Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Grange Academy
East Ayrshire Council
26 November 2013
Transforming lives through learning
1. Context
Community learning and development (CLD) partners within the area of
Grange Academy were inspected by Education Scotland during October 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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health and wellbeing, including a focus on sports;
integrated working and developing shared outcomes;
equalities; and
community engagement, including sustainability and the focus on asset transfer.
2. How well are partners improving learning, increasing life chances,
promoting and securing wellbeing?
A wide range of partners contribute to delivering and improving learning and
wellbeing in East Ayrshire. The strong focus on sports and very effective partnership
enables learners of all ages to develop skills and increase wellbeing. Partners are
increasingly focused on ensuring that there are opportunities for learners to gain
awards and accreditation, to work locally and benefit the local community.
Trends in accreditation and awards are good and improving overall. The number of
young people participating in, and achieving, the Community Sport Leader Award at
Grange Academy has increased from 45 last year to 58 this year. This is delivered
in partnership with Active Schools and other key partners. Almost all participants
undertake additional volunteering, beyond the minimum required for the award.
Primary schools and sports clubs and associations benefit from the increased levels
of activities available for their participants. Levels of other awards such as Saltire
are also increasing and staff are ensuring that young people gain multiple
accreditation, where possible.
Thematic partnerships around sports, health, community safety and employability
are having clear impacts on local communities. Coordination in relation to positive
and sustainable destinations for learners is increasingly effective. The East Ayrshire
Works Partnership works well with Grange Academy, Park School and other key
partners to target and support young people to access appropriate employment,
education and training opportunities. Partners publish case studies evidencing a
wide range of positive outcomes on their website.
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Priority groups are identified and targeted by partners at authority level based on an
analysis on demographic data, surveys, NHS admission statistics and other key
information. Staff should be able to access and make more effective use of this data
and analysis at local level, to enable them to make even better use of local
resources.
Partners are delivering services that make strong impacts on vulnerable and
targeted groups and these are clearly improving life chances for participants. Young
people involved in the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender group are developing
their skills, confidence and knowledge and working on making a difference to others.
They have developed materials to support diversity training and produced peer
education materials to challenge attitudes. Many other young people also have a
strong commitment to improving their communities. Examples include the
organisation of the 2012 Youth Conference by young people from Grange Academy.
Through the conference, young people helped to shape responsible attitudes
towards alcohol, sexual health and relationships, bullying and disability. Partners
should review some approaches to selection to ensure the appropriate
representation of all young people.
There are strong impacts in relation to health and wellbeing for all ages. East
Ayrshire Council for Voluntary Organisations (CVO) has demonstrated the effective
use of NHS data to develop a business case for a sustainable community run
podiatry service. The CVO sets targets and monitors its progress to ensure this new
service is on-track to achieve its goals. This is bedded into an overall strategy to
meet social, health and learning needs of older people which is coordinated by a
wide range of services as well as a very effective local forum. Learners engaged in
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) overcome barriers and partners
target resources through flexible delivery solutions, including a community based
college ESOL for Work course and the ESOL Digital group.
Powerful learner statements and case studies demonstrate learners moving on with
their lives. This includes ways that they support their children’s learning. Staff
should regularly review pace, challenge and progression to ensure they are at the
right level for all learners.
Parents and families are well targeted in Shortlees and access to learning and
services has increased. Parents have made new friends and increased their support
network through attending family fun days organised by the Shortlees multi agency
and parent partnership group. They have benefited from workshops on
breastfeeding, diet, physical activity and play.
Learners of all ages with additional support needs engage in relevant challenging
activities, building skills, experience and networks. The ALL ABILITY: C.H.A.M.P.S.
fitness programme impacts well on the health, wellbeing and skills of families
through developing sports and play. Children and young people are improving their
abilities to socialise, exercise, have fun and learn new skills. Parents report
significant improvements in their child’s mental, emotional, social and physical
wellbeing. There is a strong focus on sustaining positive life changes through further
programmes and developing independent groups. Many family members are
sustaining their lifestyle changes and supporting each other through the
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TreMENDous Graduates Club, a constituted voluntary group that meets weekly.
Partners have a good understanding of what motivates people to volunteer and work
well to incorporate volunteers into their teams, especially in core areas such as
sports and literacies.
Community groups gain confidence and skills through the development programmes
offered by the Communities Team. This calls on the help of wider partners to
provide training in business planning, finance and committee skills. Community
groups are able to take on new challenges and develop well consulted
community-led action plans as a result of support and training. There are early
indications of increasing confidence of local people to engage knowledgably in asset
transfer negotiations with the local authority. Partners should continue to review
opportunities for groups to network and share skills, knowledge and experience.
Young people and adults involved in the Kilmarnock Skaters Group (KSG) are
developing a wide range of fundraising and committee skills. They are negiotating
with the police, elected members and others in authority. The volunteers involved in
the Athletics Sports Partnership plan, coordinate and review their activities based on
local, national and international priorities. Income generation through hosting
events, sponsorship and fundraising enables them to be targeted in terms of
resourcing individuals and groups based on needs to ensure equality of opportunity.
3. How well are partners working together and improving the quality of
services and provision?
East Ayrshire Council and their partners have recently reviewed approaches to
working together with each other and communities. Much of this is building on long
standing activities and partnership. It is evident in this learning community that there
is some very good joint planning and delivery that has high levels of impact for local
people. The commitment to integrated working is enabling partners to lead on
themes and programmes which best suit their expertise and resources. As part of
the ‘Reshaping Services for Older People’ initiative, the CVO has built the capacity of
community members to set up the Seniors Hub and establish targeted services like
the Feet First Podiatry Service, computing classes and a job club.
The Belford Mill Hub provides a modern, versatile base for a wide range of voluntary
sector groups to operate from. Networking opportunities afforded by groups being
colocated at the hub allow the sharing of good practice such as, the use of peer
mentors to support new volunteers. Community groups are gaining confidence and
skills through the development programmes offered by the Communities Team and
wider partners.
A practitioner’s network is increasing communication, understanding and planning for
staff. Staff and volunteers working at local levels need to build a more coherent
working understanding of use of available data and self-evaluation. There is a
particular need to ensure that targets are focused on improving outcomes for
learners and local communities as well as meeting single outcome agreement and
other high level outcomes.
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This inspection of learning and development in the learning community surrounding
Grange Academy found the following key strengths.
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Thematic partnership working in relation to key strategic priorities.
Real understanding of local needs and prioritising of services focused on
vulnerable groups.
Building capacity of individuals and local communities.
Strong and well-coordinated focus on sports.
We discussed with partners how they might continue to improve their work. This is
what we agreed with them.
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Ensure the balance of learning and building sustainable independent groups
goes at the pace of local people.
Continue to develop shared understanding to enable staff to address key
priorities.
4. What happens at the end of the inspection?
We are satisfied with the overall quality of provision. We are confident that the
learning community’s self-evaluation processes are leading to improvements. As a
result, we will make no further evaluative visits in connection with this inspection.
During the inspection, we identified aspects of innovative practice which we would
like to explore further. As a result we will work with the Grange Academy learning
community and education authority in order to record and share more widely the
innovative practice.
Maureen Mallon
HM Inspector
26 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/othersectors/com
munitylearninganddevelopment/grangeacademylceastayrshire.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.
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.
Crown Copyright 2013
Education Scotland
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