Validated
self-evaluation
Dumfries and Galloway Council
21 July 2015
Validated self-evaluation in Dumfries and Galloway Council: Education
Authority
Commentary by Education Scotland
Introduction
As part of its strategy to drive continuous improvement for learners and to ensure it is
delivering best value, Dumfries and Galloway Council invited a team of HM Inspectors
from Education Scotland to work with them on a validated self-evaluation (VSE)
between January and June 2015. The VSE was conducted as part of Dumfries and
Galloway Education Services’ Strategic Improvement Programme which set out to
review progress against the Education Services’ Business Plan objectives for
2012-2015.
The VSE was used to review Objective 3 of Dumfries and Galloway’s business plan to:
‘promote and support a culture of confidence, collaboration and creativity’. The specific
focus chosen by the council for the VSE was raising attainment and building capacity in
the workforce.
The VSE was organised around the application of the virtuous cycle of looking inwards,
outwards and forwards and took place over three phases from January to June 2015.
Each phase built on the previous, with ongoing work being undertaken by the VSE
review teams between each of Education Scotland's three support visits. Further details
on the VSE process can be found in the Dumfries and Galloway Council VSE report.
What has the validated self-evaluation achieved?
Senior officers’ planning and overall approach to the VSE was of a very high quality.
The process they designed and put in place aligned very effectively with the Single
Outcome Agreement and the business planning cycle. This resulted in very strong
capacity building of staff to deliver continuous improvement. It is a methodology which
will be used in the future to inform business planning. This will make the plan a more
meaningful document for all staff who need to deliver the outcomes. The VSE delivered
a very strong evidence-based shared understanding of the future focus for Dumfries
and Galloway Education Authority. Review team members will now be very effective
ambassadors for the Education Service to draft and take forward an Action Plan
resulting from the higher level strengths and targets for improvement identified as a
result of the VSE. Review team chairs and members quickly took ownership of the
process and demonstrated strong leadership as the VSE progressed. These skills will
be used for future improvement activities undertaken by the Education Service and by
individual review team members in their own establishments. As review teams became
more confident, questions became more focused on impact and outcomes leading to
more robust evaluations and actions. The quality of self-evaluation therefore improved
as the process progressed, leading HM Inspectors to have a high level of confidence in
the areas identified by the review teams for inclusion in the 2015-2018 Business Plan.
Review teams scrutinised the performance of the Education Authority very effectively by
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interrogating data, senior officers and each other. The outcome of this scrutiny was an
improved understanding of Education Services’ performance, and how data can be
used more effectively in the future. All members of the review teams are now clear
about the need to close the poverty gap and are committed to promoting this as a key
priority.
What did we find?
As a result of the VSE, HM Inspectors found:
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very strong and highly-effective leadership demonstrated by the Director, Heads of
Service and Senior Officers;
a clear vision for education has been very effectively articulated and is shared by
the review teams, this is building capacity in staff to deliver the very best outcomes
for learners;
a robust and rigorous quality improvement framework with highly effective
self-evaluation processes is in place, this now needs to be made more explicit and
coherent;
a clear focus on building staff skills to improve learning and teaching, raise
attainment and develop strong leadership at all levels; and
robust sources of data at broad general education and senior phases providing the
Education Authority with the ability to carry out precise analysis and scrutiny of
performance at authority, school and individual pupil levels.
Looking ahead
Dumfries and Galloway Education Service now need to:
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ensure that the learning accrued during the VSE is disseminated across all partners
in the emerging Children, Young People and Lifelong Learning Directorate;
realise the potential of Dumfries and Galloway to become a very high performing
authority, with a particular focus on closing the gap as identified in the current
business plan;
continue to look outwards to identify and share good practice such as the use of
data to close the poverty gap; and
refine and focus on fewer targets to help provide clarity for all staff on the key
priorities within the authority’s Business Plan.
Next steps
Dumfries and Galloway Education Services identified six areas of improvement which
they will take forward in the 2015-2018 Business Plan. These are:
1. use data effectively to raise attainment for all;
2. continuously improve and ensure schools develop a coherent 2-18 curriculum;
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3. improve engagement with service users and staff;
4. develop a clear rationale and plan for evaluation and reflection in all areas of
service delivery;
5. build capacity in wider contexts; and
6. ensure clear, consistent and effective communication.
Dr Laura-Ann Currie
HM Inspector
21 July 2015
Further details can be found in the Dumfries and Galloway Council’s VSE report
http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=11522
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