North Lanarkshire Council
Follow-up Inspection Report
November 2005
Contents
________________________________________
Page
Introduction
1.
The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
1
2.
Changes in the operational context of the
Education Service
1
3.
Continuous improvement
3
4.
Progress towards the main points for action
7
5.
Conclusion
17
i
Introduction
The education functions of each local authority in
Scotland will be inspected between 2000 and
2005. Section 9 of the Standards in Scotland’s
Schools Etc. Act 2000 charges HM Inspectorate of
Education, 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)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.
All inspections of the education functions of
educational authorities are followed up by
inspection teams, normally around two years from
the date of the original published inspection report.
1
Quality Management in Education (HM Inspectors of Schools, 2000) is a framework of self-evaluation for
Local Authority Education Departments.
_______________________________
North Lanarkshire Council
Follow-up Inspection Report
1. The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
The education functions of North Lanarkshire Council
were inspected during the period October to November
2002 as part of the national inspection programme of all
education authorities in Scotland over a five-year period.
The local authority prepared and made public an Action
Plan in April 2003, indicating how it would address the
main points for action identified in the original HMIE
inspection report published in February 2003.
An inspection team revisited the authority in March 2005
to assess progress made in meeting the recommendations
in the initial report.
2. Changes in the operational context of the Education
Service
Since the initial inspection of the education functions of
North Lanarkshire Council in October and November
2002, the balance of power remained as it had been at the
time of the initial inspection, with the Council
administration led by Labour. There had been a number
of adjustments in the Council’s officer structure,
including in the Education Department.
The Corporate Management Team (CMT) comprised the
Chief Executive, two Assistant Chief Executives, and the
Directors of the Council’s seven departments, including
the Director of Educational Services. The Chief
Executive’s office now comprised two units, one for
1
Community Regeneration and the other for Corporate and
Performance Management. Each unit was led by an
Assistant Chief Executive, the first a re-alignment of the
previous Assistant Chief Executive remit and the second
a re-designation of the former Commercial Partnership
Officer remit.
The six senior officers in Education Services now
included an education officer with responsibility for
personnel. The appointment had resulted in a more
balanced set of responsibilities with each officer sharing
pastoral and management duties for groups of
establishments within a geographic area.
Community Services had been reorganised to comprise
four Heads of Service who led Land Services,
Community Information and Learning, Cultural and
Recreational Services and Facility Support Services. The
structure of the Planning Department had also changed.
The total population in the Council area had decreased by
1.8% over the period since 1997, compared to 0.4%
nationally, presenting the Council with a pressing need to
rationalise school accommodation and address
over-provision of school places. The Council ranked fifth
lowest on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
average score, a slight improvement from the ranking of
fourth lowest at the time of the initial inspection. The
unemployment rate of 7.8% remained above the national
average and, since 1997, had declined more slowly than
that average. Drug and alcohol misuse remained a major
problem, particularly in the Council’s poorest areas. In
contrast, some areas of the Council were thriving in terms
of housing development and business growth and over
the next few years major developments are taking place at
Ravenscraig, Gartcosh and Cumbernauld.
2
3. Continuous improvement
Since the inspection report was published in February
2003, the education authority had continued to improve
many aspects of its effectiveness with its overall goal of
Aiming Higher. A range of major initiatives, including
curriculum improvement, opportunities for wider
achievement, and inclusion were having a positive effect
on pupils’ experience and achievements. The education
authority sought to ensure that the impact of important
initiatives were carefully evaluated to inform future
management decisions, drawing on high quality analysis
of data on pupils’ attainment.
Over the last two years, HMIE inspected 24 primary
schools, six secondary schools and two special schools.
Over the same period, 37 schools which had been
inspected were followed-through. In addition to the
school inspections, HM Inspectors, in partnership with
the Care Commission, inspected a range of pre-school
provision. The results of these inspections of pre-school
centres were positive. Inspections of primary schools
identified many strengths including the quality of the
curriculum, personal and social development, aspects of
inclusion and equality, meeting pupils’ needs, and links
with parents and the community. Leadership was a
particular strength in 30% of schools and good in 60%.
