Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Dalbeattie High School
Dumfries and Galloway Council
18 December 2012
Transforming lives through learning
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1. Context
Community and Learning Development (CLD) partners within the area of
Dalbeattie High School were inspected by Education Scotland during the week
commencing 29 October 2012. 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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partnership working between CLD partners and Dalbeattie High School;
strengthening the role of the local community in shaping and designing
services;
reviewing current locality structures and use of resources in delivering CLD
priorities; and
meeting the workforce development needs of volunteers and staff.
2. How well are partners improving learning, increasing life chances,
promoting and securing wellbeing?
Partners have good local knowledge and are clear about many of the issues
impacting on the lives of local people. They demonstrate a strong commitment to
improving life chances and strengthening the role of communities. Programmes
targeting older people, health issues and improving employability are having clear
impacts. Partners agree that a more detailed analysis of the needs of the local
community would help them prioritise and address the needs of local people more
effectively. A few individual organisations and partnerships have set clear targets
and collect data on outcomes which are then used to improve performance. This
includes the Employability and More Choices Partnerships who make good use of
employability performance information and the Health and Wellbeing Partnership
who have effective systems in place for gathering evidence on impact. Dalbeattie
Community Initiative and Castle Douglas Information Technology (IT) Centre have
met and exceeded targets set. However, partners are currently unable to
demonstrate the overall impact of their work in improving life chances and promoting
and securing wellbeing. There is limited performance information available that
demonstrates trends over time including information of numbers of local people
gaining awards and accreditation. Partners in the Adult Literacy and Numeracy
partnership are aware of their commitments in relation to Adult Literacy and
Numeracy in Scotland 2020. Although the partnership reports on participation rates
and outcomes for learners, it does not share or make effective use of information on
trends.
Castle Douglas Community IT Centre is developing its work to improve the health
and wellbeing of older people. The Dalbeattie Day Care Centre is providing positive
intervention to ensure that older people are able to stay in their own homes. The
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Walk for Health project is encouraging participants to become more active resulting
in improved health and wellbeing. The Dalbeattie Community Allotments Association
is having a positive impact in improving the health and wellbeing of participants and
through joint work with the school, is opening up learning opportunities for young
people through the rural skills project. Young people with global learning needs are
becoming more independent, increasing their confidence and building positive social
networks through the Stewartry Peer project. Family learning provision is resulting in
parents feeling less isolated and more able to support their children's learning. A few
parents have found their experience life changing and have been supported
effectively by the family learning worker to progress to employment and further
learning. More targeted work to include vulnerable families through links with health
visitors, for example, would promote their inclusion.
Young people are given a range of volunteering opportunities in their community that
are often supported well by Dalbeattie High School. They are developing important
skills for life, learning and work as a result. Young people's achievements are often
accredited through a range of award programmes. They are able to transfer their
skills to other contexts including school and home. The achievements of learners
are celebrated through the biennial Stewartry Celebration of Achievement event.
Community and volunteer achievements are celebrated effectively through awards,
local media, newsletters and the Dalbeattie Matters website. Learners participating
in programmes through Castle Douglas IT Centre are gaining a range of national
qualifications. Young people participating in the Radio Project delivered by teaching
and CLD staff at the High School are working towards Dynamic Youth and Youth
Achievement Awards. Further opportunities to recognise achievements could be
explored with Dalbeattie High School. The Adult Literacy and Numeracy partnership
could improve their focus on meeting local needs including the development of youth
literacy initiatives.
CLD and employability staff are supporting local people to increase their
employability skills and provide support with job applications and volunteering
opportunities. Volunteering is supported effectively by Volunteer Action Dumfries
and Galloway. Young people, older people and people with disabilities are
improving their skills and wellbeing through volunteering and a few are successfully
moving into paid work. Young people do not always sustain a positive destination
and partners could help address this through improved monitoring and tracking and
partnership working.
The Dalbeattie Community Initiative (DCI) has developed a range of projects that are
increasing life chances and improving the wellbeing of the local community. The
initiative helps strengthen and add vibrancy to the local community through its hub,
the Preloved shop and the visitor information point. It is at the early stages of
working in partnership with others to address the transport issues that prevent local
people from accessing services and community activities. Community group
members are confident, active and highly skilled. They are able to transfer their
skills and experiences well to a variety of settings benefiting the local community.
