St Andrew’s comes out top of the class

School is praised following visit by inspectors

Staff and pupils at a Paisley secondary have been given top marks by education inspectors.

A team from Education Scotland visited St Andrew’s Academy in November last year.

During their time at the school they spoke to parents, teachers and pupils about their experiences and observed how the school worked.

Now in a report from the visit, inspectors highlighted several key strengths including the wellbeing of young people being the heart of the school, underpinned by strong Catholic values.

Headteacher Kevin Henry’s strong leadership was also praised as setting high expectations for what young people can achieve while the high quality support from the Don Bosco wellbeing base, the support for learning department, the pastoral team and home link service promotes inclusion and gets young people involved in their learning.

The school’s focus on improving life chances for young people has resulted in raising attainment in literacy and numeracy for those facing additional challenges, while the range of learning for S4 to S6 pupils is meeting the different needs and aspirations of young people well.

Inspectors found almost all the pupils go on to a positive destination such as college, higher education or employment when they leave school.

Mr Henry was delighted with the report.

He said: “The report is very positive about the way students, staff, parents and carers work together to ensure our young people do very well in school and beyond.

“We are particularly pleased that it captures the ethos of our school so well. The inspectors found caring and positive relationships in the school, as well as young people who learn and achieve well. As a school we have high expectations for what all young people can achieve and the inspection recognises that all staff support our students.

“The achievements of the school would not be possible without the dedication of the staff, who work tirelessly for our students and I would like to thank everyone, but especially our pupils, who make St Andrew’s such a great school.

“I am convinced that it will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Councillor Jim Paterson, convener of education and children’s services, said: “The positive inspection report for St Andrew’s Academy is testament to the strong leadership of the headteacher, who is working along with his committed staff and parents for the benefit of pupils.

“Attainment at all levels across the school is very strong, with great strides in both numeracy and literacy for all students, including young people who face additional challenges.

“Almost all young people are also going onto positive destinations like further education and permanent employment once they leave school.

“It was also great to see how the wellbeing of young people is a priority at St Andrew’s, which was praised for its caring and nurturing ethos.”

There were three areas for improvement highlighted in the report. These were to continue to improve learning and teaching and to continue to develop how the school tracks and monitors the progress of young people from S1 to S3.

The school should also ensure appropriate arrangements are in place for all young people who require support plans.

As a result of the positive report, inspectors said they wouldn’t make any follow-up visits in connection with this inspection.