Inspection of the learning community
Inspection of the learning community surrounding Arbroath Academy
Angus Council
18 November 2008
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 Arbroath 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 Arbroath Academy includes the north of Arbroath
and the villages of Auchmithie, Friokheim and Inverkeilor. According to the
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, North Arbroath is amongst the most
deprived areas in Scotland. The proportion of workless people is above the
Scottish average and the rest of Angus Council.
3. Particular strengths of the learning community
•
Very well developed range and balance of provision for young people and
adults.
•
Effective range of approaches to engagement, especially for those who are
hardest to reach.
•
High levels of volunteering and good recognition of volunteer achievements.
•
Positive impacts on learners’ lives.
•
Strong impact of voluntary sector groups.
•
Effective inter-agency work and collaboration.
•
Very good examples of community empowerment.
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4. Examples of good practice
•
The Arbroath Area Partnership.
•
Association of Residents of Cliffburn and Hayshead (ARCH).
•
Volunteer Centre Angus.
•
Angus Gold.
•
Literacies Visual Stress Group.
•
Supervised Attendance Group.
•
The Witches Project.
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?
Some aspects of services, such as those based on the targets in the regeneration
outcome agreement, show tangible improvements in areas such as community
safety, employability, health and raising achievement. Partners had increased the
range and quality of community learning opportunities. Community workers
helped to secure growth in the amount of funding brought into the area over the
past two years. Volunteer Centre Angus is very effective in increasing the level of
volunteering in the local area. However, there remained work to do to gather
information that demonstrates fully the outcomes of CLD activity within the local
authority service and across partners.
Young people
Partners provide a very good range of youth work opportunities resulting in a high
level of participation by young people. Creative methods are used to engage and
involve young people in learning activities. A good example of this was The
Witches Project that helped teenage girls to explore the history of the area from a
woman’s point of view. Most of the young people involved in the inspection felt
valued and were supported to express their views and opinions.
As a result of these activities, almost all young people felt more confident and
developed core skills, particularly in areas such as communication, team work and
managing behaviour. This was particularly so in the Girls Group and Kick It Kick
Off, an innovative programme for boys that was run at Arbroath Football Club.
Most young people reported increased levels of fitness and improved health due
to their involvement in youth programmes such as Streetgames and Showcase
the Street. Most of the young people who would not normally get involved in
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youth work said that they felt more included and that they were now managing
their behaviour and working better with others. Many young people are improving
their employability through participation in informal learning and volunteering
opportunities. Volunteer achievements were well recognised through Millennium
Volunteer Awards in almost all youth work provision. Performance information
across all partners should be improved to show the effect of their work on
participation, retention, achievement and progression.
Adults
Adults benefited a great deal from learning programmes. Almost all of the
learners we spoke to reported that their experience had helped their learning.
Participants in the visual stress literacies research group had significantly
increased their confidence to learn. All participants in the group for speakers of
other languages said their experience had helped them in work, family and
community life. The Volunteer Centre provided additional support to help
migrants to volunteer. Staff had developed learning programmes, such as ‘Living
and Working in Angus’, relevant to the needs of migrants. Participants in the
'Supervision Order programme’ benefited significantly from a range of inputs by
public services. They were clear about the positive impact made by their learning
activities. Angus Gold, a learning and development project for the over fifties, had
a very beneficial effect on significant numbers of older people. After initial
computer training, most of them had gone on to courses at Angus College or
other development activities. CLD partners did not have systematic ways of
tracking learners’ progress. As a result, they were not able to confidently
demonstrate successful outcomes.
6. How well does CLD help the community to develop?
Almost all community groups have skilled, active and confident members. They
had been well supported by the community learning and development service
(CLDS) and the Volunteer Centre Angus to contribute to their communities.
Training programmes are generally effective in building the capacity of individuals.
There are a number of good examples of individuals progressing from a range of
programmes to become active volunteers. Volunteering in Angus had shown the
highest growth rate in Scotland over the past four years and was now fourth in
Scotland for the percentage of the population who volunteer. Volunteers in the
small coastal village of Auchmithie are well supported to organise a successful
annual heritage and arts festival. The ARCH is exceptionally influential in
promoting improvements in its communities. It had been influential in securing
improvements in housing and open spaces, including raising £250,000 for a new
park in the area. They were taking the lead in bringing partners together to move
to a next phase of regeneration with a focus on attainment, health, community
safety and economic development.
The Arbroath Area Partnership is a highly effective area forum with representation
from a wide range of interests in the town. It had initiated the development of a
Credit Union for the whole of Angus and had been instrumental in establishing
safety signs on local cliffs. The work of members had improved community
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cohesion and the attractiveness of the town to tourists through a wide range of
local initiatives. CLD partners could help to improve the involvement of young
people and older adult learners in their communities and in the Area Partnership.
The Integrated Community Schools partnership and the Focus on Alcohol project
team were instrumental in bringing partners together to develop the Friday Night
Initiative in the Saltire Centre to reduce anti-social behaviour by young people.
7. How effective are providers in improving the quality of services?
The CLDS and Volunteer Centre Angus had well developed arrangements for
self-evaluation. As a result, they were well aware of their strengths and areas for
improvement. The CLDS was implementing new arrangements to manage
performance information, but this was in the early stages of development. Service
managers are aware of the need to adopt more collaborative approaches to
improving services across partners and to improve reporting to stakeholders.
8. Do CLD providers have a clear sense of direction?
CLD is well led by the local authority within the inspection area. Volunteer Centre
Angus also provides strong leadership for volunteering. The Arbroath Area
Partnership is a good example of a range of interests pulling together to secure
improvements in the town. The ARCH provides very effective community
leadership within the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the town. Arbroath
Academy is increasingly active as a partner in securing improvements locally.
9. What happens next?
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.
•
Use good practice in Arbroath to improve services elsewhere in the Council
area.
•
Improve performance management to demonstrate more fully the value of
the very good work being undertaken.
•
Embed the concept of CLD as an approach rather than as a service.
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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 Arbroath Academy.
Improvements in performance
Impact on young people
Impact on adults
Impact of capacity building on communities
Improving services
HM Inspector Managing Inspector: Jim Rooney
18 November 2008
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good
very good
very good
very 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 2008
HM Inspectorate of Education
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