McLaren High School

Standards and Quality Report

Session 2016/17

Order I Respect I Care I Achievement

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STANDARDS AND QUALITY REPORT SESSION 2016/17

Introduction The purpose of this Standards and Quality Report is to provide a summary of the school’s performance during session 2016/17. The report identifies improvements achieved and provides development priorities for the current session.

We are committed to providing high-quality education and a wide range of opportunities for all pupils, so that each individual is encouraged and able to achieve his/her potential, and all pupils can develop as:

Successful learners

Confident individuals

Responsible citizens

Effective contributors

Each year we produce a school improvement plan consistent with our aims and those of Stirling Council. A copy of the school improvement plan is available from the school office on request.

Our School has been in existence since 1892 and has a successful history of providing a quality education based on a clear sense of purpose. McLaren High School is a non-denominational school with a current roll of 612 pupils. Pupils from the twelve primary schools in our Learning Community transfer to McLaren High School and they are joined by a number of pupils whose parents have made a placing request. McLaren High School has highly professional teaching and support staff, with high expectations for our pupils. We are committed to working with parents to support and challenge our pupils to succeed in learning and to develop as confident young citizens.

The School is situated on the southern edge of Callander and is the only secondary school in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park. The stunning grandeur of Ben Ledi stands above the open farmland along the River Teith. Following a major programme of new build and refurbishment, pupils and staff benefit from excellent facilities for learning and teaching. The school is fully committed to meeting the needs of all young people and to providing a wide range of opportunities for all members of our school community. Supporting learning is the responsibility of all members of staff.

The school has a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils in S1 from follow a programme of study that reflects the principles and practices of curriculum for excellence. We are continuing to develop the experience of your young people in the Broad General Education supporting their learning with Skills for Learning Life and work which draws on the experiences of a range of curricular areas.

Personalisation and choice is undertaken at the end of S2 and S3. Currently pupils study 7 subjects at S4. Young people then reduce to five subjects as they enter S5. All pupils in S1-S6

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follow a planned programme of Personal Social and Health Education. This includes a planned period of work experience for all S4 pupils.

Our School Structure

The Senior Management Team consists of the Head Teacher and three Depute Head Teachers. The Extended Management Team has five Curricular Leaders who are in charge of the following subjects:

Creative & Aesthetic Faculty

Art & Design, Music, Home Economics & Physical Education

Literacy & Communication Faculty

English & Modern Languages (French & Spanish)

Science & Technology Faculty

Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Technical Education

Humanities

Geography, History, Physics & Religious & Moral Education

Numeracy & ICT Faculty

Mathematics, ICT, Administration & Business Education

The Extended Management Team also has five Pupil Support Leaders (PSLs). Three PSLs are linked to our House System, which is made up of 3 houses - Bracklinn, Dochart & Leny, 1 PSL Transition and 1 PSL Enhanced Support. The school has one Additional Support Needs (ASN) teacher, and one Inclusion Support Worker. Pupil Support exists in McLaren High School to deliver quality support to all pupils according to their individual needs. The Pupil Support Team works to support the school aims and values of ORCA (Order, Respect, Care, Achievement) and to contribute to the School’s positive and welcoming ethos in which all children and young people are valued and encouraged to be effective learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to their school and community.

There are a wide range of opportunities for personal achievement at McLaren. More than 20 co-curricular activities are available throughout the year. We have a number of successful sports teams, orchestra, traditional music group, pipe band choir and a range of other music groups. We provide many opportunities for our young people to go on a variety of educational excursions, locally, within the National park, nationally and abroad. This report presents only a sample of what we do. I hope you find it interesting and informative, and I look forward to receiving your feedback on the report and on your experience of the school. Feedback, comments or suggestions on this report or any aspect of the school are most welcome.

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Our Vision Statement:

At McLaren High School we seek to cultivate a happy and caring community that fosters a culture of learning and where success is

celebrated.

Our Aims:

To create in our school a climate where everyone is recognised and respected.

To ensure that every student achieves their highest standards in literacy and numeracy.

