Dundee City Council
November 2006
Contents
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Page
Introduction
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1.
The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
1
2.
What are the challenges for the council?
1
3.
How good are attainment and achievement of children and
young people and how well are they supported?
2
What impact has the authority had in meeting the needs of
parents, carers and families, staff and the wider community?
14
5.
How effective are key processes and planning?
19
6.
How well is the authority led?
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7.
What is the council’s capacity for improvement?
27
4.
Appendices
Appendix 1 - Quality Indicators - Core and Additional
Appendix 2 - Statistical Information
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31
Introduction
The education functions of each local authority in Scotland were inspected between 2000
and 2005. A second cycle of inspections began in 2006 taking a proportionate approach
using the findings of the original inspection and other information subsequently available.
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. Inspections are conducted within a published framework of quality indicators
(Quality Management in Education 2) 1 which embody the Government’s policy on Best
Value.
Each inspection is planned and implemented in partnership with Audit Scotland on behalf
of the Accounts Commission for Scotland. Audit Scotland is a statutory body set up in
April 2000, under the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000. It
provides services to the Accounts Commission and the Auditor General for Scotland.
Together they ensure that the Scottish Executive and public sector bodies in Scotland are
held to account for the proper, efficient and effective use of public funds.
The inspection team also includes an Associate Assessor who is a senior member of staff
currently serving in another Scottish local authority.
1
Quality Management in Education 2 (HM Inspectorate of Education 2006) is a framework of self-evaluation for Local
Authority Education Services.
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Inspection of the education functions of
Dundee City Council
1. The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
HMIE inspects the education functions of all 32 councils within Scotland as part of its
commitment to inspect and report on the quality of education and to help secure
improvement. HMIE reported on the first inspection of Dundee City Council in
May 2001. A report on progress made with the main points for action indicated in the
May 2001 report was published in August 2003.
During the inspection HM Inspectors visited the neighbourhoods of Kirkton and
Maryfield to sample the impact of the work of the authority.
2. What are the challenges for the council?
Context
Dundee City is a compact area. Decreases in the population are causing difficulties
for the Council. Some features of the Council’s context, including the long-term
unemployment rate, have improved. Overall though, levels of socio-economic
deprivation are high or very high across the City, which creates significant
challenges for the Council in providing education. A key challenge is to ensure
that educational initiatives aimed at overcoming difficulties caused by deprivation
lead to improved impact on and outcomes for children, young people and their
families.
Dundee, which is the fourth largest city in Scotland by population, is the smallest
council by geographical area. The overall population of around 142,000 has fallen by
8% since 1991 and is projected to decrease to 121,000 by 2024. The number of
people aged under 16 is projected to fall by 15% over the next ten years. While its
compact nature offers potential advantages to the Council in providing education
services, the decreasing trend in population is creating challenges, for example in
addressing over-capacity in its schools. Agreement to a public private partnership,
which includes some school amalgamations, was beginning to address this issue.
However, it remains a significant challenge for the Council to keep this situation
under review in order to achieve best value in its educational expenditure.
Dundee’s long-term unemployment rate has decreased significantly over the last
ten years broadly in line with the fall in the national rate. Employee jobs have
increased by 20% since 1999 in comparison to a 7% rise nationally. On a wide range
of indicators the Council has higher levels of deprivation than its closest
comparators 2 . Twenty-eight percent of Dundee’s population lives in one of the
2
As Dundee City has no comparators to which it is considered ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ close, comparisons have been made with
the comparator authorities only where considered appropriate. See also Appendix 2.
1
51 data zones out of 179 in the City which are ranked in the 15% most deprived in
Scotland. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is 27% in primary
schools and 21% in secondary schools. These figures are well above the national and
comparator averages which are each around 19% and 15% for these sectors. Tackling
the effects of socio-economic deprivation remains a key challenge for the Council in
discharging its education functions.
Political and organisational structure
The Council administration of Dundee City was formed from a coalition of the
Labour and Liberal Democrat parties. A committee system operates by which all
councillors are members of all committees. Education functions were fulfilled
through the Education Department and the Leisure and Communities Department,
with involvement of the Social Work Department in relevant aspects. A key
challenge for the Council is to ensure that the committees and departments which
have responsibility for different aspects of education work together effectively,
along with other relevant agencies and organisations, to achieve the best outcomes
for all learners.
The Education Committee directs the work of the Education Department in running
pre-school centres and primary, secondary and special schools. Committees for
Leisure and Arts, for Communities, and for Social Work, oversee a range of services
including community learning and development (CLD), social work and the education
of looked after 3 children. The Education Department is led by a Director, three
service managers and one resource manager. At the time of the inspection the remits
of two of the service managers were being amended to reflect school sectoral
responsibilities, while a recently appointed manager was responsible for cross-sectoral
aspects of support for pupils. The Council was in the process of appointing a number
of third-tier sector managers within the Education Department.
The former Communities Department recently merged with the Leisure and Arts
Department to form the Leisure and Communities Department. CLD functions are
now managed within the Leisure and Communities Department. The restructuring
provided significant opportunities to align libraries, sports and arts more fully with
CLD. The new Leisure and Communities Department is led by a Director and four
heads of service.
3. How good are attainment and achievement of children
and young people and how well are they supported?
The quality of outcomes achieved by learners in Dundee and improvements in their
performance varied considerably across different sectors and age groups and was
weak overall, though improving. Outcomes in some aspects were good or very
good. However, performance on some key indicators, such as the number of pupils
leaving school without basic levels of attainment in English and mathematics, was
weak. The impact of authority work on the experiences of learners also varied and
was adequate overall and improving.
3
2
The term ‘looked after’ in this report includes all children looked after or looked after and accommodated by the Council.
Pre-school
The impact of council work in pre-school contexts for children and their families
was very good, as were the outcomes achieved. The Early Years and Childcare
Team led the successful delivery of a broad range of quality services and initiatives
through very productive partnerships across council services and with other
organisations. Such services, for example, extended care and family support, were
having a positive impact on children aged 0–3 and their families, as well as children
in pre-school contexts. The authority’s pre-school centres and partner providers
drew regularly on these specific services as required in ensuring well-judged,
targeted support for children and families. In most pre-school centres inspected
over the last three years 4 , the outcomes for children were found to be good or very
good.
The Early Years and Childcare Team successfully coordinated the expertise available
from well-established partnerships with the Leisure and Communities Department, the
Social Work Department and voluntary and private organisations. The authority’s
provision under the Surestart initiative was effectively delivering support for parents,
carers and their children. Services for pre-school centres, including partner providers,
had also been strengthened through Surestart health visitors and speech and language
therapists who provided focused support for children’s well-being and development.
An outreach service supported staff in pre-school centres in the early identification of
children’s additional support needs and the coordination of specialist, including
psychological, services. Increasingly effective joint-planning was helping to improve
delivery of services to children and families in their local communities. As a result,
parents were assisted in developing their parenting skills and in becoming partners in
their children’s learning.
Joint-working had also enabled broad initiatives, such as healthy living and road
safety, to reach all children and parents through well-supported delivery in pre-school
centres. Partnership programmes were successful in promoting and extending
opportunities for physical activity by children from birth to five years and their
parents. Group activities led by the Youth Sports Development Team and operated
through nurseries, playgroups, family support centres and voluntary and private
nurseries, had rapidly increased to cater for the rising demand for places. Children
with more complex additional support needs benefited from specialist activity
programmes supported by the pre-school home visiting service. Educational
psychologists had assisted in improving the quality of support within the authority for
a limited group of families with children in their early years, and for children and
young people with autism spectrum disorder.
Leadership of centres and the quality of programmes which staff provided for children
were good or very good in most inspections. Children had made good or very good
progress in each of the key areas of their development in most centres. Progress in
their emotional, personal and social development was good or very good in almost all
centres. Assessment, record keeping and reporting were judged to be good or very
4
Prior to August 2005, HMIE used a four point scale to evaluate quality. Since that date, a six point scale has been in use.
Comparisons are as follows, with words describing the four point scale mentioned first: very good is subdivided into excellent
or very good; good is subdivided into good or adequate; fair is equivalent to weak; unsatisfactory remains as unsatisfactory.
See cover or Appendix 2 for a fuller description.
3
good in the majority of cases. Overall, whilst the quality of provision in the education
authority’s centres was often strong, provision in partner provider centres was found
to be more variable and generally less strong.
Children’s success and confidence in learning was benefiting from planned
improvements in their experiences in an increasing number of centres. For example,
many staff had enhanced their skills through accessing the very good range of staff
development and training opportunities available. Improvements in interacting with
children, encouraging children to express their views and be involved in decisions,
and helping children develop information and communications technology (ICT)
skills were among the benefits. The authority required to continue working closely
with partner providers to ensure a consistently high quality of provision.
Features of good practice: working with young children and families
In the context of working to improve experiences for young children and their
families, a number of initiatives, many arising through effective collaboration between
services, were having a positive impact.
•
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•
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Through the Parents Services Initiative, parents developed and were provided with
a range of materials and ideas, as well as active learning workshops, to encourage
early involvement in support services and help them support their children’s
learning at home.
Community-based projects such as Bookstart and Baby and Toddler Rhyme Time
developed through the Parent Services Initiative and now delivered through all
libraries and community settings, had shown increased levels of uptake each year.
