Standards & Quality Report 2011-12

1. Junior High School
2011 / 2012
Standards and Quality
Report

2. Each year we have a duty to report on the work of the school over the previous
year outlining the developments and progress we make to improve the quality of
teaching and learning for all in Stronsay Junior High School.
About our School
Stronsay Junior High School provides education for the island of Stronsay for
children from pre-school at age 3 to the end of compulsory schooling at 16. Pupils can
then transfer to Kirkwall Grammar School, if they wish to do so, or move on to other
education, training or employment. Pupils transferring to Kirkwall Grammar School stay
in the Papdale Halls of Residence. Pupils also have the option of transferring to
Kirkwall Grammar School at the end of Secondary 2, although few pupils take up this
option.
The timetable for the Primary and Secondary Sector is in part dependant on which day
specialist teachers arrive and the times of the planes. The plane timetable varies
during the year as the planes cannot fly in darkness. The number and length of time
each itinerant teacher is on Stronsay is decided centrally by the authority.
The number of pupils on role in 2011/12 was:
Primary Sector - 24
Secondary Sector - 27
The school has seen some changes in staff during this academic year. However they
are suitably qualified including a Head Teacher, a Principal Teacher, 4.36 Full Time
Equivalent resident teaching staff, 2.35 Full Time Equivalent itinerant teaching staff,
2 Support for Learning Assistants and an Early Years Worker with responsibility.
The learning and teaching team is ably supported by a committed group of non-teaching
staff including a Secretary/office auxiliary. Janitor and Kitchen staff. Cleaning staff
is contracted out.
This report covers the period of Mrs Robertson‟s final year at the school and my first
term in post.

3. Our vision
To be an active and healthy learning community
where everyone respects, motivates and inspires
others.
Our values
In Stronsay we all aim to act in a way which shows
that we are:-
Honest
Caring
Cooperative
Respectful
Tolerant
Responsible
Friendly

4. Our Aims
To establish a culture where every member of the
school community feels valued, safe, respected and
involved.
To create a motivating and inspiring environment
which supports every member of the school
community to develop and grow intellectually,
emotionally and socially.
To provide opportunities for every member of the
school community to access a wide range of
experiences, building on their strengths and
developing new skills to prepare them to play an
effective role in, and make a positive contribution to
their community now and in the future.
To ensure our focus remains on providing the highest
quality of teaching possible for our young people.
To encourage every member of the school community
to be active and healthy, by raising awareness and
providing a range of opportunities for all to achieve
this.
To involve parents, carers and the wider community
in the life of our school – to have the school at the
heart of the community and the community at the
heart of the school in order to contribute to the
sustainability of both.

5. Summary of progress made on the 2011/12
School Improvement Plan.
Priority 1 Development of children’s and young people’s learning experiences.
1. What have we achieved?
The school during the academic year focused on learners‟ involvement in their
own learning. This has included the development of academic and personal
targets both in the Primary and Secondary Sectors. Learners across the school
have also been involved in peer assessment of each others work.
The School has undertaken a range of activities to develop leadership skills and
this has included:
S3 pupils undertaking the Sports Leadership Programme
Junior Road Safety Officers were introduced into the Upper Primary
class.
Pupils took part in the Junior Orchestral Course in Kirkwall
Pupils took part in debating and bridge building competitions.
Primary 7 pupils organised and ran a fund raising event for the Hoy trip.
The School also undertook work on strategies to enhance the teaching and learning of
the learners in their care, and interdisciplinary projects were established between
subjects.
During the year there was an emphasis on the development of ICT to enhance the
teaching and learning, and this included the purchase of new equipment to meet the
needs of the pupils in our care.
2. Impact on Learners
The impact of the developments on the learners outlined in the section above,
included:
Learners are becoming more involved in setting their own targets and
through this, they could more easily monitor their own progress, and
thus take a greater responsibility for their learning.
Leadership skills have clearly been developed throughout the school and
it is clear to see the enhanced maturity gained from these experience.
This maturity will in time lead to enhanced attainment.
The development of teaching and learning strategies, in-line with the
ethos behind the Curriculum for Excellence, has resulted in
interdisciplinary projects, which make learning meaningful to the
learners and enhances their enthusiasm to learn.
The development of ICT resources has resulted in enhanced ICT skills
being used across the school. This has a motivating effect on the pupils.
Primary 7 pupils have been involved in the development of P7 portfolios.

