Inspection of the learning community
Inspection of the learning community surrounding
Uddingston Grammar School
South Lanarkshire Council
5 May 2009
Contents
1.
About the report
2.
The learning community
3.
Particular strengths of the learning community
4.
Example of good practice
5.
How well do participants learn and achieve?
6.
How well does CLD help the community to develop?
7.
How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
8.
Do CLD providers have a clear sense of direction?
9.
What happens next?
1. About the report
This report tells you about community learning and development (CLD) activities
in the communities surrounding Uddingston Grammar School. It complements a
separate report on the school. We explain how well people involved in community
learning activities do in a wide range of experiences, and the quality of learning
activities on offer to them. We describe how communities can influence decision
making and how they can respond positively to their own issues. We also talk
about how organisations work together and how they improve lives in local
communities. Finally, our report looks at the vision for the area, and how well all
organisations and the community are working together to achieve it.
2. The learning community
The learning community around Uddingston Grammar School includes the towns
of Uddingston and Bothwell. The inspection did not include the communities in
North Lanarkshire Council that are within the catchment area of Uddingston
Grammar.
Uddingston and Bothwell are not within the areas of South Lanarkshire Council
targeted for regeneration. Council Services delivering community learning and
development are highly targeted towards the regeneration areas and accordingly
less active in areas such as Uddingston and Bothwell. Young people and adults
from the area are able to access services delivered in nearby towns including
Hamilton and Cambuslang as well as local services delivered by community and
voluntary organisations.
3. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
•
•
•
Effective partnership work in youth and adult learning.
Important impacts on youth and adult learners.
Access to a range of high quality services outside the area.
Celebration of learners’ achievements.
4. Example of good practice
•
Sussed Out: provision for young people who are disengaged from school.
By visiting www.hmie.gov.uk you can find out more about these examples of good
practice.
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5. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Local authority youth work and adult learning services have developed effective
systems for gathering and reporting the outcomes of their work. This now
provides a good foundation for monitoring performance and improving services.
With some minor adjustments to their systems, service managers are well placed
to provide direct evidence of their contribution to the Single Outcome Agreement
for South Lanarkshire. The quality and impact of learning opportunities available
to learners in the inspection area, many of which are delivered in nearby towns, is
high. Because services are targeted towards regeneration areas monitoring
systems do not currently provide reports for areas including Uddingston and
Bothwell. The local authority’s main voluntary sector partners, the council for
voluntary service and the volunteer centre are also unable to demonstrate
improvements in performance in Uddingston and Bothwell. The local authority
should extend the capability of its monitoring arrangements to demonstrate
outcomes in all South Lanarkshire communities.
Young people
The Youth Learning Service is working well with partners to provide a very good
range of programmes which support young people, particularly at transitional
stages. Good referral systems ensure that vulnerable young people are able to
access services which offer opportunities for progression and achievement.
Learners are positive about their learning and are proud of the awards they have
gained. The Youth Learning Service and partners should build on this by
extending opportunities to more young people. Learners appreciate the fact that
their achievements are valued and celebrated and recognise the benefits of the
positive relationships they have with the staff who support them. A strong
tradition of volunteering and good training opportunities have supported the
development of a highly committed team. Effective partnership working ensures
best use of resources. The Youth Learning Service and partners should continue
to explore possibilities for attracting more external funding though joint funding
bids. Lanlinks involves young people in providing an effective web based
information and consultation service. There is scope to develop this to engage
and support a wider range of young people and youth groups in Uddingston and
Bothwell. Schools, churches and uniformed groups provide activities for young
people in the local areas and the Youth Learning Service should work with
partners, where appropriate, to develop links which will support these.
Adults
The Community Learning Service and partners work well together to deliver a
limited programme of adult learning opportunities in Uddingston. Learners readily
described the impact of learning on their lives and how they had developed and
used skills at home, in the community and at work. English for Speakers of other
Languages (ESOL) learners feel that they have gained confidence and this had
helped them participate more in their children’s learning, to gain employment and
to communicate more easily at work. Targeted support to parents ensures access
to specific family learning opportunities not currently available within the area.
These parents access programmes in child behaviour, family ESOL and health
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initiatives. Learners are well supported, valued and feel less isolated. Learners
have opportunities for accreditation and their achievements are celebrated.
Effective guidance ensures participants are involved in their learning, reflect on
the impact it is having and discuss their progress with staff. Staff should seek to
increase the number of learners from the Uddingston area in the Learners’ Forum
and build on the work of the information and communications technology adult
learning group in Uddingston to increase the range and number of learning
opportunities in the town. They should also continue to work with community
partners in Bothwell to identify and respond to adult learning needs locally.
