Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Kirkintilloch High School
East Dunbartonshire Council
05 November 2013
Transforming lives through learning
1. Context
Community Learning and Development (CLD) partners within the area of Kirkintilloch
High School (KHS) were inspected by Education Scotland during September 2013.
During the visit Education Scotland staff talked to children, young people and adults.
We worked closely with local CLD managers, CLD providers, partners, paid staff and
volunteers. We wanted to find out how well partners are improving the life chances
of people living in the community through learning, building stronger more resilient
communities and improving the quality of services and provision. We also looked at
how well, paid staff and volunteers are developing their own practices and how well
partners, including schools are working together. We looked at some particular
aspects of recent work which were identified by partners including:
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community involvement;
improving outcomes for families;
employability;
financial inclusion;
achievements of young people;
health improvement; and
community safety.
2. How well are partners improving learning, increasing life chances,
promoting and securing wellbeing?
Partners working in the learning community surrounding KHS deliver high quality
learning provision which is very well focussed on increasing life chances for local
people. Partners know the learning and support needs very well and target their
resources for maximum effect. They place a strong emphasis on equalities and
respect in working with local communities and learners. The impacts on learners
and communities are very well linked to the Single Outcome Agreement (SOA).
Family learning is a high priority in this learning community and partners across
services are working well together to understand and meet local needs. The Family
Centre in Hillhead is an excellent example of staff building on the relationships they
have built up with families in the nursery and primary to develop relevant
programmes. Levels of engagement with the Parent Teacher Association have
increased substantially and over 40% of families now engage on at least one
programme. Children and young people receive very effective support to enhance
their health and wellbeing. Tailored programmes on food and health, alcohol,
tobacco and drugs, and bullying and domestic violence result in children and young
people expressing confidence and improved knowledge. Children taking part in the
Junior Wardens programme and in the Grubeye drama work are highly active and
enthusiastic participants. Taking part has contributed to an improved understanding
of personal and community safety matters and health and wellbeing. This work is
developed and monitored through health and wellbeing indicators and there are early
indications of improvements for children, young people and their families. Partners
are actively working to develop data sharing and analysis approaches at local levels
across services.
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Young people’s achievements are increasingly recognised and celebrated. Some
good examples are already in place, through the very active local Scouts and
Guides. Numbers of Saltire Awards for volunteering are low but improving. Clear
plans are in place to build these into more programmes and to enable young people
to gain recognition and accreditation for work they are already involved in. Trends in
awards are improving overall. Staff and volunteers have a good working
understanding of Curriculum for Excellence and programmes are clearly linked to
experiences and outcomes. Partners are working to ensure that progression is built
in across settings and that curriculums are complementary to encourage learner
progression. This is particularly the case in music with a wide range of orchestras,
fiddle groups and projects actively engaging with the music department in KHS.
Information about young people’s achievements and progression between most
other activities and programmes is limited. Improving the coherence between
programmes would enable children, young people and those working with them to
monitor and evaluate their progression.
High levels of participants engage regularly in diversionary activities which are
having clear impacts on community safety. 140-160 young people attend Friday
Night Live and between 100 and 170 take part in Saturday’s KLC629 group.
Targeted sports activities delivered through the MUGA (portable Multi-Use Games
Arena). Police statistics show an improving trend with fewer youth disorder related
calls received. Women who have experienced domestic abuse feel safe and ready
to move on in their lives as a result of support they received from the Kirkintilloch
Women’s Refuge.
The Youth Employment Action Plan Group are working very effectively together and
sustaining positive destination levels. 16+ activity agreements are leading to full
employment opportunities as a result of individual programmes to meet needs. A
strong partnership approach is making a difference to the life chances of young
people at risk of unemployment. A Risk Matrix is used to identify pupils most at risk,
enabling partners to target transition support at an early stage. Some young people
at risk of negative destinations have secured Modern Apprenticeships and have
good prospects because the local authority has taken a proactive approach to
creating apprenticeship opportunities. Winter schools leavers are gaining skills to
plan for transition into work and further study through the Positive Achievements
programme. Similarly, work to support adults returning to work through a variety of
programmes such as those at Kirkintilloch Learning Centre deliver increasing levels
of positive destinations for learners moving onto employment or further education.
