South Lanarkshire Council
Follow-up Inspection Report
July 2006
Definition of terms used in this report
HM Inspectors use published criteria when making judgements about the work of a
school. These performance indicators relate judgements to four levels of performance.
This report uses the following word scale to make clear the judgements made by
Inspectors:
very good
good
fair
unsatisfactory
major strengths
more strengths than weaknesses
some important weaknesses
major weaknesses
This report also uses the following words to describe numbers and proportions:
almost all
most
majority
less than half
few
over 90%
75-90%
50-74%
15-49%
up to 15%
Contents
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Page
Introduction
i
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
5
5.
Conclusion
12
Introduction
The education functions of each local authority in
Scotland were inspected between 2000 and 2005.
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 were conducted within a
published framework of quality indicators
(Quality Management in Education) 1 which
embody the Government’s policy on Best Value.
Each inspection was 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 included an Associate
Assessor who is a senior member of staff currently
serving in another Scottish local authority.
All inspections of the education functions of
education 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.
i
______________________________
South Lanarkshire Council
Follow-up Inspection Report
1. The aims, nature and scope of the inspection
The education functions of South Lanarkshire Council
were inspected during the period October to
November 2003 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 2004 indicating how it would address the
main points for action identified in the original HMIE
inspection report published in February 2004.
An inspection team revisited the authority in
February/March 2006 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
South Lanarkshire Council in October and
November 2003 there had been some changes within the
Council and in the Education Resources service. Overall,
however, there had been continuity and stability in the
make-up of the administration and in the work of its
officers.
The Labour Party continued to have a significant majority
in the Council, with 49 elected members out of a total
of 67. The largest opposition party was the Scottish
National Party with nine seats. The Leader of the
1
Council, the Chair of the Education Resources
Committee and the Chief Executive remained in post.
They were continuing to give a strong lead on sustaining
and improving educational provision for children, young
people and communities in South Lanarkshire.
Following the retiral of the previous Director of
Education Resources, a new director who had formerly
been a Head of Service in Education Resources took up
post in April 2005. Vacancies at Head of Service level
were then filled from within the department. As a result
of these internal changes the council had been able to
maintain continuity in implementing its key educational
policies and programmes.
Shortly after the initial inspection, five Heads of Learning
Communities were appointed. These heads had
responsibility for leading and managing educational
provision in communities consisting of a secondary
school and its associated primary schools, pre-school
establishments and other partners. Around a year later,
the number of heads of learning community was
increased to nine, each responsible for overseeing
education in two learning communities.
The new Director of Education Resources had continued
in the tradition of strong leadership set by his
predecessor. He was well supported by four Heads of
Service who, together with the nine Heads of Learning
Communities helped him to implement strategic
improvements to the service. Managers within Education
Resources also made important contributions. Advisers
and other staff with responsibilities for coordinating
specific aspects of provision such as enterprise education
continued to give very effective support to schools. The
work of central staff and those in schools and other
establishments continued to be characterised by high
morale, clear direction and strong partnership.
2
3. Continuous improvement
Since publication of the inspection report in
February 2004, Education Resources had been able to
sustain its high levels of effectiveness and to make
improvements where necessary.
Seven short, outcome-focused policies on key aspects of
education such as learning and teaching, care and
welfare, and quality management provided a continuing,
clear direction for all in the service. Through being part
of Learning Communities, all establishments were fully
involved in the drive for maintaining and improving
standards, and developing leadership at all levels.
Learning Communities provided clear channels of
communication between central staff and all
establishments. They were also helping the education
authority to develop integrated and effective children’s
services. The authority had further improved its
procedures for monitoring and evaluating establishments
and planning for improvement.
In the period since the 2003 inspection, HMIE carried out
a total of 48 inspections across primary, secondary and
special schools. Follow-through inspection or further
monitoring by HMIE was required in only eight of these.
After most inspections HMIE asked the education
authority to report on progress and carried out moderation
visits in a sample of schools. In three cases, because of
the high level of performance, HMIE were able to
disengage and carry out no further inspection activity.
Education Resources produced evaluative and accurate
pre-inspection and post-inspection progress reports to
HMIE on its schools. It also had a strong record of
producing its own helpful follow-through reports for
parents within due dates.
Educational Resources had successfully maintained good
or very good overall levels of attainment and
achievement in its schools and there had been
3
improvements in some areas. Performance at 5-14 levels
and in national qualifications continued to be in line with
or above the national average and above the average for
comparator authorities 2. Many aspects of broader pupil
achievement, including sporting, artistic and cultural
activities had been expanded or developed successfully.
