Cabinet Secretary endorses HMIE’s direction of travelCabinet Secretary endorses HMIE’s direction of travelI strongly endorse the inspection developments described in this edition of Briefing as representing a key contribution to taking forward the Government’s strategic priorities and commitments. In particular, they will enable HMIE to support the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and to deliver its unique reporting responsibilities under the National Performance Framework and through the Scotland Performs website. They will also provide valuable intelligence relevant to the Government’s Concordat with CoSLA.
At the same time, HMIE needs to take account of wider developments in scrutiny of Scottish public services, consistent with the Government’s response to the Crerar report. The HMIE inspection programme will deliver its priorities while also being proportionate and reducing the scale of inspection for schools and other centres and services.
The proposed changes build constructively on current inspections for which HMIE has achieved widespread recognition. I want to see the best of current inspection practice built upon to continue to provide assurance to all stakeholders, promote self-evaluation and act as a powerful driver of improvement through successful innovation.
The timing for the introduction of these changes is fortunate. I
expect schools and
pre-school centres to step up a gear in their focus on Curriculum for Excellence in this school year. Inspectors
are in a powerful position to praise the well-planned innovations
which I hear are already taking place in schools and centres across
Scotland. Their role in praising and disseminating good practice,
in discussing how schools are planning for implementation and
providing staff development to support it should all provide
momentum to the progress of Curriculum for Excellence.
I intend to keep in close touch with the impact of new inspections at both the national level and at the level where education and other vitally important services are delivered and I have every confidence in the future in both cases.
Fiona Hyslop MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong
Learning
"Future success will require an education system which is .. responsive and flexible and which is open to new ideas." Improving Scottish Education (HMIE 2006).
With these words two years ago, HMIE saw a challenging agenda for Scottish education. This special edition of Briefing outlines the equally challenging agenda which HMIE has set itself.
From September 2008 onwards, we shall introduce changes to our inspection and review processes. These changes are a logical extension of the way in which inspection and review in Scotland have been evolving for more than 15 years.
The two main functions of HMIE inspections and reviews remain unchanged. They are:
HMIE has been developing its future inspections and reviews
around these key purposes. Our aim is to support, as fully as
possible, the national drive towards high quality education and
services for children which are fit for purpose in the
21st century.
New models of inspection will enable HMIE to deliver its reporting responsibilities under the National Performance Framework (NPF) linked to the Concordat between the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA). See page 2 for more details.
In addition, we are taking account of the Scottish Government’s response to the Crerar report, which reviewed regulation and inspection within Scotland’s public sector. Our guiding principle will continue to be "maximum impact, minimum intrusion".
Key features of new approaches to inspection and review will be:
Now turn to the middle pages where HM Senior Chief Inspector, Graham Donaldson, gives more detail about new approaches to school and pre-school inspection in an in-depth interview. Information about new college reviews is provided in our article on page 4.
Why are changes
needed?
The significance of these changes should not be underestimated. Like everyone else in education, HMIE needs to respond to changes in our environment and ensure continuous improvement in our work.
Session 2008-09 will be vital for Curriculum for Excellence. The changes to inspection will allow HMIE to play its full part in taking this critical development forward.
Most of our readers will know about the Concordat between the Scottish Government and local government, and the related National Performance Framework. HMIE inspections figure in three of the Framework’s national indicators: the proportion of pre-school centres, schools and child protection services which receive positive inspection reports. We must ensure our inspections are fit for this purpose.
Has the purpose of inspection and review changed?
No, in Scotland, inspection and review will continue to fulfil two complementary purposes. They provide assurance about the quality of education and other services for children. That means assurance to children, young people, adult learners, parents and the wider community and of course to elected representatives who have responsibilities for ensuring quality and improvement.
Additionally, and very importantly, inspection and review are about improvement and innovation. They are designed to build capacity inside establishments and services to help them improve in a variety of different ways. We also use inspection and review evidence more generally to identify good practice and bring it to the attention of practitioners, for example, through good practice conferences, in appendices in published reports and on the good practice area of the HMIE website - to spread it across the system.
Will there be new approaches to inspection and review in every sector?
We have been planning and piloting changes to pre-school, primary, secondary and special school inspections for about a year. There will be changes in other sectors too, including inspection of community learning and development and wider services for children, and a new approach to college reviews.