Count Me In materials available on loan from libraries and information service
points had successfully increased parents’ awareness of, and involvement in,
developing children’s early numeracy skills through play activities.
The Dundee Healthy Living Initiative used a community development approach to
promoting well-being which resulted in considerable health gains for participants
and increased social inclusion. This linked well to pre-school projects to improve
the development, health and well-being of two-year-old children.
Primary schools
Very good opportunities and participation levels in activities in sports and the arts
were having a positive impact on learners throughout their primary schooling.
Most pupils were attaining appropriate national levels in reading and mathematics.
Only a majority were attaining these levels in writing. The proportions of pupils
attaining appropriate national levels had risen overall over the last five years
(2002 to 2006). In this latter period, attendance levels had remained stable.
Exclusion rates had increased considerably, though the length of exclusions had
decreased slightly. The authority’s flagship policy on improving learning,
Learning Together in Dundee, was beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’
attitudes and the quality of their experiences. Both the impact of schools’ and the
4
authority’s work on learners in primary schools and the outcomes achieved by
pupils had more strengths than weaknesses and were adequate overall.
The authority made very good provision for the development of pupils’ achievements
in arts and sporting contexts across all sectors. A Developing Arts Education strategy
had been created, bringing together a number of existing and new contexts for the
promotion of broader achievement and linking to the four capacities promoted
through A Curriculum for Excellence. Led by a senior manager in the Education
Department, the strategy was strongly endorsed by elected members, the Chief
Executive and other service Directors and Departments. Pupils and their parents
viewed involvement in the broad range of activities very positively and attested to the
contribution involvement made to increased self-esteem and confidence.
Overall there had been improvements in pupils’ attainment in the last five years
(2002 to 2006). The proportions of pupils gaining appropriate national levels of
attainment in reading had increased by 2%, in writing by 6% and in mathematics by
5%. The proportions of pupils gaining these levels by the end of P7 had also
improved, in reading from 70% to 74%, writing from 57% to 59% and mathematics
from 67% to 68%.
Findings from HMIE inspections over the last three years indicated that leadership
was most frequently evaluated as good. It was adequate or weak in around a quarter
of schools. This pattern was similar for the quality of teaching, of learning and of
meeting pupils’ needs. Attainment in English language was good in five schools,
adequate in three and weak in five. Attainment in mathematics was very good in one
school, good in five, adequate in three and weak in five. Pastoral care, equality and
fairness, and climate and relationships were strengths across schools. However,
exclusion levels had risen over this period, including sharply in 2005. While the
length of exclusions had decreased recently, overall levels of exclusions were
significantly above those for comparator authorities and nationally, and were
three times greater than both in 2005. Attendance levels had remained constant over
the last three years. Whilst the trend remained the same, actual levels were below
those of comparator authorities and national averages.
In pre-inspection questionnaires almost all pupils indicated that they enjoyed being at
school. Almost all felt that teachers expected them to work as hard as they could,
explained things clearly, told them how they were getting on with their work and
checked their homework. However, only a majority felt that the behaviour in school
was good.
Learning Together in Dundee, the authority’s key approach to improving the quality
of learning and teaching, had been developed through incorporating a number of
individual and separate initiatives into a single strategy aimed at raising attainment in
all schools. The initiative was beginning to have a positive impact on pupils as
teachers paid greater attention to making them aware of what was to be learned and
how successful their learning was. Some early progress in securing a consistent
approach across the authority had been achieved. However, the initiative was still at a
very early stage of implementation. Its impact on the outcomes and progress achieved
by pupils was not yet apparent.
5
ICT developments in primary schools had a number of strengths 5 . The introduction
of interactive whiteboards was viewed very positively by pupils. Their motivation
and the quality of their learning experiences had been enhanced through increased
interaction and involvement in the learning process.
Pupils were also engaged widely in a range of health promoting and physical
activities. Eating for Health assistants and the Active Schools Team supported these
activities well. Pupils were enthusiastic about the sporting opportunities offered to
them. Overall, they benefited from increased participation and achievement in a
number of activities, which increased their physical well-being, and raised their
self-awareness and self-esteem. Organisation and delivery of sports activities were
led by, or included important contributions from, staff in the Leisure and
Communities Department.
Good opportunities were offered to all pupils to express their views, take on
responsibilities within their schools, and be active in decision-making through
participation in the City-wide Pupil Council, well-embedded School Councils and
Cluster Councils arrangements, and through the more recently introduced Open Voice
Forums. Almost all pupils felt that teachers listened to what they had to say, and that
they had a say in deciding how to make their schools better.
Features of good practice across sectors: improving learning through arts
and culture
The authority had had considerable success in creating and implementing an Arts
Strategy which aimed to give as many pupils as possible opportunities to raise
self-esteem and experience success in performance-related activities.
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•
•
•
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•
5
6
Opportunities had been created for pupils to engage in arts and cultural activities in
a progressive pathway from pre-school (age four) through to sixth year in secondary.
Over 10% of the total number of pupils in primary and secondary schools were
involved in arts and practical music-making activities. Pupils in special education
were included.
Opportunities had been created for the whole cohort of pupils at P2 and P3, with
links to other curricular areas, to experience activities relating to art and music.
The national Youth Music Initiative had been linked to the Arts Strategy and
involved all pupils who so wished to have free tuition in singing (P4–P7) or
guitar-playing (P5–P7).
In the secondary school context, the Dundee Schools Music Theatre (DSMT) Junior
and Senior Sections involved high numbers of pupils, including some with
additional support needs, in stage performances. Shows of outstanding quality had
been run in Dundee and at the Edinburgh Festival. Pupils played a significant role
in the organisation and management of the DSMT and in its creative direction.
A number of pupils had followed their involvement in DSMT with further study or
careers in the arts. Some continued to be involved in DSMT in the year after
leaving school education, contributing to the tuition of younger pupils.
The Arts Strategy encompassed other agencies and initiatives in its ambit.
See good practice box on ICT at the end of the secondary school section.
Secondary schools
Promotion of achievement in the arts and music and in enterprise education was a
strength. There were signs of improving achievement by pupils in non-Scottish
Qualifications Authority (SQA) awards, for example in ICT. However, across most
SQA measures, attainment outcomes for pupils had shown little improvement
between 2003 and 2005. One in six pupils left school without basic qualifications in
English and mathematics. On most key measures the authority’s figures were
below the average of comparator authorities and the gap had increased slightly.
There were some early indications of slight improvements in some measures in
2006. Overall, outcomes for learners were weak. Entry rates to further or higher
education were above the average for comparator authorities, and the number of
pupils whose post-school destinations were not in education, employment or
training had reduced considerably between 2003 and 2005. Strengths just
outweighed weaknesses in the authority’s impact on learners in secondary schools.
The quality of the curriculum and the quality of teaching were good or very good in
most schools inspected. The quality of learning was less good. There were
strengths in pastoral care, and ethos was, on the whole, good. Attendance remained
steady. The number of exclusions had increased significantly, although the length
of individual exclusions had reduced. Indiscipline continued to affect the overall
quality of learning in some schools.
Around half of all pupils reached appropriate national levels of attainment in
mathematics (49%) and writing (47%) by the end of S2. A majority (58%) gained
these levels in reading. In reading and writing the rate of improvement over the last
five years was variable rather than steady. Since 2002, there had been an
improvement in mathematics (by 8%) and in reading (by 4%), but a decrease in
writing (by 2%).
Overall performance in national qualifications 6 in the five year period between 2001
and 2005 was variable and had decreased overall, slightly on some, on 11 out of 15
key indicators, including the number of pupils gaining:
•
basic levels of English and mathematics by the end of S4 and by the end of S6;
•
five or more awards at Level 4 7 or better by the end of S4;
•
five or more awards at Level 5 or better by the end of S4; and
•
one, three and five or more awards at Level 6 or better by the end of S6.
6
Using latest available final examination data. Further detailed information on attainment and other statistical data is to be
found in Appendix 2.
7
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels:
7: Advanced Higher at A-C/CSYS at A-C
6: Higher at A-C
5: Intermediate 2 at A-C; Standard Grade at 1-2
4: Intermediate 1 at A-C; Standard Grade at 3-4
3: Access 3 cluster; Standard Grade at 5-6.
7
Importantly, one in six pupils did not gain basic levels of English and mathematics in
national qualifications by the end of their secondary schooling.
The three indicators on which there had been some improvement were the number of
pupils gaining:
•
five or more awards at Level 4 by the end of S6;
•
five or more awards at Level 5 by the end of S5; and
•
one or more awards at Level 7 by the end of S6.
Features of results and trends in other awards included the following.
•
Over 160 pupils in seven secondary schools had gained Award Scheme and
Accreditation Network (ASDAN) awards.
•
The combined proportion of pupils entering higher or further education had
increased and was above the average for comparator authorities.
•
Around 250 pupils had achieved awards at various levels in The Duke of
Edinburgh Award Scheme.
Pre-appeal national qualifications data for 2006 became available after the inspection
timeframe. These data demonstrated improvements, generally of between 1% and
2%, over the 2005 figures. Along with data recording awards in other forms of
qualifications as noted above, this gave some room for optimism that recent strategies
were beginning to have some impact and that performances may have begun to show
an overall improving trend.
