HM Inspectorate of Education
Directorate 5, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
t 01506 600 377
f 01506 600 386
Ms Bernadette Malone
Chief Executive
Perth and Kinross Council
2 High Street
Perth
PH1 5PH
e hmi.qsa@hmie.gsi.gov.uk
w www.hmie.gov.uk
QSE/4/23/md
12 September 2006
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Dear Ms Malone
INSPECTION OF THE EDUCATION FUNCTIONS OF PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL
FOLLOW-THROUGH VISIT BY HM INSPECTORATE OF EDUCATION
HM Inspectors carried out an inspection of the education functions of Perth and Kinross Council
during the period November 2002 to February 2003, as part of the national inspection programme of
all education authorities in Scotland over a five year period. A report of the inspection was
published in May 2003.
An inspection team revisited the authority in May 2005 to assess progress made in meeting the
recommendations made in the report. A follow-up report of their findings was published in
August 2005. In that report, HM Inspectors found that the authority had made limited progress in
meeting the recommendations.
HM Inspectors made a further visit to the authority during the period March to May 2006, to evaluate
progress. The inspection team included an external auditor. The team interviewed elected
members and officers of the Council, and met with headteachers, chairpersons of School Boards
and other key stakeholders of the Education Service.
Over the previous year, the Council had taken a number of important steps to improve the strategic
leadership and management of Education and Children’s Services (ECS). After the retiral of the
previous Executive Director in June 2005, the Depute Director became the Interim Executive
Director. An Interim Depute Director was appointed on a consultancy basis and, in addition to
fulfilling the duties of Depute Director, carried out an extensive review of the strategic leadership
and management of ECS. The remit of the current senior management team (SMT) was revised to
focus on the strategic agenda for ECS. An extended management team was also established
involving third tier officers.
As a result of the review a new senior management structure for ECS was approved by the Council
with the Depute Director’s remit revised to focus on strategic issues. In January 2006 an Interim
Depute Director was appointed on a consultancy basis to have an overview of Children’s Services
and provide support for the development of integrated service delivery approaches.
Service managers in the school improvement team continued to provide a high level of support and
challenge to schools. ECS had taken some interim measures to address capacity issues, including
the appointment of additional staff, but more remained to be done. Proportionate approaches to
school support and challenge had been accepted in principle but needed to be fully implemented.
Strategic and fieldwork activities in Children’s Services had been brought together for the benefit of
children, with the role of the Chief Social Work Officer in the work of ECS now being further
developed. The recent review of Psychological Services provided a good basis for further
improvement.
The Chief Executive had appraised the work of the Interim Executive Director, in accordance with
the Council’s scheme for chief officers. A modified version of this scheme was used for the reviews
of all other members of the ECS senior management team. The Chief Executive and Interim
Executive Director had regular one-to-one support meetings, as did the Interim Executive Director
and each Lead Officer as part of SMT performance management arrangements. The work of
almost all headteachers and Service Managers had been reviewed in line with the Council’s current
Employee Review and Development (ERD) policy and procedures. The current scheme for
headteacher review was being revised and links provided to leadership training. Continuous
professional development, particularly for teaching staff, remained strong. All schools had received
guidance and training on child protection.
The vision, values and aims of ECS had been revised to provide a clear rationale and direction, a
process involving a wide range of stakeholders. To guide its work, ECS had developed a clear set
of key service objectives and a policy framework with eight key draft policy statements. The draft
improvement framework set out a robust and systematic approach to planning and monitoring
improvements. A draft raising achievement strategy, focused on targeted groups of children and
young people, outlined a systematic approach to monitoring the impact of initiatives on learners.
This included provision of baseline measures, regular reviews and comparisons of outcome
measures with local and national data.
Primary schools had adopted a comprehensive mechanism for tracking individual pupil
performance. More consistent tracking approaches were still needed in secondary schools. SMT
meetings now included more rigorous analysis and discussion of performance measures. However,
shortcomings in the ECS management information system were hampering developments.
Implementation of the school improvement framework had led to improved learning and attainment
particularly in primary schools. The mathematics development programme had led to improved
learning, teaching and attainment in primary schools. In 2005, primary schools achieved the overall
target set by the authority.
Between 2004 and 2005, attainment in reading remained broadly steady in primary schools.
Attainment in writing increased slightly and attainment in mathematics also increased, continuing
the increase seen from 2003 to 2004. Overall, most pupils were achieving appropriate national
levels of attainment. Attainment in reading and writing by the end of S2 decreased slightly between
2004 and 2005, continuing a decrease which was seen between 2003 and 2004. Attainment in
mathematics by the end of S2 increased slightly. A majority of pupils achieved national levels in
reading, writing and mathematics by the end of S2.
