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REPORT TO: CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S SERVICES COMMITTEE ON

27 APRIL 2011 SUBJECT: HMIE INSPECTION OF A LEARNING COMMUNITY - REPORT

29 MARCH 2011 BY: CORPORATE DIRECTOR (EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CARE) 1. REASON FOR REPORT 1.1 The purpose of this report is for Committee to scrutinise and note the most

recent report published following inspection by HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) of Learning Communities in Moray: i) Inspection of the Learning Community surrounding Speyside High

School – Appendices 1 and 1a. 1.2 This report is submitted to Committee in terms of Section D (1) of the

Council's Administrative Scheme relating to exercising the functions of the Council as Education Authority.

2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that Committee scrutinises and notes the contents of

this report. 3. BACKGROUND 3.1 The performance of Learning Communities is measured by HM Inspectors

using quality indicators, described in their publications, “How Good Is Our Community Learning and Development 2l” (HGIOCLD). All Community Learning and Development staff in Moray have copies of HGIOCLD and are required to use these in their own self-evaluation and improvement planning. Since August 2008 HM Inspectors have evaluated Community Learning and Development performance using only 5 key indicators from this set of quality indicators.

ITEM: 9 PAGE: 2 3.2 When HMIE first evaluate a Learning Community against the quality indicators

in HGIOCLD they use ‘standardised’ language:

Level Definition Description Level 6 Excellent Provision which is clearly outstanding or sector

leading. Level 5 Very Good Provision which has major strengths Level 4 Good Provision with important strengths that clearly

outweigh areas for improvement. Level 3 Satisfactory Provision where strengths just outweigh

weaknesses. Level 2 Weak Provision with important weaknesses Level 1 Unsatisfactory Provision which has major weaknesses and is

unsatisfactory. Words, numbers and proportions are used in a consistent manner throughout HMIE reports: Almost all=over 90% Most=75-90% Majority=50-74% Less than half=15-49% Few=up to 15%

3.3 Initial inspection reports contain commentary by HMIE on the performance of a Learning Community at the time of first inspection. Such reports provide a summary of the “Particular Strengths of the Learning Community” and agreed areas for improvement.

3.4 Follow-through inspection reports contain a commentary by HMIE of the

extent to which the Learning Community has continued to improve since the original inspection. Follow-through inspection reports are usually published between one and two years after the initial report.

3.5 When HMIE inspect a Learning Community they comment on all learning

opportunities in the area irrespective of who provides the learning opportunities. This includes local partnerships, Libraries and Museums service, Moray College and the voluntary sector. Under Community Capacity Building comments are made regarding Local Area Forums and other agencies and organisations.

3.6 Copies of all HMIE reports are available in the Members’ Library, from the

school and online at www.hmie.gov.uk 4. SUMMARY OF IMPLICATIONS

(a) Single Outcome Agreement/Service Improvement Plan (i) The report provides Committee with information relevant to

Local Priority 5 within the Single Outcome Agreement – Attainment and Achievement (Children and Young People), and

(ii) within the Service Improvement Plan, Action Area 11 –

Curriculum for Excellence.

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(b) Policy and Legal HMIE inspect and report on a sample of Learning Communities every year. Their reports are intended to provide parents, local authorities and Scottish Ministers with information about how well Learning Communities are performing against the National Performance Framework.

(c) Financial implications There are no financial implications arising directly from this report.

(d) Risk implications

There are no risk implications arising directly from this report.

(e) Staffing implications There are no staffing implications arising directly from this report.

(f) Property None.

(g) Equalities There are no issues in this case.

(h) Consultations Senior Officers within Education and Social Care, have been consulted and are in agreement with the relevant sections of the report.

5. CONCLUSION 5.1 That the Committee scrutinises and notes the contents of this report on

the HMIE inspection of the Learning Community surrounding Speyside High School.

Author of Report: Graham Jarvis, Community Learning and Development

Manager Background Papers: Ref: DMD/JR/Reports/Children and Young People’s Services

Committee/27 April 2011/HMIE Inspection of a Learning Community – Report 29 March 2011