The developments also reflect what the Government is looking for following the report by Professor Lorne Crerar and build on much of our existing practice. I’m talking here about:
What will inspectors be looking for?
Our Improving Scottish Education report, published in 2006, set out areas where improvements are needed. The year ahead will be a critical year for schools to develop Curriculum for Excellence. It will be important for inspectors to engage with schools to encourage this development. We want all learners achieving to their full potential, with no groups or individuals missing out on life chances. That means developing all our young people as successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. Literacy and numeracy skills remain of crucial importance. We want to see stimulating and imaginative teaching which motivates children and young people and sets them up as lifelong learners. We want a relevant curriculum which breaks down artificial barriers between academic and vocational education and develops creativity, resilience, healthy lifestyles and global citizenship.
Important national developments such as CfE, Skills for Scotland, the Early Years and Early Intervention Framework, Getting it Right for Every Child, The Youth Work Strategy and More Choices, More Chances will very much influence what inspection will be looking at. They are designed to produce the outcomes we all want to see for the people of Scotland.
Will school reports look very different?
Our intention is to make our school reports shorter and to ensure that they cover the key things that parents in particular want to know. We have recently consulted stakeholders through surveys and focus groups about the look and feel of our reports.
We are also very aware of the needs of the professional audience. We need to present our detailed findings for use by those who can make changes and bring about improvements — school staff, staff in partner agencies and their local education authority colleagues.
We’re actively looking at the ways in which we do both these things, and that involves reviewing both the way we publish reports and the kind of communication that takes place inside a school inspection.
Will the frequency of school inspection change?
We have agreed with Scottish Government that in order to collect information for the National Performance Framework that we shall inspect every secondary school over a six-year period from April 2008, and every primary school, special school and pre-school centre over a seven-year period from April 2008. However, important changes to the inspection model means that each inspection will be shorter and more proportionate.
Did you consult stakeholders about the changes?
We have taken full account of stakeholder views as we developed the new inspection models. We engaged George Street Research to establish views on inspections and how best to report inspection findings. Stakeholders felt that it was important to take the views of parents and pupils into account and to involve them in the inspection process, either through meeting inspectors or responding to questionnaires. They also felt it was important that reports provide a list of key action points to guide improvement together with the key strengths and weaknesses.
Stakeholders want reports to parents and pupils to be straightforward and short. They understand that professional staff might need more detailed feedback.
So what should schools, colleges and wider services be
doing to prepare themselves for these new inspections?
They should all aspire to prepare children, young people and adult learners to lead successful lives in the 21st century. They should provide a relevant curriculum and high quality experiences for children, young people and adult learners. They can use The Child at the Centre, How good is our school? and HMIE’s other quality frameworks to help them identify and share good practice and to ensure improvement where necessary. Part 4 of The Journey to Excellence gives updated advice on planning for improvement and Part 5, the online digital resource, provides many examples of outstanding practice in schools. The resource is currently being extended to include examples of excellent practice from the college sector and from community learning and development.
Will the new inspections be less stressful?
We are aware that an inspection can cause some tensions. Within our new model we have a clear aim that the inspection will be done with the school rather than to the school. We have continued to improve the skills of our inspectors to enable them to provide feedback to teachers and engage with them. The purpose of inspection is to improve schools. Research shows that stress occurs where schools are poorly managed and staff feel unsupported. Stress should be reduced when the school environment improves.
What changes are planned for community learning and development?
Community learning and development inspections are being redesigned to ensure full geographical coverage of Scotland’s communities. In order to do this we will inspect learning communities in the areas surrounding selected secondary schools. These inspections will take account of the contribution of all providers to the National Priorities for CLD, including all educational establishments in the area. This activity will focus on the impacts of CLD partners in securing improvements for young people, parents and other adult learners, and communities. It will also help us to highlight the good practice that is already evident in the contribution that schools make to building stronger communities and the effective use that many schools make of community resources to support learning in school.
The Scottish Government will use its new National Performance Framework (NPF) to achieve and measure improvements in public services and quality of life for people in Scotland.
At the top of the Framework, sits the Government’s single, overarching Purpose:
To focus government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth. |
Five strategic objectives support delivery of the Purpose. They are to create a Scotland that is:
The Framework then outlines 15 national outcomes which describe in more detail what the Government wants to achieve over a 10-year period. The success of these outcomes will be measured by 45 specific indicators, three of which relate to HMIE’s inspections.