To provide a curriculum that is suitably challenging & stimulating for all students at all stages.

To encourage everyone to achieve their goals and dreams and the same opportunity to succeed.

To promote a healthy lifestyle which embraces physical, mental and emotional wellbeing amongst all.

To promote active partnerships with students, parents, staff and the wider community.

To promote the active involvement of students in teaching and learning where there is a shared understanding of the purpose of the lesson, engaging pupils as owners of their own learning.

Our Values:

A core value is a central belief clearly understood and shared by every member of the school community. We believe in Order, Respect, Care and Achievement.

By Order we mean that everyone

shows loyalty to friends, colleagues and the school is willing to work to the highest level abides by the school rules and develop as responsible citizens

in our school community feels secure as a result of the clear and purposeful way in which our school works on a day to day basis.

By Respect we mean that everyone

values all members of the school community displays good manners at all times displays tolerance of others with different points of view and beliefs shows respect for the school buildings, facilities and surrounding environment By Care we mean that everyone

is willing to support and show care for those who need help

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volunteers in a variety of school situations considers their own strengths and sets personal goals for improvement pursues individual interests in a manner which broadens their horizons By Achievement we mean that everyone

is proud of their personal achievement develops confidence through participation produces work of the highest quality sets high standards and personal goals for improvement makes best use of their talents, time and resources

How Well Do Our Young People Achieve?

Senior Phase and Insight

“Detailed monitoring, recording and tracking of progress takes place at all levels to ensure

progress against shared high expectations of attainment and achievement. Consistent

approaches to monitoring, recording and tracking achievement across key aspects of learning

ensure that appropriate progress is being made by all learners. Staff intervene promptly and

effectively if the progress of individuals is not maintained.”

[Journey to Excellence – Learning and Teaching – Improvement Guides – Monitoring, recording

and tracking success, Education Scotland]

Insight is the Senior Phase benchmarking tool that allows McLaren High School and Stirling

Council to reflect on our performance as part of our processes to improve through self-

evaluation. The analysis of Insight data and the evaluation of the Senior Phase in our school

support the key principles of Curriculum for Excellence and the National Improvement

Framework priority to raise attainment for all.

The vision of the Raising Attainment for All programme highlights the aspiration to “close the

gap” between the attainment and achievement levels of those from varying levels of

deprivation:

“Scotland should be the best place to learn. We want each child to enjoy an education

that encourages them to be the best they can be and provides them with a full passport

to future opportunity”

[Raising Attainment for All, Scottish Government (June 2014)]

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Using the Data & Information

What are Virtual Comparator Schools?

Insight allows us to benchmark our performance along several different dimensions (including

a measure of overall attainment, as well as literacy, numeracy and positive destinations)

against schools in our local authority, nationally and against our ‘virtual comparator’. The

Virtual Comparator feature takes the characteristics of pupils in our school and matches them

to similar pupils from across Scotland to create a ‘virtual school’. This is a valuable benchmark

for us as it takes into account young people who have similar needs and backgrounds to pupils

at McLaren High School.

What is an SIMD Decile?

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) enables the school to map our performance

against the social context in which we operate. The SIMD identifies small area concentrations

of multiple deprivation across Scotland. It is based on data zones (a small area geographically)

and provides an assessment of multiple deprivation based on income, employment, health,

education, housing, access to services and levels of crime in the area. It provides a relative

measure of deprivation which means that the data zones can be ranked from most to least

deprived and cut offs can be applied to identify different levels of deprivation. The calculation

of deciles means that the data zones have been ranked and split into ten equal parts with

Decile 1 being the most deprived and Decile 10 being the least deprived. Based on the

postcode of the school leaver from the Pupil Census, it is possible to identify which data zone

a school leaver lives in and therefore which deprivation Decile. This allows the school to look

at attainment across the school by level of deprivation.

What are SCQF Levels?

