STAFF at Lornshill Academy have been praised after an encouraging inspection report was released by Education Scotland last week.

During a site visit last November, inspectors spoke to young people and their parents and carers, and worked closely with the head teacher and his staff.

Officials awarded a Good grading for a number of quality indicators in the school, which included leadership of change; learning; teaching and assessment; raising attainment and achievement; and ensuring wellbeing, equality and inclusion.

The team also found there to be a number of strengths at the Clacks school, including “The head teacher’s inspirational leadership which is helping senior and middle leaders, staff and young people to develop strong leadership skills. It is also supporting all people in the school community to be successful, aspire and belong.”

Other key strengths that they noted were the newly revised vision, values and beliefs which are central to the school’s work and the positive start to improving young people’s attainment in literacy.

The report also states that the aforementioned ethos contributes well to the school, which promotes diversity and seeks to ensure that all young people are included and encouraged to do their best.

The school was also praised for the supportive way in which young people are assisted to make informed decisions about their next steps in learning. A high number of young people leave school for a positive destination.

However, there are a number of areas in which the school could improve.

The report adds that the school should ensure that all self-evaluation evidence is of a good quality and used consistently by teachers to ensure learners’ prior knowledge and progress is considered when planning lessons.

It should also further improve experiences for young people at all stages by providing more opportunities for them to work collaboratively, lead their learning and increase their skills in working independently.

Furthermore, it was recommended that they implement a wider range of accredited courses and programmes for young people who use the learning centre and learning hub to enhance their learning experiences and opportunities for attainment and achievement, while continuing to review the range of learning pathways which young people can access.

Speaking after the report was issued, Cllr Graham Lindsay, the local authorities education spokesperson hailed the hard work of the teaching staff at the school.

He said: “We want to ensure that all our young people in Clackmannanshire get the very best education to prepare them to achieve all they can throughout their lives, and so I am delighted to see this very positive inspection report for Lornshill Academy.

“It is satisfying to see the results of all the hard work the staff, led by head teacher Tom Black, pupils and families are putting in to raise attainment at Lornshill being recognised by the inspectors.”