Validated self-evaluation
West Lothian Council
10 September 2013
Validated self-evaluation in West Lothian Council
Commentary by Education Scotland
Introduction
As part of their strategy to drive continuous improvement for learners and to ensure it
is delivering best value, West Lothian Council, invited a team from Education
Scotland, including HM Inspectors and Associate Assessors to work with them on a
validated self-evaluation (VSE) between February and April 2013. The VSE was
conducted as part of the Education Service’s planned approach to self-evaluation.
Further details on the themes examined through the VSE can be found in the
West Lothian VSE report.
What has the VSE achieved?
HM Inspectors are now confident that the overall quality of West Lothian Council’s
self-evaluation activity is accurate and robust. Council officers and their partners
took the VSE very seriously and were strongly committed to ensuring that their
evaluative approaches were rigorous and used widely to bring about improvement
for learners. The VSE built further capacity in staff who were already strongly
committed to improvement and skilled in reflecting on their practice. Education
Scotland provided a significant degree of challenge to each group which supported
their continued development. The VSE also provided opportunities for groups to
work together in new ways including with others that they had not worked with
before. This broadened their thinking and strengthened their approach to support
and challenge, resulting in a stronger evidence base. The positive way staff applied
the principles of VSE has enabled the authority to plan an innovative revision of their
quality improvement framework.
Looking ahead
The VSE has been a catalyst for new thinking around continuous improvement and
has built a momentum for change. Staff who were not directly involved in the VSE
now see opportunities to be involved in the design of future improvement
approaches across the authority and in their own roles. Council officers are planning
creative and innovative ways to develop new systems and processes for quality
improvement. Some of these will apply the methodology used in the VSE, working
directly with schools and partners. Work is now underway with a broad range of staff
to develop a new improvement strategy. These new approaches have the potential
to be transformational and will ensure that continuous improvement for learners
continues to be at the heart of their work. As a result, Education Scotland has
continued to work in partnership with the authority to help build capacity and support
their drive for change.
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Next steps
As a result of the VSE, West Lothian Council has planned a number of
improvements which are detailed in the authority’s VSE report. The Council will
continue to work in partnership with the Area Lead Officer and other Education
Scotland staff to design and develop their new approaches for continuous
improvement.
Lesley R. Brown
HM Inspector
Education Scotland
Appendix: West Lothian Council self-evaluation
http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/education/
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