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National Improvement Framework

Performance Information - Senior Phase Headlines

We are pleased that McLaren High Schools strong academic success this year and as a small

rural school our academic success is something our community is really proud of. This success

has been down to focus and determination on the part of the pupils in the Senior Phase and

also by the exceptional support provided by their teachers over the academic session. We are

not only very proud of our pupils who have achieved all As, but also proud of every one of our

pupils; both in terms of their National 3,4 and 5 results, but also Higher and Advanced Higher

results. Furthermore, the life experiences and co-curricular enrichment they have gained here

at McLaren High School are first class.

Our S4 performance has dropped slightly this year, however we are pleased that they have

made a strong start to their qualifications portfolio in their Senior Phase Journey. 50% of our

S4 cohort achieved 5 or more National 5 qualifications. In S5 our pupils have built on their S4

results and produced a strong set of results. An impressive 68% of pupils achieving at least

on Higher and 70% also now have at least 5 National 5s. More than half of the S5 cohort

achieved 3 or more Highers; 45% achieved 4 or more Highers and 24% achieved 5 or more

Highers – our second best figure since 2014.

We are delighted that our S6 have produced some of the best leaver’s results of any

Stirlingshire Secondary School. 86% have left with at least one Higher and 5 or more National

5 qualifications. 70% gained 3 or more Highers and 57% gained 5 or more Highers, and an

impressive 35% left with at least 1 Advanced Higher.

It has always been our aim to unlock the full academic potential of each individual but, more

importantly, to encourage every pupil to discover him or herself and make the most of the

opportunities presented, so that he or she can go out into the world and make a meaningful

and fulfilling contribution. With 97% of our pupils in positive destinations after leaving

McLaren High School, we are certain that we are providing the best possible grounding for a

successful future for our young people in whatever career path they chose.

In the Senior Phase our young people have demonstrated continued strong performance

across most measures and at department level Curriculum Leaders have looked closely at the

performance in their teams and have made amendments to courses and assessments, where

results were not as good as expected. There was a particular focus on looking at component

marks in the National Qualifications where adjustments were made to course delivery if

performance was out of line with comparator schools.

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Senior Phase Attainment (Graded Courses A-C) Secondary 4

2014 2015 2016 2017 2017 Accurate Virtual Comp

5+ @ SCQF Lv 5 54% 64% 62% 49.5% 50.5% 47.5%

4+ @ SCQF Lv 5 64% 74% 64% 65.7% 66.7% 56.7% 5+ @ SCQF Lv 4 91% 84% 84% 81.8%* 82.8%* 81%

5 + @ SCQF Lv 3 95% 88% 90% 87.9% 88.9% 83.7% *Once Recognising Positive Achievement is processed by the SQA these figures will rise.

Literacy and Numeracy

2014 2015 2016 2017 2017 Acc Virtual Comp

SCQF Lv 4 76% 89% 94% 91% 92% 88.7%

SCQF Lv 5 59% 68% 82% 49.5% 50.5% 59.2% Secondary 5

2014 2015 2016 2017 Virtual Comp

5 @ SCQF Lv 6 17.4% 21.1% 30.6% 23.9% 18.4%

4 @ SCQF Lv 6 - - 48.0% 44.6% 29.9% 3 @ SCQF Lv 6 39% 40.63% 59.2% 53.3% 39.6%

1 @SCQF Lv 6 60% 72% 78% 68.5% 60.5% 5 @SCQF Lv 5 65.1% 72.7% 73.5% 69.6% 58.1%

Secondary 6

2014 2015 2016 2017 Virtual Comp

3 @ SCQF Lv 7 TBC 3.7% 3.1% 5.1% 3.3% 1 @ SCQF Lv 7 25.4% 18.4% 17.2% 34.7% 21.9%

5 @ SCQF Lv 6 45.1% 30.3% 37.5% 57.1% 36.4% 3 @ SCQF Lv 6 60.7% 48.6% 57% 70.4% 50.6%

1 @ SCQF Lv 6 75% 70% 77% 85.7% 68.2% 5 @ SCQF Lv 5 - 59.6% 76.6% 80.6% 63.6%

All figures are taken from SEEMiS Business Intelligence and are based on the roll in the year group’s S4 Census. Virtual Comparator Data is taken from INSIGHT. Green – Better than VC, Red – Worse than VC.

