A BARRHEAD school whose former pupils include a famous author and a leading Scottish footballer has been praised by inspectors.
The Education Scotland team found St Luke’s High, the school attended by acclaimed writer Christopher Brookmyre, MSP Paul O’Kane and St Mirren captain Mark O’Hara, to have a “very strong feeling of belonging and community” and “high quality” learning, teaching and assessment.
Inspectors also noted that headteacher Christine Downie’s “strong, strategic leadership”, working closely with staff, the cluster and East Renfrewshire Council, had a “positive impact in developing creative and engaging approaches to learning and teaching.”
The report added: “The positive relationships provide a very caring, supportive learning environment. Young people feel well supported and encouraged to do their best.
“The highly skilled staff have developed high quality, creative and engaging approaches to learning and teaching. Young people, including those with additional support needs, attain well because of these different approaches.
“Staff, with the support of senior leaders, ensure that barriers to learning, participation and achievement are being effectively addressed. Young people are improving their attendance, engagement and achievements at school through the well-developed, individual targeted supports.”
One area for improvement, which was identified and discussed with the headteacher and a representative from East Renfrewshire Council, highlighted the school – which has a roll of 650 - should “continue to refine highly effective practice in learning, teaching and assessment to continue to raise attainment.”
Christine Downie, headteacher, said: “I am delighted that the inspection team has recognised the excellent experiences being provided to all pupils at St Luke’s High.
“It is an honour to lead the school, although it is the talented and dedicated staff, our wonderful young people, strong Catholic ethos and our wider school community working together that makes the school so special.”
She added: “We are committed to providing an education which prepares our learners to go on and achieve their full potential when they leave school and I am delighted that the approaches we are taking have been commended in this inspection report.
“I am looking forward to continuing this work in the year ahead.”
Councillor Andrew Anderson, East Renfrewshire’s convener for education, equalities culture and leisure, said: “This is an outstanding inspection report for St Luke’s High and I’m delighted for everyone at the school.
“We continue to see excellent practice across all our schools, and the approaches being taken in St Luke’s High are clearly of an exceptionally high standard. This is another demonstration that our approach to providing all our pupils with a wide range of excellent experiences throughout their educational journey plays a massive part in developing and improving our already high-achieving schools.”
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