Attainment and teaching at Dundee’s Baldragon Academy criticised in leaked inspection report

Inspectors have ordered staff at Dundee’s Baldragon Academy to improve attainment across the school as an “immediate priority”.

A damning report by Education Scotland reveals a raft of concerns in how the school is being run.

Learning, teaching and assessment was rated as “weak” while efforts to raise attainment and increase achievement were branded as “unsatisfactory”.

It’s understood the criticism has led to considerable upset among staff after they were accidentally published online.

The reports, seen by The Courier, have since been pulled from the Education Scotland website and the organisation has apologised for publishing them “in error”.

It’s not clear if the findings, which total almost 50 pages, are the final versions.

But they detail various concerns over disengaged pupils and reveals many are regularly turning up late for lessons or simply not turning up at all.

January visit to Baldragon Academy

The inspectors visited the school in January, talking to parents/carers and young people while also working closely with the headteacher and staff.

Education Scotland lead inspector Celia McArthur said in the report: “In a majority of lessons, young people lack enthusiasm and at times motivation for learning.

“This arises from lessons being overly teacher led and young people being too passive in their learning.

“Most young people, particularly in the Broad General Education (BGE), are not challenged sufficiently in lessons and the pace of learning is too slow.

“This leads to a minority of young people not engaging effectively.”

Ms McArthur also said too many lessons are disrupted by pupils arriving late or not turning up.

This, she said, prevents teachers from being able to plan effectively to meet all individual needs and “maximise learning time”.

Attainment an ‘immediate priority’

Summarising concerns over attainment, she said: “Senior leaders and staff need to improve attainment as an immediate priority across the school, especially in S4, by S5 and by S6.”

In many areas, the team identified attainment as being “significantly much lower” than the Virtual Comparator (VC).

The VC benchmarking measure uses a sample group of pupils from other parts of Scotland who have similar characteristics to the young people in the school.

It is matched on gender, additional support needs, stage of leaving school (S4, S5 or S6) and the social context in which they live.

Education Scotland apologises for ‘error’

A spokesperson for Education Scotland said: “The inspection report for Baldragon Academy was published in error by Education Scotland.

“When we realised the error, the document was removed from our website and an apology issued to the local authority.

“We will be instigating our internal procedures to ascertain how this has come about.”

The school was opened by then education minister John Swinney in 2018 to much fanfare. The council described the £28.7m facility as proof it was “investing in the future of our young people”.

What were the specific concerns?

A letter, dated April 25 2023 and due to be sent to parents and carers of pupils at the school, outlined a number of areas of concern.

It states these were identified and discussed with the headteacher and representatives from Dundee City Council.

The report said the school should:

• Develop a school culture, underpinned by agreed school values, that promotes higher aspirations and expectations of all young people. This needs to focus on improving young people’s attendance and late coming, and the attitudes to learning and behaviour of a minority of young people.
• Develop more robust plans, building on the ‘Baldragon Way’, to improve learning and teaching across the school. This should ensure that all young people benefit from high-quality learning and teaching that meets their needs effectively.
• Work with staff from the local authority to improve attainment as an immediate priority across the school, especially in S4, by S5 and by S6.
• Continue to develop effective approaches across the school that assist staff in reviewing regularly all young people’s progress and in providing appropriate support that meets all young people’s needs.

  

What strengths did the inspectors note?

• The headteacher, the senior leadership team and almost all staff have a clear understanding of the social, cultural, and economic context of the school. This helps them to provide caring and targeted support for individual young people and their families, including those who learn in the enhanced support areas.
• Staff and partners work well together to provide young people with a range of opportunities for success, such as the School of Sport, the Baldragon Barista Academy, the Baldragon Bee Academy and the Rural Skills Group. As a result, young people develop important skills and qualities.

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “This inspection report has not yet been published and we are in discussions with Education Scotland over the process.”