HM Inspectorate of Education
Directorate 5, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
t 01506 600 380
f 01506 600 386
Mr David Hume
Chief Executive
Scottish Borders Council
Council Headquarters
Newtown St Boswells
Melrose
TD6 0SA
e hmi.qsa@hmie.gov.uk
w www.hmie.gov.uk
Our ref: QSE/4/25
15 May 2006
Dear Mr Hume
INSPECTION OF THE EDUCATION FUNCTIONS OF SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL
FOLLOW-THROUGH VISIT BY HM INSPECTORATE OF EDUCATION
Thank you for the progress report submitted by the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning to
HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) in accordance with the requirements of the January 2005
Follow-up inspection report on the education functions of Scottish Borders Council. A visit was
made by HMIE on 10 February 2006 and inspectors met with senior officers in the Education
Service.
An HMIE follow-up report of January 2005 recorded that Scottish Borders had made good progress
overall in overtaking the main points for action in the original HMIE inspection report of August 2002.
In many instances, we noted that progress had been very good, constituting significant improvement
from the very low base found at the time of the 2002 inspection.
The recent progress report by the Council provided a clear update on the key points which had been
highlighted in the January 2005 report.
The Council had now established their new vision for education and this was impacting positively on
establishments. There has been significant improvement in the communication links established
between the authority and individual schools. This has been achieved through the work of the
strengthened team of Quality Improvement Officers (QIOs) and the programme of headteacher
meetings which has given establishments more opportunity to be informed about and to influence
the Council’s educational policies.
The Council had also demonstrated continued good progress with their programmes of Best Value
and school reviews. This included a substantial best value review of Additional Support Needs
which was about to be published at the time of visit by HMIE. The Council should continue to
monitor the outcomes of this review and take action to ensure that there is a positive impact on
provision to meet additional support needs.
A programme of school reviews had been introduced and was now well underway within a new
overarching Quality Improvement Framework. This had been developed with appropriate
involvement of school staff in piloting and evaluating the effectiveness of the new procedures.
There was now a good level of collaboration between school staff and QIOs in the review process.
This had enabled the council to identify action points and to monitor progress towards agreed
improvement targets.
2
Levels of attainment in a number of areas had improved. Levels of performance in 5-14 levels in
reading, writing and mathematics had continued to improve in both primary and secondary schools.
Levels of performance in SQA examinations at Standard grade and Higher continued to be above
national averages. The slightly deteriorating trend in SQA performance noted in the January 2005
report had been reversed and the overall level of performance was now above that of comparator
authorities.
In the light of the authority’s continued good progress in addressing inspection report action points,
further progress will be monitored through the work of the District Inspector.
Yours sincerely
Annette Bruton
HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5