Guidance and support is very tailored to meet the needs of individual learners.
Growing numbers of adult learners are achieving accreditation in Literacy and
Numeracy.
Highly skilled active and influential individuals, organisations and groups are well
supported by East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action (EDVA), East Dunbartonshire
Council (EDC) officers and each other. Volunteer levels are high overall in the area
and training and accreditation opportunities are well targeted and accessible. Group
Recovery Aftercare Community Enterprise (GRACE) and the CEDAR project, which
is focussed on domestic abuse, offer specialist support and learning programmes.
Most participants have experienced significant improvements to their health as a
result of taking part in self-awareness and health-related courses. Twechar Healthy
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Living and Enterprise Centre takes a very holistic approach to making a positive
impact on the lives of local people. Learning is at the centre of much of their activity
and there is an ethos of aspiration and achievement for all. They will shortly become
an SQA approved centre and will review all of their activities at that stage to ensure
that employees and learners locally can gain access to relevant accreditation.
These groups are examples of the enterprising culture of this learning community.
There is an overall trend towards community leadership and delivering high quality
local services to meet well-identified needs. Food banks have grown up across the
authority area, delivered and developed by the Baptist Church and other partners.
Local groups and agencies are keen to develop closer links with schools to both
increase the involvement of young people and make better use of local expertise in
the curriculum.
3. How well are partners working together and improving the quality of
services and provision?
The self-evaluation for Kirkintilloch Learning Community is very coherent and reflects
the discussions with partners and stakeholders throughout the inspection process.
Individual practitioners and agencies are committed to developing increasingly
complementary processes to monitor and evaluate outcomes. Partners have a
shared understanding and common purpose. The Single SOA focus on prevention
and reducing inequality is evident in local priorities and workplans. The work that
was undertaken in developing the SOA by engaging local agencies and staff has led
to it being seen as a shared document. Partners demonstrate a clear understanding
of public service reform and are actively seeking ways to refocus their work
emphasising prevention and early intervention. A strategic focus on ‘Place’ in the
Hillhead area has resulted in partner organisations reviewing priorities and ways of
working. As a result their capacity to engage more effectively with communities is
improving.
Joint training for staff and volunteers has been developing across some services and
agencies, notably EDC and EDVA. There is a need to extend this, particularly in
relation to Curriculum for Excellence. Organisations and establishments working
with young people have a good opportunity in this area to begin to undertake more
coordinated joint improvement planning and curriculum development.
This inspection of learning and development in the learning community surrounding
Kirkintilloch High School found the following key strengths:
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A clear and developing focus on improvement, prevention and inclusion.
Strong leadership for improvement at all levels.
Purposeful, focussed partnerships developing effective approaches in relation to
integrated working.
Informed and well-connected community groups delivering very effective local
services.
We discussed with partners how they might continue to improve their work. This is
what we agreed with them.
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Develop approaches to coherent joint planning across 3-18 learning providers
further.
Continue to ensure that the common purpose and understanding is shared by
the widest group of relevant stakeholders.
4. What happens at the end of the inspection?
The inspection team was able to rely on the high quality self-evaluation provided by
the learning community. Partners have a good understanding of their strengths and
areas for improvement and communities are achieving very well. As a result we
have ended the inspection process at this stage.
Maureen Mallon
HM Inspector
05 November 2013
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Additional inspection evidence, such as details of the quality indicator evaluations,
for this learning community can be found on the Education Scotland website at
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/school/primsec/Kir
kintillochHighSchoolEastDunbartonshire.asp
If you would like to receive this report in a different format, for example, in a
translation you can contact the administration team on 01506 600381.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact
us by telephone on 0141 282 5000, or e-mail:
complaints@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us, addressing your letter to
The Complaints Manager, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Livingston,
EH54 6GA.
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Crown Copyright 2013.
Education Scotland
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