There were weaknesses in assessment as part of teaching
and monitoring pupils’ progress and attainment in 50% of
primary schools inspected. Overall, there were strengths
in three of the secondary schools inspected. These
strengths included the climate and relationships, the
schools’ partnerships with parents and the community
and the effective ways in which they managed their
resources. The other three secondary schools had
strengths, but also displayed a number of weaknesses in
aspects of management and quality assurance, and the
schools’ capacity to evaluate accurately their own
performance. In both primary and secondary schools,
several reports commented on the need to provide greater
3
challenge and increase the pace of learning for higher
attaining pupils. Overall evaluations in the two special
schools inspected had been positive, with some very good
practice recorded. Notable examples included
commendable developments in providing recognition for
the achievements of the pupils, including those with
complex needs.
The Council conducted 22 follow-through inspections,
with HMIE following-through in the remaining
15 schools. Almost all follow-through inspections
whether carried out by the education authority or HMIE
had resulted in good or very good evaluations of progress
on the main points for action. Only two schools had
required continuing engagement with HM Inspectors to
help them to improve and they were making progress.
The Council had undertaken important developments to
integrate more effectively its services for children and
young people. With the strategic direction provided by
the Children’s Services Strategy Group, the Education
Department had recently published guidance for schools
and other partners to help them to achieve more
integrated services. The model of integrated services was
also extended to nurseries. All schools were expected to
function as integrated community schools guided and
supported by the Integrated Schools Sub-group of the
Children’s Services Group, and six Area Forums
responsible for operational delivery of joint services.
Eighty-one schools now had bases for inter-agency work
with children, young people and families. The
appointment of senior partnership officers in every
secondary school had enhanced home-school partnerships
and promoted valuable events and activities designed to
bring parents, carers and the school together to better
support pupils. Sixteen clusters of a secondary and
associated primary schools had benefited from the
appointment of eight public health nurses who were
improving approaches to health education and were
supporting initiative for healthy life-styles. Two of the
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six Council areas had the benefit of teams of social work
staff who could intervene to support children and families
at an early stage. This provision was to be extended.
Building on the earlier breakfast club model developed
through community school pilots, the Council’s Breakfast
Services had been developed in 32 primary schools
supported by a central co-ordinator. This targeted service
provided a very low-cost breakfast service available to all
children in these schools. A cashless system for school
meals was now available in all secondary schools.
The Council’s approaches to more joined-up services
were at an early stage but were already making a valuable
contribution to fulfilling the aim of assisting all children
and young people to become more effective learners who
were integrated into their schools and communities.
The Council continued with its successful policy of
extending pupils’ horizons and promoting their wider
achievement. The range of musical activities had
increased with many more children and young people
taking part in drama, orchestras, bands, a Rock Ensemble
and choirs and a recently introduced primary choral
programme. The Council was strongly promoting
Scottish music including the introduction of a pipe band.
The Gaelic Choir had taken part in musical activities in
Vancouver. The Council had made very good use of
funding to promote sport and arts and had built on the
work of the Sports and Music Comprehensives.
Of particular note in promoting pupils’ all round
development was the Council’s continuing commitment
to ensuring that all pupils in its schools had the
opportunity to undertake an Outward Bound programme.
Eight thousand pupils had already taken part and
evaluations demonstrated evidence of pupils becoming
more confident and outward looking, as well as gaining
competence in sporting activities and teamwork. The
Kilbowie Outdoor Education centre had recently
5
benefited from expansion and refurbishment to provide
increased numbers of pupil and activities. The centre
now fully met the requirements of the Disability
Discrimination Act, providing specialist accommodation
to meet pupils’ additional support needs.
Some schools across North Lanarkshire had been
involved in a Design and Enterprise Challenge within a
competitive environment. The project, funded through a
partnership between North Lanarkshire Council, Careers
Scotland and Determined to Succeed, provided an annual
enterprise competition. An Arts Links Officer had been
appointed with support from the Arts Council and had
secured a Craft Residency in a primary school. The
annual Art & Design Summer School at Kilbowie
Outdoor Education Centre showed an increase in pupil
numbers and involved both authority staff and
professional practitioners in contributing to the pupils’
learning experiences. A growth in the provision of
Gaelic education ensured continuity from primary to
secondary school.
The Education Department had undertaken further
initiatives to promote quality assurance. In particular in
the last two years the Education Department itself and
21 establishments had successfully gained Charter Mark
awards, eight of which have achieved it for a second
time. A further 17 schools were currently working on
submissions including a secondary school and its
associated primaries who were seeking the award as a
cluster. The authority had given a high level of support
for the Eco School award. Forty-five schools having
achieved the green flag once, 14 schools having achieved
the green flag twice and five schools having successfully
achieved the green flag for the third time.
