Welcome to our school
Find out about the school, its organisation, its curriculum, its activities, who's who and who's been doing what
Balerno Community High School welcomes its new headteacher, Graeme Sives.
Some Important Dates
23 Dec - 6 Jan 2012: Christmas Break, but
9 Jan 2012: Staff in service day, pupils off.
10 Jan 2012: Pupils return
19 Jan-27 Jan: S5-6 prelims
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Inspection feedback
20 December 2011
The school was visited at the end of October by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education, now part of the national body, Education Scotland. The purpose of the visit was to find out how well young people are learning and achieving and how well the school supports them.
I am pleased to report that this was a very constructive week for staff and inspectors, who noted a very positive, professional performance; that morale was high; and that the school was in a good place to move forward into a new phase.
The letter to parents is published on the HMIe website today. ( Link )
The letter reports on three different areas of focus:
1. How well do young people learn and achieve?
2. How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
3. How well does the school support the quality of its work?
Here are the opening sentences from each section to give a flavour of the content.
How well do young people learn and achieve?
We found that young people are learning very well and most are achieving well overall. Almost all are highly motivated and keen to do well. Young people are very well behaved, polite and helpful, for example with visitors to the school.
How well does the school support young people to develop and learn?
We found that the school supports young people well overall, with real strengths in some key aspects. Staff across the school are highly committed to young people’s care and welfare. Support for Learning staff are skilful at identifying when any young person needs additional support, and provide very effective support for these individuals.
How well does the school support the quality of its work?
We are confident, overall, that the school is effective in improving its performance. Staff across the school are clearly committed to improving the quality of young people’s learning and achievement. Supported well by his senior team, the headteacher has an ambitious vision for the school, and an accurate understanding of its strengths and where it needs to improve.
I would encourage you to read the full letter from the link above. We intend to take comments from the community via our new website which will come online during January.
Best wishes for the festive period,
Graeme Sives
Headteacher
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