The Council’s ambitious programme of improvement to
the school estate was being taken forward very
effectively. Five new or refurbished primary schools had
opened in the early part of 2006, and a further five were
scheduled to open by the start of the new school session
in August 2006. A rolling programme would see five or
six new or refurbished primary schools open
approximately every six months. All the Council’s
primary schools were due to be modernised by 2015. The
Council had approved the rebuilding or refurbishment of
all of its secondary schools by 2009. Plans were in place
for seventeen new secondary school buildings and the
refurbishment of a further two schools. Work had started
on seven new-build secondary schools, with a completion
date of August 2007. The standard of the new school
buildings was high.
In addition to its school building programme, the Council
was effectively implementing A Teaching Profession for
the 21st Century 3, the national agreement on teachers’
pay, professional development and career structures. As
with the building programme and other aspects of its
work, Education Resources were moving the agreement
forward in a careful and well-considered manner,
involving all stakeholders and employees in consultation
as appropriate. The Council was committed to a policy of
keeping rural schools open and, partly as a result, was
planning to introduce shared headships in some small
rural primary schools.
2
The term ‘comparator authorities’ refers to the group of education authorities which
are comparative to each other in terms of socio-economic and demographic factors.
3
A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century - Scottish Executive, January 2001.
4
4. Progress towards the main points for action
The initial inspection report published in February 2004
identified three 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 The authority should develop further its very
effective approaches to performance monitoring
and evaluation within establishments, in order to
provide an increasingly robust evidence base
for planning and reporting on further quality
improvement.
The authority had made very good progress in addressing
this main point for action.
The authority was successfully strengthening the
approaches to self-evaluation used in schools.
Inspections carried out in the period from August 2005 to
February 2006 showed a significant improvement in
self-evaluation. Two thirds of schools were now judged
to be good or better in this aspect. There was more
effective use of statistical information across all sectors to
monitor pupils’ progress and identify where additional
support was required. The authority supported senior
managers through its guidelines on carrying out
classroom visits and by providing staff development for
senior and middle managers on how to specify outcomes
and write evaluative statements. This support was highly
valued by headteachers. Good practice in school
self-evaluation was being extended to other areas, and the
authority had produced an evaluation toolkit called How
Good are Our Support Services?.
Schools were increasingly drawing on improved advice
contained in the authority’s updated policy statement on
quality management. This statement provided a very
useful strategic framework within which staff engaged in
5
self-evaluation. Heads of Learning Communities now
had a clear, explicit role in quality assurance of the work
of establishments within their areas. Along with other
officers charged with scrutinising school plans,
performance profiles and action plans, they offered
written and oral feedback to headteachers. This
feedback, and the associated discussions with senior
managers in schools, helped ensure a close focus on
improvement objectives, success criteria and benefits for
pupils. A notable strength was the very thorough
evaluation of staff development activities provided by the
authority and the expectation that headteachers would
report on the effectiveness of courses and other events in
terms of the impact and benefits for pupils.
As part of the authority’s challenge and support process,
the Heads of Learning Communities reviewed the
performance profiles produced by schools following their
internal audits. Headteachers confirmed that there was
now a closer scrutiny of these documents and that they
were encouraged to maintain them as working documents
throughout the year, up-dating them with information on
aspects such as pupils’ wider achievements as
appropriate. As part of the authority’s use of external
information to validate its own processes, officers had
compared the evaluations of overall school performance
arrived at by establishments themselves with those
subsequently reported following inspections by HMIE.
They found close agreement between school
self-evaluations and those arrived at by HMIE. The
authority had also used the data on individual quality
indicators as the basis for discussion about how schools
evaluated themselves on key aspects.
There was greater consistency in approach across schools
as a consequence of the restructuring of the quality
assurance system and the stronger role being played by
Heads of Learning Communities, who were helping to
forge a greater sense of identity among the establishments
in each community. Headteachers saw benefits from the
6
role played by Heads of Learning Communities in
discussing priorities and approaches with centrally-based
senior officers within the Education Resources
Management Team. This consistency in expectation and
approach was reinforced by a helpful suite of documents
and proformae which were used by schools and the Heads
of Learning Communities to carry out quality assurance
procedures and record key outcomes. When placed
alongside the very clear policy framework and the strong,
consistent emphasis on ensuring benefits for pupils, these
measures represented very good progress in further
developing its already very effective systems for
performance monitoring. The education authority had
enhanced its ability to target support for pupils where it
was needed most, and to broaden pupils’ wider
achievements. For example, attainment of looked after 4
children had improved and was well above the average
for comparator authorities. The proportion of school
leavers going on to higher education had also increased.
