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Elgin Academy teaching rated ‘weak’ by inspectors

Despite being rated as 'weak' in two areas, inspectors praised both pupils and staff.

An educational report has labelled Elgin Academy's teaching as 'weak'. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson
An educational report has labelled Elgin Academy's teaching as 'weak'. Image: Jason Hedges/ DC Thomson

Elgin Academy has been rated ‘weak’ in two areas by inspectors.

The Moray secondary school failed to meet quality indicators for learning, teaching and assessment plus raising attainment and achievement.

However, inspectors were impressed by the polite students, who were proud to welcome visitors.

Exterior of Elgin Academy.
Elgin Academy. Image: Jason Hedges/DC Thomson.

Teachers were also praised for offering clubs and activities during and after school.

An Education Scotland report, released today, said: “Teachers at Elgin Academy are encouraged to improve their understanding and delivery of quality learning, teaching, and assessment to ensure more consistency and raise student aspirations in all subjects.

“Young people are expected to complete low-level tasks too often. As a result, young people are passive in their learning and become disengaged.”

Staff encouraged to ‘meet needs of all students’

The inspectors also recommended that staff concentrate on meeting the needs of all students by making sure tasks and activities are suitable for everyone.

A questionnaire, which received 724 responses, was sent to Elgin Academy pupils before the inspection.

When provided with the statement “I am happy with the quality of teaching in my
school”, pupils had mixed responses.

One in five students surveyed said ‘not very often’, while around 56% said only ‘some of the time’.

Numeracy performance needs ‘significant improvement’

Another part of the report states that leavers’ performance in numeracy over the last five years requires significant improvement.

The overall attainment of National 5 maths is significantly lower than the national average.

It states: “The majority of young people leaving school between 2018/19 and 2022/23 achieved SCQF level 5 or better in numeracy which has been significantly lower than the VC over this period.

“A minority of young people leaving school achieved SCQF level 6 in numeracy which has been significantly lower and much lower in two of the last five years.”

Safeguarding and child protection were also flagged in the report and “areas for
development have been agreed with the school and the education authority that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency”

Moray Council’s chief education officer, Vivienne Cross.
Vivienne Cross. Image: Darrell Benns / DC Thomson

Moray Council’s chief education officer, Vivienne Cross, said: “The report provides the school with a clear agenda for improvement which will be the focus for the year ahead under the leadership of the new Head Teacher.

“An action plan to cover the areas for improvement has already been drafted and work will commence at pace to address this whilst building on existing strengths.

“Furthermore, the school is making improvements to enhance the learning environment.

“They’ve introduced a new learning and teaching policy and are prioritising staff training to address inspection findings.”

Elgin Academy’s next steps

HM inspector Susan McDade said: “As a result of our inspection findings, we think that the school needs additional support and more time to make necessary improvements.

“We will liaise with Moray Council regarding the school’s capacity to improve.

A new inspection will take place in one year, when parents will be informed of the progress the Moray school has made.

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