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Sgoil nan Loch

This is part of  case study carried out by the Scottish Schools Ethos Network in February 2004

Sgoil Nan Loch, a new 5-14 school designed and built by the Western Isles Council has selected themes that illustrate how the school has both invested in, and draws upon, the rich resources of close community life in Scotland's islands. They learned from their own formation out of four schools that were closed that, if a positive ethos is to be maintained, all transitions need to be handled in ways that ensure: continuity for those affected; a welcome for newcomers; and a good send-off for those leaving - with confidence nurtured by the school.

Introduction

Sgoil Nan Loch (Loch's School) on the Isle of Lewis, beyond Skye off the west coast of Scotland, was opened in August 2001. It serves the area of Lochs. The closure of three primary schools and of one 5-14 school, all of which had been serving their own small communities, and the move to a new facility, albeit in a superb building, were not without some pain and stress. However, the new school is building on the histories and strengths of its predecessors, not least through inheriting many pupils and staff from them. Historically, the Isle of Lewis has been a very close knit community with most people knowing, or knowing of, each other. Most of our pupils know each other very well indeed. Many of the families in our school are related to each other either closely or distantly and their lives have been interwoven and touched by these relationships over the generations. This makes the building of a supportive community within the school is that much easier, although it can never be taken for granted.

Our core pupil population comprises 94 pupils from P1 to S2. Staffing is as follows: Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher, 3 full-time Primary and 1 full-time Secondary teachers, 14 part-time and peripatetic teachers, 1 classroom assistant and 5 full-time auxiliaries, 3 of whom work with our pupils with severe and complex learning difficulties. Our support staff, vital to the well-being of all, comprises our school secretary, janitor, 3 canteen staff and 4 cleaners. In addition, there are 3 more staff and 21 more children in 'extensions' to our school community that are described later.

Easing transitions and increasing inclusion

The strengths of a relatively small and close community are many and obvious but change can still seem threatening. An essential part of creating a positive ethos is to enable change and challenges to be overcome by all successfully. We have tried to do this in a variety of ways, not least by facilitating transitions and increasing inclusion.

Preparing, moving, involving . . .

During the final term of the 2000-2001 session we needed to take a number of decisions to put structures in place for the start of the new session in our new school building. Negotiations took place over the phone and at meetings during and after school. The interim School Board, set up to oversee the transition in conjunction with the staff, tackled finding a name for the new school, deciding on school colours, devising a logo and establishing whether or not the school would be advocating a full school uniform. Parents were surveyed on this last matter. An almost unanimous response advocated a full school uniform approach. Pupils were asked to enter competitions to consider colours, school name and logo and a local businessman offered to provide prizes. By this time we felt that everyone affected by the move to the new school was actively engaged in the setting-up process and consultations.

Our first challenge was trying to make the transition from the closing schools to the new school as seamless as possible. The staff had to establish new classrooms and routines with minimum disruption to the pupils' education. During the summer holidays of 2001 they spent many hours at the new school working out the logistics. We realised increasingly that the well-designed new building was itself a morale booster - making tasks much easier. Excitement mixed with trepidation as the new term loomed. The majority of the new school staff came from the closing schools but some completely new staff were joining us and needed to be made welcome. That summer of staff members working together towards a common goal was well spent. Sharing the challenge 'bonded' us, not just at that critical time but later as well.

Easing pupils' transitions

The school is situated on the main Harris to Stornoway road. As a result, pupils from other areas have opted to come to Sgoil nan Loch on placement requests and have enriched all stages of our school. Pupils from our associated primary school are invited to our school for Secondary induction purposes in P7. They and younger members of their school also come to Sgoil nan Loch if we are hosting drama or music workshops with outside agencies.

It was very important to assign a member of staff for the incoming S1 and S2 pupils for pastoral care and as a source of information for them. To do this we have introduced tutorial sessions for pupils in the secondary department. This arrangement allows individual pupils to have one-to-one sessions with a tutor to discuss their progress and anything that is important to them. Doing this made us see the need for pupils who join the school during their primary years to have prior meetings with our primary class teachers. It was easy to assume that this would just take place but it actually took co-ordinated effort.

