Harris Academy

Overview

Education Scotland inspectors visited Harris Academy in February 2025 and found the school to be performing at a “very good” level in both learning, teaching and assessment, and raising attainment and achievement. The report highlights strong leadership and positive relationships as key drivers of success, noting that the school has the capacity to continue improving without further inspection visits.

Strengths

• The headteacher’s “aspirational and authentic leadership” is resulting in “consistently high-quality learning, teaching and assessment” across the school.
• Staff create “calm, purposeful environments” and maintain “trusting relationships” that help young people progress very well.
• Young people are “very proud of their school,” kind to each other, and “eager to learn,” feeling valued and empowered to take on leadership roles.
• The “Harris pledge” is embedded in every aspect of school life, helping students develop essential life skills through a wide range of activities.
• Students achieve “very well, particularly from S1 to S3 in literacy and numeracy.”

Areas to improve

• Continue to develop approaches to giving regular feedback on learning to young people from S1 to S3 to aid reflection on progress.
• Continue to improve attainment, particularly at S4 in the senior phase.

Safeguarding

The report does not explicitly detail safeguarding arrangements, though it notes that staff provide “effective support for young people in and out of classrooms” within “calm, purposeful environments.”