Lochend Community High School is a co-educational non-denominational secondary school located in Easterhouse, in the north-east of Glasgow. We gained Silver SCQF School Ambassador status in March 2023.

Lochend Community High School, which opened in 1963 as Lochend Secondary, amalgamated with Westwood Secondary in 1988 in the former school buildings. In 2002, we moved into the current campus to provide the best resources to our students and community. The school is designed to hold 850 pupils with an attractive social space at its heart – doubling as dining facilities and a performance venue. 

We have the highest expectations of ourselves and our learners. Our school values are at the heart of our learning community, and our pupils are motivated to be ready, resilient and safe.

As the name may indicate, Lochend Community High School sits at the edge of the Seven Lochs Wetland Park, the largest urban park in Scotland, which is an incredible natural resource for practical learning experiences.

Throughout the year we have provided opportunities for our SCQF Ambassadors to design and create lessons to inform other pupils in the school. Our Ambassadors then led multiple lessons with multiple year groups to enlighten them about the process of the SCQF framework and the opportunities it can provide to young people in Easterhouse.

Our Ambassadors were also part of Further Education and career fairs within the school. For this they had to design and create a stall, as well as devise a quiz for pupils, teachers and outside agencies to visit and complete. This further enhanced their knowledge of the Framework and allowed them a chance to be asked and answer questions.

At all of our parents’ evenings and open evenings this year, our Ambassadors and staff have created and held an information stall. This has allowed parents and carers to come and see what we are doing in the school, the benefits of the SCQF and how this can have a positive impact on their child’s future.

On social media we have uploaded pictures as well as shared and retweeted our success along this journey. We have informed pupils, parents and carers about the courses we offer as well as celebrated the success pupils are having in these courses.

Over the last 2 years our school has implemented multiple new courses which has allowed us to provide more pathways in the school, allowing us to promote progression and challenge in learning at all times. This includes SCQF level 6, level 5 and level 4 and college programmes. For example;

• Business Enterprise
• Psychology
• Creative Industries
• Games Design
• Exercise and fitness Leadership
• NPA Social Services Children & Young People
• Construction
• Barista Enterprise
• Practical Metalworking
• Applied Sciences
• Photography
• Practical Woodworking
• Fashion & Textiles Academy
• Digital Academy – Cyber Security
  
  

Opportunities for Young People

We have incorporated multiple college opportunities for our young people to access during the school year, as well as introduce local business opportunities for the pupils to experience.

College Transitions Programmes - Glasgow Kelvin

Monday - Work Based Qualifications - Emergency First Aid at Work, Manual Handling, Health and Safety at work (Certificated by SafeCert at levels SCQF Level 5 and 6) 

Thursday - Employability workshops, CV support and interview preparation work

Friday - Outdoor Learning opportunities - Pinkston, Outdoor Cooking and Bushcraft sessions (Community Achievement Award at SCQF level 4)  

City of Glasgow College and Glasgow Kelvin College

14 senior pupils go to college every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to attend the following programmes. Each programme offers a different opportunity and are presented at different SCQF levels.

Business Partnerships

The following businesses came into the school for an employability fair. They also keep in contact with the school and let us know if any opportunities such as training or employment come up during the year for our seniors.

Career Ready

Over the last few years our senior pupils have been given the opportunity to take part in the career ready programme. Our pupils in S5/6 are given the opportunity to pick a career path and are offered workplace experienced with support. They are provided with:

• A mentor from the world of work that they meet with on a regular basis in the school.
• A 4-week paid internship in a place of work where they gain invaluable experience.
• They attend a series of master classes where they will take part in tasks, discussions, presentations to develop the skills and qualities to help them along their journey.
• Workplace visits.

Over the course of this year we have built up confidence in our staff and in our young people with relation to the SCQF framework. We believe we have the capacity to achieve the gold award, and therefore yes, we will be working towards achieving our gold award!

What our Ambassadors say...

Here are some quotes from our Ambassadors. As you will be able to tell, they truly believe this is beneficial for the young people who attend Lochend.

- “It’s far more comfortable than sitting down and writing stuff all the time. It’s good.”

- “To get up and kinda get out your comfort zone with new things.”

- ‘It’s helped me so much with communication.”

- “It’s overall inspiring and it puts you in a good mindset.”

- “Having classes like this make it seem more fair to me, something for everyone.”

- “There are many careers you never knew existed before.”

Success Story

Below I will share some quotes from a former pupil who has managed to obtain a full-time job through one of the construction programmes we run in the school. It is an absolute pleasure to be able to share this success story with you to inspire other learners

“At first, I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, but through the Tigers (construction programme run in school) it has ‘learnt’ me more stuff and let me figure out where I wanted to take the next step. A full different experience, I enjoyed it, it’s good to get out on the sites… It was hard work, but it paid off in the end because it gave me a full-time job.”

The SCQF has provided so many of our learners with opportunities they would have never been given the chance to experience before. Our young people are experiencing more success, which has developed their confidence and provided them with the skills and qualities they will need for life and work. Our young people are now more comfortable and happier in the learning environment and it has been a pleasure for LCHS to be part of this process.