Over the previous three school sessions HMIE published inspection reports on five
schools. In one, major weaknesses were found in key aspects of provision. In the
other four schools, the curriculum was, on the whole, very good and the quality of
teaching was good. Over all five schools, the quality of pupils’ learning was good in
two cases, adequate in two and weak in one. The extent to which their learning needs
were met was found to be good in one instance, adequate in two, weak in one and
unsatisfactory in one. Attainment was weak or adequate across the stages in two
schools, generally good or very good in another two, and weak or unsatisfactory
across the stages in one. Pastoral care, and personal and social development were
often strengths. Key aspects of school ethos, including relationships and expectations,
were good overall. Leadership from senior managers in secondary schools was good
or very good, although the leadership of principal teachers to improve learning was
more variable. Self-evaluation was good overall.
The education authority was working hard to implement a wide range of initiatives to
improve attainment. For example, the Science, Technology and Maths (STEM)
partnership with local universities, colleges and businesses was developing pupils’
interest in these areas and, along with other initiatives, was successfully promoting
wider access to higher and further education. Vocational education in partnership
8
with the further education college was proving positive for a number of pupils. Other
initiatives such as study support and conferences for pupils aiming for Higher awards
in certain subjects had been helpful to pupils.
The authority had many strengths in the promotion of arts and musical achievement 8
for a wide range of pupils, including some with additional support needs. Pupil
participation rates were high and performance levels in bands, orchestras and musical
shows were impressive. Increasing numbers of pupils were acquiring skills for life
through work experience, enterprise activities in most schools and other projects
related to the Determined to Succeed 9 national initiative on enterprise education.
There were signs that Learning Together in Dundee was starting to have an impact in
some schools in improving the quality of pupils’ learning, including use of ICT. The
importance of healthy lifestyles was promoted well in secondary schools. Effective
joint-working between the Education and the Leisure and Communities Departments
at local level had encouraged increasing numbers of pupils to become involved in
sporting activities.
Overall, pupils were positive about the education they received. Most felt that they
enjoyed school, there was at least one teacher who knew them well, and school helped
them to keep safe and healthy. Only a majority thought that staff were good at
dealing with bullies. Around half did not think that pupils were treated fairly or that
pupil behaviour was good.
The ongoing challenge for the authority was to bring this wide range of initiatives
together to make an impact and ensure that all pupils achieved the best of which they
were capable. Between 2003 and 2005, the authority had increased considerably the
number of pupils leaving secondary schools for destinations in higher or further
education, training or employment. Levels had improved to match national levels in
2005. Both Dundee’s and the national figure of school leavers without such
destinations (at around 16% of the school population) remained too high. Attendance
rates had remained steady over the last three years. The number of exclusions from
secondary schools had increased significantly and were around twice the average for
comparator authorities in 2005. However, the length of individual exclusions had
reduced. A number of schools continued to experience various levels of disruption
from a minority of poorly behaved pupils or from wider low-level inattentiveness and
lack of engagement in lessons. Staffing difficulties were affecting a number of
schools and departments.
8
9
See good practice box on the Arts Strategy at the end of the primary schools section.
Determined to Succeed – Scottish Executive, 2002.
9
Features of good practice across sectors: learning through information
and communications technology (ICT)
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•
•
Pupils across the sectors benefited from enhanced learning opportunities through
effective use of ICT.
In many primary school classrooms, pupils made very good use of interactive
whiteboards.
Overall, pupils’ skills, knowledge and use of ICT applications had increased over
the past few years.
The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) qualification was now available
to pupils in all secondary schools, and around 140 senior pupils had achieved the
appropriate standards.
The authority had also been the subject of a case study on its use of the ECDL
qualification by the British Computer Society.
The authority had made significant initial and refresh programme investments in
ICT, which made both hardware and software more accessible to pupils across all
sectors.
Children and young people with additional support needs
The impact on, and outcomes for, pupils with additional support needs within the
education authority were good overall. The education authority was committed to
the promotion of inclusive practices. Most pupils with additional support needs
were successfully integrated into mainstream provision through well-organised
support bases in schools. Good support was provided to a small number of pupils,
including those with autism spectrum disorders, through the Educational
Psychology Service. The number of pupils, including looked after children,
attaining National Qualification unit awards at Access Level and achieving
recognition of their achievements through the ASDAN award scheme had
increased. The Education Department had prepared very well for the
implementation of The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland)
Act 2004. Further work was required to ensure that the performances of all pupils
were well monitored and that all pupils with social, emotional and behavioural
difficulties had an appropriately broad curriculum and were appropriately
supported within the authority.
Across the authority pupils with additional support needs were generally progressing
well in their coursework. Individual schools monitored pupils’ progress through
individualised educational programmes (IEPs). The education authority provided
very good advice on planning and coordinating pupils’ IEPs. It had set out almost all
aspects of supported learning for pupils in a helpful draft policy statement. In its draft
form, the policy did not, at the time of the inspection, make reference to all areas of
additional support needs, such as more able learners and Gypsies and Travellers.
Pupils and parents were well supported at important points of transition through
strong multi-agency working at pre-school and school levels. Parents interviewed
reported that they were confident in the authority’s processes for ensuring their child’s
10
needs were being met. This was a particular strength in the transition stage between
pre-school and primary.
A well-devised staged intervention programme ensured a consistent approach to
addressing the wide range of additional support needs within the authority. Early
identification and good planning contributed well to meeting the additional support
needs of pupils. Staff were effectively deployed across the education authority to
support individuals and pupil groups. However, the overall impact was not yet
evident in the quality of support for pupils with additional support needs and of
meeting all pupils’ needs, as found through school inspections over the last three
years. The Educational Psychology Service delivered a broad and balanced range of
services with regard to advice and consultation, assessment and intervention, and
training and development. The service should now focus on increasing the impact of
its research on the children and young people of Dundee.
The authority had made a positive commitment to supporting staff and pupils in
relation to pupils who displayed challenging behaviour. A comprehensive set of
guidelines on Managing Disruptive Behaviour had recently been introduced and
provided core principles and key action points in behaviour management. Also, the
establishment of behaviour support bases within all secondary schools and the
positive focus on multi-agency support within each cluster area, was beginning to
have a positive impact on behaviour overall. Despite this support, there was an
increasing demand for placement within offsite provisions. Further work was
required in schools to address poor behaviour issues, including through improving the
quality of learning experiences for all pupils.
Offsite centres provided a very focused approach to raising pupils’ self-esteem and
addressing behavioural difficulties through a positive emphasis on personal and social
development. However, these approaches now needed to be balanced with an
improved emphasis on providing a broad curriculum and better quality of learning. A
number of initiatives were beginning to make a positive impact on pupils’ attendance
and in a few cases, pupils’ attainment levels. For example, Pupils’ Access to College
and Employability (PACE) provided very good supported college placements for
pupils with challenging behaviour in their last six months of school. Communication
between mainstream schools and offsite centres was variable overall and there were
no opportunities for shared or part-time placements. A few pupils in some offsite
centres had been successfully reintegrated back into their mainstream schools.
Pupils with sensory difficulties and pupils requiring bilingual support were well
supported by specialist staff. Education Department staff had worked well with
Social Services to provide good levels of support to looked after children and young
people. Attainment levels in English language and mathematics had increased over
the last three years for this group. An identified officer and a link teacher provided
ongoing dialogue between agencies and schools. This ensured positive involvement
in all decision-making processes within reviews and case conferences.
Centrally-based staff including a team of specialists in autism spectrum disorders
gave good advice and strong support to staff and parents. Provision for pupils with
autism spectrum disorders was of high quality. This took place in appropriate
11
learning environments, including in the one special school which worked with pupils
who had complex additional support needs. Some additional support and appropriate
challenge for staff in providing for pupils with complex needs was required.
Good opportunities were available for staff development within additional support
needs. An education authority led multi-agency group had set out very good plans for
the phased implementation of The Education (Additional Support for Learning)
(Scotland) Act 2004. Education staff and staff from partner agencies were now well
placed to take on the introduction of coordinated support plans for pupils.
The introduction of Nurture Groups to support pupils with social and emotional
difficulties was beginning to help raise pupils’ self-esteem. The valuable input from
the Educational Psychology Services and the commitment from school staff had given
this initiative a positive focus within a few schools. The use of Nurture Groups was
now being adopted more widely.
Features of good practice: The implementation of The Education
(Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was marked by the
following.
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•
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A very good phased approach, building on extensive consultation.
Very good information for all stakeholders, such as informative parental leaflets.
The leading role of a multi-agency steering group involving parents and pupils.
Very good raising awareness training as reported by staff.
The agreed framework across the authority relating to the structure of individual
educational plans.
The well-managed approach to the development of coordinated support plans and
the very positive response from staff to the consultation process adopted.
Community learning and development
The recently constituted Leisure and Communities Department delivered an
extensive range of services and projects which engaged and had a positive impact
on large numbers of children, young people and adults across the City. Some of the
projects were nationally-recognised models of good practice. Leisure services,
libraries, and CLD staff provided highly-valued opportunities for children, young
people and adults to participate in sports, arts, and learning activities each year.
Innovative projects targeted effectively children and young people living in
disadvantaged areas and provided additional support and opportunities for those
who experienced particular challenges in their lives. Many of these projects
focused well on promoting healthy lifestyles for children, young people and adults.
