Learning community inspection
A report by HM Inspectorate of Education
Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Dyce Academy
Aberdeen City Council
26 April 2011
We inspect learning communities in order to let those who use services and the
local community know whether learning communities provide appropriate learning
opportunities and help learners in their development. We are also interested in
how community and voluntary groups are helped to contribute to making
communities better places to live and work. At the end of inspections, we agree
ways in which staff and volunteers can improve the quality of learning for young
people and adults and how the impact of community and voluntary groups can be
further developed.
At the beginning of the inspection, we ask managers and staff about the strengths
of the learning community, what needs to improve, and how they know. We use
the information they give us to help us plan what we are going to look at. During
the inspection, we join other activities which young people, adults and community
groups are involved in. We also gather the views of learners, active community
members and staff. We find their views very helpful and use them together with
the other information we have collected to arrive at our view of the quality of
provision locally.
This report tells you what we found during the inspection and the quality of
learning and development provided. We describe how well learners are doing
and how good the learning community is at helping them to learn. We comment
on how well staff, learners and groups work together and the difference they are
making in the learning community. Finally, we focus on how well the learning
community is led and how leaders help the learning community achieve its aims.
If you would like to learn more about our inspection of the learning community,
please visit www.hmie.gov.uk.
Contents
1.
The learning community
2.
Particular strengths of the learning community
3.
How well do participants learn and achieve?
4.
How well are communities developing and achieving?
5.
How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
6.
Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction?
7.
What happens next?
1. The learning community
The learning community surrounding Dyce Academy includes the communities of
Dyce, Stoneywood and Newmacher. Newmacher is situated within
Aberdeenshire Council. The area is one of the lesser deprived areas in Scotland.
Most households in the area are privately owned. A sizeable minority of the
population are over 50 years of age. Around one percent of the population are
jobless which reflects the average rate in Aberdeen. The population is generally
healthier than the Scottish average. Due to the high population of older people,
many activities are focused on older adults and adults with families. The
community learning and development (CLD) service is currently facing
uncertainties about possible budget savings which will be required over the next
few years.
2. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Motivated learners who feel valued, included and have a sense of belonging.
•
Much good quality adult learning provision.
•
Active, experienced and enthusiastic community volunteers.
•
Positive impact of some community groups on their neighbourhoods.
3. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Learners within the Dyce Academy learning community feel a sense of belonging
and enjoy a sense of purpose through the welcoming environments provided by
CLD staff and volunteers. CLD service outcomes are developed from the Single
Outcome Agreement and reflect the Education, Culture and Sport interim service
plan. The CLD service and their partners make some use of performance data to
help measure their effectiveness, identify trends and inform planning. Trend
information, however, across the learning community is too limited and CLD
providers could make better use of their information to plan provision. The
majority of targets for adult learners set in CLD work plans are being met or
exceeded. Overall, targets could be more ambitious and aspirational.
Young people
Young people value and respond well to the safe and inclusive environments
created by staff and volunteers. Attendance at some provision is regular and
sustained by young people who engage enthusiastically in the activities provided.
A few are developing leadership skills and taking on responsibilities within their
groups. Young men involved in the Boys Brigade are learning leadership skills,
1
team work, and developing a sense of personal responsibility and self-worth. The
Music 4U project is having a positive impact on the communication skills and
confidence of all the participants. Young women involved in the Girls On The
Move programme gained an important understanding and awareness of group
dynamics, health and safety and equalities issues. They successfully achieved a
dance leadership qualification, which they are using to benefit others. The CLD
service should develop further opportunities for national accreditation and devise
ways of reviewing, recording, and celebrating young peoples’ achievements. The
lack of continuity and instability of some groups has had a negative impact on
young people’s experience of learning in the community.
Adults
Adult learners from all age groups feel welcome and part of the local community
when they join classes at Dyce Community Centre. Adult learners are actively
encouraged to take part in a narrow range and number of classes and groups and
as a result they are gaining confidence. Older learners are particularly well
motivated. They believe that the opportunities provided through attending groups
and classes is improving their physical and mental health. They enjoy the
challenge of learning new skills such as using Skype and text to communicate
more with their families. Art group members are proud of their skills and their
abilities to put on an annual art exhibition. Staff from Aberdeen College are
encouraging Garden Craft Group members to organise and display their work. A
few students are gaining important employability skills to help them apply for work
or to advance in their workplace. A few participants are making significant
progress over very short time periods. Learners are taking part in courses and
gaining skills and certificates to assist them to help more vulnerable people within
the community. In particular, participants in the childminders group completed a
Community Child Minding Certificate which enables them to provide emergency
respite care for children whose parents are temporarily unable to care for them.
