Portlethen Academy head teacher praised by inspectors as school shows signs of turnaround

Portlethen Academy has made significant progress since last year’s damning inspection report, inspectors have said.

Inspectors from Education Scotland visited the Aberdeenshire school in February last year, with the resulting report grading Portlethen Academy ‘Weak’ in both Learning, Teaching and Assessment, and Raising Attainment and Achievement.

However, inspectors found a much-improved school after visiting in November, the results of which have now been published in a letter from the inspection body.

Head teacher Barry Drennan was praised for acting “rapidly and effectively” to address concerns raised in the original inspection.

These included a lack of clear leadership and direction from senior and middle management, inconsistent monitoring of pupil progress, and the need to create a “culture of high expectations”.

‘Clearer sense of direction’ from staff

Staff are now “demonstrating a clearer sense of direction”, inspectors said.

Senior and middle management are “working more effectively as a team and are developing a range of approaches to improve attainment.”

For example, more rigorous attainment review meetings have resulted in a sharper focus on what needs to improve.

Staff have undertaken professional learning, and are now engaging with colleagues outwith Portlethen Academy, in an effort to raise standards.

Inspectors also noted that results had improved in national qualifications among S4 pupils.

As part of their most recent visit, inspectors asked pupils and parents to fill out a questionnaire.

84% of pupils said they were happy with the quality of teaching at the school, and 88% said they were encouraged by staff to do the best they can.

Among parents, 86% said their child likes being at Portlethen Academy, and 80% feel their child is making good progress at the school.

Head teacher on ‘commitment and continued hard work’ at Portlethen Academy

Speaking to The P&J, Mr Drennan said he was “incredibly proud” of the progress made across the whole school community since the original inspection in February 2024.

He said: “Our updated report shows progress across all identified action points, and this is testament to the commitment and continued hard work of all pupils and staff, along with our continued strong working partnership with our parent council, and parents and carers overall.

“Since our initial inspection, I have been very clear on our direction of travel and priorities which have been put in place to improve the learning experience and outcomes for all our young people, as well as to raise attainment.

“This has included a review of our tracking and monitoring systems and processes, improving data literacy of staff and how we use our pupil progress data to plan for next steps, and continued professional learning on key aspects of high-quality learning, teaching, and assessment.

“As head teacher, I am extremely pleased to see that everyone’s hard work has been recognised at all levels, as we have moved at pace with lots of key changes.

“However, this report has provided us with the confidence that we have moved in the right direction.

“We will continue to further embed these processes and evaluate throughout the remainder of this session and beyond.”

Inspectors said Portlethen Academy needs more time to continue work on areas of improvement, and to be able to show that new approaches are having a significant positive impact on young people’s attainment.

They will return to the school within a year to carry out a further inspection.

You can read the inspection report from February 25, 2025, here.