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APPENDIX 1

HMIE Report on Speyside High School published on 29 March 2011 APPENDIX 1 1. The learning community The Speyside High School learning community consists of a large rural area to the south of Moray. It includes communities such as Rothes, Aberlour, Knockando, Archiestown, Carron, Craigellachie, Dufftown, and Tomintoul, plus the townships of the Cabrach, Edinville, Glenrinnes, Ballindalloch, Inveravon, and Glenlivet. Some of the area is situated within the Cairngorm National Park. The main industries are farming, distilling, retail and tourism. Speyside has a population of around 7,192 people, with around 2,076 children and young people under twenty four. The proportion of jobless people at 7% is below the Scottish average and slightly lower than the rest of Moray. 2. Particular strengths of the learning community • Active and empowered community groups. • Creative youth work activities and programmes. • Effective network of community associations. • Strong and effective partnership working. • Shared sense of Speyside identity across community associations. 3. How well do participants learn and achieve? The use of accreditation across Speyside is good and improving. Participation in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is increasing. Learning opportunities are effectively targeted at the more disadvantaged and vulnerable. Anti-social behaviour data is regularly used to direct youth work resources such as the Mobile Information Bus (MIB) to where they are most needed. Youth Work and Community Support Unit teams have detailed team work plans in place. A consistent planning format is applied. A comprehensive needs assessment mapping exercise undertaken by the Community Support Unit team clearly identifies support priorities. Some staff use an electronic management information system to record and track learners. Both Youth Work and Community Support Unit teams regularly report progress as part of corporate reporting. The annual Youth Work Standards and Quality report clearly sets out progress against agreed targets. Handbooks produced by Moray Community Planning Partnership for use by community groups are of a high quality and cover a wide range of topics. All handbooks are compliant with current Equalities legislation. Community based adult learning opportunities in the Speyside area are limited. The Speyside Locality Management Group action plan lacks localised outcomes based on identified need. Not all staff in Speyside use the electronic management information system. Information is not systematically shared between key partners. The number of learners engaged in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Essential Skills learner has decreased. Whilst there is joint planning and delivery of capacity building in youth work through a detailed training calendar, work with the voluntary uniformed sector should be

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Young people Targeted youth provision and programmes of learning are of a high standard. Almost all young people are confident, included and engaged in negotiated or planned activity. Most are learning new skills with opportunities to progress. Tomintoul Youth Club is raising money to transform a local tennis court into a multi-purpose games area. Young people take on volunteer youth worker roles either as previous club members or as part of an Awards programme. The Youth Apprentice programme and The Arts Award Pilot Group are effectively delivered in partnership with Speyside High School. Young people recognise that core skills gained are transferable and help in their everyday lives. Young learners transfer skills learned in the Arts Award directly to their school work. Good use made of accreditation awards to recognise young people’s achievement. MIB offers a valuable resource to young people. Moray Youth Council is currently expanding with renewed representation from the Speyside area. An anti-bullying DVD Hidden Voices has recently been produced. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has effective links with Cairngorm National Park, Skill Force and Speyside High School. A recent Duke of Edinburgh consultation resulted in several key improvements. The Moray Local Awards Committee keeps leaders well informed about forthcoming developments. Local youth work staff are actively engaged in a multi-lateral exchange programme for youth leaders. The number of young people engaging in some services remains low. Access and equality of provision across the learning community is inconsistent. Few young people have been encouraged and supported to reflect on their learning. There is scope to further develop young people’s involvement in decision making. Adults The Moray Adult Learning Forum (MALF) ensures that partners plan together, share limited resources and work together to access external funding. MALF provides good opportunities for learners to come together to discuss their learning. It organises activities and gets involved in learning locally and nationally. Learners contribute effectively to various publications and newsletters. Learner successes are celebrated regularly through award ceremonies and the Learners’ Journey publication. Essential skills staff provide effective and accredited learning opportunities, which enable learners to achieve and attain. All learners in essential skills are assisted to produce their own individual learning plan. Learners are gaining in self esteem, confidence, skills and experience. This impacts positively on learner’s lives in areas such as employment, health and parenting. The Kick-start project provides opportunities for students returning to study in Moray College to gain confidence in their literacy and numeracy skills. As a result the number of students who drop out of courses is reduced. Good use is made of peer learning in the ESOL West Project. Migrant workers are improving their English in order to gain or retain jobs and are gaining qualifications in ESOL classes. Moray Libraries Learning Centres offer quality courses relating to Information and communications technology (ICT), particularly for beginners. Participants fund their learning through independent learner accounts. Older learners are gaining skills to better communicate with family members, reduce

