Inspection of the learning community
Inspection of the learning community surrounding Bell Baxter High School
Fife Council
5 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 Bell Baxter High 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 Bell Baxter High School includes the towns of
Cupar, Newburgh and Auchtermuchty. According to the Scottish Index of Multiple
Deprivation, the area is not amongst the most deprived in Scotland. Crime rates
are relatively low and unemployment at 2.4% is presently below both the national
and Fife average.
3. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Strong and effective partnerships.Wide range of learning opportunities for
adults and young people.
•
Clear focus on learning in many projects that are well targeted on
disadvantaged or vulnerable people.
•
High level of community involvement particularly in rural villages.
•
Very positive impact of community-based adult learning opportunities on
learners’ lives.
•
Highly committed, motivated and approachable staff.
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4. Examples of good practice
•
The Vocational and Development programme - At Bell Baxter High School
there was an excellent partnership between school and community partners
that was having a significant impact on the personal, social and practical skills
development of young people who were not thriving within the formal
classroom environment.
•
Springfield Community Trust Path project - The organisers of this project
involved people with learning difficulties, substance abuse and mental health
issues, primary school children as well as young unemployed people who
gained significant hours of practical vocational experience and were trained to
SVQ/industry level in a range of disciplines.
•
Staff from different disciplines worked seamlessly together at the family
learning English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) group at
St Columbus Primary School which brought together parents and children from
non-English speaking backgrounds to learn.
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?
There is a wide range of learning opportunities for young people and adults. The
accessible and broad range of provision is of particular significance given the rural
nature of the area. Local planning groups have made good progress in achieving
many of the aims and objectives identified in their annual plans. Performance
data shows that speakers of English as a second language are progressing well
into employment or further education. There is an increasing number of learners
moving on from college outreach programmes to further learning in the college
itself. Overall, however, the partnership does not have the information it needs to
identify trends in performance or a comprehensive picture of who is using services
and how they are benefitting. A management information system is in place but is
not used effectively. Work is needed to collate and analyse data on learners so
that the partnership can identify how well it is achieving its targets and to ascertain
trends in performance.
Young people
Staff involved in the provision of youth work opportunities in this area are
enthusiastic, motivated and committed to improvement. Staff speak positively
about the benefits of training and are able to apply their learning in their work
settings. Partnership working between agencies is producing clear benefits and
resulting in joined-up responses to young people’s needs. There is a good range
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of learning opportunities for young people including detached work, youth
information, and focused personal development programmes. Much of the work
is delivered through projects that are well targeted on disadvantaged or vulnerable
young people. Workers use their good local networks to signpost young people
effectively to additional opportunities and support. Many young people are able to
identify skills which they have developed and how they can use them in different
parts of their lives. They are developing confidence and some can identify
positive changes in their behaviour as a result of their involvement in youth
provision. Young people involved in the vocational and development programme
at Bell Baxter High School have increased in self-esteem, and are gaining a range
of skills and knowledge about the outdoors and the environment. Almost all
previous participants in this project have progressed into employment or
education after leaving school. Young people’s successes are celebrated at a
Fife-wide event and at a local Youth Oscars (Yoscars) ceremony. Very good use
is made of the Natural Connections Award in a small number of projects but a
broader range of accreditation opportunities need to be developed and
implemented. Young people’s involvement in decision-making processes both
within youth work provision and in their communities need to be further developed
and rolled out consistently across the area. Many staff do not fully involve young
people in reflecting on their learning, reviewing their progress and identifying the
impact that participation in provision has had on them.
Adults
Adult learning provision is very good. Staff involve learners in developing and
reviewing their individual learning plans. Learners feel included and valued. They
are applying their newly acquired knowledge and skills to work, personal,
community and family lives. They report significant increases in levels of general
confidence in engaging with other people and taking on challenging activities.