Around 1,800 adult learners were engaged in literacies programmes that impacted
positively on their lives. Overall, the impact of services provided and the outcomes
achieved by participants were very good.
A recent HMIE inspection report on CLD in the Kirkton and Central Dundee areas
attested to very good provision overall. Work with young people, adult learners and
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community organisations resulted in significant positive outcomes for participants and
communities.
The Leisure and Communities Department provided a wide range of learning
opportunities in school and in local communities for children, young people and
adults. The libraries service worked very well with the Education Department to
provide highly valued opportunities in reading and number for babies, toddlers,
children and young people. Sports development services also worked well with
schools to organise term-time and holiday programmes in a wide range of physical
activities and sports. A majority of children and young people in the regeneration
areas had participated in physical activity programmes in the last year. These
programmes often involved recruiting and training local volunteers to support their
delivery and, in the process, build networks and relationships in communities.
Features of good practice: Examples of imaginative and effective
projects aiming to promote young people’s personal and social
development included the following.
•
•
•
•
The Xplore Partnership provided highly valued support for young people who
faced difficulties in their lives, using approaches which were person-centred and
non-judgemental.
The Peer Education Project had recently been awarded the top Stop Bullying
award from the Scottish Executive Education Department for its work in reducing
school bullying.
Save By The Bell promoted financial literacy and a savings scheme for pupils by
involving the Discovery Credit Unit as a learning resource for schools.
The Dundee City of Discovery Picture Book Award, a peer learning project
involving primary pupils of different ages working together on evaluations of
children’s books, demonstrated a wide range of important learning gains.
Partnerships between the Leisure and Communities Department, health services and
voluntary organisations ensured very well-promoted access for young people to
confidential advice and support in relation to drugs, alcohol and sexual health. Adult
literacies provision was reaching around 1,800 adult learners, many of whom lived in
regeneration areas or belonged to minority groups. The Leisure and Communities
Department, in partnership with NHS Tayside, supported the Dundee Healthy Living
Initiative, an innovative community health initiative which had been in contact with
7,000 adults in the last year. Evaluations demonstrated significant impacts in relation
to social inclusion and in supporting adults to make lifestyle changes. The
Department had also expanded its work in promoting youth participation in
community affairs through consultations, online surveys and programmes accrediting
young people’s achievements. Literacies workers were taking steps to link their work
with bilingual support workers in schools to promote family learning in black and
minority ethnic and eastern European families. The Department was becoming
increasingly sophisticated in evaluating the impacts of their activities on learners of
all ages.
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4. What impact has the authority had in meeting the needs of
parents, carers and families, staff and the wider community?
Impact on parents, carers and families
Overall, the authority’s impact in meeting the needs of parents, carers and families
was good. Programmes to encourage parents and others who do not readily engage
with the school or their children’s learning resulted in very successful outcomes for
those involved. The impact of provision for pre-school children and their families
was very good. Adult learning and literacies provision was having a positive impact
on the progress of participants’ children. The authority took some appropriate
actions in response to consultations with chairpersons of School Boards and the
views of parents expressed through frequent surveys and Open Voice events.
However, as yet the authority was not having a significant impact on the majority of
parents. More work was required to engage, and to encourage all schools to
engage, wider groups of parents in supporting their children and working in
partnership with schools, particularly in the secondary school sector.
Evidence from questionnaires returned during school inspections indicated that
parents were very satisfied with most aspects of provision in the schools their children
attended. Parents of children in primary schools responded very positively to all
questions. In particular, they thought that teachers encouraged children to work to the
best of their ability and were good at letting parents know their children’s strengths
and weaknesses. They felt they had a clear idea of their child’s school’s priorities for
improving the education of pupils and that inappropriate behaviour was dealt with
effectively. Overall, parents of secondary school children were less positive about
these and other aspects of provision. They were concerned about the extent to which
teachers set high standards for pupils’ attainment and were unclear about the standard
of work the school expected from pupils. They felt that their children’s schools could
do more to explain to parents how they could provide support with homework. A
recent survey conducted by the authority showed more positive responses.
Through Open Voice events, including those in the context of the Parental
Involvement Bill, parents were encouraged to express their opinions on how parents
and teachers could work effectively together to improve children’s learning. In 2006,
the education authority’s first survey of parents’ views about provision in pre-school
centres indicated very high levels of satisfaction. The 2006 biennial survey of
parents’ views in primary and secondary schools showed very similar results to
questionnaires returned during school inspections. In response to parents’ views, the
authority had taken action to improve aspects of its practices, such as standardising
the timings of primary school days, and encouraged schools to develop local solutions
to issues raised. There was further scope to promote successful initiatives for parental
involvement and share good practice across all schools.
The education authority held termly consultation meetings with chairpersons of
School Boards. In response to the questionnaire issued prior to the education
authority inspection, chairpersons expressed a range of views. For example, almost
all were positive about specific aspects of provision, such as promoting equal
opportunities and healthy living. The majority felt that the authority recognised
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schools’ achievements, addressed parents’ concerns and was well led. Whilst the
majority agreed that the authority was having a positive impact on raising standards,
only around half thought that standards of education in the Council area were high.
The Educational Psychology Service worked closely with a limited number of
parents, carers and families to achieve better outcomes for children. Parents
particularly valued their support and advice at points of transition for their children.
The work of the service at the early years stage and generally through Video
Interactive Guidance (VIG) had improved relationships and communications between
some children and their parents.
The authority’s Advice and Conciliation Service provided parents, agencies and the
public with easy, prompt access to advice and support for their complaints and
concerns. Each year, it had been successful in resolving satisfactorily a large number
of wide-ranging issues through liaison with and responses to those concerned.
The Parents’ Services Team provided a wide range of imaginative and successful
services to strengthen the role of parents as partners in their children’s education,
particularly in the early years. The peer support programme Parents Altogether
Lending Support (PALS) demonstrated very positive outcomes for parents who felt
that relationships with their children and involvement in their learning had improved
as a result. PALS gained a runner-up award in a European competition in 2003.
Adult literacy learners who were parents of school pupils were very positive about the
extent to which their own involvement in learning was having a positive impact on
their children’s learning.
The impact of the work of the Early Years Service, particularly through its Parents
Services Initiative, on parents, carers and their families was very good. The Home
School Support Service provided well-focused practical support to around 500 pupils,
mainly from S2 to S4 with poor attendance or at risk from exclusion, and their
parents. Those involved and school staff noted improvements in pupils’ confidence,
self-esteem and positive attitudes to learning. Community health and adult learning
programmes were resulting in positive benefits for parents and carers in their
relationships with their children. They reported that this was having a major and
positive impact on their children’s learning and attitude to learning. The Educational
Psychology Service had developed good working relationships with children, young
people, and families. Individual educational psychologists took care to ensure that
young people and their families were involved in the development of plans to support
them.
However, as yet the authority was not having a significant impact on the majority of
parents. The Education Department should continue to build on the range of
successful initiatives for specific groups of parents in order to engage more parents in
partnership and help them support their children’s learning as they move through
primary and secondary schools. In doing so, it should continue to expand
collaborative work with services from Leisure and Communities Department, and
community organisations.
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Impact on staff
Overall impact on staff was good. Continuing professional development (CPD) had
been linked well to the key priorities of the Education Department, specifically in
relation to Learning Together in Dundee. Good arrangements were in place to
support teachers in the use of ICT and to support probationer teachers. Staff
development in leadership for senior school staff and principal teachers had
become a priority. Opportunities for staff to engage in joint staff development with
other service areas and agencies to support effective partnership working were as
yet infrequent. Further work was required to ensure that provision for support staff
was sufficient and that all staff were aware that they had undertaken child
protection awareness training.
Evidence from pre-inspection surveys showed that all headteachers felt that
centrally-based staff were committed to improvement, and almost all felt that they had
good access to professional development in leadership, were encouraged to
self-evaluate systematically, and that senior managers evaluated the performance of
their schools. Headteachers and other staff expressed satisfaction with the support
they received from centrally-based staff. They felt well supported in a range of
initiatives to raise attainment and to meet the needs of pupils with autism spectrum
disorder. They were positive in relation to the professional development provided by
the Dundee Educational Psychology Service, but were less satisfied with this service
in relation to direct support to their schools and for individual cases. All
centrally-based staff, including educational psychologists, felt that there was a very
good ethos and that communication was effective. Almost all felt that their work was
recognised and valued and they had good opportunities for decision-taking. Most had
been involved in joint training with school staff, whilst only a majority felt they had
sufficient time to fulfil their remit.
The CPD programme for probationers had been evaluated positively by an external
organisation. Staff tutors in ICT provided very helpful advice and training to groups
of staff and individuals, demonstrating model lessons where appropriate. The
development of CPD On-line had enabled better targeting of provision, as a
consequence of which there had been an increase in participation across all sectors.
The capacity to evaluate on-line, both immediately and at six-monthly intervals, had
only recently begun to provide evidence of impact, but had the potential to influence
positively future provision. CPD provision for support staff was not managed
centrally at a single source, resulting in a lack of coordinated central direction,
planning and monitoring.
Staff within the Leisure and Communities Department were highly motivated,
confident and valued within a positive organisational culture. They worked together
effectively in teams and with partners in other services and agencies. Support and
supervision arrangements were very robust and staff felt well supported. CLD
managers knew little of Learning Together in Dundee and had not been involved in
activities in relation to it. CLD staff, unlike other staff delivering the education
functions of the Council, did not benefit from specifically funded initiatives to ensure
provision of CPD.
