The number of children and young people at the Vale of Leven Academy reaching “positive destinations” after leaving school has increased by almost 10%, a new report has revealed.
A document presented to members of the education committee also confirmed that just over 95% of the council’s 910 school leavers for 2021/22 went on to complete further or higher education, training, volunteer work, personal skills development activity or employment compared to 91% in the previous financial year.
It comes after the pandemic saw performance in school leaver destinations decline, causing the local authority to implement an action plan for its young people.
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During a meeting councillors were advised that there had been an increase of 5.4% of those seeking further education.
Clydebank High School saw 95.6% of its students reach a positive destination in 2021/22 compared to 92.6% the previous year with 95.6% of students at Dumbarton Academy reaching a positive destination in 2021/22 compared to 91.6% in 2020/21.
The number of students going on to university, college, work or training schemes from Our Lady & St Patrick’s High School in 2021/22 was 96.5% compared to 93.3% in 2020/21 but the figure was slightly lower for St, Peter the Apostle with just 93.7% and 90.7% of pupils entering a positive destination in 2021/22 and 2020/21 respectively.
Councillors were most impressed with the Vale of Leven Academy which saw a jump of almost 10% between the two financial years from 86.7% to 95%.
Councillor Gordon Scanlon said: “We can all see that the numbers of positive destinations dropped during the pandemic and it is really good to see that those numbers are really high again in comparison to levels that we had before the pandemic.”
Councillor Michelle McGinty added: “As much as I welcome schools doing everything they can to get our children into positive destinations - this doesn’t really tell the story of whether or not they sustain those positive destinations.
“I think we need to realise that it is a snapshot in time. That being said I am going to point out the Vale of Leven Academy as we know they have struggled and this year they seem to have gone up by 10% in their positive destinations.
“For me it is the amount of unemployment that they have reduced and I think that is a good news story. It is a school that has the highest level of deprivation in the area and it shows the work they have been doing to raise themselves up.”