The proportions of:
will be reported on as part of the NPF, the aspiration being to increase the proportion of positive inspection reports over time and so indicate improvements in learners’ experiences.
Inspection reports on pre-school centres, schools and child protection will be defined as positive where evaluations of "reference" Quality Indicators (QIs) are satisfactory or better. These QIs relate to key outcomes and areas of provision.
The proportion of inspections which lead to "good" or better and "very good" or better evaluations for these three QIs will also be reported.
For pre-school centres, the
reference QIs are: |
 |
For schools, the reference QIs
are: |
 |
For child protection, the reference
QIs are: |
 |
You can find more information about the NPF on the Scotland Performs website www.scotland.gov.uk/About/ScotPerforms |
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In introducing the new inspection
model, HMIE worked in partnership with a number of schools and
pre-school centres.
The headteachers involved in three of these pilots give us their
thoughts.
What do you think are the main benefits of this new model of inspection?
LC I think the main benefit of the new model is that it will be based on the school’s self-evaluation. I believe that most schools are in a good place to use self-evaluation as a starting point for inspection. I welcomed the idea that through discussion with the managing inspector, I could give a clear overview of where our school is on its journey to excellence. Our inspection definitely took account of the local circumstance of the school. Staff were quickly given feedback on any learning episode the inspectors observed and all staff felt that they were part of the inspection process rather than the inspection ‘being done to them’.
BM There are huge differences between this model and that of before. This time the inspection begins with the headteacher’s presentation on the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This has to be in depth and with clear evidence to back up any claims made. We also had a chance to ‘showcase’ what we considered to be best practice to the inspection team. I felt that once the team had heard my presentation; had a look at the evidence supplied; and interviewed the various groups they had a better and understanding of the school and were better prepared to identify a variety of directions that they wished to inspect.
At the feedback sessions there was a clear wish to have professional engagement. I felt this was a two-way discussion of the findings, judgments made and suggestions as to ways to improve. The general tone of the inspection was supportive and the school and the inspection team were keen for the bottom line to be that the result of the inspection would lead to improvement. However, an inspection is an inspection! This meant that inspectors were in classes observing lessons, talking to pupils and staff, looking at jotters, folders and records of work. Members of staff were aware that someone was in their class observing and making judgments. That should be perfectly reasonable and acceptable if we all truly believe that we're here to do the best that we can for the pupils in front of us.
MM The inspection was much more interactive with the starting point being our own self-evaluation. We were kept updated at all times with many opportunities for engagement with inspectors. Staff felt this was a positive experience. They felt it was an inclusive approach. I felt that it was thorough with real opportunity to show strengths of the centre.
Any further improvements you can suggest?
LC I think this model has a lot of potential for schools to work in partnership with HMIE to improve. However, I believe this will require a significant change in mind-set from some headteacher colleagues — and maybe some inspectors — to ensure that schools feel confident that self-evaluation is the key driver for the inspection.
MM I think I would like a longer report. It may be helpful if a short report was given to parents but establishments got a slightly longer report, though I realise that would be very time consuming.
Any advice to others?
LC I used my standards and quality report as the basis for discussion with the managing inspector. I found this to be a good way to structure my discussion given that the managing inspector had very little previous knowledge of my school.
BM One key message based on our experience is for the headteacher to open the inspection by being honest, clear and forthright about the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This sets the tone for the week and should result in open discussions which, hopefully, lead to improvement for all. Again, surely this is the whole purpose of an inspection?
MM Not to get to worried about it. It was definitely a positive experience for us and not having to send in reams of paperwork beforehand was a bonus.
Towards a new external review
model for Scotland’s collegesThe Joint Quality Review Group (JQRG) of the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC) recommended that three common key principles should underpin quality assurance and enhancement in both the college and university sectors:
HMIE will:
For low-risk colleges with strong track records, external review will be light. Grades will no longer be used in college review reports. The summative readouts will be in the form of confidence statements, similar to those currently used. Each statement will be expressed at one of three levels of confidence:
HMIE is confident/has limited confidence/is not confident that:
The first core reviews using this new model are due to take place early in 2009. Student team members (STMs) will be deployed on all core reviews.
For a considerable period now, HMIE
has taken increasing account of
self-evaluation in its inspections. This is only right in a
maturing system that places improvement through self-evaluation at
its heart.