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Attendance and Engagement

Our drive to offer a rich and varied curriculum within and beyond the school day, and to set

high expectations regarding positive attitudes and shared values, has resulted in sustained

attendance at around 94% for the past 3 sessions.

Session 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17

Attendance 93.5% 94% 94.09% 93.27%

Exclusion Statistics

Session 2015-16 2016-17

Number of Exclusions 15 7

Openings Lost Due to Exclusion 99 32

Number of Repeat Exclusions 1 pupil 1 pupil

Extra-curricular Success

Our pupils continue to perform well on the sporting stage with many pupils representing their

country at national level. We have also taken part in various competitions over the session,

including the Central Schools Under 16s & 18s 7s Rugby Tournament; S1 Central Schools 7s

Rugby Tournament; Forth Valley Dance Competition; S1-S3 Central Schools 7s Rugby Festival.

June is traditionally the time in the school year when study trips, leisure events and out of

school visits take place. McLaren High School has always encouraged participation in these

events because of the contribution that this part of the curriculum makes to pupils’ social and

personal development. Contact with new people, places and situations acts as a stimulus for

learning, bringing ideas and shared experiences back into the classroom whilst at the same

time helping to develop positive relationships with staff and other pupils.

We are convinced that our Activities Week helps to engage, challenge and motivate our

pupils. We will continue to emphasise the importance of participation in experiences as well

as achievement of outcomes as they not only allow pupils to develop skills they have learned

in class, but also to forge strong relationships with teachers and peers. This year was the 26th

annual ‘Activities Week’ for S1 to S3 and runs from 1 - 3 June. Classes for pupils are be

suspended and pupils had the opportunity to take part in a variety of packages, with activities

of all types on offer, with some residential trips this year went to Paris, New York and London.

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National Improvement Framework

Assessment of Children’s Progress/Teacher Professionalism

Learning and Teaching

All faculties and departments continue to review and improve their courses in line with the

CfE Broad General Education, through the process of self-evaluation. In particular

departments continued to improve their arrangements for assessment and moderation.

Achievement of a level in the BGE will was focus for 2016/17 as we move towards

implementing a robust tracking & monitoring system for S1-S3 in session 2017/18.

In the Senior Phase staff have continued to work hard to learn from their experiences from

the new CfE Higher qualifications and verification activities were well planned and executed.

Refinements to and increased confidence in the delivery of our National 4 and 5 courses have

enabled those sitting these qualifications for the first time further support and re-assurance.

The school has moved forward in consolidating tracking and monitoring systems to provide

more focus to judging and guiding pupils’ progress in the Senior Phase. We continue to refine

our reporting systems in S1-S3 while also revising content and approaches in our S1-S3

courses in the light of the new exam structures, to ensure key skills are embedded as early as

possible and to ensure key transition points run as smoothly as possible for pupils as they

narrow their subject focus from S2 into S3 and then S3 into S4. We have also undertaken

assessment and moderation activities during our INSET days to increase teacher confidence

in reporting to parents on CfE levels. Staff have undertaken activities to increase their

knowledge regarding the contribution that they can make to raising attainment in literacy and

numeracy across learning.

At McLaren High School, we recognise that opportunities and achievements are key to our

pupils’ engagement and development. Below are a number of the most notable

achievements and successes.

National Poetry Day Competition

Our S1-S3 pupils too part in the National Poetry Day competition with the theme being ‘Say

it with a poem’ Throughout the school staff displayed or read their favourite poem to their

classes. A very high standard of creative writing was presented across S1-S3.

Senior Mathematical Challenge

We were delighted to be nationally recognised at this year’s Senior Mathematical Challenge,

with 3 S6 pupils gaining Bronze awards and 5 S5 gaining bronze awards.

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Enterprise Maths Competition

McLaren High pupils were placed 2nd in the Stirling Schools heats allowing them to progress

to the National finals which took place and the Glasgow Science Centre in November, where

the team were placed 27th in Scotland!

