Learning community inspection
A report by HM Inspectorate of Education
Inspection of the learning community
surrounding
Hyndland Secondary School
Glasgow 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 around Hyndland Secondary School is in the west end of
Glasgow, and includes parts of Partick and Whiteinch. The area is densely
populated with a population size of approximately 37,000. Housing is
predominantly owner occupied tenement flats and other flatted housing. Levels of
social and economic disadvantage are much lower than in other parts of Glasgow.
The proportion of people employed in managerial and professional occupations is
much higher than the national average. Crime, including vandalism, drug
offences and domestic abuse is significantly lower than the Glasgow average.
Current challenges for community learning and development (CLD) providers in
the area include complex community planning arrangements in Glasgow and
balancing universal provision with targeted services focused on neighbouring
areas of disadvantage. Glasgow City Council provides most of its culture, sports
and CLD services through Glasgow Life, a registered charity and company limited
by guarantee. Glasgow Life works with a number of public and voluntary sector
partner organisations and other council services in the area.
2. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Strong focus on delivering high quality provision during period of
organisational change and budget constraint.
•
Strong, active, well-organised and well-supported community organisations
and networks.
•
High levels of volunteering.
•
Good range of high quality learning through arts and culture.
•
Strong impacts experienced by learners and participants.
3. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Partners in the area demonstrate important improvements in performance. For
example, a substantial increase in the number of young people benefiting from
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has been achieved over the past two years.
Steady progress is being made in training sports leaders and in the
implementation of the sports clubs quality and accreditation system. Glasgow Life
monitors performance information such as attendance figures against objectives
set across the company’s activities. Good progress is being made in using a
management information system to improve tracking of performance in CLD work.
Participants benefit from high quality services across a good range of provision.
High numbers of volunteers are improving skills and gaining qualifications.
1
Effective measurement of performance is not sufficiently consistent across all
aspects of work. Partners now need to build on progress made in improving their
understanding of outcomes.
Young people
Young people are learning and achieving well through a range of out of school
hours activities. Large numbers at Broomhill Sports Club are more active and are
gaining leadership and organisational skills. Fitness training and healthy eating
sessions at Glasgow West Amateur Boxing Club help participants to improve
behaviour, fitness and self discipline. A few young people are training as
coaches. Peer educators at Notre Dame High School have increased awareness
and improved knowledge of drugs and alcohol issues through taking part in
Addiction Forum training. Young people participating in the XL ski group take on
new challenges, develop a sense of achievement and gain qualifications.
Increasing numbers of young people in the area are achieving accreditation in
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Through taking part they have developed team
working, leadership skills and improved confidence. There are strong examples
of young people overcoming serious personal challenges to achieve Gold level
awards. Youth Unlimited participants are developing employability skills and
progressing to other opportunities. Well-organised play sessions help children to
make progress on transition to secondary school. Partners do not yet have a
sufficiently clear understanding of how well young people are achieving. A clearer
analysis of the needs of young people in the area, including those at risk of
missing out, is required. Young people need to be more fully engaged in
discussion about their priorities for the area and in shaping services.
Adults
Adult learners in the Hyndland learning community are achieving very well. Highly
effective workplace numeracy support at Gartnavel Hospital helps trainee nursing
staff to gain essential practical skills. A good range of adult learning opportunities
at Whiteinch and Partick is helping participants to achieve skills, develop
confidence and improve mental health and wellbeing. This brings benefits in
social, family and work settings. English for speakers of other languages (ESOL)
learners are making good progress and use skills gained to enhance their
everyday lives and work. Learners involved in the Aye Write book festival are
showcasing their work and celebrating their learning. Adult learners are very well
supported, included and respected. They enjoy being actively involved in shaping
their learning experience. Participants share their skills, experience and
knowledge very well. Good links to wider cultural and artistic festivals and events
in the area enable participants to progress and extend their learning activities.
Adults and children involved in the ‘Birds of Paradise’ Drama Group have gained
confidence through working together in a community project, building on effective
work by local history and writing projects. This resulted in the recent successful
performance of a play highlighting the social, political and economic history of the
Whiteinch area. Participants are now more active as group members and have
involved more people in the local community. Libraries have engaged parents
and their children in some early years learning activities. The impact of this work
could be improved by setting clearer objectives amongst partners working with
2
children and families. There is a need to improve the coordination, planning and
marketing of all adult learning to ensure that learners have better information on
opportunities to take part and make progress in learning.
4. How well are communities developing and achieving?
Active and well-supported community groups and organisations work effectively in
the area. A high number of volunteers are developing skills and qualifications as
sports coaches and play leaders. Playscheme volunteers gaining SVQ level
qualifications in childcare and education have progressed in further and higher
education and employment. Volunteers qualifying as basic expedition leaders
have helped to substantially increase numbers of young people taking part in The
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Community sports groups are well-supported to
develop and deliver high quality services through a sports club accreditation
scheme. Voluntary community groups are active in improving the local
environment. For example, Friends of Naseby Park and Friends of Old Station
Park are re-establishing and improving local parks and play areas. Groups share
information well to identify needs, access training and influence services.
Inclusive practice is strong across activities. For example, community
playscheme training enabled members of the local Chinese community to access
adult ESOL provision and improve their English language skills. Partners and
council services working in the area are not sufficiently clear about allocation of
lead responsibility for developing aspects of CLD work. Organisations are
uncertain about funding and administrative boundary issues for community
planning.
5. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
Staff in the area are highly focused on improving services. Glasgow Life have
applied the How Good is Our Culture and Sport? framework systematically to
identify strengths and areas for improvement. Participants views are used
effectively to inform evaluation of provision. Peer review, involving a number of
different organisations, has been applied very effectively to plan improvement in
adult literacy and numeracy work. Regular review and reflection has helped staff
to be clearer about the impact of their provision and to be better informed on
effective practice. Partners are making good use of a national CLD training fund
to build capacity for improvement. For example, the content of sports leaders’
training and qualifications has been linked to the experiences and outcomes of
Curriculum for Excellence. Further progress is needed to ensure that all staff
involved have a sufficiently clear understanding of effective outcome-focused
planning and evaluation. Reporting to stakeholders on progress made at local
level is not sufficiently succinct or coherent across activities.
6. Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction?
Partners working in the area have a clear sense of direction. Staff remain focused
on delivering high quality services in a period of significant change and challenge.
3
Improvements to planning and tracking of progress are being introduced.
Members of community groups are confident and are clear about what they wish
to achieve. There is a good capacity across the partnership to recognise
challenges and opportunities. Complex community planning arrangements and
changes to administrative boundaries present challenges for effective partnership
work.
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.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the education authority
and its partners.
•
Develop a clearer local plan for youth work based on analysis of need with
schools, young people and youth work providers.
•
Build on progress made in developing effective systems for self-evaluation
and planning for improvement.
•
Improve shared planning and monitoring of activity amongst partners
engaged in community capacity building work.
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 Hyndland Secondary School.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Peter Hamilton
26 April 2011
4
good
good
very good
very 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