Inspection of the education
functions of local authorities
Summary of evaluation of the
educational psychology service
Fife Council
13 May 2008
Definition of terms used in this report.
HM Inspectors use published criteria when making evaluations. They are published as quality
indicators which relate evaluations to six levels. HMIE began using a six-point scale to make
evaluations in August 2005. The table below shows how the six-point scale relates to the
four-point scale that we used previously.
Old level
Very good
Good
New level
Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Unsatisfactory
Adequate
Weak
Unsatisfactory
Description
Outstanding, sector leading
Major strengths
Important strengths with some areas for
improvement
Strengths just outweigh weaknesses
Important weaknesses
Major weaknesses
This report also uses the following words to describe numbers and proportions:
almost all
most
majority
less than half
few
over 90%
75-90%
50-74%
15-49%
up to 15%
Contents
Page
1.
The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
1
2.
What key outcomes has the service achieved?
1
3.
How well does the service meet the needs of its stakeholders?
2
4.
How good is the service’s delivery of key processes?
3
5.
How good is the service’s management?
3
6.
How good is leadership?
4
Appendix 1 - Quality indicators
6
1. The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
The education functions of each local authority in Scotland were inspected between
2000 and 2005. A second cycle of inspections began in 2006 which incorporates an evaluation
of educational psychology services (EPS). Section 9 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc.
Act 2000 charges HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, to
provide an external evaluation of the effectiveness of the local authority in its quality assurance
of educational provision within the Council and of its support to schools in improving quality.
The inspection of Fife Council included the evaluation of the quality of educational psychology
provision on behalf of stakeholders. The evaluation of the EPS is conducted within a framework
of quality indicators which embody the Government’s policy on Best Value. The inspection
team also included an Associate Assessor who was a principal educational psychologist serving
in another Scottish local authority.
This web-based report should be read alongside the report on the inspection of the education
functions of Fife Council which sets out the wider context in which EPS are delivered.
The Educational Psychology Service
The Fife Council EPS was based across three centres in Cardenden, Cupar and Dunfermline. At
the time of the inspection, the complement of educational psychologists was 26.7 full-time
equivalents (FTE). Promoted staff consisted of a principal educational psychologist, two depute
principal educational psychologists, six area depute principal psychologists and a senior
administrative assistant. There were 6.5 FTE administrative support staff.
2. What key outcomes has the service achieved?
The EPS played a significant role in improving the quality of provision across the authority. The
service had made important contributions to a number of wider developments within the
authority. For example, the service had taken a lead role in the development and evaluation of
Self-regulation, a resource developed to promote greater self-knowledge and understanding in
primary-aged and secondary-aged children, young people, teachers and professionals across the
authority. Educational psychologists successfully promoted inclusive practices in all aspects of
their work. They had been actively involved in the development and implementation of the
authority’s policy on inclusion. The service had also made a significant contribution to the
implementation of The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. EPS
staff at all levels were well represented on and made valuable contributions to a range of
strategic and operational working groups across educational services. This included significant
contributions to the staff welfare group, behaviour and discipline group and multi-agency
planning groups at school and area levels. Educational psychologists had also been very
effective in improving outcomes for children and young people through their development of and
involvement in initiatives designed to support children and young people with autism spectrum
disorders (ASD), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), those in transition (More
Choices, More Chances) and looked after and accommodated children 1.
1
The term ’looked after’ in this report includes all children looked after or looked after and accommodated by the Council.
1
Educational psychologists demonstrated very good knowledge and understanding of their
statutory requirements. The service complied effectively with appropriate guidance and
legislation which was well embedded in individual practice and service documentation.
3. How well does the service meet the needs of its stakeholders?
The EPS worked very closely with staff across the authority, and made valuable contributions to
wider developments within the Council. Key strengths of the service included contributions to
developments within youth justice, and to the needs of children and young people who were
looked after and accommodated by the authority.
The service had developed very good working relationships with children, young people and
families. Nearly all parents who responded to the questionnaire felt that educational
psychologists took care to ensure that young people and their families were well involved in the
process of making decisions about plans to support them. However, a few families felt that the
quality of service across the authority was variable. Most schools felt that the EPS respected the
confidentiality of children and young people, parents and staff. However, greater clarity
regarding the expectations of the EPS was required by some schools to enable them to better
meet the needs of all children and young people. The service had developed very productive
relationships with a wide range of external agencies, including the police, fire service and the
Children’s Reporter.