By S4 and by S6, the overall proportion of pupils achieving success in national qualifications was
above national averages for most measures of performance, but only in line with national averages
on a number of measures of performance for lower-attaining pupils. The education authority’s
performance was below the average for comparator authorities on almost all key measures.
Between 2004 and 2005 the education authority’s performance remained broadly steady on most
key measures and showed a slight increase on a few.
The implementation of the The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, had
been a main focus of work. The annual Additional Support Needs (ASN) audit was now well
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established across ECS and provided a transparent and fair approach to the allocation of resources.
The Senior Integrated Team continued to allocate resources for staged levels of intervention.
School-based integrated teams had been established in all secondary schools and targeted primary
schools. Two primary schools now had nurture clubs and there were plans to extend this provision
to other schools. Safe spaces and therapeutic rooms were being established in some schools.
However, rates of exclusions in primary schools, and truancy in secondary schools had continued to
rise. The authority was considering the development of alternative provisions to meet the
emotional, behavioural and curricular needs of those pupils for whom Level 3 provision within the
framework for intervention was not proving sufficient.
Good progress had been made in implementing the recommendations of the national Hungry for
Success initiative. In Autumn 2006, schools will receive guidance on achieving health promotion
status. Almost all pupils had opportunities to participate in an enterprise activity. Clusters of
schools had developed business partnerships and over 350 staff had taken up opportunities to be
trained in enterprise education. Environmental education and action to sustainability remained a
strength, and 45 schools had achieved Eco school awards, around half of those achieving a further
award at a higher level. All headteachers had been fully briefed on national developments in the
curriculum, and a number of schools were involved in piloting initiatives to improve the quality of
learning and teaching.
Since May 2005, HMIE had carried out eight inspections of primary schools and one inspection of
an all-through primary and secondary school. In a majority of schools, the quality of attainment,
pupils’ learning experiences and the extent to which their needs were met, were either good or very
good. In most schools, teaching was good or very good. Follow-through inspections and
moderation visits found good or very good progress in meeting main points for action. Service
Managers continued to demonstrate an accurate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of
provision. A recent follow-up inspection of community learning and development in the North Perth
area was very positive, with progress in the main points for action evaluated as good or very good.
Project management within the Council had improved, with the Project Management Toolkit
providing a systematic, structured approach. All senior managers had had training, which was now
being extended to other staff. The Business Change and Improvement Unit recorded major projects
on a central register and reported on progress to the Executive Officer Team (EOT) monthly and to
elected members on a quarterly basis.
Despite some slippage in reaching preferred bidder stage, which was not attributable to the
Council’s project management, the Investment in Learning programme was on target to deliver
two new all-through schools, two secondary schools and three primary schools by 2010. A new
all-through Additional Support Needs school and four primary school upgrades were also planned
as part of the Council’s capital programme. Key staff on the Investment in Learning team had had
extensive project management training.
Budget monitoring arrangements remained effective. Corporate capital and revenue expenditure
monitoring reports, which included ECS expenditure, were regularly presented to Committee. ECS
performance against budget was satisfactory. A corporate policy-led budgeting review was
currently underway and due to report its recommendations in August 2006. ECS also planned to
review key elements of its budget, with the aim of explicitly linking resources to service priorities.
Overall, ECS had taken a number of important steps to improve the quality of leadership and
management and educational outcomes for children and young people. The Interim Executive
Director had demonstrated strong leadership, and through decisive action had strengthened
teamwork and management. Performance management had improved and staff now had a more
accurate awareness of strengths and weaknesses in the authority’s work and priorities for action.
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Ethos and relationships within ECS were positive and constructive. The progress made to date
provided a firm foundation for future improvements.
At the time of the return visit in May 2006, the authority was experiencing considerable changes at
senior management level within ECS. Staff were being recruited for four new posts of Head of
Service. The Council now faces the challenge of ensuring that these changes do not have an
adverse impact on continuity of action for improvement. Overall, the Council has made good
progress. However, work remains to be done to ensure that all aspects of the original and follow-up
inspection reports are addressed. The HM District Inspector for Perth and Kinross will continue to
engage with the Council to monitor the progress the authority makes in fully implementing the
outstanding recommendations of the original report and its continued work to enhance its capacity
for improvement. HM Inspectors will make no further inspection visits in connection with the original
inspection but will evaluate the continuous improvement and effectiveness of the Council’s
education provision within the inspection cycle.
Yours sincerely
Annette Bruton
HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5
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