Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Carnoustie High School
Angus Council
23 April 2013
Transforming lives through learning
1. Context
Community learning and development (CLD) partners within the area of Carnoustie
High School were inspected by Education Scotland during February 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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broad achievement,
joint self-evaluation and improvement planning,
health and wellbeing,
employability and positive destinations, and
community empowerment.
2. How well are partners improving learning, increasing life chances,
promoting and securing wellbeing?
Learning community partners positively contribute to improving young people’s life
chances. The percentage of young people in Carnoustie progressing to positive
destinations is improving. Very good use is made of youth accreditation awards to
recognise young people’s achievement. Completion rates in Dynamic Youth
Awards, Youth Achievement Awards (YAA) and The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award are
increasing year on year. 27 young people from Carnoustie have obtained Saltire
Awards. CLD service planning demonstrates clear links to high level outcomes
within the Single Outcome Agreement. The CLD service plan is well informed by the
national CLD guidance. Youth work and adult learning team annual standards and
quality reports inform improvement planning at both a local and service wide level.
Systematic, outcomes based planning is operated by CLD staff. However this is not
fully embedded in practice. Carnoustie Children’s Learning Partnership (CCLP)
report progress to the Angus Strategic Planning and Performance Management
group. However there is no clear evidence this is informing improvement planning at
a strategic partnership level. Young people’s achievements out with school are not
appropriately captured and shared with Carnoustie High School. CLD service
electronic management system is not yet being used to its full potential by
operational staff. The Carnoustie Local Community Planning Team (CPT) plan is not
sufficiently focused on outcomes. There is scope to improve data sharing across a
wider range of partners. This would improve decision making, planning and
resource deployment.
A good range of learning opportunities provided by CLD and partners are improving
young people’s life chances. Strong commitment and good working relationships
and planning among CLD, school staff, NHS, Active Schools and voluntary
organisations such as Tayside Council for Alcohol (TCA) leads to good quality
learning experiences and achievements for young people. Partners are increasingly
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effective in supporting young people into positive destinations. The use of a CLD
Key Worker to coordinate Activity Agreements for individual young people is
improving their life chances. Some young people who had disengaged from school
have re-engaged and are achieving again. Increased pathways for young people
16+ can now be strengthened through further partnership working. All young people
in the YAA group are now more confident in planning, organising, presenting and
volunteering. Most young people are achieving and progressing well through a very
good range of accredited programmes. Transferable skills gained through Youth
Achievement and Sport Leader Awards are valued by young people entering
employment, further and higher education. They are delivering to young people with
Additional Support Needs. There is scope for wider recognition of achievements of
young people in the community within school through tracking, feedback and
celebration events.
Young people are gaining skills and attributes related to the four capacities for
Curriculum for Excellence. They gain confidence and apply these skills in other
settings. Young people in the Panmure Art Group can articulate the impact of their
learning on problem solving, negotiating and decision making skills. Voluntary sector
youth organisations including Boys Brigade and Girl Guides deliver good quality
learning programmes in line with Curriculum for Excellence. The Boys Brigade make
imaginative use of Information and Communications Technology facilities to access
E-DofE on line recording. A good range of provision has a positive impact on the
health and well-being of children and young people. The TCA programme with P7
children has improved awareness and behaviour related to peer pressure and
alcohol. The Health Drop In at Carnoustie High School is influencing the decisions
of some young people regarding their lifestyle choices. A focus on health and
physical activity by CLD and partners is increasing participation in sport. Young
people participating in Active Schools, the Friday Night Project, and outdoor
education are improving physical health and gaining skills. Although increasing
numbers of young people are volunteering and delivering local projects they are not
yet regularly influencing local decision making. Youth engagement needs
strengthened to ensure young people are better represented and involved in local
decision making.
Adult learners are supported to develop their potential and to progress to other
learning opportunities. Staff work well with groups of learners to help them progress
their learning based on individual needs. Learners are gaining appropriate levels of
competence. Staff provide good support to learners to help them reflect on and
evaluate their learning. Learners are supported to make their own choices.
Progress and achievement is recognised through learning plans with goals set
through individual reviews. Sufficient challenge is provided for most learners.
Learners are more confident in their ability to learn. This is improving their
confidence at work and home life. Learners with support needs are helped to
overcome barriers to their learning. Staff use a range of effective tools to help
learner’s articulate impacts on their personal life, employment, and in reducing
isolation. Some learners are active in their communities. They volunteer at a local
group, Dream Catchers, which supports parents and children. The Space & Time
group positively supports the health and wellbeing of adults with additional support
needs.
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A satisfactory range of learning opportunities is available. These include: literacies,
basic information technology (IT), employability and health and wellbeing.
Accreditation opportunities, whilst available remain limited. Learners are positive
about their progress and articulate a desire to achieve qualifications. Whilst
progress is recorded with certificates of competence and attendance, progress is not
effectively celebrated. Information about learner progress is shared with staff
through an Angus wide database. However this information is not used effectively
for evaluation or to inform future planning. Staff provide a clear focus on the
development of skills for learning, life and work. Learners are improving their
employability and IT skills through the Carnoustie Job Club and literacies provision at
the Learning Shop. Adult learners on the IT basic six week programme are applying
their new skills within a social media group. This is helping advertise learning
opportunities within the Panmure Centre. Volunteers at the Panmure Centre are
beginning to review their role with Centre staff. As a result they now have clearer
expectations of their role. Opportunities for volunteers to gain the Volunteering
Award and Discovery Award whilst available have not been taken up. Older adults in
the Angus Gold Forum are well supported by the CLD service and Voluntary Action
Angus. Participants describe positive impacts on their health and wellbeing as a
result. Opportunities for family learning are under developed.
