Oban High School report goes to councillors

Teacher numbers at Oban High School have been questioned by some concerned parents.

A meeting of Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area committee of Argyll and Bute Council heard some parents felt their children did not have teachers for all their subjects and were told to ‘get on with things’ rather than being ‘taught properly’.

The meeting heard about plans to align subjects being taught in Oban, Tiree and Tobermory schools so that if any school was struggling for a missing teacher they could link-up online and all learn at the same time.

Reporting to the area committee, Oban High School head teacher Peter Bain said the school did not have any ‘unnatural recruitment issues’ but there were cases of people getting promoted, retiring or leaving the area. He said recent vacancies for PE, chemistry, biology and English had been filled.

In 2019 to 2020, pass rates at Oban High School rose at all levels after a rigorous moderation process with internal and external procedures in place.

The school’s overall attainment is strong in S5 and S6 and Oban high has worked hard to improve the attainment of its most deprived pupils with those students performing as well as or better than the national average, area committtee members were told.

Ninety-five employers work alongside the school, offering a wide range of vocational learning experiences.

A report to councillors said: ‘We also have a successful record when it comes to ensuring pupils secure a university place with typically between 30 to 35 per cent doing so. Although our figures for pupils moving onto further education are below the national average, this can often be due to our rural nature and is offset by the extremely high employment rate we have with 35 to 40 per cent of pupils going straight into work compared with the national average of around 20 per cent for the last five years.’