The Tenants and Residents Association has given presentations on welfare reform
at local and national conferences. Local community members are delivering a wide
range of services for children and young people including sea cadets, Blair Centre
programmes for primary aged children and Birchvale players. These activities are
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having a positive impact in developing the confidence and life skills of children and
young people involved. Local activists are delivering services in response to needs
they have identified. The Friendship Group committee helps reduce isolation of
older people in the community and volunteers provide informal learning experiences
through running Dalbeattie Museum.
Local community groups have developed positive links with Dalbeattie High School.
Local people are using their skills, knowledge and experience to increase and
enhance learning opportunities for young people. The capacity of young volunteers
could be further developed through partners developing a more coordinated
approach to providing support and training. Young people would benefit from
improved opportunities to influence decision making in their communities through a
youth forum.
Although informal networks are positive, community groups would benefit from
further development of more formal community networks to support increased
community resilience, improved ability to influence decision making and shape and
design services.
3. How well are partners working together and improving the quality of
services and provision?
Most voluntary organisations review their practice informally and use this to enhance
the services provided. Dalbeattie Allotment group is improving access to the
allotment site as a result of feedback from members. DCI gathers community views
through the Preloved shop and visitor information point and is responsive to local
needs. Staff leading the peer project take good account of participant views in
reviewing and improving the services they provide. CLD staff are still in the early
stages of implementing the performance information and evaluation system.
Partners have made a positive start to shared self-evaluation and are planning to
build on this. However, approaches to self-evaluation across partners are
inconsistent and do not support overall planning for improvement. Voluntary groups
have good links to national agencies and have improved services through
participation in high quality training. Almost all staff and volunteers demonstrate a
good understanding of equality and diversity and are committed to inclusive practice.
Partners agree that a more formal partnership approach to the planning and delivery
of local services and implementation of CLD strategic guidance at local level would
support further improvement. Where relevant, partners should work with Dalbeattie
High School to consider how their programmes contribute to Curriculum for
Excellence Broad General Education and Senior Phase. The Curriculum for
Excellence framework produced by the police to support the work of the school
based police officer provides an example of good practice. Opportunities for
partners, including schools, for joint training would help to improve partnership
working and the services delivered. A framework for workforce development would
assist in developing a more coordinated approach linked to improving the practice of
staff and volunteers. Partners recognise that they would benefit from further
opportunities to share practice. Partners should also consider increasing their
awareness of current policies impacting on the lives of local people including
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community empowerment, welfare reform and changes to border requirements. It
would be beneficial to clarify the role and resource for the CLD service locally to help
improve partnership working and planning for improvement.
This inspection of learning and development in the learning community surrounding
Dalbeattie High School found the following key strengths.
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Dedication of volunteers and staff.
Programmes that are improving the life chances and health and wellbeing of
local people.
Strong and vibrant community taking responsibility for delivering services.
Well developed culture of volunteering and working together.
We discussed with partners how they might continue to improve their work. This is
what we agreed with them.
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Improve systems for gathering performance information and planning for
improvement.
Carry out a needs analysis in the learning community, identify priorities and
clarify the role of the CLD service.
Review partnerships and develop a local delivery structure for CLD strategic
guidance priorities.
Strengthen partnership with Dalbeattie High School and agree partners
contribution to Curriculum for Excellence Broad General Education and Senior
Phase.
Establish a workforce development plan and improve opportunities for sharing
practice.
4. What happens at the end of the inspection?
There are significant improvements needed and partners do not yet have a good
understanding of their strengths and areas for improvement. Our Area Lead Officers
along with the education authority will discuss the most appropriate support in order
to build capacity for improvement and will maintain contact to monitor progress. We
will revisit the learning community to check on progress within one year of
publication of this report.
Anne Gibson
HM Inspector
18 December 2012
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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
athttp://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/inspectionandreview/reports/othersectors/co
mmunitylearninganddevelopment/DalbeattieHighSchoolLearningCommunity.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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member of staff.
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 2012.
Education Scotland
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