Our Primary classes participate in 'Circle Time' and staff members have found this valuable. Our secondary pupils are involved in 'interface' sessions that, like Circle Time, allow them to air any issues of importance to them. Our school uses the Golden Rules posters and encourages pupils to reflect on their messages. Posters are displayed around the school as reminders of how we would wish pupils to behave and treat others, including those pupils who are new to our community. Every pupil is placed into a 'house' on arrival at the school to help them identify with a smaller group of pupils and to facilitate their participation. The house names, chosen by the pupils, are of local hills - Mobhal, Scalabhal and Beinne Mhor. House captains and vice-captains, along with members of the School Council, all have duties that benefit the rest of the school community.

When our S2 pupils are about to leave us to move on to S3 in Stornoway the staff have started a tradition of inviting the youngsters to a formal dinner to celebrate their graduation from Sgoil nan Loch. Staff serve the pupils a three course meal with silver service and after tea/coffee we have a ceilidh. The evening has proved a great success and is eagerly awaited by each graduating year!

Increasing inclusion in the school community

During the year before we moved to Sgoil nan Loch the community was in the process of setting up a playgroup in the local community centre. However, our new building had been planned to house a local playgroup if one existed. When the school opened we were delighted to welcome the pre-school group 'Little Lochies' of 15 children and 2 staff to our school. The group has become an integral part of our school and liaison between the playgroup leaders and our early stages teacher has grown steadily to the benefit of all.

Our new school building had two further areas waiting to be allocated or developed for specific purposes. Within months of opening we were asked by the pre-school service of our education department to accommodate a group working with six children with sensory impairments. We all agreed on the mutual benefits to the children in the group and to the existing school population. Two years on they form an important and entirely positive part of our school, with some children staying on in our school as they reach school age while others go off to their own local school. This year we have had the opportunity to introduce a class that caters for three school-age children with severe and complex learning needs. The addition of each of these groups has enriched our school community and given the opportunity for all of the staff and pupils to broaden their horizons and to recognise the value of a more varied community. Inclusion has progressed steadily with consideration given to every child.

Don't forget the staff!

Any school staff room is a product of the people who use it and ours is a happy one which we try to keep calm and free from paperwork! (If every adult who had some role in supporting our pupils were here simultaneously we would be 54 people.)

A haven of rest but always a buzz of excitement, a place to unwind and laugh.
(Teacher)

Staff feel free to comment on issues, express opinions, agree and disagree professionally, all to the benefit of our pupils. Like our pupils, staff members know each other well, share personal experiences of babies, adolescents, elderly relatives. and have a very real concern for each other and for the community in which they live and work. Every member of staff, whatever their role, contributes in different ways to the school's communal efforts. Our work with parents is based on empathic understanding of our shared role in developing their children.

Being fully part of our local community

We are fortunate in being part of a cohesive community and we want to play a full and positive part in it, giving as well as receiving.

Valuing the linguistic heritage

The Gaelic language is an important and integral part of life at Sgoil nan Loch. The majority of staff speak Gaelic and those who do not either have some conversational Gaelic or are trying to learn. The Head Teacher comes into the latter category! Gaelic is taught from P1-S2. A number of our pupils come from homes where Gaelic is spoken and most children have some awareness of conversational Gaelic. S1 and S2 pupils receive lessons during the week. Fluent speakers and learners have different teachers for Gaelic and those who have Gaelic in the home join with the fluent speakers for conversation and discussion classes. We do not at present have a Gaelic Medium class in the school, although this always remains a possibility, and we do not teach subjects through the medium of Gaelic. The school regularly enters competitions at the Local Mod and our choir has achieved success at the National Mod.

School Board, Parent-Teacher Association and Community Council

For the year prior to the new school opening, an Interim School Board was in place. It was established from interested members of two other existing school boards. It worked very hard, taking important decisions vital to the successful start of the 2001-02 session. Their commitment augured well for the new school. The Sgoil nan Loch School Board was established in 2001 and has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the school community. The connections that they enjoy with the parents of our pupils as well as their connections with the wider community have meant that we have been able to become positively engaged in our community. The School Board was also instrumental in organising a Gala Day last May which facilitated a boost to the school fund.

An early attempt to start a PTA was over-ambitious. However, a later attempt took off and we now have a flourishing PTA which, for instance, organised our most recent innovation - a Burns' Supper in the school attended by over 230 people. The purpose of this was to invite pupils, parents and friends of the school to attend a community social occasion. Feedback suggests that our very many guests certainly enjoyed the evening!

We are very keen to develop further our involvement with the community council. At the moment we are involved in developing a project with them that we hope will bring the community into our school (see later in Environment section).

