An insightful presentation on the approach to maximise the achievements of young people was heard at the Council's Education Committee.
Dr James Vance, Head Teacher at Culloden Academy, explained his school’s raising attainment strategy. Similar to the work ongoing in other Highland schools, the strategy contains elements which work to motivate and support young people to help them achieve their goals.
The curriculum was noted as one of the key elements to engage young people in school.
Dr Vance said: "Offering relevant and engaging courses helps to motivate our young learners. We also make sure to offer courses at the right level for our pupils, which helps them to make notable progress. We are better served than ever by the authority and school tracking data to identify what our young people need as they come up through the school. We can adapt our curriculum when appropriate and bring in courses which can meet the needs of our young people."
The school has listened to pupil feedback and positive inspection reports from other schools to diversify their curriculum. Some courses on offer are the same level at National 5 and Higher but are assessed differently. These courses include furniture making, laboratory skills, professional theatre preparation, travel and tourism, communication group award, and a national qualification in architecture which is the equivalent to an Advanced Higher. In the near future, the school will also deliver courses in criminology, computer games development, customer service, and exercise and fitness leadership.
The teaching and learning at the school as well as investment in professional learning were other elements included within the strategy. The school has found that pupils are more likely to enjoy their learning when they receive high quality and differentiated teaching. This is because they are more motivated in the classroom and invested in their learning and thinking. Similarly, teachers who are invested in their own professional learning will improve the quality of education delivered to young people.
Cllr John Finlayson, Education Chair said: “We regularly invite staff and pupils from our schools to speak at our Education Committee meetings as it is essential to hear from schools directly about their experiences and how they bring to life the Committee reports that are up for discussion. The presentation today by James is a great example of this. What came across strongly was that while it is important to try to improve attainment across the authority and in every school, we must also look at the individual stories behind each child, each cohort, and each school when we compare statistics year on year as inevitably there will be key factors that will influence results each year which means that direct comparisons year on year do not give the full story. However, despite annual differences the council’s Improving Attainment Strategy is used in all secondaries and this ensures there is a clear improvement agenda in place that all schools can follow which will be a cornerstone for the priorities in their School Improvement Plans.