus was the production of the
book – We’ll be Ower wi the Moon.
.
Merit awards
The merit award system continues to be successful in developing a stronger work
ethic and positive attitude in pupils. Pupils are given a merit for Consistent Good
Performance and Effort, Improvement in Work and/or Behaviour, Consistent
Homework Record, Positive Approach to Subject/school and being a Positive Role
Model. Pupils receive a certificate as they achieve the number of merits for the
Bronze and Silver levels. The pupils who achieved Gold were allowed a choice of
rewards which had been agreed by the pupil council. As we went through the year
some pupils achieved Gold by Easter and we had to put in a new Platinum level.
Parents were invited to the end of term event to celebrate a range of achievements
during the year and this was well attended.
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Progress with our Improvement Plan
This section gives you information about the extent to which we achieved what we
set out to do this year and what the next areas to be developed are. These will
inform the School Improvement plan for 2011/2012 along with the feedback from
the inspection.
Priority 1
To develop our curriculum in line with Curriculum for Excellence
We said we intended to
1. Continue to map curriculum against experiences and outcomes from CfE P1 to S2
2. Share planning across secondary departments and between primary and
secondary and nursery and primary
3. Raise awareness of Curriculum for Excellence with parents and partners
4. Develop Health and Wellbeing from nursery to S4 ensuring progression
5. Primary work on Literacy Outcomes
6. To consider approaches to Assessment and Moderation of progress
Here is the difference we made
The inspectors noted that we have made a positive start with Curriculum for
Excellence. Our interdisciplinary learning projects were praised by the
inspectors. Staff are working together more effectively and this enhances pupils’
learning. We have had to be creative about how this is achieved as the staff are
never all in school on the same day. We have a learning wall which has been
shared with parents and pupils, we have developed a GLOW staffroom to share
practise and have a mainland based staff meeting after school once a term. Pupil
feedback has been sought about teaching and is included when planning next
steps.
As well as the usual parents’ evenings, two evening events were held for parents
to give the opportunity to learn more about Curriculum for Excellence, GLOW and
learning and teaching in Stronsay School. Information has also been sent home.
The primary staff have used materials developed by Orkney Islands Council staff
to ensure pupils are making progress in literacy.
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Staff have worked together to look at assessment and this has been shared with
parents at the above events. School reporting is in line with Curriculum for
Excellence up to S2
From HMiE inspection feedback:
The curriculum supports the school’s vision well in terms raising expectations,
building confidence and in providing more choice for children within increasingly
more inspiring and motivating learning contexts. The design of the curriculum has
provided clear opportunities for staff to be innovative about taking forward
particular developments. It has taken good account of young people’s views and local
circumstances.
Areas for development
Continue to build on work already done to implement Curriculum for Excellence
ensuring that all stages are involved
Continue to develop assessment and moderation across curricular areas and
stages in line with national guidance
Provide opportunities for pupils to extend their understanding of equalities and
embed these within Curriculum for Excellence
Develop a clear plan for delivery of children’s entitlements to curricular
experiences in dance, drama and RMPS
Continue to provide opportunities for parents to learn more about Curriculum for
Excellence and learning and teaching in Stronsay school and to be involved in their
child’s learning.
Seek innovative ways to achieve this as the events held in 2010 – 2011 were poorly
attended.
Continue to seek parents’ views on how to improve our school
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Priority 2
To be active and healthy
The health and wellbeing of all in Stronsay School is off paramount importance
and is key to high quality learning taking place.
We said we intended to focus on the following;_
1. To promote an active and healthy lifestyle for all
2. To enable greater pupil participation in mainland events
3. To promote a positive ethos across the school and develop and enhance the self
esteem of all working in the school
4. Aim For Healthy Working lives status
5. Increase the involvement of outside agencies in the life and work of the school
Here is the difference we made
The health and wellbeing of all in Stronsay School continues to be of paramount
importance and is key to the high quality learning taking place. Our commitment
to this has been recognised as a strength in the inspection report.