Staff and volunteers from the Big Red Bus attending Drug Proof Your Kids
classes are better able to help young people stay safe. The CLD service should
develop more accredited courses, improve opportunities for progression and
develop learning which is better targeted to meet the needs of the community.
4. How well are communities developing and achieving?
Dyce Academy learning community has a range of active and vibrant community
groups providing services that are responding effectively to expressed community
needs. Community groups contribute well to improving the overall quality of life in
the neighbourhood. Across the learning community a number of opportunities are
available for volunteering. Some volunteer opportunities provide accredited
learning. Dyce Boys Club volunteers, for example, achieve accredited Scottish
Football Association coaching awards. As a result, over the past 30 years a large
number of boys have benefited. Community groups are self-reliant, independent
and successfully fundraise to support their activities and services. Some groups
have successfully levered external funding into the area. Local residents have
engaged in community planning through the enabling work of a local authority
officer and have influenced local decision making. For example, effective
2
community engagement activity has resulted in local people significantly
improving Sluie Park for community recreational use. The Newmacher
Community Newsletter provides a very helpful vehicle for community
engagement, consultation and information sharing. Profits from advertising are
used for the benefit of the neighbourhood. Effective collaborative working is
beginning to emerge among some learning community partners. Whilst at the
early stages of development the Learning Partnership, which includes Dyce
Academy, offers good opportunities to map the existing provision and identify
community capacity building needs across the whole learning community.
5. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
The CLD service has clearly identified key strengths and areas for improvement.
Workers have attended training focused on improvement which has helped to
improve their understanding and the quality of self-assessments. CLD service
staff attend regular team meetings to review their work and reflect on practice.
Helpfully, presentations on good practice are a standing agenda item for the
monthly meetings. CLD work plans are developed well on functional themes.
Monitoring reports and self-evaluations are regularly reviewed to inform future
plans and practices. Big Red Bus staff are successfully using Facebook as a
method for keeping in contact with, and involving, young people. This was a
particularly useful means of communication during disruptions to the service in the
winter months. Overall, processes to jointly review and evaluate the impact of the
CLD service and partners are underdeveloped. Young people, adult learners and
community groups would value and benefit from more opportunities to become
actively engaged in decision making and in the planning and delivery of provision.
6. Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction?
Across the learning community, the CLD service and partners are beginning to
work better together. Curriculum for Excellence presents a clear rationale for
closer collaboration in the future. A recently implemented health information
drop-in at Dyce Academy is providing important information to enable young
people to stay safe. A more effective pooling and sharing of resources will
contribute better to ensuring value for money. The CLD service and partners
including schools, now need to work together to develop a collective and shared
vision for the future direction of the learning community.
7. What happens next?
There are some important improvements needed, but because CLD providers
have a good understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement, and
communities are achieving well, we have ended the inspection process at this
stage. We will monitor progress through our regular contact with the education
authority.
3
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the education authority
and its partners.
•
Increase the involvement of young people, adult learners and community
groups in decision making.
•
Improve partnerships, including with Dyce Academy, to improve outcomes for
learners and community groups.
•
Develop a collective and shared vision for the future of the learning
community.
•
Establish joint planning and evaluation to improve accreditation, monitoring
and reporting of outcomes.
Quality indicators help CLD providers and inspectors to judge what is good and
what needs to be improved in the learning community. You can find these quality
indicators in the HMIE publication “How good is our community learning and
development? 2”.
HMIE checks five important quality indicators to keep track of how well all Scottish
CLD provision is doing. Here are the results for the learning community
surrounding Dyce Academy.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Elizabeth Morrison
26 April 2011
4
satisfactory
satisfactory
good
good
good
This report uses the following word scale to make clear judgements made by
inspectors.
excellent
very good
good
satisfactory
weak
unsatisfactory
outstanding, sector leading
major strengths
important strengths with some areas for improvement
strengths just outweigh weaknesses
important weaknesses
major weaknesses
If you would like to find out more about our inspections or get an electronic copy
of this report, please go to www.hmie.gov.uk.
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format,
for example, in a translation, or if you wish to comment about any aspect of our
inspections. You can contact us at HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or write to us
at BMCT, HM Inspectorate of Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business
Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA.
Text phone users can contact us on 01506 600 236. This is a service for deaf
users. Please do not use this number for voice calls as the line will not connect
you to a member of staff.
You can find our complaints procedure on our website www.hmie.gov.uk or
alternatively you can contact our Complaints Manager, at the address above or by
telephoning 01506 600259.
Crown Copyright 2011
HM Inspectorate of Education