Members of community organisations within the Carnoustie area are confident and
skilled. They are actively engaged in improving the physical environment, local
services and the quality of life for residents. Some groups improve and promote the
whole area; while others concentrate on specific communities. The Carnoustie
Development Groups’ Blue Brochure, the Heart of Carnoustie Country provides
information on accommodation, events, transport links and things to do and see in
Carnoustie. The booklet has been well received by local businesses. Organisations
have developed into well organised and informed groups who have the ability to
facilitate change. The Three Streets Tenants and Residents Group successfully
argued for the installation of road safety measures. They were also instrumental in
getting services to clean up and improve the appearance of the area. Community
activists increasingly taking responsibility for projects which improve the area and
create safe and vibrant communities. Monikie and Newbigging Community Council
are working in partnership with the local authority to develop an off-road path
between the villages of Monikie and Newbigging. The group is becoming more
independent and increasingly confident in their engagement and negotiations with
Angus Council. Equally, levels of participation in football and rugby have increased
through Carnoustie Community Sports Clubs working with Angus Council to improve
sports facilities. However Opportunities for local community groups to contribute in
wider decision making arenas are limited. The lack of networking opportunities
inhibits collaboration and development between groups. Community groups value
the support received from the local CPT. Not all community groups are in receipt of
support. There is a clear disconnection between data gathered on the ground and
resulting response. Local community needs identified through local CPT surveys
and engagements are not being effectively addressed by CPP partners at an
authority level. Communication between local support services is not consistent.
The introduction of more robust joint planning and self-evaluation based on a clear
outcome focus could improve circumstances for local groups.
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3. How well are partners working together and improving the quality of
services and provision?
A comprehensive range of relevant workforce development opportunities is
improving practice across the CLD partnership. Where possible all Continuous
Professional Development (CPD) opportunities are open to both local authority and
voluntary sector staff and volunteers. As a result of a recent joint up-skilling training
programme with neighbouring authorities practitioners are increasingly confident in
delivering Curriculum for Excellence. The Boys Brigade and other voluntary
organisations are well supported by the CLD service in delivery of The Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award. A recently introduced Personal Development Award in Youth
Work is improving the quality of local youth work practice. The CLD Service has
robust arrangements in place to support self-evaluation and improvement planning at
different levels. As a result it is becoming more effective at planning for
improvement. However there is still work to do to fully embed this into practice.
CCLP partners actively contributed to the self-evaluation in advance of the
inspection. However joint evaluation practice is not yet fully developed. Quality
partnership working is making a difference in the Carnoustie area. Youth work staff
work effectively alongside school staff to deliver accredited learning experiences.
Partners such as Tayside Fire and Rescue, TCA, CLD service, Active Schools and
Tayside Police demonstrate a strong commitment to partnership through sharing
resources. However not all partners are fully engaged in supporting the partnership
to reach its full potential. The CCLP offers a good vehicle for improving joint
evaluation and planning. The current chair offers very effective leadership and
direction to the group. The CCLP Action Plan for 2012-13 draws on some
self-evaluation material and partners’ understanding of Carnoustie and its needs.
The plan is outcome focused, with agreed targets and timescales. However it
remains too early to clearly identify the impact made. CCLP meetings are well
attended by partners. Partner awareness of CLD national guidance is increasing.
Not all partners contribute effectively. This is limiting progress re the wider
community planning agenda. CLD national guidance is not yet fully integrated within
CCLP’s planning activities. Young people are not represented. Adult learning
activity is not yet fully integrated. Mechanisms for reporting back to stakeholders are
limited. There is scope to improve communication through making use of the
Council’s revised policy in relation to social media.
This inspection of learning and development in the learning community surrounding
Carnoustie High School found the following key strengths.
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A learning community that has a good understanding of its strengths and
improvement needs.
Effective tailored engagements with young people.
Young people’s success in achieving accredited awards.
Developing partnership work which is improving learner’s lives.
Staff and partners practice improving through accessing quality CPD
opportunities.
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We discussed with partners how they might continue to improve their work. This is
what we agreed with them.
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Increase the range and contribution of partners engaged in Carnoustie
Children’s and Learning Partnership.
Improve the connection between local and strategic community planning to
increase community involvement and widen decision making.
Develop and improve family and adult learning provision.
Improve approaches to recording and sharing young people’s achievements
with Carnoustie High School.
4. What happens at the end of the inspection?
There are some improvements needed, but because partners 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 local authority.
Stewart Maxwell
HM Inspector
23 April 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/CarnoustieHighSchoollc.asp
Please contact us if you want to know how to get the report in a different format, for
example, in a translation. You can contact us
at enquiries@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk or write to us at BMCT, Education
Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way,
Livingston EH54 6GA.
If you want to give us feedback or make a complaint about our work, please contact
01506 600200, or write to us at the above address or email:
feedback@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk.
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You can find our complaints procedure on our website or alternatively you can
contact www.educationscotland.gov.uk to our Complaints Manager, at the address
above or by telephoning 01506 600259.
Crown Copyright 2013.
Education Scotland
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