Staff across the EPS were committed, enthusiastic and highly motivated. The contribution made
by administrative colleagues to service performance was significant and educational
psychologists across the service valued the high quality contributions made by the administrative
team. All staff felt very well supported by senior managers and their peers. Teamwork was
excellent. Educational psychologists collaborated on a wide range of effective initiatives and
research projects including Cool in School, care pathways for ADHD and ASD and
Person-Centred Planning. Educational psychologists and administrative support staff made very
good use of training and development activities to review and improve their practice.
Educational psychologists also contributed significantly to the on-going development of other
professionals including training learning and teaching and behaviour and discipline for education
service staff.
Features of good practice: Impact of teamwork
The Fife educational psychology service (EPS) had created an excellent staff team through
its effective recruitment strategy and well structured supervision programme. Staff were
highly motivated and clear about their roles and responsibilities. Throughout the EPS,
staff shared an ethos of teamwork and collegiality. Staff sought innovative ways of
working together to benefit children and young people. Collaborative working was
embedded in the practice of staff. Highly effective team work across the service was
having a significant impact on the outcomes for children and young people including those
in transition and those with social, emotional and behavioural needs.
More detailed information is available at www.hmie.gov.uk
2
4. How good is the service’s delivery of key processes?
Fife EPS delivered an effective range of high quality services including consultation and advice,
collaborative assessment and intervention, and training and professional development. Staff
made significant contributions to research and strategic development. Service interventions
delivered in partnership with schools and other agencies were making a positive difference to
children, young people and their families. Research and strategic development had a number of
excellent features and was embedded in practice across the service. Research activities were
tightly linked to authority priorities. Evaluations were rigorous and focused on ensuring impact.
The EPS had disseminated its research findings, both nationally and internationally, through
conferences and in professional journals. The service contributed on an annual basis to the
national professional development programme. The service played an important role in
stimulating innovation and leading-edge practice within the authority. It made well-judged
strategic contributions to authority priorities including, sector leading developments in the
coordination of information to better support young offenders, and the evaluation of approaches
to improve literacy and numeracy. Educational psychologists at all stages of their careers were
supported and challenged to be involved in research and strategic development.
Equality and fairness were embedded in all aspects of EPS practice.
Features of good practice: Research and strategic development
Research and strategic development was seen as a key activity by Fife Council for all
educational psychologists. The Service supported educational psychologists’ research
skills in a number of ways, for example through policy guidance and quality assurance
processes, and provided opportunities to develop expertise in methodology through
continuing professional development. The research and strategic development topics
addressed by the service were determined by the priorities of stakeholders and partners.
Examples included the behaviour and discipline survey, autism spectrum disorders survey
and the evaluation of Safe Drive, Stay Alive, Cool in School and Restorative Approaches.
The outcomes of research and strategic development work shaped policy and practice
across the Council improving outcomes for children, young people and families.
More detailed report is available at www.hmie.gov.uk.
5. How good is the service’s management?
The EPS promoted the aims of the Council in an effective manner. Principal psychologists gave
close and effective attention to the development of practice guidelines, policies and the
deployment of staff. The EPS had established very good links within the authority and with
partner agencies. The service had plans in place to improve and further develop its relationships
with its stakeholders and to more actively engage them in the future development of the service.
3
6. How good is leadership?
There was a vibrant ethos of professional dialogue, self-reflection and external challenge across
the service. Managers at authority level and principal educational psychologists had
implemented very effective support and challenge mechanisms for all staff. Staff at all levels
were challenged to improve their performance and were provided with nurturing management
and peer support systems to bring about improvement. Approaches to self-evaluation were
robust and used effectively to review service delivery to improve outcomes for children and
young people. Principals at all levels encouraged creativity and innovation across the service.
The extended management team expected best practice standards from all service staff.
The authority and service staff valued and respected the skills, knowledge and leadership style of
the principal educational psychologist. At authority level, he had made significant contributions
to improving educational provision, creating innovative and sector leading partnerships to better
meet the needs of vulnerable children and young people. He led and managed change
strategically and effectively, whilst being ably supported by the two service depute principal
psychologists and the area depute principal educational psychologist team. The service built
capacity through the active development of the talents and skills of educational psychologists
and administrative support staff. It provided real opportunities for shared and distributive
leadership in its staff.
The EPS showed a very strong commitment to continuous improvement. Well developed
self-evaluation mechanisms clearly demonstrated the service’s capacity to continue to improve
the quality of outcomes for children and young people. The very high standard of leadership
across the service further highlighted that it was well able to meet its targets and further develop
its ambitions on behalf of stakeholders.