Gartmore House Choir Residential

In September 35 pupils embarked on a 3 day choir residential. As well as signing for 3 days

pupils braved the elements whilst taking part in outdoor activities. The residential highlight

was performing a number of uplifting pieces at Gartmore Church.

STEM @ McLaren

50 pupils currently in S2 to S4 have signed up to develop a STEM project for displaying at the

McLaren High STEM Festival which will be held in September 2018. Each pupil will work

alongside staff and industry experts to develop their idea over the next 18 months. Pupils

selected their projects based on their own enthusiasms but also with a view to picking an area

that would stretch and challenge them to learn new skills. All of the work will be carried out

in pupils’ free time. Pupils will also have the opportunity to visit world renowned STEM

organisations in Silicon Valley, California in June 2019 including visits to Pixar, Google and

NASA.

We have had 4 teams of junior pupils represent the school in the Tomorrow’s Engineers

Competition in February. We also had pupils taking part in the FIRST (For Inspiration and

Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League, picking up their 2nd trophy in 6 months.

They won the award for best Engineering Proposal for their work on ‘The disassociation of

Food with Keepers’ developed in partnership with Blair Drummond Safari Park. The previous

year the group finished 9th in the National Finals.

Global Citizens

Being global citizens is a way of living that recognises our world is an increasingly complex

web of connections and interdependencies. One in which our choices and actions may have

repercussions for people and communities locally, nationally or internationally.

Auschwitz

Two of our senior pupils attended ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ which began with an orientation

session in Edinburgh where they heard first hand from Holocaust survivor Eva Clarke, her

experiences of Nazi Germany and the hardships that they faced followed by visiting the

original barracks of the Auschwitz camp.

World Challenge Malaysia

In July 2017, 28 pupils participated in a World Challenge expedition to Malaysia. The trip was

definitely not what they were expecting but in some ways it was so much more. The highlight

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of the trip was experiencing a different culture and giving back to a community that truly

deserved it. During the project phase of the trip they got to help at a local orphanage, this

experience was so rewarding and it really put things into perspective. At the end of a hard

day’s work the entire group lit up seeing the smiling faces of the children, which made the

experience so worthwhile.

Winter Clothes Appeal for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Senior pupils helped the 70,000 Syrian refugees camping in and around the small Lebanese

border town of Arsal by coordinating an appeal with the local community. The repose was

overwhelming with two thirds of an Edinburgh Direct Aid lorry being filled with donations and

boxes collected by the pupils.

Partnership Working

Engaging businesses in partnerships with our school is an easy, exciting way to increase

awareness of what we aim to do and that is to prepare today’s for tomorrow and the world

of work.

Anthony Nolan Clinic

After listening to an input from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service about the Anthony Nolan

Trust 7 of our S6 pupils planned and organised a clinic to recruit potential donors to help save

the lives of people with blood cancer. We now have 76 pupils on the donor list.

Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park

We continue to develop our partnership working to promote learning for sustainability. Loch

Lomond and Trossachs National Park helped us to deliver our 3rd Junior Park Ranger course.

Eco-Schools – Green Flag

In June our efforts in working towards a sustainable lifestyle were recognised when were

awarded our 3rd Green Flag. The capacity to engage pupils through tapping into their interest

and enthusiasm for sustainability issues has been a distinctive feature of our 3rd reapplication

as an Eco-school; learning takes place through the opportunities for pupils to practice

sustainable development within the curriculum and in the extra - curricular opportunities we

provide. This is something that we are sure every good school will want to be part of. Our

pupils actively engage in activities that promote outdoor learning and learning for

sustainability. One noteworthy development has been our outdoor garden space which has

been planted with 125 wild flowers to mark our school celebrating our 125th year.

Our pupils have derived a huge benefit from our involvement in the Eco-schools programme.

