Learning community inspection
A report by HM Inspectorate of Education
Inspection of the learning community
surrounding James Gillespie’s HS
The City of Edinburgh Council
30 March 2010
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. Where applicable, you will also be able to find
descriptions of good practice in the learning community and, in many instances, a
report on the secondary school closest to the learning community.
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 James Gillespie’s High School is within
Edinburgh city centre. The High School has five feeder primaries, James
Gillespie’s, Sciennes, Preston Street, Royal Mile and Tollcross. It is a mixed area
in social and economic terms with lower levels of unemployment and higher levels
of income than the average for Edinburgh and for the rest of Scotland. However,
the area includes some neighbourhoods within the city centre ward which have
higher than average levels of social and economic deprivation. The City of
Edinburgh Council and its community planning partners have begun to develop
local community plans in identified city neighbourhoods. The James Gillespie’s
High School area is within three Neighbourhood Partnership areas, South Central,
City Centre and South West. The population of the area is approximately 50,000.
2. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Vibrant and active community organisations helping groups and individuals to
make progress.
•
Effective partnerships in adult learning.
•
Range and diversity of high quality programmes delivered by committed staff.
•
Strong theme of active citizenship across the learning community.
3. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Participants learn and achieve well through taking part in a number of high quality
activities and projects in the area. The local community plan for south central
Neighbourhood Partnership has attributed a drop in levels of youth crime to
partnership initiatives between the police and youth work organisations. There
has been a modest growth in the number of young people achieving accreditation
within learning programmes. Participation figures for adult learning are gathered
and the numbers taking part in some aspects of provision have increased.
Analysis of the results of participation is limited. There is too little information
available on how learners progress following their participation in specific
programmes. There is a need for a clearer analysis of trends in performance
across the range of provision. The ability of providers to track performance is
limited by an absence of clear and measurable target setting.
Young people
Young people benefit from a wide range of projects with good facilities in the area.
The Canongate Youth Project (CYP) is helping young people progress into
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employment through their Get Ready for Work provision. CYP works closely with
local primary schools to help improve transitions to secondary school. Referrals
from the James Gillespie’s High School Pupil Support Group to CYP help
vulnerable young people receive support to overcome specific problems. Young
people have positive relationships with youth workers. They are helped to stay
safe, healthy, active and informed through provision at 6VT, Streetwork, 3Ms,
Totally Sound and Open all Hours. Effective partnership with the police has had a
positive impact on levels of youth crime in the city centre. Growing numbers of
young people, such as those engaged in the youth forum, are receiving
accreditation through taking part in Youth Achievement Awards and The Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award. There is a need to build on progress and extend these
opportunities so that more young people can achieve accreditation for skills
gained. More opportunities, targeted at older age groups, could improve training
and employment prospects. A youth work providers’ forum has recently been
established to address the need for better communication and joint planning in
work with young people across the area.
Adults
Adult learners are achieving well. There is a broad range of effective provision
delivered by partner organisations in the area. Those taking part are developing
skills, benefiting from improvements to employability and gaining more confidence
in family and community life. Literacies and English for Speakers of other
Languages learners are making very good progress. The Reading Your Writes
programme is helping learners to reflect well on their progress in literacy and to
consider other benefits such as reduced social isolation. Provision in the area is
inclusive, for example the Deaf Literacies Service offers learning and support in
British Sign Language. Learners have a strong say over the content of learning
programmes and have benefited from focusing on issues such as work, bullying
and communication. The Outlook Project has helped people to overcome mental
health problems and improve confidence and well-being. Learners in the Workers
Educational Association liberal studies provision are developing confidence and
gaining an interest in further learning. The Adult Learning Project in Tollcross
provides a number of well-considered learning opportunities with a strong focus
on citizenship. Volunteer tutors whose first language is Spanish have been
engaged to assist with teaching Spanish classes. Links between the project and
learning centres in Spain have been established enabling learners to benefit from
wider perspectives. The Welcoming project is helping migrant workers in the city
to improve their English, get involved in events and reduce isolation. There is
scope to improve guidance on progression routes for adult learners. Learners
would benefit from clearer links between different aspects of provision. Stating
the level of learning undertaken within the Scottish Credit and Qualifications
Framework (SCQF) would help inform learners of progress made and potential
next steps.
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4. How well are communities developing and achieving?
Communities are developing and achieving well. Community groups and
organisations are responsive to the needs of their local communities. Both the
Braidwood and the Southside community associations have undertaken profiles
and developed business plans in their local areas. Members are well-organised
and growing in confidence and skills. They have contributed to informed
discussion on services in their neighbourhoods. Through making their views clear
they have influenced changes to policies, for example, on housing and on bus
routes. Braidwood association has developed a lunch club and has contributed to
environmental improvements to their neighbourhood. It has been successful in
gaining lottery funding to take forward developments. Members of groups are
active. The Outlook Project participants developed a campaign to raise
awareness reduce stigma on mental health issues. Friends of the Number Shop
have campaigned to maintain the local service. Those taking part have grown in
confidence as a result. Young people from James Gillespie’s High School are
active citizens at a local and wider level. The Neighbourhood Partnerships have
developed local community plans for their neighbourhoods. These could help to
establish a stronger shared agenda for stakeholders. Joint planning amongst
local groups and organisations could be improved to achieve a stronger shared
vision. It is not clear who has the lead role for developing the capacity of local
communities in the area. Training and development support to local groups and
organisations is not sufficiently well-planned or systematic.
5. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
Staff are committed to providing high quality services. They reflect carefully on
their work and regularly take learners’ views into account when planning
programmes. Specific aspects of activity are evaluated effectively. Individual
voluntary sector organisations such as CYP have strong arrangements for
evaluation, planning and reporting on progress. There is a need to improve joint
evaluation at a partnership level and to develop a systematic approach to
planning for improvement. Clearer outcome-focused planning with measurable
targets would help providers assess progress made. More consistent analysis of
information is needed to support effective self-evaluation and planning for
improvement. Partners need to be able to state clearly and succinctly what has
been achieved and what needs to be improved across aspects of provision.
6. Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction?
At a local level, providers work well together. Operational staff are held in high
regard and are committed to providing high quality services. Neighbourhood
planning structures and partnership groupings have been put in place. Local
community plans have the potential to strengthen a collective shared vision. More
consistent engagement of stakeholders, including schools, in joint planning is
needed. The clarity, coherence and articulation of plans could be improved. The
links between operational CLD plans and local community plans are not
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sufficiently clear or explicit. Support for community capacity building would benefit
from a review of leadership roles and responsibilities.
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.
•
Build on improvements in accredited youth work provision.
•
Take a more systematic approach to evaluation, planning and reporting on
progress at a partnership level.
•
Develop tracking of progression and improve focus on outcomes.
Quality indicators help CLD providers and inspectors to judge what is good and
what needs to be improved in the work of the school. 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 James Gillespie’s High School.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Peter Hamilton
30 March 2010
4
good
very good
very good
good
satisfactory
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 2010
HM Inspectorate of Education