An increasing number of pupils were benefiting from
opportunities to broaden their achievement in enterprise
education, sports and the arts.
4.2 The authority should build on its
well-founded improvement framework to further
improve the attainment and achievement of
pupils, particularly at the upper secondary
stages, further reduce exclusions and ensure
that the gains already made are sustained.
The authority was making good progress on some aspects
and very good progress on other aspects of this main
point for action.
The establishment of a helpful management information
service (MIS) had increased the authority’s capacity to
support the monitoring and evaluation of pupil
4
The term ‘looked after’ in this report includes all children looked after or looked
after and accommodated by the Council.
7
attainment, attendance and exclusion patterns at
authority, learning community, school and secondary
school subject level. The information was presented in
an accessible form for a wide range of stakeholders,
indicating rising or falling trends, strengths and areas for
concern. The performance profiles were then used
effectively by officers to inform discussions and debate
on performance at all levels throughout the service and to
moderate the self-evaluation findings of individual
schools.
During the early part of session 2004/2005 Education
Resources involved secondary schools in identifying
particular strategies and initiatives as part of an overall
drive to raise achievement and attainment. A number of
key projects had been identified and implemented,
including:
•
developing the leadership roles of senior and middle
managers;
•
further developing effective classroom practice for all
teaching staff;
•
improving specific subject areas and
cross-curricular themes;
•
establishing successful formative assessment
strategies;
•
developing tracking systems; and
•
introducing a range of effective approaches to
mentoring staff.
This work had been further strengthened through three
well-received seminars for all sectors, entitled Making It
Happen, which were held in June 2004, November 2004
and June 2005. The first of these, which had a strong
positive influence on subsequent interactions within and
8
among schools, was used to highlight the key themes of
leadership, developing a culture of achievement, building
and sustaining improvement at school level and raising
attainment at secondary school department level.
Educational Resources had been largely successful in
maintaining aspects of good or very good performance in
5-14 national assessments and Scottish Qualifications
Authority (SQA) results which had been found in the
original HMIE inspection, and there had been
improvements in some areas. In 2003 and 2004,
performance in primary schools in reading and
mathematics remained above the national and comparator
authority averages. Performance in writing remained
above the average for comparator authorities and in line
with the national average. Attainment in writing had
remained steady from 2003-2005, and attainment in
mathematics had increased over that period. Attainment
in reading had dropped slightly over the same period.
In secondary schools, attainment by the end of S2 in
reading, writing and mathematics remained above or well
above the national and comparator authority averages in
2003 and 2004. Attainment in mathematics rose between
2003 and 2005 and attainment in reading rose slightly.
Attainment in writing dropped slightly between 2004 and
2005.
Over the period 2003-2005, the good or very good
performance in National Qualifications found in the
original inspection had been maintained, and results
remained broadly in line with or above the national
figures and above those of comparator authorities.
During this period the proportion of pupils attaining five
or more awards at SCQF 5 Level 3 or better, Level 4 or
better and Level 5 or better by the end of S4 had
5
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) levels:
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.
9
remained relatively steady. Performance at these levels
was generally in line with or above the national and
comparator authority averages. Performance at Level 5
was consistently above the average for comparator
authorities.
The proportion of pupils attaining three or more and five
or more awards at Level 6 by the end of S5 had remained
broadly in line with national figures and above that of
comparator authorities. The proportion of pupils who
gained one or more, three or more and five or more
awards at Level 6 by the end of S6 had dropped slightly
between 2003 and 2005 but remained consistently above
the average of comparator authorities and broadly in line
with or above national averages. Over the same period
the proportion of pupils gaining one or more awards at
Level 7 had fallen slightly to below the national average
and slightly below the comparator authority average in
2005. The proportions of pupils gaining five or more
awards at Levels 3, 4 or 5 by the end of S6 had remained
broadly steady and were generally in line with or above
the national and comparator authority averages.
Education Resources had worked hard to reduce
exclusions through a wide range of strategies including
behaviour support, home/school partnerships and
integrated working in Learning Communities. There had
been no permanent exclusions in the authority between
2002 and 2005 but there had been a slight rise in the
number of temporary exclusion incidents per
1,000 pupils. The number of temporary exclusions was
below the national figure and the average for comparator
authorities. Pupil attendance at primary schools remained
steady and in line with national and comparator authority
averages, while attendance at secondary schools had risen
slightly in line with these averages.