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Some good examples of joint training between education staff and staff in other
service areas or agencies were being developed and delivered. However, a significant
number of headteachers and other staff felt that they did not have clear guidance on
working with other services, including the Educational Psychology Service, and had
insufficient opportunities for joint training. The Education and the Leisure and
Communities Departments ran comprehensive training programmes for all staff in
child protection. A very small number of staff working with vulnerable children in
mainstream and other school contexts had not undertaken child protection training, or
were not aware that they had done so.
Networks existed for all headteachers and all principal teachers. Evaluations of the
usefulness of staff development events organised through these networks were
contributing to future planning. Almost all professional development opportunities on
leadership were judged to be good or very good. They increasingly involved national
and international experts and researchers. A new network for depute headteachers
had been established recently, and early indications were that it provided an effective
forum for sharing information and good practice. Good arrangements were in place to
provide support and professional development for candidates for the Scottish
Qualification for Headship (SQH). However, the impact of staff development
initiatives on the attainment and achievement of pupils had not yet become fully
apparent.
The professional review of staff, including headteachers, was carried out on a
three-yearly cycle. As a result of a suspension of the programme, pending revision,
during 2004/2005 some headteachers had not been reviewed for a number of years.
The authority had recently resumed the programme. The review process for support
staff had not yet been implemented fully.
Absence levels for teaching staff were above the national average, although there had
been a recent reduction. Absence levels for support staff were higher than those for
teachers, but they compared more favourably with national figures. The authority was
working on absence management, with an appropriate focus on reducing short-term
absences for teachers. It had put in place a number of arrangements to try to
strengthen the pool of supply teaching staff, including making a number of permanent
supply appointments and supporting paid placements for those returning to teaching.
Nevertheless, the shortage of supply staff was a significant concern, impacting
negatively on pupils through lack of continuity in learning and teaching, and on
school staff through having to cover classes, thus diverting attention from monitoring
learning and teaching and driving the improvement agenda.
Impact on the local community
The Council made significant provision to ensure that children, young people and
adults engaged in a wide range of learning experiences in the community. Large
numbers of people participated annually in sports, cultural and community
activities which contributed significantly to developing the skills of, and networks
and opportunities for, Dundee citizens. Promoting volunteering was a key and
successful aspect of activities in regeneration areas. Voluntary and community
organisations were effectively engaged in a range of early years initiatives. Areas
in Dundee with high levels of deprivation were well supported to develop
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representative community bodies which engaged positively in local and City-wide
community planning initiatives.
Local communities were more influential than in previous years in determining local
service priorities. Communities had a very strong voice in determining priorities for a
significant budget for community regeneration. However, the Education Department
had not as yet engaged fully with community planning and regeneration activities.
Only a majority of schools were seen by community representatives as key
community resources. In these communities, headteachers had begun to develop
stronger links with community bodies and this was having a positive impact on
relationships between schools and local residents.
CLD staff were making considerable efforts to work with excluded and vulnerable
groups. As a result, work to address equality and diversity was wide-ranging,
effective and purposeful. Staff were responding quickly to the growing number of
eastern European migrants, many of whom required support with reading and writing
in English. However, coordination of activities between agencies to identify and
address the needs of young people who were not in employment, education or training
was not yet fully effective.
Impact on the wider community
Impact on the wider community was good. The Directors of Education and of
Leisure and Communities had influenced a range of national developments and
initiatives. A number of the authority’s initiatives had won awards or had been the
subject of interest from other authorities who wanted to learn about specific aspects
of its work. Notable aspects included meeting the needs of pupils with autism
spectrum disorder, child protection arrangements within youth work, or health
initiatives within the community. The work of the Leisure and Communities
Department was widely recognised as sector-leading. The Education Department’s
work in using ICT, and its provision of arts and music opportunities, were
increasingly attracting interest from other authorities and further afield.
The Director of Education had chaired a national group which had produced an
influential report on religious observance in Scottish schools. She had also had an
impact through participating in a range of other national developments. The Director
of Leisure and Communities had been nominated by the Scottish Executive to make a
presentation to a United Nations Committee about the community regeneration work
in the City and was a member of other significant national committees in community
and urban regeneration contexts. Service managers in Education and notably in the
Leisure and Communities Department, made contributions to national groups and
developments.
The Education Department had been asked by the Scottish Executive to participate in
a number of pilot developments, for example in implementing Determined to
Succeed. Some developments in broadening access to higher education had been
taken up by partners across Tayside and Fife. Other education authorities had
consulted with Dundee to learn from its approach to implementing legislation on
additional support needs, and individual initiatives developed by the authority to meet
the needs of particular groups of learners had also attracted interest from Scottish
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authorities and further afield. Some of these projects, including Kick-It-Kick-Off and
the Peer Education project, run in conjunction with the Leisure and Communities
Department had won national awards. The Leisure and Communities Department
itself was frequently approached by the Scottish Executive and Communities Scotland
to provide examples of good practice, and was recognised by others as a
sector-leading service.
In most of the authority’s schools offering specialist provision for pupils with autism
spectrum disorder, provision had been recognised and accredited by the national
body. Provision in the remaining schools was of too recent date to have been
accredited. The Educational Psychology Service effectively disseminated its research
findings, both nationally and internationally, through professional journals and
presentations. Psychologists’ work on VIG had attracted particularly positive
attention. The range and quality of opportunities for pupils in the arts and musical
fields was also a strength which had been recognised nationally.
The authority had very good arrangements for introducing and supporting the use of
ICT in learning and teaching. It was one of only three approved training centres in
the United Kingdom for a certain type of interactive whiteboard and had trained
various other bodies in their use. Staff had given presentations at national
conferences. Pupils, particularly in primary schools, were responding very positively
to the increased use of this medium.
Features of good practice: video interactive guidance (VIG)
VIG was introduced to Dundee by the Educational Psychology Service in 1993. Since
that time a network of over 70 practitioners based in education, social work and health
had developed. Trained guiders offered direct support to individual families, schools,
and family support centres across the City. The VIG network contributed to the
on-going professional development and training of staff from the education authority
and partner agencies, including, for example, social work staff working within
community care and criminal justice. In recognition of the development of VIG in the
City and throughout the UK, the University of Dundee developed an association with
the authority in establishing a joint centre, called the Video Enhanced Reflection on
Communication Centre.
5. How effective are key processes and planning?
In light of the importance of partnership working as a means of addressing some of
the difficult social and socio-economic challenges faced by Dundee City Council in
the delivery of its education functions, the inspection process included a proportionate
phase which focused on this aspect. In addition, the inspection team engaged in
further, detailed analyses of attainment data, the outcomes of which were commented
on earlier in this report.
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Partnership working
Overall management of partnership working was good. Very good partnership
working was a feature of the Leisure and Communities Department and links both
ways between it and the Education Department were strengthening. Senior staff in
Education had recently begun fully to address the need to work in partnership with
other service areas, agencies and voluntary bodies. Examples of very good
partnership working were found in a number of areas, such as pre-school contexts
and aspects of the approach to integrated community schooling. Such recent
improvements were not yet widespread. Senior staff needed to embody them more
clearly and consolidate and promote them across all sectors and in all arenas: at the
centre; in educational establishments; and in community contexts.
In recent years traditionally separate service areas had begun to link up in the delivery
of services to the citizens of Dundee. This process had been stimulated within
education through the need for multi-agency working in the pre-school context and
that of new, now integrated, community schools. The integration of community
services into a single Leisure and Communities Department, not as yet mirrored in the
Committee structure, and the response to the Local Government Scotland Act 2003
had stimulated further partnership working. The Leisure and Communities
Department was a major contributor to implementing the Community Plan and was
very active in the cross-service theme groups set up to deliver strategically significant
services.
Most recently, in the context of Education at strategic level, the Director of
Education’s chairing of the multi-agency group which produced the Plan for
Dundee’s Children, along with senior managers’ important joint-working with the
Social Work Department and chairing of the multi-agency integrated community
schools implementation group, were testimony to a more outward-looking approach.
In addition, the Chief Executive’s decision to retain in his own department
responsibility for the leadership of integrated children’s services sent a clear signal on
the need for services to work together and in cooperation with other agencies.
There still was some residual hesitation among staff in all service areas to believe that
partnership working was being fully embraced by Education staff, whether at the
centre or in schools. This had been partly the case, but was now a less justifiable
perception. Senior managers needed to ensure that these perceptions were addressed
and that the potential of partnership working as a means of tackling some of the more
apparently intractable, particularly social, issues facing the Council in its education
functions was able to be realised.
In the delivery of service at operational levels, there were very good examples of
partnership working with a broad range of other service areas, including the
Educational Psychology Service, and with other agencies and voluntary bodies. Work
at the pre-school stage was particularly strong. For example, the Education
Department’s early years service worked closely and effectively with social work
services to support vulnerable children and families. They also worked well with the
library services in the development of very suitable materials to support mothers help
their children be ready to learn to read and to count. Other effective partnership
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working was evident through work at strategic and operational levels of the
implementation group for The Education (Additional Support for Learning)
(Scotland) Act 2004, enterprise in education initiatives, work on the modern
apprenticeship scheme and the impressive arts, culture and sporting contexts.