Our involvement has not only highlighted the very important issue of sustainability and our

impact on the environment, but it has also enabled us to raise pupil achievement by enabling

us to focus on real-life situations and issues that are relevant and meaningful to pupils as a

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context for their learning. For example, in Food lessons pupils are encouraged to be involved

in composting food waste: this in turn is used in the school garden.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme

We have significant number of pupils who take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme

at all levels and this is facilitated by a committed group of staff and community volunteers

and has become one of McLaren High Schools unique selling points. Our 6 Gold participants

undertook qualifying expeditions on the River Spey; Silver Canoeing on Loch Tay and Bronze

pupils benefited from our rural location and they develop essential skills whilst taking part in

the award in and around our catchment area. Many organisations also benefit from the

volunteering section if the award, from local charities to clubs, cluster primary schools and

old folks homes.

Developing the Young Workforce (DYW)

In November our Principal Teacher with responsibility for DYW arranged for Quick Fit to

provide invaluable training in car Maintenance for our S6.

School Show – Les Miserables

Our school show Les Miserables was, yet again an excellent example of how collaboration

results in a genuinely rich experience that involves pupils, staff, parents and partners. Months

of preparation led to three vibrant, visually and vocally stunning performances that

incorporated: drama, dance, music, stage and props design and construction; sound and

lighting support. This is to mention parental support from our PTA. Congratulations to all

involved.

Our termly newsletters capture the wider life of the school and these are shared with

parents and the wider community and are available on our website. It would be impossible

to include all of the wider achievements in this report.

Supporting young people to develop and learn?

The quality of learning and teaching in the school is of a very high quality and this has been

validated through various channels. Class visits by Curriculum Leaders focused on learning,

teaching and assessment; feedback; peer observations across some departments to share

good practice; feedback from Pupil Voice at both whole school and departmental level and

parental evaluations received after Parents’ Evening. These have indicated that effective

learning and teaching is taking place across the school on a daily basis.

Our commitment to self-evaluation in session 2016/17 has been further developed through

a programme of Validated Self-Evaluation (VSE) to allow The Senior Management Team and

members of the VSE Team to observe classes, review different department’s approaches to

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learning and teaching, and engage in professional dialogue with colleagues to discuss the

learning and teaching experiences in each faculty. It is our intention to undertake this over a

3 year cycle. The Humanities Faculty were visited in November and the Literacy &

Communications Faculty were visited in March.

At McLaren High School we continue to promote our core values of O R C A – Order, Respect,

Care and Achievement and to have the highest possible expectations of what our young

people can achieve across the school. Through offering two year courses in S1 and S2, with

some specialism in S3, this structure provides an opportunity to challenge pupils to cover

most third level outcomes by the end of S2 and reach fourth level outcomes by the end of S3.

Through offering personalisation & choice in S3 courses, pupils are challenged to develop as

well rounded, responsible and confident young people. Enjoyment comes from the

satisfaction of having pushed themselves and successfully completed challenges or mastered

a difficult concepts or skills. The structure of the curriculum in the BGE provides opportunities

for this. Courses we deliver help to develop more challenges and enjoyment. As part of our

curriculum review in consultation with all stakeholders we have provided additional periods

in S1 to literacy and numeracy as well as increasing the period allocated to modern languages

to ensure that we are able to deliver the 1+2 approach to languages. These will be evaluated

and reviewed throughout next session.

Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) – Supporting Literacy & Numeracy

In June we appointed two members of staff as Teachers of Raising Attainment, utilising our

PEF. This amounted to an additional 0.7 FTE on top of our core staffing complement. Their

aim is to make improvements in Literacy & Numeracy in the BGE and also to promote Reading

across the school.

The Senior Phase covers 3 years (S4-S6) with exit points as appropriate to individual pupil

aspiration and plans. In S4 of the Senior Phase pupils study up to 7 subjects or experiences at

an appropriate level. Breadth is further enhanced by viewing S4- S6 as an integrated phase as

pupils build on their qualifications over or up to three years. All pupils study Maths and English

in S4 at the appropriate level to ensure all pupils leave the Senior Phase with a qualification

in these two areas at the highest level they are capable of. S5 & S6 pupils have greater

opportunities to broaden the range of qualifications, due to the fact that S4-S6 National

qualifications will be delivered as a combined cohort. Breadth is also be achieved through

ensuring a number of achievement, personal development and vocational opportunities are

offered as an integrated part of the curriculum. In order to further support the purpose of the

curriculum all pupils receive two hours of PE and one hour of personal and social education

and pupils also receive their entitlement to RMPS in S4. In S5 & S6 these entitlements will be

delivered on a rotation basis of 10-12 week blocks, through curricular inserts and the

introduction of our TF2 (Training for The Future) programme.