APPENDIX 1

ITEM: 9 PAGE: 6 isolation, access opportunities and improve health and well-being. A council decision to change support structures has reduced the range and choice of learning opportunities offered to adults. Referral and progression opportunities for learners have reduced. The range of local community-based adult learning opportunities is limited. As a result the potential to engage with new learners and hard to reach groups is reduced. Access to ICT is limited for essential skills learners. Whilst The Open Door Literacy Project for ex-offenders and Youth Literacies provision is available locally there is no uptake. 4. How well are communities developing and achieving? Community members are confident, skilled, committed and active. There is a wide range of vibrant and influential community groups involved in effective local enterprises. Cabrach Community Association has grown in confidence and is actively engaged in developing local community regeneration initiatives. Community operated facilities such as Aberlour Station Tearoom and Dufftown Whisky Museum attract a large number of tourists. Monies raised are re-invested in the local community to provide high quality services and activities for local residents. Community events attract significant numbers of local volunteers, including young people. Community associations effectively manage and deliver services in response to local needs. Aberlour Community Association operates Fleming Hall which offers a well used meeting place for groups. Community associations have a good understanding of community need and fulfil a positive role in their communities. A wide range of interests and issues are addressed. Craigellachie Village Council operates a local hall, football park and is accessing funding to build a play park. Knockando Community Association are actively engaged in developing a hydro electric scheme to power the village hall. Effective networks operate across the area. Speyside Area Forum has wide representation from community associations and has actively participated in and influenced local budget consultations. There is a strong sense of mutual support across all community associations, forums and organisations with good sharing of knowledge and experience. Productive, effective and positive relationships exist between the Community Support Unit and local community associations. Community associations valued the support offered by the Community Support Unit team. Community groups could better evaluate their work. Few young people are involved in community associations. Formal joint planning and evaluation is not well developed across community partners. 5. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services? Providers use an effective range of methods to gather learner feedback. Effective methods are used to consult with local community associations. Support agreements are based on agreed local needs. Reviews of progress and support needs are built into support agreements. Individual workers use Learning Evaluation and Planning (LEAP) project plans to set out key outputs and outcomes. Regular Illuminating Practice in-service events provide staff with good opportunities to reflect on their practice. Improvements identified inform team plans. Staff understanding of Curriculum for Excellence is improving. Both youth work and community support staff share practice and engage in joint training and professional development with neighbouring authorities. Clear structure and guidance is in place for youth work staff. The Capacity Building Training Calendar is comprehensive and relevant. A good range of reporting mechanisms are in place. These include quality community newsletters, community managed

APPENDIX 1

ITEM: 9 PAGE: 7 websites, Standards and Quality and Illuminating Practice reports. Systems for planning and monitoring progress are not yet fully operational. Not all support agreements have been reviewed. There is no joint evaluation undertaken with delivery partners.

6. Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction? Staff teams are valued and held in high regard by learners and community groups. Both Team Leaders offer strong and effective leadership. Youth Work team links with Speyside High School are strong. Highly effective community networks are in place for sharing practice. There is a shared sense of purpose between community organisations and Community Support Unit staff. A good range of support and guidance materials are in place such as community handbooks, Illuminating Practice publications, Youth Workers manual and the Capacity Building Training Calendar. The Speyside Area Forum provides effective community leadership and actively influences local decision making. Community associations share a strong Speyside identity. Opportunities for youth work partners in Speyside to share information and good practice are limited. 7. What happens next? There are some important improvements needed, but because CLD providers have a good understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement, and communities are achieving well, we have ended the inspection process at this stage. We will monitor progress through our regular contact with the education authority.

We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the education authority and its partners. • Improve opportunities for local youth practitioners and partners to share information, and good practice. • Develop clearer targets and measureable outcomes within the Speyside Locality Management Group. • Increase community based adult learning opportunities to better meet the needs of local adults. Quality indicators help CLD providers and inspectors to judge what is good and what needs to be improved in the learning community. You can find these quality indicators in the HMIE publication “How good is our community learning and development? 2”. HMIE checks five important quality indicators to keep track of how well all Scottish CLD provision is doing. Here are the results for the learning community surrounding Speyside High School.

Quality Indicator HMIE evaluation Improvements in performance Good Impact on young people Good Impact on adults Satisfactory Impact of capacity building on communities Very good Improving services Good

APPENDIX 1

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APPENDIX 1a Authority position on HMIE report on the Learning Community surrounding Speyside High School. We welcome this positive report as it reflects our own view of an effective Learning Community. The report acknowledges the work undertaken by all the learning providers in the Speyside area and the effective partnership work currently being undertaken. The relatively low score of ‘Satisfactory’ and the related comment under areas for improvement on “actual learning” reflects the council’s decision to discontinue the provision of adult learning other than English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Essential Skills. It is difficult to see how this area might be improved within current resource allocations. Staff in the area will continue to embed self-evaluation within their practice.