The proportion of S4 pupils staying on at school beyond
Christmas of S5 had risen slightly and was above the
national and comparator authority averages in 2005. The
10
proportion of school leavers entering full-time higher
education had risen in 2005 and remained above the
national and comparator authority averages.
Education Resources continued to promote the
importance of achievement in sporting, artistic and other
areas. An increased number of secondary school pupils
were benefiting from vocational programmes. The range
of citizenship activities was increasing in all sectors.
Increasing numbers of primary schools were registering
for and achieving awards under the Eco Schools
programme. The instrumental music service had
expanded to include a greater number of pupils. The
Active School programme had increased the number of
health-promoting opportunities and activities for pupils.
The Artsnet programme continued to expand and develop
young people’s experiences in dance, fashion, music and
other activities.
4.3 The authority should ensure that special
schools provide an appropriate length of week
for pupils.
The authority was making very good progress on this
main point for action.
In 2004 the Council agreed a rolling programme to ensure
that funding was in place for all developments relating to
the extension of the school day in special schools. At the
time of the follow-up visit almost all specialist provision
had school days which were in line with national
guidance. Following building works and staffing
changes, the remaining two schools were to be brought
within the guidance for the start of school session
2006/2007. The authority had approached the task
systematically, including consulting with parents
regarding the impact of the length of the school day and
carefully considering the implication for school buildings
and travel arrangements. The solutions adopted by the
authority had been well founded on improving the
curriculum in its special schools, for example by
11
increasing the breadth of curriculum through promoting
skills for work, increasing the number of courses at
suitable levels and offering a greater range of curriculum
choices and opportunities.
5. Conclusion
South Lanarkshire Council continued to maintain a clear
and strong vision for improving its educational services
to children, young people and families. Unity of purpose,
strong leadership from elected members and a
well-organised approach to business helped to provide a
framework of continuity and progression to the work of
Education Resources. A clear policy and quality
improvement framework allowed all staff to play a full
part in taking developments forward. Since the HMIE
inspection of 2003, the Council had made very good
progress overall in maintaining high standards and
implementing improvements where necessary.
Education Resources had built on its very effective
approaches to performance monitoring and evaluation
within establishments and now had an even more robust
evidence base for planning and reporting on further
improvement. The task for officers and staff in schools
had been to maintain high standards in attainment and
make improvements where necessary. They had been
largely successful in this, although some aspects of
attainment had decreased slightly. The authority
continued to reach higher levels of performance in
comparison to other authorities which had similar degrees
of relatively high deprivation.
The work of Education Resources continued to be
characterised by systematic, outcome-focused and
effective approaches to development. The way in which
it had set about bringing the length of the school day in
special schools into line with national advice was a good
example of this approach. There had been full
12
consultation, all aspects had been carefully considered,
and the outcomes for pupils had been improved overall.
Learning Communities, which were in their infancy at the
time of the original inspection, were now more
established and were having a positive impact on many
aspects of provision for learners. Having Heads of
Learning Communities who worked strategically with
other Heads of Service in central work and also played a
role in the day-to-day work of the communities was
helping to create teamwork and positive direction in all
establishments. Together with the Council’s ambitious
programme of school modernisation, the Learning
Communities were starting to realise the potential for
high standards of education now and into the future.
As a result of the overall very good progress made by the
authority, HMIE will make no further visits to the
education authority in connection with the 2003
inspection.
Annette Bruton
HM Chief Inspector
Directorate 5
July 2006
13
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 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.
14
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.
15
The work of HM Inspectorate of Education
HM Inspectors undertake first-hand, independent evaluations of the quality of
education. We publish our evaluations in clear and concise reports. Our inspections and
reviews monitor how well schools, colleges and other providers of education are
performing, and promote improvements in standards, quality and attainment in
education.
We ensure that inspection and review activities include the full range of pupils or
students in an educational establishment, giving due regard, without unfair
discrimination, to disability, gender, religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and
linguistic background.
Each year we also investigate and publish reports on key aspects of education. Our
collation, analysis and publication of the evidence and conclusions from all evaluations
identify and promote best practice in improving standards and quality. We draw on the
results of our evaluations, and our overall knowledge of the system, to provide
independent professional advice to the Scottish Ministers, relevant departments of the
Scottish Executive and others.
Further information on the work of HM Inspectorate of Education and its role in
Scottish education is available on our website. You will also find easy access to our
inspection and review reports and wide range of other publications.
http://www.hmie.gov.uk