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4. Progress towards the main points for action
The initial inspection report published in February 2003
identified four main points for action. This section
evaluates the progress the authority has made with each
of the main action points and the resulting improvements
for pupils and other stakeholders.
4.1 Take further action to address over-capacity
and improve repairs and maintenance in
schools.
Very good progress overall had been made in relation to
this main point of action.
The Council was addressing over-capacity in schools.
The rationalisation of the school estate in the
Cumbernauld area and the formation of a joint
denominational/non-denominational campus had been
very successful. Lessons learned from this project had
been used in the formulation of plans for Public Private
Partnership (PPP) in the authority. A significant number
of visits from school staff had been made to view the
good practice in the Cumbernauld campus design.
After a long consultation and review process, agreement
had now been reached with all parties as to the form and
layout of all proposed new schools within the PPP
contract. At the time of the follow-up inspection,
discussions with the preferred bidder were at their final
stages and although the agreement had not yet reached
financial close, an advanced works agreement had been
set up to allow work on the first phase of schools to
progress. As at early March 2005, work had commenced
on six sites. Work is estimated to be completed overall
by July 2009. The Council had also committed some
£10 million to the major refurbishment of three secondary
schools and together with external funding, was intending
to enhance the sporting facilities at a further three
secondary schools.
7
The Education Department was also addressing
over-capacity by using school buildings to accommodate
support teams. Audit Scotland’s Performance Indicators
noted that in the period from 2001/2002 to 2003/2004
primary school occupancy of 60% or less had reduced
from 27.7% to 21.4% while secondary schools with the
same occupancy levels had reduced from 38.5% to
30.8%.
Despite the very good progress made, the Council still
faced challenges in ensuring that its educational estate
was brought up to the requirements for education in the
21st Century. The Education 2010 Estate Management
Plan identified the problems to be addressed. For
example, the secondary estate varied widely in terms of
condition, age and internal layouts and facilities. The
primary school estate required significant upgrading. The
plan included a reference to the potential rationalisation
of primary schools and nursery schools. This required to
be further explored by the authority in order to address
their surplus capacity issues. The Education Committee
had approved a priority programme which included the
rebuild of 24 schools under the PPP initiative and the
upgrading of school buildings. It estimated that some
£450 million was required to address deficiencies and
ensure that the buildings operate adequately over the next
five years. The authority should continue to review the
costs of the infrastructure required to deliver a curriculum
fit for the 21st century and the related funding routes
available.
The Chief Executive had personally chaired a working
group on the review of property. A number of agreed
actions were being implemented. These included:
•
•
8
janitors taking immediate action to deal with
emergencies in relation to health and safety;
improved information being provided to contractors
about repairs; and
•
checks being made on the spot to ensure that jobs
were completed satisfactorily.
The authority had addressed a number of issues relating
to the maintenance of its properties. As a result of
restructuring, Housing and Property Services had
introduced a dedicated team to deal with education
properties. The computerised system in place for repairs
to housing properties had been extended to include all
education establishments. This supported the better
tracking of repairs. A helpdesk service had been set up to
deal with emergency repairs. Based on a pilot, all parties
were satisfied with these arrangements and these changes
had had a positive effect on the working conditions of
pupils and staff. The Department should continue to
monitor the effect of these changes.
Improvements in the planning and coordination of works
in schools had reduced significantly disruption to learning
and teaching. Personnel responsible for capital repairs
were working more closely with their colleagues
responsible for maintenance works with the result that
refurbishment and decoration were better phased. Major
refurbishment projects undertaken in schools by Housing
and Property Services, such as the installation of
vocational curriculum areas in secondary schools, were of
a very good quality.
The Council had taken significant actions to address
over-capacity and improve repairs and maintenance. It
had identified clearly the next set of challenges to further
reduce over-capacity and bring all of its schools up to the
standards required for education in the 21st century.
9
4.2 Improve the overall strategic framework for
inclusion and provide guidance to schools on
support for pupils and inclusion.
The authority had made very good progress with this
point for action.