All secondary pupils have been able to access the Healthy Living Centre in
addition to core PE, funded from the school budget. Pupils have been involved in
Tag Rugby and the Highland Football academy and have attended various sports
festivals. We are delighted that we now have teams competing in weekend events
now held on a Saturday. We have been asking organisers to consider this for the
last couple of years and this has finally happened.
This year through the Soccer One scheme the school football team attended
competitions on the mainland. This was made possible by Richard Groat
volunteering to be the football coach as this was a requirement for us to be able
to participate in the scheme. We are very grateful to him for taking this on and
he has continued with this into the 2011/2012 school year.
Awareness of healthy eating is on-going through the curriculum and various
displays around the school. The school canteen contributes to this and meets the
standards set by Scottish Government.
Pupils generally behave very well and show concern and respect for others. All
agreed that we respect ourselves, each other, property and the environment we
are in from the classroom to the wider world. There is a programme for enhancing
self esteem from nursery to S4. Pupils from the Upper Primary and Secondary
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completed the RESPECT course delivered by staff from mainland Orkney and
feedback form pupils showed that they valued and had learnt from this
experience
Pupils had the opportunity to work with the Active Schools Coordinator (two
pupils were invited to attend netball training for the Orkney teams)
The positive ethos of the school was recognised by the inspectors.
Areas for development
Actively seek funding to allow our pupils to continue to use the Healthy living
centre to ensure secondary pupils have the recommended two hours per week of
core PE. Up until now this has been funded from the school’s devolved budget
however this is not sustainable. (Primary pupils have two hours some of which is
delivered by the PE specialist). Seek funding to allow opportunities for dance as
part of the curriculum and as an after school activity.
Continue to embed health and wellbeing needs as part of our whole school
approach.
Build on what we have achieved with regard to building individual’s self esteem
and resilience.
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Priority 3
To improve indoor and outdoor space to enable high quality
Learning and Teaching
We said we intended to
1. Consult with all key stakeholders on use of space in school
2. Improve outdoor play area
3. Provide improved library facilities
4. Provide improved classroom facilities for all
5. Consider outdoor learning documents and look at ways to include in the
curriculum at all levels
Here is the difference we made
We consulted with all involved and have made some improvements. More
equipment was purchased for the front playground. Secondary pupils worked with
nursery and lower primary pupils to produce wooden models which are now
attached to the fence. Parents and staff are working on an application for
funding to make these dreams a reality. The library has been re-housed and
staff and pupils are working together to improve this. The senior social area has
been improved and further improvements are awaiting the pupil input.
Improvements have been made in outdoor learning opportunities through the John
Muir award and the secondary geography/science mainland field trip.
Areas for development
Ensure that there are planned opportunities for outdoor learning across the whole
school
Continue to work with all concerned to improve the learning environment
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Priority 4
To look in greater depth at Attainment and Achievement
We said we intended to focus on
1. Improve target setting and monitoring in line with personalised learning to be
agreed between staff and pupils at all levels
2. Use analysis of data from PIPS, MIDYIS and SQA to inform learning and
teaching approaches
3. Implement the John Muir Award to recognise wider achievement
4. Pupil and staff achievement being regularly recognised
Here is the difference we made
Both personal and academic targets are agreed and reviewed on a termly basis.
Pupils are encouraged to share these with home.
Pupil and staff achievement is recognised regularly using the Pupil Notice board,
assemblies and end of term awards ceremonies.
As identified by HMiE:-
The school has good strategies in place for raising achievement
Staff have appropriate systems for sharing attainment information in order to help
young people choose subjects and set targets for further learning and attainment.
.
Learners’ progress is very well monitored, including through the use of PIPs and
MidYis data, by the HT, and action is taken when progress is too slow
Young people are beginning to be exposed to new and exciting learning
opportunities and are achieving well. Use of opportunities such as the John Muir
Award are to be encouraged.