In primary and secondary schools, the need for joint-working was less well
understood. Partnership working was less well prepared for and supported and, as a
consequence, its impact was more variable. Clear notable exceptions were in the
approach in schools which had pioneered the integrated community schools initiative,
or in the case of one secondary school where the headteacher chaired the local
Neighbourhood Partnership Network. Successes were also evident in the positive
reactions to the recently established Joint Action Teams (formerly School Referral
Teams), newly appointed home and school support workers and joint work with CLD
and leisure services. Overall, however, only 71% of headteachers felt that they had
been given clear guidelines on working with other services and the impact of
partnership working was not as yet evident enough across all educational
establishments in the City.
6. How well is the authority led?
Vision, values and aims
The authority’s vision, values and aims for the education of children and young
people in Dundee were good. Links from the Education Department to corporate
vision and aims were clear. The strong focus on raising attainment was shared by
all key personnel, from elected members to individual teachers. The new expression
of the vision, as Achievement, Ethos, Partnership was well promoted through
established aims to which a new, appropriate aim focusing on raising self-esteem
among learners had been added. The aims of CLD within the Leisure and
Communities Department linked very well with the Council’s Community Plan.
Good initial work had been undertaken within Education to raise awareness of the
partnership aspect of its vision, though further work on this aspect was required for
it to have a marked impact on educational outcomes. Links with the aims and
values among all relevant service areas and particularly between those of the
Education Department and the Leisure and Communities Department had not yet
been dovetailed sufficiently.
Elected members, the Chief Executive and the Education Department had recognised
the need to improve the performance of learners in Dundee, resulting in a very strong
focus on raising attainment. In the light of that focus and its implications, the
Education Department had recently revisited its vision and aims and considered also
their coherence with the Council’s Community Plan and the newly developed
corporate Plan for Dundee’s Children. The process involved good consultation with
stakeholders from education, notably headteachers and including pupils through the
City-wide Pupil Forum. The result was a new expression of vision and values,
encapsulated in the slogan Achievement, Ethos, Partnership. With the addition of a
new and relevant aim of raising self-esteem among learners, the previous, still
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appropriate aims were endorsed. CLD within Leisure and Communities had a clear
and accessible strategy, well focused on delivering strategically significant services.
Discussions linked to the development of the Plan for Dundee’s Children had
promoted some sharing of values and aims with other service areas within the
Council. A formal consultation process had been undertaken on the document. As
yet, a conscious linking of the basically similar values of the Education, Social Work
and Leisure and Communities Departments had not taken place.
Education staff at the centre and in establishments shared key aspects of the vision.
They were working towards improving achievement and, as part of that, seeking to
raise attainment. Their efforts had, as yet, had variable impact, with still a
considerable way to go in primary and secondary schools. The full implication of a
new imperative for partnership development and working was not yet embedded in
the approach of all staff, either at the centre or in schools. A good start had been
made through a number of awareness-raising events, such as at headteacher meetings,
with important contributions from the Directors of Social Work and of Leisure and
Communities. Overall, further work was required, including in conjunction with staff
in the Educational Psychology Service and in other service areas, to explore and
encourage in all staff a deeper understanding of the aims of partnership working and
its potential to increase impact on learners and their families.
The educational vision clearly sought to promote positive attitudes to social and
cultural diversity among children and school pupils and, through the work of Leisure
and Communities staff, young people and adults. The aim to be inclusive touched
approaches across a range of contexts, including learning, provision for pupils with
additional support needs and the authority’s work to develop self-esteem and
confidence through arts, cultural and sporting activities. Some further work was
required to ensure that the achievements of minority groups of pupils were tracked
appropriately and that social, racial and cultural equality were well promoted and
understood by all in school contexts.
Leadership and direction
There were a number of strengths in the leadership and direction of the education
functions of the Council. There was a clear commitment to high quality provision
through the work of the Leisure and Communities Department, which was having a
positive impact. There was a clear sense of direction in the focus on raising
attainment generally, promoted strongly at elected member and Chief Executive
levels. Awareness of the need to raise attainment had been high among senior
Education Department staff and some good improvements were achieved around
the time of the previous inspection report and its follow-up two years later.
However, the drive needed to galvanise actions in schools through a strong
challenge and support agenda, to sustain improvements, and to work effectively in
partnership with others to address difficult social issues had been intermittent and
variable in effect. Recent actions taken by the Education Department to direct and
plan the focus of activities in these contexts showed some potential. The impact of
the more focused actions was not yet clearly evident. Overall, the quality of
leadership and direction in the context of the education functions of the authority
was adequate.
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Senior elected members had a strong commitment to the need to raise attainment in
Dundee. They had demonstrated this through close involvement in a Best Value
Review with attainment as its focus. In addition they showed determination to
support activities to promote greater self-esteem among learners and improved
provision for families and communities, within the contexts of the broader
achievement agenda and of partnership working. They had adopted a strong line on
not tolerating poor behaviour by pupils. They now needed to address the high number
of exclusions by encouraging schools to improve the quality of learning experiences
for pupils and minimise, to the extent possible, the need for exclusions.
Elected members had adopted new strategies with the potential of improving
provision. These included the appointment, underway at the time of the inspection, of
staff in newly created, key positions of sector managers in the Education Department.
In addition, agreement to a public private partnership arrangement to improve
learning environments had also the potential to release funds to support other aspects
of provision. It will be important for elected members to continue to support the
improvement agenda, to ensure that expenditure gives Best Value and to show clearly
the impact of their policies through appropriate public reporting of educational
outcomes.
Within the Education Department, planning to achieve better outcomes, particularly in
attainment, had recently been improved. Individually and corporately, the Director of
Education and her senior management team were strongly committed to taking
forward the current educational improvement plan and to improving attainment and
educational provision in general. There were some early signs of an upward turn in
the quality of outcomes achieved by pupils. However, despite efforts, some key
outcomes had not yet improved sufficiently. Within the CLD context of the Leisure
and Communities Department, the Dundee Community Learning Strategy set out
clearly the impacts expected from across all aspects of provision and linked
coherently with the themes of the Dundee Partnership’s Community Plan. Strategic
leadership within the Leisure and Communities Department was very good. Joint
aspects of strategic leadership in both departments needed to improve in order to
enhance their combined impact on learners and their families.
The authority’s new flagship policy Learning Together in Dundee, which addressed
both local and national priorities, provided strategic direction for schools and had
been well received. School staff welcomed its overarching and encompassing nature
and its promotion of a clear focus on learning. Senior officers, in collaboration with
headteachers and other centrally-based staff, had developed the policy in response to
two issues – the reaction of schools to the large number of individual initiatives
hitherto being promoted and the fact that attainment had ceased to improve after
initial gains in the 2000 to 2002 period. Learning Together in Dundee was showing
the potential to be a vehicle to promote better learning in schools, but it was too early
to detect any clear impact on learners’ outcomes.
At strategic levels in a number of contexts, leadership of specific aspects had or was
beginning to have, some impact on provision for learners. Such contexts included the
coordinated leadership within the Early Years Service, initial implementation of the
integrated community schools strategy and leadership within CLD and other branches
23
of Leisure and Communities relating significantly to the educational functions of the
Council.
Educational psychologists had assisted in improving the quality of provision for only
a limited number of children and young people. Closer links now need to be
established with authority targets and objectives so that the Educational Psychology
Service could more comprehensively contribute to impact and outcomes for all
Dundee’s children and young people.
In the difficult task of supporting schools to achieve the best outcomes which learners
could achieve against some apparently intractable social problems, senior managers
had shown much effort and determination. However, thus far, their efforts had not
met with enough success. There was room to build on the early success of the
introduction and promotion of Learning Together in Dundee and establish a very
focused set of linked strategies with the aim of improving attainment and achievement
within an inclusive context. Alongside a stronger strategic drive drawing together
disparate approaches and initiatives, there was a need to strengthen the challenge to
schools to set meaningful achievement targets and to find imaginative local solutions
through more extensive and focused partnership working.
Developing people and partnerships
Against a tradition which had tended to be inward-looking, the Education
Department had begun to recognise that it needed to work in cooperation with other
service areas and at centre and local levels to address difficult social issues.
Consequently it had recently engaged more meaningfully in partnership working.
There was a clear focus on developing leadership at all levels, to which staff in
schools had responded positively. The impact of new approaches was too recent for
it to be apparent beyond some individual instances, and considerable work
remained to be done. The majority of schools were only beginning to respond to the
enhanced emphasis from the centre on the need to engage more fully and
commitedly to partnership working. The Leisure and Communities Department
showed commitment to partnership development and was very active in the
cross-service theme groups set up to deliver strategically significant services.
Overall performance in this area showed strengths, which outweighed weaknesses.
Joint-working among Directors and senior managers across different service areas in
the Council had strengthened in the years since the previous inspection. There were
more examples of cooperation on taking forward some of Dundee’s key strategies
which aimed to deal with some of the major social difficulties experienced by
children and their families. An example was the Director of Education’s chairing of
the corporate Plan for Dundee’s Children, involving a number of service area
Directors and other agencies such as Tayside Health and Tayside Police. The number
of other instances of effective partnership working at strategic level was growing, and
there were good instances of effective partnership in the pre-school sector and in a
number of school and neighbourhood contexts. However, in developing strategies,
officers did not always consult widely with other service area teams dealing with
similar issues. There was therefore a need for partnership working, appropriately
24
prepared and supported, to be more fully embraced at all levels and in all sectors,
including the Educational Psychology Service.
