DHS Wider Achievement Policy

Dalkeith High School Wider Achievement Policy

In Dalkeith High School, both attainment and achievement are valued equally and we strive to ensure that all of our young people are given the opportunity to succeed in all aspects of their learning across the school.

What is Wider Achievement?

Wider Achievement refers to activities and interests that young people might take part and learn from beyond the formal curriculum e.g. youth work, part time jobs, hobbies, interests, volunteering, or helping to care for a relative.

Why is Wider Achievement important?

Curriculum for Excellence recognises how valuable achievements are and how important it is for young people to have the opportunity to take part in activities.  These types of activities help to develop important skills for learning, life and work and are valuable when applying for training, college, university or jobs.  Such skills might include: responsibility, creativity, punctuality, problem solving, planning, negotiating and social and interpersonal skills – all of which are valuable in educational and work-related contexts.

What does Wider Achievement at Dalkeith High School look like?

Recognising and celebrating achievement is a priority at Dalkeith High School and we are creative in our approach to ensuring all of our young people are accessing opportunities to succeed. The following features form part of the wider achievement currently taking place at DHS:

  • S1 Outdoor learning day: All S1 pupils complete a demanding walk through the Pentland hills to develop skills such as team work, communication and resilience.
  • S2 DHS Award: All S2 pupils will take part in the DHS Award. There are four elements that each pupil must complete to achieve this award – Enterprise, Community, Active and Adventure.
  • S3 focus – Priority next session (build on current S2)
  • Whole school:
  • Sports day
  • Rotary Shoe box appeal
  • Peer supporters
  • Paired reading
  • Pupil Voice
  • Pupil Leadership Team
  • Whole School Show

Celebrating Success within Wider Achievement

Dalkeith High School successfully create a culture of success and a number of initiatives have been developed to ensure that we continue to excel in this area.

  • Merit System – Merits are awarded to pupils when they have gone over and above a teacher’s expectations during a lesson. Merits can be recorded and awarded for the following – Sporting Achievement, Personal Progress, Academic Achievement, Performance, Volunteering and Employability.
  • House Points Challenge – This challenge helps to promote friendly competition between Houses and provide further motivation for pupils throughout the entire academic year. Incentives such as termly prizes for the leading House help to engage learners and the prize for the House Point Winners provides additional encouragement throughout the session. All merits gained by each pupil contribute to their specific House’s tally of points.
  • Learner of the Month – All staff within DHS celebrate achievement by selecting a Learner of the Month for a BGE and Senior Phase pupil each month.
  • Leadership – Dalkeith High School strives to ensure that leadership is strong at all levels and this is reflected in our approach to driving forward Wider Achievement.

House Leaders – Teachers have been allocated a House to further promote friendly competition across the school and the position of House Leader provides an opportunity for staff to oversee the work being done by House Captains.

House Captains – Here at DHS, we promote pupil leadership and House Captains play a huge role in orchestrating the House Points challenge. Working with the House Leader, they plan events, motivate others and drive forward initiatives across the school and wider community.

  • Award Ceremonies – Junior and senior award ceremonies take place in June and September respectively. They are an opportunity to celebrate and recognise academic and wider achievements in Dalkeith HS based around the four capacities of successful learners, responsible citizens, confident individuals and effective contributors.