Since the inspection, the Department had developed, in
consultation with its main partner organisations and
stakeholders, its Strategy for Inclusion. This strategic
framework linked well to national priorities and to local
policies and priorities. The framework, which included a
structured building programme, addressed legislative
requirements on the rights of the child, additional support
needs and disability discrimination. Importantly, it linked
closely to the authority’s key Raising Achievement for All
policy. Together these policies provided a sound basis
for bringing together and further developing a range of
initiatives to support children and young people better.
Staff, partners and other stakeholders had a clear
statement of the authority’s expectations in terms of the
values and principles to guide their work. Stress was laid
on high quality leadership at authority and institutional
level and on all staff adopting a very well coordinated,
child-centred approach. The strategy had been launched
effectively in 2004 accompanied by staff development to
ensure that it was implemented effectively.
Arising from that strategic framework, the Education
Department had developed, in consultation with
stakeholders, a series of related policies to guide specific
aspects of inclusion. It was in the process of launching
an informative and relevant Race Equality policy. The
launch seminars promoted understanding of the legal and
policy context and participants received a useful toolkit to
help them implement the policy in a consistent way.
Joint Assessment Teams were now well-established in all
secondary schools and these provided inter-agency
forums to progress issues relating to inclusion and
10
support for individual pupils. Such forums had not yet
been established across all primary schools.
Appropriately, the authority had reviewed its Child
Protection procedures and was in the process of providing
improved guidance to all teaching and support staff on
how to follow them. A thorough review of the Area
Network Support Team had led to the formation of a
more focussed team of centrally-deployed, specialist staff
to support pupils and the redeployment of other staff to
work in school clusters. Specialist teams continued to
provide services in sensory support, early years and
English as an additional language.
As a result of its review of its Staged Intervention
Strategy, the authority was now better placed to take a
more strategic approach in allocating support services for
pupils with additional support needs to schools. Each
school now had in place a designated coordinator who
had received training for the role. The strategy had still
to become fully embedded across its schools and it was
too soon to evaluate the outcomes. The authority had
also reviewed its pupil exclusion procedures. These
procedures were supporting a reduction in the number of
pupils who needed to be excluded and ensuring that those
whose needs could not be addressed in mainstream were
receiving support.
At the secondary stage, a number of children benefited
from the diversity and flexibility now built into the
curriculum, specifically in terms of vocational and
college-based courses and through the authority’s
expanded Learning Opportunities Programme, which was
still under development. Further targeted support was
provided through a range of additional provision, notably
Outward Bound courses and both Easter and Summer
Schools.
Support, appropriate to individual needs, was well
targeted to meet the needs of vulnerable children, and
specifically those who were Looked After and
11
Accommodated. The authority was engaging with staff
and stakeholders on the development of a policy and
related procedures to manage the introduction of the new
Additional Support for Learning legislation. In the
interim period it needed to provide further guidance to
schools to ensure that all managed Records of Needs
effectively.
North Lanarkshire Council had established a strong
framework to support and extend its strong commitment
to inclusion.
4.3 Extend the role of Link Officers to ensure a
consistent approach to quality assurance across
establishments.
Good progress had been made overall in addressing this
main point for action.
The education authority had successfully completed the
restructuring of the Quality Development Service (QDS),
which was underway at the time of the original
inspection. This had resulted in an increase in the team
of permanent Quality Improvement Officers (QIOs) who
had clear support and challenge responsibilities for a
cluster group of schools. The QIO team had maintained
the curriculum development and pastoral roles which
were highly valued by schools. They now had greater
involvement in a range of quality assurance activities and
had strengthened their knowledge of their link schools.
The recently produced QDS handbook clearly identified
the quality assurance roles of QIOs. The expectations
were that officers would:
12
•
support service improvement through development
planning and standards and quality reporting;
•
analyse and use performance information to challenge
schools to improve;
•
draw on knowledge of schools to support and inform
strategic planning and policy development; and
•
promote strategies to address areas where
performance should be improved and monitor
progress of such strategies.
Officers and heads of establishments demonstrated a
sound understanding of these roles. In undertaking their
remits, officers were supported by a comprehensive
induction programme. In addition, QIOs had
opportunities to improve practice by shadowing
experienced officers and receiving on-going advice from
a designated mentor. As a result of training in data
analysis, officers were better prepared to challenge staff
in schools on the performance of pupils as a group and as
individuals and to seek necessary improvements or
celebrate achievements. The QIOs worked well together
as a team and their morale was high. They capitalised on
individual strengths and expertise to good effect.