Features of good practice: Leadership
The development of leadership skills at all levels was a clear strength within the
educational psychology service (EPS). Leaders across the service effectively challenged
staff and teams setting demanding performance targets for all staff. Feedback and
self-evaluation were embedded in the work of the EPS. The service built capacity through
the development of the talents and skills of all staff. It provided excellent opportunities for
shared and distributed leadership and nurtured expertise in its staff. Staff demonstrated a
belief in their ability to make a difference. They had promoted the development of
learners’ capacities in line with Curriculum for Excellence. There was a focus on
continually improving outcomes for young people through inclusive practices and high
standards of applied educational psychology.
More detailed report is available at www.hmie.gov.uk.
4
Key strengths
The service:
•
established strong strategic links at authority level which made a significant impact on
children, young people and their families;
•
encouraged an excellent level of professionalism, commitment and high quality teamwork
across the staff group;
•
developed an approach to research which was embedded across the service and delivered
clear benefits to children and young people;
•
benefited from the very strong leadership of the principal educational psychologist and his
extended management team, an important aspect of which included strong links to their
senior educational manager; and
•
established an example of outstanding practice in relation to the model of distributed
leadership shown by staff at all levels across the service.
Main points for action
As well as building on the strengths and addressing the issues raised throughout this report, the
EPS and the education authority should address the following main point for action.
•
Develop, in partnership with stakeholders, more targeted support for some schools to enable
them to better meet the needs of all children and young people.
As a result of the very high performance, and the very effective leadership of this service, HM
Inspectors will make no further reports in connection with this inspection. The service and the
education authority have been asked to prepare an action plan indicating how they will address
the main findings of the report.
Annette Bruton
HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5
13 May 2008
5
Appendix 1
6
Quality Indicator
Evaluation
Improvements in performance
Fulfilment of statutory duties
Impact on children and young people
Impact on parents, carers and families
Impact on staff
Impact on the local community
Impact on the wider community
Consultation and advice
Assessment
Intervention
Provision of professional development and training for
other groups including parents, teachers and health
professionals
Research and strategic development
Inclusion, equality and fairness
Policy development and review
Participation of stakeholders
Operational planning
Partnership working
Leadership and direction
Leadership of change and improvement
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Excellent
Good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Good
Very good
Very good
Very good
Excellent
How can you contact us?
HMIE Feedback and Complaints Procedure
Should you wish to comment on any aspect of education authority inspections you should
write in the first instance to Annette Bruton, HMCI, at HM Inspectorate of Education,
Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to our
Complaints Manager, HMIE Business Management and Communications Team, Second
Floor, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston,
EH54 6GA. You can also e-mail HMIEComplaints@hmie.gsi.gov.uk. A copy of our
complaints procedure is available from this office, by telephoning 01506 600200 or from our
website at www.hmie.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our complaints procedure,
you can raise your complaint with the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The
SPSO is fully independent and has powers to investigate complaints about Government
departments and agencies. You should write to the SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh
EH3 0BR. You can also telephone 0800 377 7330 (fax 0800 377 7331) or e-mail:
ask@spso.org.uk. More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from
the website: www.spso.org.uk.
Crown Copyright 2008
HM Inspectorate of Education
This report may be reproduced in whole or in part, except for commercial purposes or in
connection with a prospectus or advertisement, provided that the source and date thereof are
stated.
7
The work of HM Inspectorate of Education.
HM Inspectors undertake first-hand, independent evaluations of the quality of education. We
publish our evaluation in clear and concise reports. Our inspections and reviews report on the
establishment’s pursuit of continuous improvement through the process of self-evaluation.
We ensure that inspection and review activities include the full range of pupils, students and
participants in an educational establishment, giving due regard, without unfair discrimination,
to disability awareness, equality and inclusion, child protection and racial equality.
Each year we also investigate and publish reports on key aspects of education. Our collation,
analysis and publication of the evidence and conclusions from all evaluations identify and
promote best practice in continuous improvement. We draw on the results of our evaluations,
and our overall knowledge of the system, to provide independent professional advice to the
Scottish Ministers, relevant departments of the Scottish Government and others.
Further information on the work of HM Inspectorate of Education and its role in Scottish
education is available on our website. You will also find easy access to our inspection and
review reports and wide range of other publications.
http://www.hmie.gov.uk