Young peopled are being encouraged to develop independent learning skills, an
awareness of the benefits of peer and self assessment and research skills
Staff promote children’s well being through celebrating success, including their
wider achievements. Successes are celebrated around the school in very good
displays, at assemblies and in the local paper.
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Areas for development
Make more use of the outdoor environment for learning across the whole school
Embed pupil tracking and monitoring of their own learning needs across the whole
school
Continue to seek innovative ways to offer pupils a wide range of experiences across
the whole school
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Priority 5
To put sustainability and creativity at the heart of the curriculum
We said we intended to focus on the following areas:
1. To develop local, national and global links
2. To revise the PSE and RMPS curriculum to ensure cohesion and progression
3. To continue working on the Crofting Connections project
4. To work towards Green flag Accreditation
5. To develop enterprise skills through the curriculum
6. To continue to develop STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths)
projects
Here is the difference we made
Pupils have made links with a school in Devon and in November last year we had a
visit from a teacher from Kenya and now have a link school there. Some pupils
have had the opportunity to meet and work with other pupils through the Crofing
connections trip to the Scottish Parliament last year and through participation in
events such as the Engineering challenge at Orkney college. HMiE recognised
that pupils are developing literacy and numeracy skills through these
opportunities in real-life relevant contexts. For example, they commended the
standard of writing on the AFYD blog.
Our Crofting Connections project has continued throughout the year as part of
our larger interdisciplinary learning project – Stronsay – Past, Present and Future
– the Challenge. Pupils have had the opportunity to try workshops in Weaving,
Knitting, Fly Tying and an Art Project. Pupils are being given the opportunity not
only to develop new skills but also to be aware that these skills could represent a
future employment opportunity.
The STEM group has continued during the year culminating in the group entering
the raft race.
Enterprise skills continued to be developed at all stages throughout the school
through the curriculum for example through the primary fair trade focus,
through pupil involvement in fund raising and writing applications for funding to
the SOS parent group and through the book project. These skills are also
developed across the curriculum areas and our work on interdisciplinary learning
has been recognised as a key strength.
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Areas for development
We will continue to develop our links with other schools and build on our global
citizenship programme to help pupils understand their own world and that of
others. Pupils are keen to share experiences and learn together with other pupils
and we plan to include opportunities for them to achieve this across the whole
school. We will be submitting a bid for an initial visit to our African school along
with the other six schools in Highland, Orkney and Shetland who are involved in
this project.
We will continue to develop Health and Wellbeing and look at ways in which to
capture how pupils are making progress.
We will actively seek funding to allow us to continue delivering STEM sessions as
there is no longer any funding from Scottish Government directly to schools for
this. This funding source ceased in March 11
We will continue to build in opportunities for pupils to work creatively and develop
skills in this area across the whole school
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Project 6
To improve communication with parents and the community
We said we intended to focus on the following:-
1. To involve parents in the life of the school
2. To involve the community in the life of the school
3. To raise awareness of the achievements of the school to a wider audience
Here is the difference we made
There have been a series of events organised during the year for parents to
attend to learn more about the life of the school, the learning taking place,
Curriculum for Excellence and GLOW.
Information has been sent home to parents about Curriculum for Excellence.
As reported in an earlier priority the inspectors praised the way achievements
and successes are being recognized, celebrated and shared.
Most months we have managed to submit pupil and/or staff reports to the Limpet.
Members of the community have continued to be involved in the school through
delivering skills such as Engineering, Knitting, Weaving, knowledge of birds and
wildlife, school productions etc.
Areas for development
Continue to try and find innovative ways to involve parents in their children’s
learning
Continue to work with the Parent Council and parents to ensure the school
continues to build on its successes and addresses areas for improvement
Continue to demonstrate how the school is making progress in order for all
parents to have confidence in the school and its staff.
