Inspection of the learning community
Inspection of the learning community surrounding Dornoch Academy
The Highland Council
26 May 2009
Contents
1.
About the report
2.
The learning community
3.
Particular strengths of the learning community
4.
Examples 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 Dornoch Academy. 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 Dornoch Academy includes the towns of Dornoch
and Bonar Bridge and the villages of Embo, Skelbo, Clashmore and Spinningdale.
The community surrounding Dornoch Academy has a population of just over
3,000. There is a very high number of community and voluntary organisations
and high levels of volunteering. The area has lower levels of unemployment than
the Highland Council area or Scotland as a whole.
3. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Exceptionally high number of community groups.
•
Exceptional level of community volunteering.
•
High level of accredited achievement opportunities for young people.
•
Very well developed school/community links.
•
Strong community-led focus on improving the communities.
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4. Examples of good practice
•
School/community links that improve achievement and inclusion.
•
Voluntary Groups-East Sutherland’s (VG-ES) helpful advice on voluntary
group contributions to the Highland Single Outcome Agreement (SOA).
•
Co-ordinated summer festivals and youth provision that provide opportunities
for children and young people throughout the summer months.
By visiting www.hmie.gov.uk you can find out more about these examples of good
practice.
5. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Dornoch Academy and Community, Learning and Leisure staff make very good
use of achievement awards to accredit young people’s achievements and
encourage them to volunteer. A few young people were achieving at a high level.
A few projects are good at tracking the destinations of participants so that they
know the outcomes of their work. Learning and development activities in the area
are generally sound. However, too little is known about the outcomes of CLD
activity in the area. Links have yet to be made between local provision and the
outcomes sought through the Highland Single Outcome Agreement. Voluntary
Groups-East Sutherland (VG-ES) has developed straightforward and helpful
guidance for community groups to help them to do this. Planning for CLD does
not provide a useful basis for evaluating impacts and demonstrating outcomes.
Young people
Young People who are living in the area have access to a wide range of learning
experiences that support them to become included, confident, motivated and
successful learners. Young people with additional support needs improve their
skills in sports and physical activities through the Children Helping Other Children
(CHOCS) group. Four members have been invited to take part in the Special
Olympics in 2009. A rural skills programme supports S4 young people to develop
vocational skills, and undertake work and college experience that builds their
confidence to enter the workplace. Young people who attend local youth
provision are well supported and gain a breadth of experiences that builds their
confidence to meet young people from other areas. As confidence increases,
young people are taking on more responsibility and becoming more active within
their communities. For example, young golf coaches are providing role models for
junior members. Young people are encouraged to take part and lead on
fundraising activities which then enables them to participate in local, national and
international experiences. School and community staff make very good use of a
range of achievement awards to accredit young people’s volunteering activity.
Young people from the area are active participants in the Sutherland Youth Forum
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and Highland Youth Voice, the youth parliament for the Highland Council area.
Staff and community partners should ensure that school leavers who remain in
the area continue, where at all possible, to be engaged in community activity.
They should also continue to develop provision for young people in Bonar Bridge.
Adults
Adult learners are very keen to participate in learning opportunities. Some adult
learners had become more confident learners and have undertaken further
learning. For example, learners who had not achieved good qualifications in
school had, through the support of the Lairg Learning Centre, gained
qualifications to attend college. Learners share their knowledge and experience
well in the Lairg Learning Centre’s Poetry Café. Learners from the Bonar Bridge
English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) group are well supported by the
tutor and find the pace and content of the class appropriate. A few were getting a
better job directly as a result of their improved level of English. Learners valued
highly the fact that ESOL provision is free. However, the learners were unaware
of the provision available to them at local colleges. The North Highland College
delivers a Community Empowerment Programme in Dornoch that is tailored to
suit the needs of the local economy under the key themes of leisure; tourisim;
hospitality and heritage and culture. These community-based courses are
delivered in bite-sized chunks, at times to suit the needs of the community.
Learners are moving on from these courses to other college provision linked to
the subjects. However, these courses need to be publicised more. Learners
undertaking the European Computer Driving Licence in Northern Highland
College receive a positive experience, are able to learn at their own pace and find
that the experience supports them in their every day lives. The computer classes
delivered at the Bradbury Centre are a good example of using partner facilities to
deliver learning in the community. Family learning is not well represented in
learning programmes across the learning community and needs to be more
available to learners. Publicity for provision of adult learning needs to be more
coordinated. This would allow adult learners to have a clearer picture of the
provision in the community and support them in selecting the most appropriate
activity to meet their needs. In addition, the publicity relating to adult literacy
provision needs to be brought up to date.
6. How well does CLD help the community to develop?
Skilled, confident and very active community members deliver a wide range of
services through an exceptionally high number of community managed groups.
Community members identify and address community needs very well and are
very ambitious for their communities. Volunteers and community organisations
are making a significant contribution to improving the economic and cultural life of
the area. Dornoch Academy is very well engaged with its community and staff
make a significant contribution to community wellbeing through volunteering..
Community members are influential and nearly all community managed projects
network effectively with each other and public agencies. They make good use of
a range of public agencies to build their capacity and achieve their objectives.
There is a very high sense of ownership and commitment in the community to
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improving local services and facilities. A network of summer festivals and
complimentary youth provision provides a wide range of opportunities for children,
young people and families during the summer months. Public agencies and
voluntary sector partners should build on the strengths of the community to
ensure that community efforts are well coordinated and the impact of the work
evaluated and celebrated.
7. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
There are some good examples of listening to learners as a basis for improving
programmes, but this is not consistent. In a few projects, staff are able to track
participants’ progress and are clear about the difference they are making.
Communication of adult learning opportunities needs to be improved. VG-ES
communicates well with its members through newsletters and e-bulletins. Overall,
there is not an established culture of reflection on CLD practice which limits staff’s
capacity to improve. Self-evaluation is not yet established as a means of
improving services. Local authority staff need to build more on the vibrancy of
local communities to help evaluate and improve further the impacts that the range
of providers are making.
8. Do CLD providers have a clear sense of direction?
Key groups in the local communities provide a very good focus for improving
communities. The Dornoch Area Community Interest Company, linked to the
Community Council, coordinates activity to improve the local economy and local
services in Dornoch. The Embo Trust is seeking to establish a highly innovative
forestry and crofting project to create jobs for young people and families in this
small village. The Bonar Hall Committee is refurbishing the local hall to help
reduce social isolation and improve health and wellbeing in the town. The Kyle of
Sutherland Initiative has established basic provision for young people in the area.
Dornoch Academy is a very good example of a school that makes an active
contribution in its community. Taken together with other community groups and
projects, including locals churches, these are high level community assets for an
area with a relatively small population. The community, through these groups and
organisations, has a clear sense of direction.
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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.
•
CLD providers, including community groups, will share knowledge and skills to
improve monitoring and evaluation of progress.
•
Adult learning providers will improve how they promote learning opportunities
in the area.
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 Dornoch Academy.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Jim Rooney
19 May 2009
5
satisfactory
very good
satisfactory
very good
weak
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