Exceptional. Outstanding. Sector leading. Just some of the superlatives used to describe International School Aberdeen (ISA) in one of the best inspection reports to be issued to a Scottish school.
This week’s report follows a visit to the school by Education Scotland inspectors in March.
ISA was judged on four standards, receiving two ‘Excellent’s and two ‘Very Good’s.
Gradings of ‘Excellent’ are very rare in such reports, and two in the same report is almost unprecedented.
According to a report, only around 1% of Scottish schools achieve one score of ‘Excellent’.
Such was the success of the report, inspectors had no recommendations for improvement.
So what exactly is it that makes International School Aberdeen one of the best in Scotland?
Join us for an interview with the school’s head to find out.
‘Highly motivated’ International School Aberdeen children achieving ‘outstanding results’
The report is filled with positive statements, with the main recommendation being simply to “continue to deliver high-quality, enriching learning experiences for children and young people.”
It praises the school’s ‘exceptional quality of leadership at all levels across the school’ and the ‘consistently very high standards of learning and teaching’.
Teachers were commended for ‘providing rich and dynamic learning experiences that promote diversity and celebrate internationalism.’
All children were said to develop valuable skills and depth of knowledge across the curriculum, leading to outstanding results in external exams and assessments.
The report cited ‘highly motivated’ children, and said the ‘wellbeing of children and staff alike are central to the work of the school.’
‘Not aware’ of any other school getting such a good report grading
The P&J sat down with ISA’s head of school, Nick Little, to find out the secret of its success.
“‘Excellent’s are given out very rarely, and two ‘excellent’s even more rarely,” said Nick.
“I can’t confirm absolutely that it’s unprecedented, but we’re certainly not aware of another case of two ‘excellent’s being awarded.
“One of the things the report mentions is the buy-in from a wide section of the school population.
“You don’t have a leadership team saying one thing, teachers saying another thing, parents saying another thing. We’re all on the same page.”
School values ‘sound like clichés’, but they work
Great emphasis is put on the school’s values, which are hung up throughout the school. Among these are respect, excellency, diversity, community, and service.
Combined, they help the school in its mission to ‘educate responsible global citizens.’
“I know they sound a lot like clichés,” said Nick.
“But there can be a lot of pressure to prioritize things that look important, but actually are not at the heart of educating children well.
“You can work towards getting the best exam results, and we have great exam results, don’t get me wrong.
“But you can put an awful lot of pressure on students just before exams while forgetting that your mission statement is to create a safe and caring environment, and maximizing the potential of everybody.”
It’s called the International School Aberdeen for a reason, with 55 nationalities and 45 languages
Nick says diversity is key. Fifty percent of ISA pupils are Scottish, while the other 50% come from 55 countries, speaking 45 different languages.
“It means that we celebrate lots of different cultures within our school, and we try to show them all in a positive light,” he said.
“For children, that means that it feels like an inclusive and caring place, that they’re not expected to conform to one way of doing things.”
Of course, nothing is ever 100% plain sailing. And the last few years haven’t been without their challenges, particularly the impact on education of Covid.
“We put in place a five-year plan in 2019, and then not long after came the pandemic.
“Coming back from the pandemic this year, just as for many other schools, there were challenges with students who spent two years staring at screens, going in and out of lockdown.
“Building their social skills back up after lockdown has been a really big challenge.”
The one sentence in the report that made the head’s day
In education, it’s easy to get hung up on statistics, particularly those around attainment.
But as Nick explains, it was something else in the report that gave him most joy.
“There was one sentence in the letter that accompanied the report that was particularly satisfying.
“And that was: ‘All children and young people develop valuable skills and depth of knowledge across the curriculum.’
“It sums up what we’re about.
“Above everything, that statement – and others like it which talk about the sense of belonging and teamwork among the whole school community – pleased me the most.
“That emphasis on all children. Schools often focus on the superstars, the best athletes, the best academics, the ones who win a special prize for something.
“But the fact that all students develop the skills they need here, I think is important.
“That all students feel a sense of belonging and inclusion, that’s the thing that really pleases me about this report.”
‘Of course they got a good report, they’re a private school with plenty of money’
I asked Nick what he’d say to the usual critics who might think, ‘of course they got a good report, they’re a private school with plenty of money’.
“We do have a privilege,” he said. “It would be pointless to deny it.
“There are doubtless advantages of being in the independent sector in terms of resources.
“I do have every respect for what the state sector does, the challenges they have and what a great job they do. I’ve worked in the state sector myself.
“But within the terms of what we do, we do it very well. I think if you compare us to other independent schools in Scotland, our report is excellent and we’d certainly be among the best.
“The values we have and the implementing of those values – that isn’t dependent on having lots of financial resources. Many local authority schools will also achieve very highly in those areas.”
Putting Aberdeen on the map
In a time when many believe the city’s glory days are behind it, Nick said ISA’s success ‘puts Aberdeen on the map’.
“I think it’s a reminder that Aberdeen is an international city,” he said.
“It’s a port city, with people coming in from all over the world. In many ways, we’re in competition with other port cities like Dundee and Glasgow for funding from around the world.
“I think it [ISA’s success] puts Aberdeen on the map as an international city, a place where investors from around the world know that if they relocate here, they can be assured of a very good education.”
ISA – previously known as The American School – is Scotland’s first international school, and celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.
It has a student roll of 550 students, from age three to 18.
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