6. How well does CLD help the community to develop?
The communities of Uddingston and Bothwell have access to a variety of clubs
and societies supported by the churches and voluntary organisations. The range
of activities is broad which is reflected in the Uddingston Community Centre
programme. Community and voluntary organisations in the area are largely
self-sufficient. However, community learning and development partners have
limited knowledge of the overall picture of voluntary and community activity in the
area. Organisations in the area are not making full use of voluntary umbrella
organisations to develop and improve their work. Some active community
members do not feel able to influence decision-making in relation to South
Lanarkshire priorities. There is no local mechanism that brings together interest
groups in the areas to improve local communities and further develop community
assets. There are good examples within youth work of learning opportunities that
develop young people’s individual capacity as effective contributors. However,
there are too few examples of young people making a difference through
volunteering in Uddingston and Bothwell. Voluntary sector arts and environmental
groups within the area are well supported through advice and training to enable
them to run successfully. Environmental groups have been successful in national
competitions. Whilst there are partnership arrangements in place, the network is
not robust enough to help identify and address the needs and aspirations of the
communities in a systematic way.
7. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
Local authority staff are very committed to providing high quality services and to
improving services for those in greatest need. They work well together in
partnership to achieve this and listen and respond well to the views of
participants. They evaluate provision consistently to improve how they work.
Overall, local authority CLD services are well-focused on delivering important
outcomes. They evaluate well the difference they are making to participants.
Community and voluntary organisations in the area are very self-sufficient. Few
are members of the council for voluntary service or actively engage with the
volunteer centre. Successful arts and environmental organisations in the area are
supported in their work by relevant council services.
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8. Do CLD providers have a clear sense of direction?
In South Lanarkshire, CLD services target their provision in regeneration areas.
As a consequence, few direct resources are expended in Uddingston and
Bothwell, though individuals and groups do benefit from wider programmes.
These communities have significant community assets and active community and
voluntary groups. The introduction of locality planning arrangements that include
these communities has the potential to improve the engagement of community
groups with voluntary and statutory CLD partners. It should also provide a clear
sense of direction for CLD within these communities.
9. 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.
•
•
•
Improve, with statutory and voluntary sector CLD partners, the engagement of
community groups in the area that need support.
Revise performance management systems to fully report the CLD contribution
to the outcomes of the South Lanarkshire Single Outcome Agreement.
Work with partners in the communities to extend local adult and youth learning
opportunities.
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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”.
The 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
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 Uddingston Grammar School.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Jim Rooney
5 May 2009
5
good
very good
good
satisfactory
good
How can you contact us?
HMIE has responsibilities to evaluate the quality of pre-school education, all
schools, teacher education, community learning and development, colleges and
local authorities. We also publish reports of interest to the public and
professionals about services for children and evaluate child protection services.
From this extensive evidence we are able to give the professional advice needed
to support the development of educational policy.
For more information about the work of HMIE, including examples of good
practice and links to Journey to Excellence, please visit our website at
www.hmie.gov.uk.
To find out more about inspections go to www.hmie.gov.uk. Please contact the
Business Management and Communications Team if you require any of our
information available in translated or other appropriate versions.
If you wish to comment about any of our inspections, contact us at
HMIEenquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk or alternatively you should write to Business
Management and Communications Team, HM Inspectorate of Education,
Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston
EH54 6GA.
Our complaints procedure is available from Rona Littleproud, HM Inspectorate of
Education, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way,
Livingston EH54 6GA or phone 01506 600258 or from our website at
www.hmie.gov.uk.
If you are not satisfied with the action we have taken at the end of our complaints
procedure, you can raise a complaint with the Scottish Public Services
Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is fully independent and has powers to
investigate complaints about Government departments and agencies. You should
write to the SPSO, Freepost EH641, Edinburgh EH3 0BR. You can also
telephone 0800 377 7330, fax 0800 377 7331 or email ask@spso.org.uk. More
information about the Ombudsman’s office can be obtained from the website
www.spso.org.uk.
Want to join us?
In addition to HMI, inspection teams often include people who are not HMI but are
involved directly in education. They are called Associate Assessors and most
work in community learning and development. Most inspection teams also
include a member of the public called a Lay Member. More information about
how you can become an Associate Assessor or Lay Member is available at
www.hmie.gov.uk.
Crown Copyright 2009
HM Inspectorate of Education