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Pupils requiring additional support will continue to study a broad curriculum based on

individual need. They will build up an individualised portfolio of NQ units, courses, certificated

achievement courses and life skills experiences.

National Improvement Framework

Parent and Pupil Engagement

We believe that pupil and parent voice are integral to the success of our school. We have

built on the success of last session which saw increased partnership with parents through our

Parent Council parental engagement sessions. These have resulted in a number of changes

being implemented. Firstly, the School moved to a digital platform for homework being

issued to pupils, promoting family learning. Secondly, a working group was established so

that parents were involved in reporting providing feedback on how the School report on levels

in the BGE. We have also looked to improve our access into the campus by developing a safe

routes to school policy that both parents and staff have shaped.

All parents are asked for views at parent’s evenings and as a result we changed our booking

system for parents’ evening from a paper based system to a digital format allowing parents

to be more involved in the process of selecting staff that they wished to see. We also

undertook a number of consultations utilising our pupil voice, updating our uniform policy

and our Positive Ethos Policy.

We seek reflections from pupils on learning through the Pupil Council and ask that pupils

reflect on learning through surveys and pupil focus groups. The reflections help inform

planning as part of our self-evaluation process.

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What are we going to do next?

At McLaren High School we look inwards and look outwards through partnerships to ensure

that we continue on our journey to excellence. Our School Improvement plan for session

2017/18 has been driven by the work undertaken throughout this session. On the page that

follows is an overview of our priorities, driven by the National Improvement Framework,

taking into account, our local circumstances and school context.

School Improvement Priorities Overview for Session 2017/18

Leadership & Management

We want to build effective leadership

capacity at all levels, creating a culture of improvement.

Learning Provision

We want to ensure that every learner has

high-quality learning experiences, with personalised and targeted support.

Success & Achievements

We want to close the attainment gap and

ensure that every young person leaves McLaren High School with a positive

destination.

1.1 Self-evaluation for self-

improvement Consistent approaches to quality assurance; effective and accurate

analysis of data; Faculty Validated Self-Evaluation; Effective, consistent

SMT/Faculty Link Meetings.

2.2 Curriculum

Review & refresh through ongoing debate

2.3 Learning, Teaching & Assessment Learning environments are varied and creative teaching approaches are used.

Digital technologies utilised to encourage independent learning. Aspire to highest levels of achievement through setting of aspirational targets and use of valid and

reliable assessments; SQA Arrangements.

3.1 Ensuring Wellbeing, Equality and

Inclusion Develop a HWB Strategy to ensure a shared understanding of wellbeing,

mental health and resilience; targeted support to ensure equity.

1.2 Leadership of Learning

All staff engage in collegiate working and CLPL; Further embedding of Pupil Voice

& Prefect Leadership Team.

2.4 Personalised Support (universal &

targeted) Ensure that Staged intervention and

GIRFEC principles are implemented and effectively meet the needs of all learners.

3.2 Raising Attainment & Achievement Performance at all levels over time with robust tracking & monitoring & effective

interventions; literacy & numeracy; learner pathways; utilisation of Pupil

Equity Funding to improve attainment and achievement for young people with

the most challenging need.

1.3 Leadership of Change

Staff and pupils set highest standards to promote excellence. Strategic planning to review curriculum model to ensure

excellence & equity.

2.7 Partnerships

Create effective partnerships to improve learning provision. Extend pathways

which develop skills for learning, work and life – secure positive destinations,

Involve parents in shaping school policy and services.

3.3 Creativity and Employability

Skills for learning life and work promoted across all faculties; increased use of digital technology and promotion of

STEM; support and develop international mind-set in our young people.