Teamwork at senior management level within the Education Department was good.
Senior managers were all hard-working and strongly committed to improving the
service, had individual and corporate strengths and operated well as a team. The
newly appointed Principal Psychologist had a clear vision of how he wished the
service to develop and had been successful in beginning to establish an agenda for
change. Some successes were achieved, for example in the developing strategy to
provide opportunities for pupils to achieve in music, drama, culture and the arts and,
along with the important contribution for Leisure and Communities, sporting contexts.
Despite their efforts, however, the impact on some key outcomes including attainment
had not been significant.
The highly effective leadership in the Leisure and Communities Department
engendered an empowering culture of improvement which had a positive impact at
the point of service delivery. The Department was also very positive in seeking to
build and sustain relationships with other services and agencies, such as the National
Health Service, along with education in some instances, and also in adult literacies
work.
The Education Department’s teamwork with headteachers had improved. Good
relationships and the shared vision had been sustained in pre-school centres and
primary and special schools and had improved with headteachers in secondary
schools. Overall 79% of headteachers felt that the authority was well led. There had
been some recent examples of policy directions or specific activities being suggested
through the headteacher body and adopted by senior managers in the Department.
However, 71% of headteachers overall, and fewer than half in the secondary sector,
felt that staff had good opportunities to make suggestions about improvements within
the authority.
Developing leadership was a priority within the Education Department’s
improvement plan. In the three years prior to the inspection HMIE found three
examples of very good leadership in secondary schools but none in primary schools
inspected. Over the last five years, good numbers of staff had gained the Scottish
Qualification for Headship. Recently, a number of conferences bringing major
contributors to Dundee from elsewhere in Scotland and the UK and from abroad had
been very well received. Such actions were too recent to have had a major impact.
The Department also placed a high premium on developing leadership at other levels.
A network for depute headteachers had been created and a network for principal
teachers was planned as a follow-through to the recent City-wide conference for all
principal teachers to raise awareness and develop their leadership. The leadership of
the classroom teacher was beginning to be stressed through Learning Together in
Dundee. Good opportunities for pupils to develop and demonstrate leadership skills
were growing, both within schools and in the City-wide context through the Council’s
Pupil Forum and, for example, in the Dundee Schools Music Group context.
25
Leadership of change and improvement
The quality of the leadership of change and improvement of the education
functions of the authority had some strengths, but was variable overall. A number
of successful strategies had been introduced, particularly through CLD, and other
service areas of Leisure and Communities. These were having a positive impact on
some of the most vulnerable families. The Education Department had recognised
the need to find more effective strategies to improve performance. It had
successfully directed schools and teachers towards improving learning processes. It
had strengthened its challenge to schools through the extended review process.
However, stronger challenge, supported by appropriate data analysis and
target-setting in a range of contexts, was still required. Strategies aiming to
promote better support to pupils through integrated community schooling and to
promote self-esteem through involvement in music and the arts had shown clear
signs of success and promise of future improvement. However, in key areas, such
as the number of exclusions and the overall quality of pupils’ attainment,
improvements had not yet been made and Education Department leaders had not
yet led schools successfully towards a new learning and partnership agenda.
Overall, performance in this area was adequate.
The Education Department had strengthened its quality improvement strategy, in
particular through the introduction of an extended school review process, which saw
quality improvement officers (QIOs) and senior managers engaging directly with
schools to scrutinise performance and agree on action points. The strategy had been
well received, and schools which had recently been reviewed had found the process
both challenging and supportive.
The role of QIOs had been strengthened recently to provide a greater level of support
and challenge to schools. This had been viewed positively by most headteachers,
although a quarter did not feel that effective contact was maintained. QIOs were now
providing more evaluative pre-inspection reports for their designated schools. Further
development was required to ensure that adequate challenge was provided to secure
improved attainment and achievement for pupils. The authority needed to stimulate
many more schools to find more imaginative and dynamic responses to local
circumstances and meet creatively and in partnership with others, the needs of pupils
within the context of their local community. The role of the newly appointed sector
managers would be critical in this respect.
The Education Department had worked hard to provide some detailed analyses of data
for schools, and encouraged them to benchmark their performances against schools
with similar characteristics. However, current analyses at both school and authority
level did not support a close enough analysis of the performances of schools and
groups of pupils despite the authority’s regular engagement of an external consultant.
The Department planned to introduce a new management information system,
compatible with Scottish Executive data exchange requirements, in the near future.
Senior managers needed to ensure that the analyses produced would provide
necessary authority-wide information and useful information to schools which could
be used to target resources appropriately to those areas most requiring improvement
and for those groups and individual pupils most requiring support.
26
Systems to ensure effective quality improvement processes for pupils with additional
support needs needed to provide more challenge to schools and focus more on impact
and outcomes for pupils.
The Leisure and Communities Department actively pursued successful approaches to
performance improvement. Managers ensured that evaluations of projects and
programmes were closely focused on the outcomes of activities for participants.
Where appropriate, they made good use, as did the Education Department, of higher
education institutions to evaluate the impact of significant and innovative projects that
sought to improve on existing approaches to service delivery. Within Scotland, CLD
in Dundee had a well-earned reputation for innovation and creativity in its approaches
to improving the quality of life for local people.
In recent years the Education Department had improved considerably the way it
celebrated achievements in schools and by individual teachers. A major awards
event, celebrating success, was now an annual event and was very well received by
staff in schools. This arrangement was also making a good contribution to sharing
good practice generally by making other schools and teachers aware of successful
strategies and improvements at local levels.
Overall, the Education Department had recognised that the strategies hitherto chosen
to attempt to raise attainment were not achieving the desired effects. It had, over the
last two years, attempted to focus efforts mainly by reinforcing and extending the
approach to integrated community schools, improving the self-esteem and confidence
of learners through the achievement strategy and gathering current local and national
learning initiatives within the flagship Learning Together in Dundee policy. There
were some indications that these actions were beginning to have a positive impact, but
as yet this had not reached the stage of showing demonstrable outcomes on, for
example, the attainment of pupils in primary and secondary schools and exclusion
figures.
7. What is the council’s capacity for improvement?
Dundee City faced substantial contextual and social challenges in ensuring
improvement in education functions and outcomes for learners, particularly school
pupils. It had previously shown the capacity to improve pupils’ attainment levels,
but improvements had not been sustained. A growing focus on developing learners’
self-esteem and wider achievements through an extensive programme of activities
in arts, culture and sporting contexts was having a positive impact on increasing
numbers of young people. Actions relating to community contexts and work with
vulnerable children, young people, adults and families provided a success platform
on which further improvements could be built. In the Education Department,
recent actions and a clear focus on outcomes showed some potential. For that
potential to be realised, the Council needed to ensure that services worked together
to tackle difficult social conditions and that existing good practice, wherever it was
evident, was fully exploited. The Education Department required to use its
leadership capacity to provide stronger challenge to schools and to ensure that
newer promising strategies were followed through rigorously and successfully.
27
Both the Education and the Leisure and Communities Departments regularly engaged
in self-evaluation processes, including some major surveys of others’ views of the
services offered. Senior managers were fully aware of the low levels of attainment
outcomes for pupils and were committed to improvement, although with only limited
recent success.
A number of varied actions had been taken recently in recognition of the need to
improve attainment outcomes for Dundee’s learners. These included the restructuring
of the Education Department, appointments to new posts of sector managers, some
strengthening of the challenge to schools, well-placed focus on broader achievement
for its own sake and as a spur to improved motivation, self-esteem and attainment and
a new, overarching learning strategy. In addition, elected members and officers had
conducted a Best Value Review which had recently reported and had also led to a new
policy on managing disruptive behaviour. These actions, followed through vigorously
and with dynamic leadership, had the potential to have a positive impact on provision
for pupils and their experiences and outcomes.
Other actions also showed some promise of improvement. The location of
responsibility for the integrated children’s services strategy within the Chief
Executive’s Department was an indication of a recognised need for joint efforts across
all service areas to face the challenges which Dundee’s context presented. The
avowed will of elected members, Chief Executive and Directors of the various service
areas to work in meaningful partnership, if followed through to more effective
working at strategic and operational levels across the City, presented a substantially
new stimulus from which improved provision could flow. The Education Department
had begun to recognise and to promote the potential which working in partnership
could bring to the improvement of learning and attainment. In particular, it needed to
ensure that schools build on the existing effective activities led by Leisure and
Communities staff and draw benefit for pupils and their families from heightened
interaction at community levels.
Delivery of the education functions of Dundee City lies principally within two
Departments, Education and Leisure and Communities, with contribution from other
Departments, notably Social Work. Traditional boundaries between Departments are
being broken down, in Dundee and in Scotland generally, in the context of the
implementation of the Government’s approach to integrating services for children.
