Learning community inspection
A report by HM Inspectorate of Education
Inspection of the learning community
surrounding Ross High School
East Lothian Council
15 March 2011
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.
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 surrounding Ross High School covers the Fa’side ward.
It includes the town of Tranent and the villages of Ormiston, Elphinstone,
MacMerry and Pencaitland. Fa’side is the largest single ward in East Lothian with
a population of around 18,000. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation
identifies that there are two concentrations of deprivation in the area that fall
within the 10% most income deprived in Scotland. Respondents to the
East Lothian Household Survey in 2009 considered crime and anti-social
behaviour a major issue. Many adults in the area have few or no qualifications.
In 2009/10, 65% of school leavers from Ross High School went on to higher or
further education or training.
2. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Effective support for adults and young people from committed staff.
•
Strong ethos of volunteering.
•
Effective partnership working.
•
Young people achieving well through involvement in the Recharge youth
project.
•
Voluntary sector has developed well managed projects in response to local
needs.
•
Tenants and residents associations effectively addressing local issues.
•
Effective work with vulnerable families.
3. How well do participants learn and achieve?
Community learning and development (CLD) providers are using a robust
performance management system to identify trends and inform budget decisions.
Partners are delivering high quality learning programmes for young people, adults
and communities. Most are progressing to volunteering, accredited learning and
employment. Targets set for participation in youth work are showing a steady
increases in the latter part of 2010. Targets for adult learning have been achieved
in the last year but are lower than predicted but generally remain stable. Adult
Literacy and Numeracy (ALN) learners are progressing well against their targets.
Outreach workers are effectively targeting vulnerable and disengaged young
people through their streetwork programme. Close partnerships with
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Ross High School and the police are helping to tackle anti-social behaviour as a
result of the effective targeting and joint working between agencies.
Increasing numbers of young people leaving fourth year at Ross High School are
progressing into higher and further education. The numbers of young people
completing The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at silver level have increased during
the last year, although those achieving bronze have decreased. Staff working
with Guideline, the Council’s guidance service, are sustaining high levels of
learner retention. Staff effectively use texting to keep learners engaged. Levels
of support to vulnerable families is exceeding targets set. Homestart are
gathering and recording trend information to improve provision. Targets for
capacity building are detailed in the CLD Business Plan although these would
benefit further from being more specific and measurable. Information regarding
targeting and participation of minority ethnic groups and disabled people is not
systematically recorded. The use of information about comparators would help
CLD providers to measure against similar services.
Young people
Young people are learning and achieving well through a range of very effective
programmes. East Lothian’s Youth Vision ensures that work with young people is
a high priority. Young people involved in Youthbank are learning decision making
and financial skills. Several are achieving accreditation. Almost all members of
the Youth Managers Group at Recharge are reporting increased confidence.
They successfully organised a campaign against a planning application for a
bookmaker in Tranent town centre. Outreach youth workers are effectively
engaging with young people involved in risky or anti-social behaviour. Young
people are being well supported to make positive life choices through good advice
and very appropriate referral to other agencies.
A few young people are gaining certification through John Muir and Millennium
Volunteer awards. The introduction of Youth Achievement Awards would help
others gain credit for their work in the community. Many young people attending
Ross High School are settling better into school through a well established
transition programme from primary to secondary schools. Members of the
Ormiston Youth Group are learning new and useful skills through art and story
telling. They positively shape the programme in a proposed new community
facility through seeking the views of other young people. Young women taking
part in Learning on the Hoof are learning to groom and care for horses. The Kick
Start football initiative is helping young men make healthy lifestyle choices. Hard
to reach young people are improving their employability and progressing to
positive destinations supported by Recharge, Skills Development Scotland (SDS)
and partners at the Job Spot. Most young people involved in Beyond the Edge
Management Committee have improved their organisational and communication
skills by fundraising for outdoor and environmental activities. A few young people
have progressed to college. The rural villages would benefit from a review of
current youth work provision.
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Adults
Adults are engaged in good quality learning programmes. Strong partner
networks and effective referral systems ensure that learners are given appropriate
learning opportunities. Almost all participants in the New Opportunities for
Women East Lothian and Families for Life programmes are achieving and
progressing well. They are building their confidence and self esteem. Their
learning also impacts positively on their family lives, particularly in the areas of
health and childcare. Participants on these programmes benefit from integrated
guidance and ALN support. They are supported effectively by committed, and
empathetic staff. All adult literacy learners are gaining in confidence as well as
developing core skills. Of those ALN learners who have sustained attendance,
almost all are progressing well in their learning. Some have achieved
accreditation through Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Scottish
Vocational Qualifications (SVQ). Some learners may need an increased level of
practical and personal support to sustain their attendance in ALN groups.
