Background to the school

St Paul's RC High School sits in the south of Glasgow. The catchment area covers Pollok, Priesthill, Darnley, Arden and Nitshill in which 82% of the student’s postcodes are in the two lowest deciles of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. The school roll is currently 1050 pupils and 76 staff. 

The curriculum ensures pupils can progress within and across subject areas and includes a variety of alternative and vocational options delivered by partners. It is based on pupils sitting 7 National/SCQF Levels 3/4/5 courses in S4 and 5 National/SCQF Levels 4/5 and Higher/SCQF level 6 courses in S5. There are opportunities to study Advanced Higher/SCQF Level 7 courses in S6.

Our attainment journey has resulted in an upward trend, thanks in part to our curriculum and the courses we provide to help maximise pupil ability.

Over the last 6 years, school leaver positive destinations have continued an upward trend from just under 90% to 98.6% positive in 2020/21. 66% of leavers moved into Further or Higher Education in 2020/21. We believe the development of the curriculum and courses we provide, in partnership with colleges/training providers and employers, has helped to engage our young people, develop their aspirations and plan their pathways.

Raising Awareness of the SCQF

In order to raise awareness amongst staff, SCQF Partnership Development Officer, Donnie Wood, delivered a presentation about the SCQF to the Joint Leaders in November 2019.  Following this it was clear it was time to further develop the mainstream curriculum, especially within the Senior Phase, to meet pupil needs, maintain engagement and support pupils into sustained positive destinations.

Further staff in-service around the SCQF took place at whole school meetings and coming out of the pandemic, DYW and development of new curricular pathways was put on the whole school improvement plan. A DYW Pathways Committee was established in the school in August 2021, with a member of staff from every department/faculty represented. Together they worked on designing and producing a new interactive options booklet called ‘Career Pathways’. This interactive booklet links options in St Paul’s with college/university websites and My World of Work, to support pupils plan their pathway. 

You can view here

In August 2021 senior pupils from the Caritas class were recruited and trained to become SCQF Ambassadors. 
Following training, the pupils made an SCQF noticeboard, which was made visible in the assembly hall and worked in partnership with staff in the DYW Pathways Committee to develop a script and make a short film about the SCQF and different pathways their peers were following in St Paul’s.

This video was very successful and shared with all pupils during options time, in assemblies and at ‘Plan Your Pathway’ events for all year groups to raise awareness of the SCQF. Also shared with pupils during these events and in HWB lessons is the interactive ‘Careers Pathways’ options booklet.

The video has also been placed on the St Paul’s High School You Tube channel and shared with parents/carers at Information and Option evenings. Further promotion of the SCQF to parents/carers has been made through presentations at Parent Information Evenings, on the school website and end of term school newsletters to include the YouTube video link, ‘Careers Pathways’ booklet and SCQF promotional materials.

‘It was great to be an SCQF Ambassador and take the lead in telling pupils and parents about the different pathways you can take and the variety of qualifications on offer at St Paul’s that can help you in your chosen career. I loved making the video and it was good for me to talk about this leadership role to help me get my Caritas Award and get into college to study HNC Healthcare.’

Quote from S6 SCQF Ambassador

‘I enjoyed talking about my science pathway on the video and how it has helped me to gain an apprenticeship with Clancy Engineering Consultants.’

Quote from Senior Pupil

Changes to the Curriculum

For a number of years St Paul’s High School had developed new alternative curricular programmes with various partners such as Young Enterprise Scotland and Rangers Charity Foundation. The YES Winter Leavers Pathways programme targets S5 pupils wishing to leave at Christmas into positive destinations in January. The Wider Achievement programme with Rangers targets S4 pupils who achieve SCQF Level 4 Steps to Work Award, Personal Fitness and First Aid certificates. 

A variety of college course options at SCQF levels 3 – 6 have also been available for a number of years for Senior Phase pupils ranging from Higher Psychology to National Progression Award (NPA) Cosmetology at Level 4. In addition to these many pupils have studied Advanced Highers (SCQF level 7) at Glasgow Caledonian University in partnership with the Advanced Higher HUB.

Various Wider Achievement courses have also been delivered in St Paul’s for a number of years e.g. Dynamic Youth and Youth Achievement Awards at SCQF levels 4/5/6, Caritas Level 5 and Princes Trust Personal Development and Employability Award levels 4/5.

In the last few years other SCQF credit rated courses developed and delivered by staff across the school in 2022 are:

In addition to these courses delivered by school staff, further partnerships have been developed delivering other programmes:

• Hairdressing levels 4/5 with Harpers Salon, with NPA Enterprise and Employability at SCQF levels 4/5
• Early Education and Childcare levels 4/5 with Tigers
• NPA Cyber Security with Glasgow City Council Towards Better Futures & Skills Development Scotland
• CSCS card with First Steps Future Training

Future Plans

All staff at St Paul’s are thrilled to receive the Silver Award as an SCQF Ambassador School.  We were excited to share this success and further promote the SCQF with our partners, who support the delivery of the curriculum, at our Partners’ Lunch in June 2022.

Further development of CPD opportunities to support all staff in building strategies, expertise and own knowledge to meet the needs of all young people to include Learner Pathways, NPAs and SCQF approaches is on the new School Improvement Plan. We look forward to working together as a whole school to achieve the Gold Award as an SCQF Ambassador school.

For more information on our school visit our website.