Overall, they were better equipped for the increased focus
on challenging schools to further improve. They needed
to ensure that they were all equally consistent in the
rigour of their evaluations of schools.
Members of the directorate continued to meet annually
with senior staff in primary schools to discuss pupils’
attainment, a duty which was now also shared with
relevant QIOs. Where weaknesses had been identified,
support measures were agreed with headteachers. There
was evidence of a positive impact in terms of
improvement in levels of attainment, improved staff
morale and more effective teamwork. Officers also
joined senior managers on the annual visit to secondary
schools to discuss attainment and improvements.
Following the meeting QIOs worked closely with schools
to address any issues which were identified.
Headteachers interviewed welcomed this enhanced link
role and valued the contribution of QIOs at these
meetings.
13
The authority had continued to sample across 10% of
schools annually to verify the accuracy of school
self-evaluation. The scope of the validation exercise had
been extended further to include the observation of
learning and teaching. Such visits to classrooms enabled
members of the Directorate and the QIO associated with
each school to see at first hand the implementation of
education authority initiatives and gain first hand
knowledge of good practice. Officers had also identified
areas where further professional development would be
beneficial and had used this information to inform the
planning of future in-service training for school staff.
With support from an education officer, QIOs were
taking increased responsibility for drafting the reports
sent to HMIE prior to an inspection of a school. Overall
they demonstrated an accurate view of provision in the
pre-school, primary and special sectors, but some recent
pre-inspection reports on secondary schools were not
sufficiently evaluative and did not match the findings of
the HMIE team. There remained scope for the team of
QIOs to achieve greater transparency and rigour in their
evaluations and reports on secondary schools, consistent
with the balance of their duties in challenge and support.
Following inspections, almost all schools addressed main
points for action successfully, with very effective support
from the Education Department.
Overall, senior officers and QIOs worked closely together
to support and challenge schools. QIOs were well placed
to continue to build on their experiences and further
contribute to the Council’s improvement agenda. The
challenge now for the authority was to ensure that their
evaluations of schools, particularly in the secondary
sector, were consistently challenging and robust.
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4.4 Improve attainment and in particular focus
on improving performance in S1 and S2.
Overall, the authority had made good progress in
achieving improvements in attainment and achievement
with very good progress in some aspects of attainment
and in wider achievement.
Since the inspection, the authority had maintained a focus
on improving attainment. The percentage of pupils in the
primary sector attaining appropriate levels for their stage
in reading, writing and mathematics had improved
between 2001 and 2004. In reading and particularly in
mathematics, pupils performed consistently better than
those in comparator authorities and above the national
average. Pupils’ attainment in writing had improved but
was slightly below that of comparator authorities and the
national average.
During the same period, there had been a significant
improvement in the percentage of pupils attaining
appropriate levels in reading, writing and mathematics by
the end of S2. Progress in reading and mathematics had
been strong. HMIE reports of inspections of secondary
schools over the two years also indicated that overall
performance at S1/S2 was improving, although there was
still headroom for improvement. It was encouraging that
the authority had made significant progress in closing the
gap between its secondary pupils’ performance and
national average levels, providing evidence of its capacity
to support continuous improvement in its schools.
To promote such improvement, the Education
Department had successfully implemented a number of
initiatives. A project in mathematics had involved
rigorous analyses of mathematics attainment at S1/S2 in
all secondary schools and a building of capacity in
mathematics departments to improve through provision
of curricular support materials and training. Another
initiative involved a ‘literacy coach’ and a ‘numeracy
15
coach’ who had been appointed in each of three selected
secondary schools. These staff supported transition
approaches with their associated primary schools through
direct links with English and mathematics departments in
the secondary schools. Also, transition teachers in
English and mathematics had been appointed in four
secondary schools to team teach in S1 and S2. These
staff had received specific training in Cooperative
Learning and Reading Recovery techniques and schools
were already very positive about this development.
Home-School Partnership Officers worked in cooperation
with the Council’s Community Services Department to
develop pupil achievement across a range of activities.
Although, this development was at the early stages,
schools reported that it was already having a positive
impact on young people.
Authority performance had been maintained at a steady
level from 2000 to 2003 showing improvement in some
aspects. In 2004, more pupils in S5 had attained five plus
awards at Level 52. Based on three-year average data for
five or more awards at Level 5 or better, the authority had
consistently outperformed comparator authorities and had
closed the gap with national figures. In 2004, there had
been a dip in performance at three plus awards at Level 6.
