Head teacher Neil Hendry denied Inverurie Academy has a bullying problem, and said it’s “just like any other secondary school.”
The Aberdeenshire school has hit the headlines in recent months over reports of serious bullying at the school.
The P&J has published articles about incidents at Inverurie Academy, including one where a child’s parents pulled them out of the school, and another where a pupil said they’d “never felt safe” at the school.
Indeed, the school has been accused of having a ‘culture of bullying’.
But Mr Hendry said the school takes bullying seriously, that incidents are dealt with, and families supported.
‘We do everything we can. Bullying happens in all schools’
“There is absolutely no doubt that we take every incident of bullying seriously, and it’s dealt with,” said Mr Hendry.
“Obviously you’re not expecting me to respond to those individual cases, but actually, we are confident that they were dealt with and the families were supported.
“We do everything we can. Bullying happens in all schools. Aberdeenshire has a clear policy and we follow that.”
He added: “I think you have to be careful. When you put an article on Facebook, the silent majority don’t respond.
“There may be some frustrations, and those frustrations are aired, but again, if people reach out to us, we support them appropriately.”
When asked whether Inverurie Academy had a high volume of reported bullying incidents, he replied: “No, it would be just like any other secondary school.”
School thriving in challenging times
In a wide-ranging interview with The P&J, Mr Hendry painted a positive picture of the school amid an ongoing teacher shortage crisis in the north-east, the mental health impact of the pandemic, and having to prepare youngsters for life in a “more complex” world.
And he defended the school’s academic performance, on the back of the recent school league tables, which he called “out of date”.
The percentage of leavers gaining five Highers at Inverurie Academy is 35%, down 11% on the previous year, which is the biggest drop in Aberdeenshire.
But Mr Hendry pointed to the number of students leaving the school for positive destinations.
“We have a high number of Fifth Years who leave school at the end of fifth year,” he said.
“Now, they all leave school after fifth year and go on to positive destinations. They leave school at the end of fifth year with three Highers or four Highers. If they stayed for a sixth year, they would get additional Highers.
“These figures are based on when they leave. So actually, I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘I really want these Fifth Years to stay for another year just to get my ‘five Highers’ figure up.’
“Because actually, it’s the right decision for them as young people to move on. Our positive destination figure sits at 98%.
“I think the measure they use for those league tables is probably out of date. Foundation Apprenticeships aren’t factored in, for example.
“Positive destinations is about producing good young people who are ready to be successful, whatever that next stage of their life is.”
Covid and the mental health impact of the pandemic
Meanwhile Mr Hendry said young people’s mental health and wellbeing has become more and more of a focus since the pandemic.
“I would have to say, I think Covid has affected a number of people as we’ve come back to, in inverted commas, ‘normal’. It’s been challenging for some young people to get back into school.
“I mean, we had almost two years when young people didn’t come to school.
“The legacy of the pandemic across the UK has been about the mental health of a lot of young people.
“As a school, we have a huge number of supports in place to support young people with their mental health.”
Inverurie Academy avoiding the worst of teacher shortage crisis
Aberdeenshire director of education Laurence Findlay admitted to The P&J late last year that all secondary schools in the region were facing a teacher ‘crisis’ amid ongoing staff shortages.
But so far, Mr Hendry said this isn’t affecting Inverurie Academy.
“We’re in the very fortunate position that teacher shortages are not affecting us,” he said. “We have no vacancies.”
He added: “If I was to lose a maths teacher or a design and technology teacher, they would be difficult to replace.
“There are particular areas where it’s more difficult, and I think those areas are expanding. Five years ago it might have been maths and design and technology, but now science can be a challenge as well.
“But we are fortunate at Inverurie in that people want to come and work here.
“So actually I don’t have those concerns that some of my colleagues have at other schools.
“I experienced it at my previous two schools [Northfield and Lochside] – staffing was always a challenge.”
‘The world’s become more complex, but young people are still striving to be successful’
Mr Hendry waxed lyrical about the facilities at the Inverurie Community Campus, which opened in 2020.
“What attracted me to Inverurie was that, where this community campus is, it’s bang in the middle of a thriving town.
“It works both ways – the ripple you get from the community, and the ripple you can give to the community, is significant.
“The fact that we’re bang in the middle of the town gives it that connectivity.
“Lots of our families and young people come here in the evenings to enjoy the facilities.”
And Mr Hendry predicted a bright future for the school, pinpointing partnerships with parents, healthy staff numbers, and the senior phase curriculum as particular strong points to build on.
“My job is to continue to give those opportunities to young people, to continue to improve, and actually, Inverurie will go from strength to strength.
“We continue to thrive, and we’ll continue to improve.
“That’s my job, to continue that journey of improvement.”
He added: “Young people are still the same as they were when I started teaching 30 years ago.
“The world’s become more complex, but young people are still striving to be successful. That doesn’t change, whether you’re at Northfield, Lochside or Inverurie Academy.”
Full interview: ‘We do everything we can’ on bullying, says Inverurie Academy head
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