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Priority 7
To enhance quality of learning and teaching through use of GLOW
and ICT
We said we intended to focus on the following:-
1. Use of ICT is integrated into and supporting L & T
2. To use GLOW/ICT to provide high quality learning experiences for all pupils
3. To develop use of GLOW throughout the school - some departments to develop
plans for positioning learning materials in Glow Learn
This is the difference we made as identified by HMiE inspectors:_
Young people have good access to ICT to support their learning. In a number of
Classes (including Graph Communications(an element of Craft and Design), AFYD
(Angling for Youth Development), science, HE), interactive whiteboards are used well
to enhance learners’ experiences
The improvement plan has been successful in its stated objectives of improving the
curriculum, developing healthy active lives, enhancing learning through GLOW and
ICT, exploring approaches to achievement and attainment, developing sustainability
and creativity, and improving communication with parents. All of these have led to
improved learning and improving achievement for children and young people.
There are examples of very effective use of ICT for teaching
Increasingly staff are making more use of GLOW to ensure that young people can
access suitable curricular materials when there are staffing absences
Areas for development
Continue to develop the range of opportunities for pupils across the school where
pupils can develop the ICT skills required in their future lives.
Continue to use GLOW as a one way of enabling pupils to develop independent
learning and working skills again vital for their future lives.
Develop the use of e-portfolios as a way to record and celebrate achievements
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Conclusion
We hope this gives you a flavour of a year in the life of Stronsay School. We
are continually striving to provide the highest quality of education possible by
meeting the learning needs of our pupils, working in partnership with parent,
the community and other relevant agencies.
The areas for development have all informed the School Improvement Plan for
2011/12 as has the feedback from the inspection.
If any parents would like to see the full School Improvement Plan 2010/11 they
can get a copy from the school. As always we would welcome any feedback
about the contents and format of this report and have attached a form should
you wish to comment.
Susan Robertson
Headteacher
December 2011
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GENDER EQUALITY REPORT FOR STRONSAY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The Equality Act (2006) introduced a gender equality duty which, among other
things, requires Education Authorities to gather information on how their work
affects men and women, boys and girls. The Authority must publish an annual
report on gender equality. The Act also requires schools to submit an annual
report to the Education Authority on how their work affects boys and girls in a
broad range of areas.
Number of pupils:
Male: 15 P 9 S (1 -4) 24 Total
Female: 13 P 16 S (1- 4) 29 Total
Following last year’s Standards and Quality Reports concerns were expressed by
parents and pupils that individual children could be identified in the reporting of
attainment. This was not actually the case however this year we have removed
this section although parents may request this information if they wish. The
important issue is that as identified in the HMiE inspection attainment is
continuing to improve and is broadly in line with all indicators.
Exclusions
Numbers excluded by gender: Male: 0 Female: 0
Access to Opportunities (analysed by gender)
Please give numbers choosing to study the following subjects, by gender;
In 3rd year – total number of boys in the year 3, total number of girls 3
Subject Male Female
Biology 3 2
Physics 0 0
Art and Design 0 0
Computing Studies Not offered Not offered
P.E. 0 0
Administration Not offered Not offered
Home Economics 2 2
Craft and Design 3 2
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Harassment
Numbers of incidents of harassment associated with gender reported. 0
Complaints
Numbers of complaints related to gender issues. 0
Please outline the actions you have taken in the last year to promote gender
equality and eliminate discrimination.
Report prepared by Mrs Susan Robertson Headteacher
Date prepared December 2011
As school policies are reviewed or rewritten they are impact assessed for gender equality The PSE curriculum includes units looking at Stereotyping and Gender Equality. Sexual Health programme delivered to all pupils includes a DVD unit where gender issues are illustrated. Pupils are all encouraged to study subjects and areas linked to their own interests and skills and all evidence shows that there is no male/female gender bias in the subjects they choose. Staff are proactive in ensuring that all pupils are shown appropriate role models in all area.
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