Increased opportunities for employment for school
leavers in the North Lanarkshire Council area had
resulted in a significant number of young people leaving
school mid-session in their S5 and S6 years.
The authority was making significant progress in
providing more appropriate courses for pupils who were
not motivated by conventional Standard Grade courses.
Secondary schools were providing courses more suited to
their varying needs at S3 to S6 by adopting an increased
number of vocational courses. Extensive adaptations to
2
16
Level 1 = Access 1. Level 2 = Access 2.
Level 3 = Standard Grade at Foundation Level or Access 3.
Level 4 = Standard Grade at General Level or Intermediate 1 at A - C.
Level 5 = Standard Grade at Credit Level or Intermediate 2 at A - C.
Level 6 = Higher at A - C. Level 7 = Advanced Higher at A – C.
existing school premises had been undertaken, where
necessary, to allow schools to deliver courses in care, hair
and beauty therapy, call centre skills, construction and
automotive engineering. More specialist vocational
courses such as amenity horticulture had been delivered
in partnership with local colleges or businesses.
Vocational courses had been incorporated into the S2
subject choice process in secondary schools and
appropriate Scottish Vocational Qualifications or
equivalent certification routes had been provided for
pupils. The authority was developing systems to gather
information on pupils’ performance on these courses.
To help schools to improve the performance of pupils, the
Department had further refined its management
information systems to provide data which identified
pupils in need of targeted support. Members of the
Directorate along with QIOs continued to challenge
schools on the performance of pupils and to ensure that
support programmes were targeted where they were most
needed. The authority was continuing to demonstrate a
strong commitment to improving the performance of
schools.
5. Conclusion
North Lanarkshire Council continued to face a number of
challenges in addressing deprivation and disadvantage in
some of the Council area. Since the inspection report in
February 2003, the authority had strengthened many
aspects of provision. It continued to demonstrate a
capacity for improvement. It has strengthened its team of
officers who supported and challenged schools and was
now working to improve the consistency in the quality of
their work.
The Council had made further improvements to its
education provision under its overarching vision and
policy for Aiming Higher. Curricular initiatives
underway at the time of the initial inspection had been
17
sustained and a range of new initiatives appropriately
addressed local and national priorities. The Education
Department had developed a number of new approaches
to raising pupil achievement, in particular, in the arts,
music and sport. It was now implementing a number of
innovations in the secondary school curriculum to meet
the needs of a wide range of learners. Attainment across
a number of measures was improving. However, the
education Department needed to continue to focus on
raising attainment, especially from S3 to S6. The
Education Department’s commitment to continuous
improvement was demonstrated by its support for schools
to achieve Eco awards and Charter Mark.
Positive action had been taken to address over-capacity in
the school estate, and repairs and maintenance had been
very significantly improved. While there remained more
to be done to ensure that the school infrastructure is fit for
the 21st Century, much had been done to improve some
schools and to advance the implementation of future
improvement plans.
Improvements in services to provide support for pupils
and inclusion had been carried out at a strategic level.
Much clearer guidance, which was well understood by
staff in schools, had now been implemented.
Inter-agency working to support children and families
was now being more effectively developed through local
area forums, school joint assessments teams and the
creation of multi-agency posts and resources.
North Lanarkshire Council had made significant progress
in addressing the main points for action in the report of
the inspection in 2003. HM Inspectors will not make
further visits to the Council in respect of this report.
Margery Browning
Acting HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5
November 2005
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How can you contact us?
If you would like an additional copy of this report
Copies of this report have been sent to the Chief
Executive of the local authority, elected members, the
Head of the Education Service, other local authority
officers, Members of the Scottish Parliament, Audit
Scotland, heads of the local authority educational
establishments, chairpersons of the local authority
School Boards/Parents Associations and to other
relevant individuals and agencies. Subject to
availability, further copies may be obtained free of
charge from HM Inspectorate of Education,
Directorate 5, Denholm House, Almondvale Business
Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston, EH54 6GA or
by telephoning 01506 600 380. Copies are also
available on our website: www.hmie.gov.uk.
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 Mrs Margery Browning,
Acting 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 600 265 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
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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 2005
HM Inspectorate of Education
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