6. 3. What we plan to do next
To continue to develop the Primary 7 Portfolio and to introduce the S3
Portfolio
To continue to embed learners‟ ability to set meaningful academic and
personal targets
To introduce Learner Logs as a tool for pupils to review their own progress.
To continue to develop meaningful interdisciplinary projects
To continue to develop learners‟ leadership skills with the possibility of
introducing qualifications in leadership and volunteering.
To enhance the reliability of the laptops and connectivity to the internet
etc.
To investigate the use/pilot opportunities for learning using remote
teaching, e.g courses on the internet or our teachers being able to teach
remotely on the occasions of no flights.
Priority 2 The continued development of the Curriculum of Excellence to meet the
needs of all learners in our care.
1. What have we achieved?
The school continues to develop the Curriculum for Excellence and has worked
on the positive start as identified in the inspection. Learners throughout the
school have had greater opportunities for personalisation in topic choice and
have been given appropriate choices on methods of recording, learning and
assessing.
The school has developed a greater understanding of Curriculum for Excellence
levels in literacy and numeracy as part of a whole authority initiative in this
area.
Work has been undertaken in the area of Drama with the pilot of drama
sessions organised by Mrs Hainsworth.
Children have had enhanced opportunities for undertaking P.E and fulfilling the
requirements of 2 hours of P.E per week.
The school continues to have a focus on the delivery of the Health and
Wellbeing section of the Curriculum.

7. 2. Impact on Learning
The developments within the Curriculum have built upon the excellent practice
as outlined in the previous year‟s inspection. These developments have
motivated learners and the staff who have worked hard to develop them.
The learners have gained an enhanced understanding of the levels within the
Curriculum for Excellence and also through this, their next steps in their
learning.
The development of the P.E curriculum has resulted in children across the
school meeting their two hour requirement. This has been greatly supported by
the development of the Sports Leadership programme and I have seen
wonderful lessons taught by S3 pupils to Primary classes.
Children and young people have enhanced their knowledge and skills within the
area of Health and Wellbeing, through P.E, Home Economics and Personal and
Social Development classes.
3. What we plan to do next
To develop the S3 curriculum to ensure it is a broad and balanced
education
Secondary teaching staff to familiarise themselves with the new National
Examinations, including the new mechanisms of assessment.
To review and evaluate the impact of the delivey of the new curriculum in
both literacy and numeracy.
To develop the S3 portfolio
To further develop the Health and Wellbeing curriculum across the
school, including strategies to assess and track learner‟s progress.
To review the provision of Religious Observance across the school
Priority 3 The development of the Nursery in-line with recommendations of the
HMIe inspection.
1. What has been achieved?
The staffing of the Nursery, has now been stabilised with the permanent
appointment of an Early Years Worker
The resources of the Nursery have been audited and the indoor learning
environment has been reviewed and developed to ensure it is a stimulating
learning facility with easy accessible resources for the children.
A new outdoor learning environment has been developed to enhance the learning
experience for the children in our care.
The staff have had training in the latest developments in successful strategies
to enhance the learning opportunities of children. They have also worked hard
to develop the planning and delivery of Nursery sessions. This has been
supported by the Authority‟s Principal Teacher for Early Years.

8. 2. Impact on learners
The school had an HMIe inspection of the Nursery at the beginning of the
2012/13 academic year. In this inspection, the inspectors felt that considerable
progress had been made and had resulted in enhanced learning environments which
in turn had led to motivated children who were learning at an appropriate pace.
3. Next Steps
To continue to develop the training of the Early Years Worker
To continue to enhance the learning environments, both indoor and outdoor
To continue to develop the planning in line with the latest research into the
most effective ways to support children‟s knowledge and skills.
Priority 4
1. What have we achieved?
The school has fully implemented the Authority‟s Staged Intervention Policy. It
has revised the mechanisms to record the assessment and progress of the
children with additional support needs.
2. Impact on learners
The children and young people are more involved in their learning and are with
support, setting meaningful targets.
Parents feel partners in the process to support their child‟s additional needs.
Progress of children and young people either exceeds or matches predicted
expectations.
3. Next Steps
To embed the staged intervention process for all learners
To develop clear procedures to ensure effective support for all pupils
To continue to develop effective parental involvement in pupils learning
To ensure effective tracking of progress within the staged intervention
procedures.