The start made by the City in this context is promising. The evaluation of the
education functions of the City as outlined in this report has focused principally on the
work of the Education Department and also on aspects of the work of Leisure and
Communities. Clear strengths have been found in both Departments. Provision
offered through the very well led and effective Leisure and Communities Department
is having a strongly positive impact on the lives of vulnerable adults and growing
numbers of young people and their families and communities. Aspects of the work of
the Education Department are also very good. Those aspects requiring improvement
within Education affect a very significant proportion of Dundee’s population and
overall evaluations take that into account. Further work is required to translate good
policies and strategies through headteachers and other leaders into actions for all
pupils in all schools in all sectors across the City. Such actions, undertaken jointly
with relevant partners, must build on good starts made in order to respond more
28
effectively to the significant challenges posed by Dundee’s context. They must lead
to steady improvements in the outcomes and life chances of all children.
Key strengths
•
Pre-school provision, the effectiveness of partnership working in the pre-school
context and preparations for the introduction of The Education (Additional
Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
•
The positive impact on learners and their families achieved in a number of
integrated community school contexts, such as health initiatives and some aspects
of neighbourhood partnership.
•
The positive impact on individuals, families and communities of provision
through the Leisure and Communities Department.
•
The achievement of many pupils, including some with additional support needs,
through arts, music, drama and sport, particularly through the Dundee Schools
Music Theatre and local youth work in the sports context.
•
Arrangements to gather and respond to the views of young people, in the schools
sector and in community contexts.
Main points for action
•
Building on the start made, provide more strategic drive in focusing approaches
towards improving pupils’ learning experiences, increasing motivation and
reducing exclusions.
•
Strengthen the challenge to schools to improve performance, to make more
effective use of statistical data and to develop creative approaches to meeting
pupils’ needs.
•
Extend partnership working at all levels.
•
Monitor and evaluate the actual impact of strategies designed to improve
attainment and demonstrate their effectiveness through improved outcomes.
HMIE will maintain contact with the Council and will make a return visit within two
years to evaluate progress on these main points for action.
Annette Bruton
HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5
November 2006
29
Appendix 1
Quality Indicators
Quality Indicator 10
Evaluation
Improvements in performance
Impact on learners
Impact on parents/carers and families
Impact on staff
Impact on the local community
Impact on the wider community
Vision, values and aims
Leadership and direction
Developing people and partnerships
Leadership of change and improvement
Weak
Adequate
Good
Good
Good
Good
Good
Adequate
Adequate
Adequate
In addition to the core quality indicators reported on above, the inspection team
evaluated the following additional indicator relating to key processes and operational
management.
Quality Indicator
Evaluation
Partnership working
Good
Note:
The quality scale used in inspections is indicated below. Further details are provided on the
inside cover of this report
Old level
Very good
Good
New level
Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Unsatisfactory
Adequate
Weak
Unsatisfactory
10
30
Description
Outstanding, sector leading
Major strengths
Important strengths with some areas for
improvement
Strengths just outweigh weaknesses
Important weaknesses
Major weaknesses
The indicators in this list are evaluated in all inspections.
Appendix 2
Attendance
Table A.1: Percentage Attendance
Primary:
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
94.3
94.2
94.1
CA Average
95.2
95.6
95.4
National
94.9
95.3
95.0
Secondary:
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
89.0
88.0
88.0
CA Average
90.0
90.9
91.1
National
89.2
90.2
90.2
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
57
56
55
CA Average
63
64
64
National
64
64
64
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
24
24
26
CA Average
33
31
34
National
31
29
31
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
28
27
30
CA Average
21
21
21
National
21
21
21
Training:
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
6
5
6
CA Average
5
5
4
National
5
5
5
Employment:
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
17
22
22
CA Average
21
21
26
National
23
25
27
Staying on Rate
Table A.2: Percentage of pupils staying on to S5 (Post Xmas)
Pupil Destinations
Table A.3: Percentage of pupils entering each destination
Higher Education:
Further Education:
31
Unemployed and not
seeking employment or
training:
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
11
17
13
CA Average
12
14
9
National
12
13
10
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
10
2
2
CA Average
3
3
3
National
4
3
3
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
5
3
2
CA Average
4
4
3
National
4
4
3
Unemployed and seeking
employment or training:
Destination unknown:
Exclusions
Table A.4: Total number of exclusions and exclusions per 1,000 population
2003
Primary
Total
Dundee City
207
CA Average
National
2004
Per
1000
19
Total
231
10
4,131
10
Total
Dundee City
1596
CA Average
National
4,478
11
Total
1653
99
31,055
353
13
5,319
2004
Per
1000
184
98
Total
1755
107
33,465
105
35,513
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels:
Level 6: Higher at A-C
Level 5: Intermediate 2 at A-C; Standard Grade at 1-2
Level 4: Intermediate 1 at A-C; Standard Grade at 3-4
Level 3: Access 3 Cluster; Standard Grade at 5-6
Per
1000
206
117
Table A.5: Results in Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) National Qualifications
Level 7: Advanced Higher at A-C/CSYS at A-C
13
2005
Per
1000
193
SQA Attainment
32
Per
1000
34
Total
11
2003
Secondary
2005
Per
1000
22
112
Percentage of relevant S4 roll achieving by the end of S4 11 :
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
88.0
87.5
85.5
85.9
86.8
CA Average
93.8
94.5
95.1
94.9
94.7
National
93.3
93.4
93.7
93.7
93.6
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
89.1
87.8
85.9
85.4
87.0
CA Average
94.2
93.8
94.0
93.3
93.4
National
93.3
92.6
92.6
92.5
92.1
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
83.0
82.9
82.0
81.2
81.1
CA Average
92.0
92.8
92.7
92.3
91.8
National
90.7
90.8
90.7
90.8
90.2
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
65.3
64.1
63.4
65.3
62.7
CA Average
78.3
78.5
78.3
77.7
77.4
National
76.8
76.7
76.4
76.6
76.1
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
23.3
23.7
22.2
23.0
22.2
CA Average
35.6
35.7
35.8
36.8
35.6
National
33.8
33.9
34.0
34.6
34.2
English at Level 3
or better
Maths at Level 3
or better
5 + at Level 3
or better
5 + at Level 4
or better
5 + at Level 5
or better
Percentage of relevant S4 roll achieving by the end of S5:
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
15.6
16.2
15.8
14.3
15.4
CA Average
24.6
24.0
24.0
24.1
24.3
National
23.0
22.8
22.6
22.7
22.7
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
5.5
5.3
6.3
5.3
6.2
CA Average
10.4
10.2
10.1
10.4
11.3
National
9.3
9.3
9.6
9.4
9.9
3 + at Level 6
or better
5 + at Level 6
or better
11
The most recent finalised examination data available.
33
Percentage of relevant S4 roll achieving by the end of S6:
English and Maths
at Level 3
or better
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
84.1
84.3
86.7
84.4
83.7
CA Average
94.3
94.0
93.4
93.2
93.5
National
93.1
92.3
92.3
91.6
91.8
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
83.9
82.3
83.5
83.7
82.5
CA Average
93.6
92.7
92.4
93.4
93.3
National
92.2
90.9
91.1
91.3
91.2
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
63.3
65.6
67.8
67.5
66.6
CA Average
79.0
79.8
79.8
80.4
80.1
National
77.0
77.9
78.6
78.6
78.4
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
30.6
36.7
37.5
35.1
34.9
CA Average
44.7
47.3
47.5
48.3
48.6
National
43.4
45.7
46.9
47.2
47.1
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
35.8
36.3
37.3
33.6
33.7
CA Average
47.0
45.5
44.7
44.5
44.0
National
45.5
43.7
43.6
43.5
43.1
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
22.5
23.5
22.7
22.4
21.4
CA Average
33.1
32.3
32.1
32.2
31.6
National
31.8
31.0
30.7
30.6
30.1
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
12.5
13.8
12.3
12.8
11.7
CA Average
21.5
21.4
20.4
20.9
21.0
National
20.0
19.7
19.6
19.6
19.4
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Dundee City
8.4
8.3
8.4
9.3
9.2
CA Average
12.0
13.3
12.8
13.1
13.5
National
11.2
11.6
11.9
12.3
12.1
5 + at Level 3
or better
5 + at Level 4
or better
5 + at Level 5
or better
1 + at Level 6
or better
3+ at Level 6
or better
5+ at Level 6
or better
1+ at Level 7
or better
34
Notes:
(1) CA Average denotes Comparator Authority Average.
(2) Comparator Authorities for Dundee City include:
Comparators
Aberdeen City
Renfrewshire
Dumfries & Galloway
Inverclyde
South Ayrshire
Rating
***
***
***
***
***
‘Close’
‘Close’
‘Close’
‘Close’
‘Close’
(3) Caution should be exercised when making comparisons with comparator authority
averages if there are a number of authorities that are not extremely or very close.
(4) Users are urged to exercise particular caution when using the comparator authority
averages for the city EAs of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as these
have very few EAs to which they are considered extremely or very close.
35
How can you contact us?
If you wish to comment about education authority inspections
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, Directorate 5, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale
Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure
If you have a concern about this report, you should write in the first instance to Hazel
Dewart, Business Management Unit, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House,
Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA. A copy of our
complaints procedure is available from this office or by telephoning 01506 600 258 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.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman is fully independent and has powers to
investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should write to
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, 4-6 Melville Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NS.
You can also telephone 0870 011 5378 or e-mail enquiries@scottishombudsman.org.uk.
More information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website:
www.scottishombudsman.org.uk.
Crown Copyright 2006
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.