IN 2012 Drumchapel High School in Glasgow was given a worrying inspection report highlighting a range of concerns.

Inspectors found key attributes such as personal confidence, self esteem and skills were not being promoted, teachers were not always tracking progress and did not have high enough expectations of pupils.

The report concluded that there was potential for more pupils to achieve better qualifications in the upper years of senior school.

Some five years on and the improvements being made are clear from the latest set of exam results.

The proportion of pupils achieving five of more Highers by the end of fifth year has doubled from a little over two per cent to nearly five per cent. And there has been very significant progress in the proportion achieving three or more Highers with numbers growing from nine per cent in 2016 to just over 16 per cent.

The progress is all the more impressive because 85 per cent of the school’s pupils are considered to be living in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Scotland. The figure is one of the highest in Scotland.

Joanne Sturgeon, the school’s new headteacher, said Drumchapel High had embraced a culture of celebrating the wider achievements of pupils to build confidence and resilience. A number of targeted strategies also help the school identify the strengths and weaknesses of pupils and track their progress.

This involves teachers working one to one with individual pupils to establish whether they are on track and where they need extra help.

Mrs Sturgeon said: “There has to be a concerted team effort at all levels and we have invested a lot of time in mentoring and supporting young people to make sure they feel valued. It is absolutely critical to celebrate all their successes to build self confidence and aspiration.

“We are quite good in the west of Scotland at hiding what we are good at and some young people are not used to accepting praise because it is not part of their culture so we are constantly trying to highlight the positives.

“Getting young people to believe they can achieve is half the battle and we work hard to persuade them to stay on at school and give them an understanding that they have a future here and the ability to succeed.”

Mrs Sturgeon said reshaping the curriculum to ensure interesting and relevant subject options were available was crucial.

And she said the school has also appointed a dedicated member of staff to help raise attainment.

She added: “Staff have really dedicated a lot of time across every department to provide supported study in the evening and weekends.

“For some young people it can be difficult to study at home because not everyone has a convenient space to study or they have challenges within their own personal lives and homework is not a priority for them. We work incredibly hard to mitigate that.”