Opportunities for adults to influence learning programmes would be welcomed, for
example, through learner forums.
Participants in the adult education programme are gaining skills in subjects such
as art, languages and information technology. Almost all are reporting positive
impacts on family life and wellbeing. Some IT learners are gaining SQA and
European Computer Driving Licence certification. In rural villages almost all
participants identify the social benefit of taking part in adult learning. However,
provision is limited in range and impact. Individual learning plans would help to
identify learner progression more effectively across all adult learning provision. All
ALN participants use learning planning and review. However, the benefits are not
fully understood by volunteer tutors in beginners English Speakers of Other
Languages (ESOL) groups captured by beginner ESOL learners.
4. How well are communities developing and achieving?
The learning community has a strong focus on inclusion and equality. CLD staff
are working effectively with East Lothian Voluntary Organisation Network
(ELVON), schools and key partners to respond to local priorities. These are well
aligned to the East Lothian Single Outcome Agreement (SOA). Almost all
volunteers have access to high quality training and are well supported. They play
a vital role in developing and sustaining key initiatives such as Home Start, Care
Free Kids, Ormiston Village Hall, and Roots and Fruits. Tenants and residents
associations are successfully reducing anti-social behaviour and improving the
local environment. Community groups such as Homestart and Families For Life
are successfully helping people into volunteering to improve their skills. Young
people are progressing to responsible volunteering roles in Recharge. Many
young people are influencing local developments, for example, through Youth
Vision Ormiston Steering Group has been well supported to consult the
community resulting in allocation of resources to build a new community centre.
Community Transport is well used by schools to improve access to activities and
community groups have supported some schools to develop community gardens.
The community has developed strong and supportive networks and a number of
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groups link with national networks. A few projects have been successful in
attracting inward investment to support local initiatives. CLD partners and ELVON
now need to continue to build the capacity of groups to secure long term
sustainability. The community would benefit from enhanced local community
planning to ensure that people have a say in developing services.
5. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
Partners have very good arrangements in place for planning and evaluation. All
CLD staff have work plans that are appropriately linked to local priorities and the
SOA. A wide range of methods are being effectively employed to gather the
views of participants and stakeholders. Youth workers are improving their
evaluation methods by using video, social networking and photography to gather
the views of young people. Recharge makes very good use of DVD to record
young peoples’ achievements. The CLD service staff use a bespoke
management information system to effectively plan and record their work.
Managers are monitoring progress against targets and Recharge is now also
using the system. The CLD service should now consider extending this to other
partners. Outreach workers use robust methods to record their interventions with
young people. Very good use is made of police data to target vulnerable young
people and those at risk. An innovative Cluster Development Plan involving
schools and CLD providers is helping to improve outcomes for young people
through the primary to secondary transition.
Tenants and residents associations are helping local people to have a say and
improve services in Tranent. They are positively influencing local and national
policy. Ormiston West Tenants and Residents Association are improving their
local community by gathering the views of local people about a new community
facility. Partners use a good range of methods to report to stakeholders and
participants. The Learning Choices Newsletter informs adults about learning
opportunities. Recharge uses the local press well to positively promote young
people’s involvement. Partners could, however, develop new ways of keeping
new people moving to the learning community informed effectively about learning
programmes.
6. Does the learning community have a clear sense of direction?
The learning community has a clear sense of direction and CLD providers are
working well together to improve the quality of provision. There are strong
impacts for young people, adults and the community. Almost all community
groups are delivering high quality learning opportunities and the life of the
community is improving as a result. Strong and developing links with local
schools are helping to ensure that young people have access to the highest level
of informal learning. Whilst many people feel they have an influence in terms of
developments in the community, better arrangements for community planning
would enhance this further.
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7. What happens next?
The inspection team was able to rely on the high quality self-evaluation provided
in the learning community. As a result, inspectors were able to change their focus
during the inspection to support further improvements within the learning
community.
CLD providers have a good understanding of their strengths and areas for
improvement and communities are achieving very well. As a result we have
ended the inspection process at this stage.
We have agreed the following areas for improvement with the education authority
and its partners.
•
Embed Youth Achievements Awards and other accredited learning in
programmes for young people.
•
Further improve systems to communicate with new residents regarding
learning opportunities.
•
Improve provision in rural villages.
Quality indicators help CLD providers and inspectors to judge what is good and
what needs to be improved in the learning community. 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 Ross High School.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
Managing Inspector: Sheila Brown
15 March 2011
5
good
very good
good
very good
very good
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 2011
HM Inspectorate of Education