Many learners in Adult Literacy and Numeracy have progressed from introductory
courses to Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and other certificated
qualifications. Learners with additional support needs are using their new skills to
access bus travel independently and contribute to the management of their own
finances. For many participants, ESOL provision is resulting in increased
employability, progression into further and higher education and increased
personal confidence to deal with every day challenges. ESOL learners also report
a reduced sense of social isolation and increased confidence in communications
with schools, shops and General Practitioners. The Seasons for Growth
programme is providing a safe, trusting and supportive environment and as a
result participants are beginning to recognise the stages of change that they are
experiencing. Partners are working hard to engage difficult to reach learners and
these efforts could be further improved by developing a clearer plan of action and
a more systematic approach. Many individual stories were inspiring and the
partnership could effectively capitalise on this by developing ways to identify,
celebrate and disseminate the impact of adult learning on people’s lives.
Learners would benefit from clearer progression pathways and referral systems
between agencies and services.
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6. How well does CLD help the community to develop?
Impact on the local community is good. There is a high level of community
involvement, particularly in the more rural villages around Cupar. Some
community groups deliver high quality services in response to identified local
needs. Community activists involved in the rural Community Trusts, and digital
projects such as Smart Communities and Digital Fife are highly skilled and
confident and are influencing service delivery at a local level. The need for
projects delivered by the Community Trusts has been identified by local people
and their success has encouraged further volunteer involvement and boosted
community pride. There is a need for all CLD partners to coordinate training and
support for community capacity building and maximise the use of limited
resources. More training and networking opportunities for community groups, and
in particular management committees, are needed. There is also a need to build
the capacity of young people to enable them to have a clear voice on
management committees and to better influence wider decision making in the
community as a whole.
7. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
The recent introduction of a planning system is used well by multi-agency
planning groups to help them focus on what they wish to achieve and to monitor
progress. Regular reviews of progress culminate in an annual facilitated
self-evaluation to which most partners have contributed. This systematic
approach has helped the partners involved to become more accountable to one
another and to take on a collective responsibility for improving services. Staff
submit plans for new initiatives to the appropriate multi-agency group for approval
and review. In some cases these project plans are well thought out but in many
instances staff are not yet able to describe clearly what they intend to achieve and
how they will measure success.
Some aspects of the work are routinely monitored and evaluated by practitioners.
ESOL staff regularly involve learners in monitoring their learning, progression and
achievement. Adult Basic Education has clear, comprehensive targets for its work
across Fife, and monitors progress on a quarterly basis. Tutor assessment in
ESOL classes and external evaluation in some youth work practice brings greater
challenge to self-evaluation processes and encourages staff to become more
reflective practitioners. The partnership would benefit from sharing and extending
this good practice. Elmwood College successfully uses learner focus-groups to
assess the quality and appropriateness of provision but overall learners are not
routinely involved in helping to assess and improve services. The partnership
produces a leaflet giving a clear and concise summary of its aims but needs to
disseminate this more widely and report on its progress to the community.
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8. Do CLD providers have a clear sense of direction?
Partners in youth and adult learning work well very together to achieve a shared
vision, identify needs and agree priorities. The development of local planning
groups has improved communication and enabled partners to work more
effectively together to plan and coordinate the delivery of youth and adult learning
provision, share expertise and pool resources. Almost all agencies and services
have a clear sense of the communities and groups they need to work with and a
good understanding of the local area. There are some very good examples of
jointly planned and delivered projects arising from identified needs. Staff from a
range of agencies have good working relationships and know who to call on for
support, ideas and resources. They use their extensive local networks to benefit
learners.
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.
•
Develop opportunities and support for young people to take responsibility
and become actively involved in decision-making within their projects and
the wider community.
•
Systematically collect and analyse performance data to inform partnership
planning and evaluation.
•
Ensure a coordinated approach to capacity building.
•
Ensure that possible progression routes are clear to adult learners.
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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 Bell Baxter High School.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Jane Brook
5 May 2009
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satisfactory
good
very good
good
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
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