Keith Grammar School inspection report

Difficulties in filling teaching posts and changes in staffing at a Moray secondary school have hindered progress in raising pupils’ attainment, according to Education Scotland inspectors.

Their inspection report said that most pupils at Keith Grammar enjoyed learning while staff were committed to their own professional learning to help improve outcomes for students.

But the report said that a clear strategic lead was needed to support staff in reviewing the school curriculum.

In doing so, staff needed to ensure that it provided all learners with a coherent experience which provided progression and a suitable range of pathways to raise their attainment.

However, the inspectors acknowledged that staffing issues had impacted on pupils’ performance.

“Changes in staffing and difficulties in filling teaching posts are also slowing progress with developing the curriculum and raising attainment,” they said.

The inspectors found that from S4 to S6 the attainment of those leaving school was generally below that of other young people with similar needs and backgrounds across Scotland.

“The school recognises that many young people should be achieving more in school to increase their choices about their futures.

“Almost all young people are successful in moving onto employment, training or further learning on leaving school.

“In recent years, the percentage of young people leaving school and going directly into employment has been higher than the national and local authority figures.”

Of the five areas of performance evaluated by the inspectors, they ranked three as ‘satisfactory’ and two as ‘weak’.

The school and Moray Council as education authority have been asked to focus on three areas before the inspectors make a follow-up visit within the next year – improve the curriculum to ensure all pupils can make the best possible progress in their learning, develop the monitoring and tracking of pupils’ progress and develop a clear strategic overview of the improvements needed to raise attainment.