Multi-agency evening and involvement of local businesses

In February 2003, the school hosted a multi-agency evening. This allowed different agencies (Parentwise, New Community Schools Project, the local Medical Practice, Northern Constabulary, School Board/PTA, Education Dept., Community Education and a local group advising on the financial implications of Higher/Further Education) to engage with pupils, parents and the local community and to offer help and advice. We wanted the school to be used as a hub for information, where information could be sought and exchanged. The evening was very well received and we intend to hold these evenings on a biannual basis.

We have been very fortunate in the interest and support from local businesses. A number of local companies have sponsored different items of benefit to school life, e.g., our school diaries and Royal Highland Trust Resources Box, a collection of ecology-related resources.

Using and caring for the environment and caring for our own well-being

Living as we do in quite an isolated and strangely beautiful area, we are very conscious of our environment - it features strongly in our school lives.

Environmental and ecological developments

When the school opened our surrounding land was full of potential but not much else. We now have well-designed and stocked beds of plants close to the school, and a football pitch.

The football pitch is good - I like scoring goals.
(P3 pupil)

We also had a large amount of ground further away from the school waiting for development. One of the first ideas we had was to plant trees. We planted a tree for each member of our school community with their name attached to it. We also thought that it would be a nice touch to log the trees on a CAD programme so that in future generations, pupils of the school may be able to locate the trees that their parents or grandparents planted! This has since become a major part of our school grounds development programme in which the Stornoway Trust Ranger is involved and, hopefully, the Forestry Commission.

The Ranger was also asked for advice about setting up a bird watch box. We applied to the Scottish Natural Heritage and received a grant. We now have a nesting box, which houses a small video camera, situated in the school grounds. This transmits pictures to a television in our indoor social area and it is hoped that pupils will be able to watch birds nesting this year.

Our involvement with the New Community Schools Project and the Community Council will enable us to take our environmental and community ambitions a step further with the proposed purchase of a poly tunnel to raise plants. Our own 'Greenfingers' horticultural club will work with volunteers from the community to develop their knowledge and understanding of plants, trees and vegetables.

Looking after ourselves

The weather on the Isle of Lewis is sometimes extreme, and quite often is either very windy or wet. We have two social areas for our pupils to use in inclement weather.

In the morning when it's freezing, you can go into the social area and it's warm.
(S1 pupil)

The secondary pupils have a smaller area than the primary pupils due to the difference in numbers and activities. The primary pupils have a number of indoor games, purchased after consultation with them, used regularly when they cannot play outside.

The sports hall is good, especially the climbing frame and if it is raining we can play games.
(P1 pupil)

The secondary pupils have a pool table and are responsible for rotas for its use, also for organising inter-house competitions.

Promoting healthy lifestyles is of paramount importance at Sgoil nan Loch. Our partnership with the New Community Schools Project enables us to provide fruit for our pupils at some break-times and also water bottles that can be topped up from the water cooler. We are just about to start a reward scheme for pupils at lunchtimes that will enable pupils to claim 'merchandise' as a reward for choosing healthy meals.

Our cafeteria has really good food.
(P2 pupil)

Review and Conclusions

At one of our first staff meetings we had considered what needed to be in our first School Development Plan. We had not initially considered it necessary to identify ethos separately, presuming that it would 'just happen' in such a community. One member of staff, however, felt that it would be essential to include ethos building as a priority. When we discussed this as a staff we all agreed that we should make it a priority. The target for our ethos-building was:

to create a welcoming, pleasant environment, in which pupils and staff feel valued, safe and able to achieve their full potential.

The criteria for success were:

	that pupils and staff should feel involved in the life of the school and be committed to its success,
	evident commitment to the pastoral care of pupils and staff,
	there should be a clear understanding and positive expectations in relation to behaviour, attitudes and effort, and
	staff and pupils would work together harmoniously in and out of class.

We believe that we are now meeting these criteria but we know that we cannot ever 'relax on the job'.

Attendance and Attainment

Attendance levels at the school are very high and the message from a recent survey of parents was that our pupils enjoy coming to school and some even look forward to it! We have introduced new Language and Mathematics programmes throughout the school and monitoring to date indicates a rise in attainment particularly at the Early Stages. We recognise and celebrate all kinds of achievements.

As a staff we feel that every person and all of our experiences have contributed to the ethos of our school. One of the most important contributions is the quality of the relationships among all the members of the school's community. We are all also individually and collectively committed to learning. A new, beautiful, well-equipped school could induce euphoria but we know that the job of education is never done and that we still have plenty to do.