9. Successes and Achievements
Existing strengths
The school aims to produce a learning environment which meets the needs of the
learners in its care. We evaluate their progress using a wide range of methods. We
believe that:
Midyis (Middle Years in Secondary Schools) data shows that the value added by
the pupils through the secondary sector is often above the norm expectation.
The school has embraced the Curriculum for Excellence and adjusted the
teaching to attempt to fulfil the ethos behind the initiative. Our planning is in
line with the experiences and outcomes and departments have been developing
ways of assessing and recording in line with this.
Learners‟ evaluations show they are engaged meaningfully with the learning.
We have actively been involved in developments at an Authority
level to develop moderation of literacy and numeracy and we are gaining a joint
understanding of these levels through moderation exercises and involving
learners in this process.
The school and the community of Stronsay works hard together to provide a wide
range of opportunities to broaden their achievements, these include;
Music lessons in a range of instruments, enhanced by opportunities on the Isle,
with musical events in school and in the community to entertain and celebrate
their efforts.
Sporting activities including after-school football club, rugby training sessions
provided by the Rugby Development Officer.
Raising awareness and involvement in fund raising, including Children in Need,
Starlight Foundation and the Roald Dahl Charity Foundation.
The development of interdisciplinary projects/activities have enabled learners to
embrace new ideas and skills and has resulted in a real enjoyment of learning.
Priorities for future development
The school, through evaluations it has undertaken has produced a School Improvement
Plan. Within this plan the following priorities have been highlighted:
To continue to embed and develop strategies which will underpin the delivery of
the Curriculum for Excellence
To review the vision, values and aims of Stronsay School
To develop the outdoor learning environment
To further develop the tracking and monitoring of learners‟ progress
To continue to develop the Nursery in-line with recommendations from Her
Majesties Inspectorate of Education.

10. To continue to improve the arrangements to support learners who have additional
support needs.
GENDER, DISABILITY and RACE
GENDER
Numbers of pupils in the Stronsay Junior High are low and it is therefore not possible
to report on attainment without identifying individual pupils, when considering issues re
attainment by boys and girls etc..
DISABILITY
Because of low numbers it is impossible to disaggregate these figures on the basis of
specific types of support need without risking identifying individual pupils and so the
figures are reported for the group as a whole.
RACE
Numbers of pupils from minority ethnic groups at Stronsay Junior High School are very
low and it is not therefore possible to report on attainment without identifying
individual pupils. The Authority has collected data on the achievement and attainment
of minority ethnic pupils for Orkney as a whole and will report on this in the Authority
equality report.
Exclusions. There were no exclusions this year.
Work and life of the School
In 2011/12 the following opportunities have occurred:
 After school astronomy club and visit by Astronomer – Steve Owens
 After school football club
 Family Learning week – September 2011
 Tag Rugby Festival – September 2011
 Safe Islander trip (S1/2) September 2011
 Driving Ambition trip (S4) September 2011
 Nursery trip to Stronsay Fish Mart – September 2011

11.  Senior Instrumental course (October 2011)
 Stronsay „Bake Off‟ event – November 2011
 Book Fair – December 2011
 Christmas Carol Service – December 2011
 Involvement in Crofting Connections Project. Trip to Skye in Oct 2011 and trip
to Kirkwall event in March 2012
 Weaving/knitting instruction – January/February 2012
 Visits from Rugby Development Officer – February/march 2012
 Visit from Yvonne Scott (Transport Officer)
 Visit from Cycle Orkney – Cycle safety workshops – March 2012
 Lead 2014 trip (S3) to mainland Scotland – March 2012
 Troot in the shed project – January – March 2012
 Trout Release trip – March 2012
 Fund raising events by Support our School Committee throughout the year
 Visits from Careers Advisor
 Bridge Build trip (S1/2) – May 2012
 Pier Arts Centre Trip (Secondary Art Pupils) – May 2012
 Junior Instrumental Course (May 2012)
 Tag Rugby Festival (Upper Primary) – May 2012
 Primary Athletics (Upper Primary) – May 2012
 Debating Competition – S2/3 – June 2012
 Visit from SSPCA representative (May 2012)
 Primary Athletics event (May 2012)
 Angling for Youth Development trip to Mainland Orkney (Secondary pupils) –
June 2012
 P7/Secondary trip to Hoy Outdoor Centre – June 2012
 Visit from Cartoonist – June 2012
 Regular Visits from Speech Therapist, School Nurse, Dental Service and Active
Schools Representatives.
 Visits from Dr Hamilton, Cello instructor
Junior Roads Safety Officers
On the 12th of October 2011 Yvonne Scott came out from the mainland to do the
primary 7s JRSO (Junior road safety officers) training. She showed us a film, gave us
puzzles and lots more. Soon after that we did our first JRSO session, we all took
different classes and planned what we were going to do with them. We did a session
every Wednesday, we either went in their class room or the hall, and did a number of
activities. On the third planning session we made our display in the main corridor. On
our last session we did an all classes event in the hall. We drew out a road and we made
traffic lights and road signs. We all really enjoyed ourselves
By Molly, James, Rebecca and Jack

12. Support Our School Variety Concert
On Saturday 3rd
March 2012, the Stronsay “Support Our School” committee held
a variety concert in the Stronsay Community Centre. The evening was filled with
great entertainment including performances by the Stronsay‟s Silver Darlings,
Carole Cotterill, David Bowen, the Stronsay Singers, the Bairns of Stronsay
School, Bill Miller in the disguise of „Lizzie‟, Joanne Rendall, Rebecca Fish, Mike
Burger, Roger Neville-Smith, Tilly, Josephine & Emilia, Jacqui, Diane & Keith and
Ingram & Mike. All the performances were enthusiastically received and warmly
applauded by a very appreciative audience. Overall, it was a very successful event
and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. (By Diane Smith)

