School+Case+Study+4

=Case Study 4 - Portree High School Roll 600 pupils= Our CfE Working Group has been in place since 2006 and a number of models for both Junior and Senior Phases have been produced. We intend asking learners to feed back on the proposed Senior Phase models. The Head Teacher has been part of the Local Authority Working Group. Our aim in Portree High School is to maintain the current curricular structures as much as possible while still striving to offer pupils a full and comprehensive education. This is due to a falling roll, overstaffing in some areas and very tight timetabling in other areas. ** Description of School ** Portree High School is a six-year rural school in the West Highlands serving the island communities of Skye and Raasay. We have a Roll of 603 which has declined significantly over the last few years. Projected roll for session 2011 - 2012 is 618. We have 40 pupils who reside in a school hostel each week and a large number of pupils come to school each day by bus, some travelling for over an hour. We have a college campus – part of West Highland College - on site. This allows us to offer college options in each of our 5 senior column choices. We are proud to be a Gaelic medium school. We have a high staying-on rate and we have a very good track record in our 16+ positive destinations project pilot which all Highland Secondary Schools were involved in. ** Junior Phase - Summary ** We believe in a broad, general education for the first 2 years here in Portree High School with some choice in S3. There is a very active ASG group with the high school having 14 associate primaries. Our Primary - Secondary transitions are carefully planned to build on prior learning with specific focus on literacy and numeracy projects over the last three years. A curriculum map for S1-3 is provided in the full document. We are currently part of the NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) I-discover project, with all S2 pupils experiencing 11 days of activities. Audits of Numeracy, Literacy and Health & Wellbeing have enabled us to identify gaps in provision and to fill these gaps through interdisciplinary work. There are regular interdisciplinary staff meetings and projects have been established over the past two sessions. The Social, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties department have been involved in a recycling bike project, an animation project, which has won an award, and are currently doing Asdan courses. The impact here is that there are fewer discipline issues with these pupils and they are being reintegrated back into whole school life. These projects involve the whole school and the local community. The success of these projects has attracted authority and national recognition. We have been nominated for the TES Outstanding Community Business Award in 2011. Personal Support will initially be currently offered through registration which lasts for 11 minutes each morning and through PSE. We are working towards a system where staff volunteer - initially with current P7 and S1 - which will begin to roll out in August 2011. Transition to senior phase will involve option choices at the end of S2 with amendments and adjustments being made at the end of S3 on an individual basis. Learners will be able to study up to 8 subjects in S4. This will possibly be adjusted to 7 by 2014. ** Implementation of Senior Phase Curricular Structure ** We have a higher than average staying on rate for S5 and S6. Our vision is to provide each young person with a personalised option choice which allows for breadth and progression whatever level of ability that young person has. This has been facilitated by having a college facility on site (West Highland College), very good business partnerships and extended SQA qualifications such as Leadership and Employability Skills and a selection of Health and Safety at work courses. We now offer vocational courses in each of our 5 option columns. We work with a wide range of providers and we are developing innovative ways of delivering a worthwhile curriculum to our young adult learners (Appendix 1 of full document). We have a very comprehensive Vocational pathways programme aided by West Highland College. Our Partnership working (FE, HE, employers, vol. sector, etc.) 16+ transitions and positive destinations are highly effective and well regarded in the Authority and at national level (Appendix 2 of full documen  We will have compulsory English and Maths until at least the end of S4. We would hope to find a method of offering self-standing units in literacy and numeracy at national 5.   We give very good Support to pupils moving into positive and sustained destinations beyond school. There is increased partnership working with Skills Development Scotland. This is an integral part of 16+ learning choices here in Portree High School.  ** Staffing, Rooming and Timetabling **  We have a staff of 53 FTE and, with our falling roll, are currently in the process of reducing staff. This will take 2 sessions and means that we will lose 7.5 FTE by the end of 2012. This is a major reduction in staffing and will lead to a slower change than might otherwise be anticipated. We have an adequate number of rooms because of our new build and can also allow the West Highland College to use some of our rooms. This is a real bonus as it gives maximum flexibility when designing the option columns. We currently operate a 30-period week with 6 53-minute periods per day and an 11-minute registration slot at the beginning of each morning. ** Leading Whole-School Transition in 2010–2016 ** Our vision here in Portree High School is to provide all learners with a personalised, custom-built curriculum that leads to meaningful life choices. Amongst other key issues, one of the main aims and a key development project in Portree is to improve learning and teaching in this period. ** Development of Assessment, Reporting & Qualifications ** Highland Council has produced an interim report format. We will use Phoenix e1 in session 2010-11 for S1 reports. We are developing our own electronic assessment system (see appendix 4 of full document). This is currently being used in Maths and Science. It is more portfolio based. We are currently looking at ways of recording individual pupil achievement (see appendix 3 of full document). || //**Appendices**// All Appendices are contained within the full report. ||
 * ** Executive Summary - **//download the full report [|Portree Hs full report]//