13. Troot in the Shed
In January 2012 the school started to raise Trout. We were given a flask containing
trout eggs. These we kept in a tank in a shed. As they grew we posted their progress on
a blog. The project was called, „ troot in a shed. These fish were release into local lochs
on the Isle. The course also taught us how to fish, and this project was supported by a
project called; „ Angling for Youth Development or AFYD‟ the course also gave us the
chance to go to Kirkwall with MR Pietri, Mr Rose and a member of the Orkney trout
fishing association for a fishing trip. The 5 S3 pupils for 3 days and the S2 class for
the last day which was also a competition day with other schools. (By Kevin Kent)
Hoy Trip
Our time in Hoy was full of challenges and activities. First of all were shown to our
rooms in the hostel. Each room had four beds which was good because there were four
boys and four girls. On the first day we were split into two groups, boys and girls. Our
challenge was to build a raft with the materials available. We all had a great time and
the girls won! The other challenges included an obstacle course, walking in a giant
gorge, archery and forest walk. We had a nice time and we wish that the next class
enjoy it the same. The girls won at everything apart from archery, YAY!
By Rebecca and Molly

14. Visiting Cartoonist
In the summer term, the school had a visit from Adrian Osborne, who is an Australian
cartoonist. He worked with the pupils all day, talking to them about his work as a
cartoonist and showing them how he used cartoons –caricatures in particular- to make a
scrapbook of his holiday to the UK, with pictures of events, such as the Diamond
Jubilee. He did workshops with the classes to show them how to draw their own
caricatures and he even drew some caricatures of a few primary pupils. Overall, the day
was very interesting and everyone enjoyed creating their own caricatures.
(Leah Shearer)
Effectiveness and Deployment of Staff
Team work is promoted through regular staff meetings. These take the form of whole
staff and departmental meetings. The school has used its available resources to the
best effect; ensuring specialists are available to teach the appropriate subjects.
Classroom Assistants have a weekly opportunity for consultation with the Support for
Learning teacher. This is used to provide guidance and training.
The school has also had a several changes in staff:
Mrs Groat went on Maternity leave in May 2012
Mrs M Dennison took a career break commencing in March 2012
We also look forward to the arrival of Mrs Evans as a temporary Upper Primary Class
teacher
Mrs Robertson resigned as Head Teacher and Mr King was appointed in April 2012.
Sheena Cooper left her post as Early Years‟ Worker in December 2011. The post was
covered on a temporary basis by Cassy Adams and Yvonne Weaver.

15. Inclusion and Equality—promoting equality
The school is aware of its duties, general and specific under the Race Relations
(Amendment) Act, the Disability Discrimination Act and the Equality Act 2006.
Equality issues are discussed and ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity is
recognised, valued and promoted as a positive feature of the school. There is no
barrier to participation in activities through culture and language, disability, race,
religion, sexual orientation or additional support needs.
All staff are informed about the legal aspects of racial discrimination and are aware of
ensuring that there is no racial harassment or sexual discrimination. Equality issues are
addressed through the Personal Social Development curriculum. Circle time is used in
primary classes and anti-bullying/anti-racismare some of the topics for class
discussions and assemblies.
We believe that the promotion of equal access to sport is an important priority.
Our Active Schools Coordinator plays a key role in our developments.
Access to the school buildings and classrooms for disabled pupils is assessed regularly
and necessary improvements identified.
Vision and leadership
The school continues to develop a wide range of initiatives and through these
experiences, staff gain considerable leadership opportunities. The school also strives
to develop leadership opportunities for the pupils and considerable work occurred in
this area through interdisciplinary projects. Examples of this include the development
of:
Staff:
 Attendance at National subject specific events on mainland Scotland
 Subject specific workshops on Orkney Mainland
Pupils:
 Sports‟ leadership
 Participation in „Lead 2014‟ project
 Participation in „Young Ambassadors‟ project
 Rugby training
 „Troot in the shed‟ project
 Participation in debating competition/bridge building competition
 Outdoor education experience in Hoy
 Organisational leadership of fund raising events
 Attendance at instrumental events

16. Conclusion
This has been a busy year with the school continuing to develop in-line with the
recommendations from the Her Majesties Inspectorate of Education inspection report,
published in September 2011. In the short time I have been at the school, I have found
a wonderful team of staff, pupils, parents and the community working towards a
common goal of developing learning in Stronsay.
Andrew King , Head teacher