As a crucial part of new inspections, teams will engage with teachers and other members of staff to discuss the school or centre’s use of self-evaluation. Schools and pre-school centres will have the opportunity to demonstrate the impact of their self-evaluation in improving their work and particularly in raising achievement. Inspection teams will be interested in how the school or centre identifies its future priorities and direction founded on how well it knows itself.
Discussion about self-evaluation, evidence and plans for improvement early in the inspection will help the inspectors to focus their activities and consider priorities for inspection.
HMIE support for self-evaluation
Three new HMIE guides, due for publication in autumn 2008, will support self-evaluation for improvement in schools and pre-school centres. These guides take account of changes in approaches used in inspection. They should be used alongside the advice in How good is our school? and The Child at the Centre.
The first two guides will help staff to use those QIs which will be evaluated in every inspection focusing on the outcomes achieved by learners, the way that needs are met, the quality of the curriculum and the use of self-evaluation as an engine for improvement. Inspectors will use these guides in new inspection models to make consistent evaluations using the six-point scale.
Improving outcomes for learners through self-evaluation
This guide will help staff teams in schools and pre-school centres to focus on the quality indicator (QI) Improvement through self-evaluation and on the QIs used in the National Performance Framework:
Improving our curriculum through self-evaluation
Curriculum for Excellence sets out a challenging agenda for all of us involved in Scottish education. Evaluating the quality of a curriculum which embraces all of the opportunities for learning organised by a school or pre-school centre is a highly complex task. This is particularly so at a time of change to less prescriptive forms of curriculum guidance, to greater encouragement to the professional team to take responsibility for the curriculum in their school or centre, and to innovate actively to respond to the needs of their learners and communities. This guide will help your staff team to evaluate and improve the quality of your curriculum.
Opening up Learning — good practice in evaluating learning and teaching in schools
Children and young people are motivated by stimulating, engaging learning experiences and well-judged teaching. But, how often and how well do we engage with another practitioner in discussing the learning experiences of young people that we have shared in the same classroom or playroom?
All practitioners can improve outcomes for learners through sharing practice, personal reflection, cooperative teaching and learning visits to other classrooms or playrooms. Headteachers demonstrate their leadership for learning through the priority that they give to involve the whole staff team in such improvement through self-evaluation.
In response to requests from teachers, this guide talks directly to practitioners in a practical way about the role that they can play in using self-evaluation to improve their own practice and the practice of their team. It draws on good practice observed during inspections to help all of us involved in teaching to reflect together on our practice and work together to improve the learning experiences of pupils.
Major conference on self-evaluation
HMIE is hosting a major national conference on self-evaluation and improvement on 16th September 2008. The conference will launch the publications described above in the context of our new approaches to inspection and feature The Journey to Excellence. Keynote speakers will include Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary and Graham Donaldson HMSCI.
In self-evaluation and inspection, a clear evaluation can be achieved by:
HMIE BRIeFING is published
by HM Inspectorate of Education.
For further copies, or to offer a contributing article, contact:
The Editor, BRIeFING, HMIE, Denholm House, Almondvale Business
Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
Tel: 01506 600 200 E-mail: enquiries@hmie.gsi.gov.uk Web: www.hmie.gov.uk
Abbreviations:
HMIE — HM Inspectorate of Education, HMSCI — HM Senior
Chief Inspector, HMCI — HM Chief Inspector, HMACI — HM
Assistant Chief Inspector, HMI — HM Inspector(s).
© Crown copyright 2008
Ref: HMIEBRIeFING0905/1/3
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Wednesday 5 November 2008
HM Inspectorate of Education, and Learning and Teaching Scotland, will be hosting a national good practice conference on Wednesday 5 November 2008 to celebrate good and improving practice in special schools and units in Scotland, and to identify challenges for the future.
The conference brings together practitioners from special schools, units and other forms of provision for pupils with additional support needs to engage with three key questions:
How good are we now?
How good can we be?
How can we get there?
This conference aims to give participants the opportunity to:
The conference is aimed at headteachers and senior managers of special schools and units and education authority officers.
The programme will include:
Participants are invited to take part in two workshops on paths to transformation, which relate to excellent practice in developing the curriculum, partnerships and leadership and leadership.
I would like to invite you to nominate one colleague from your establishment to attend the conference. The cost of the conference is £115 per delegate and return forms should include a relevant purchase order number. Refreshments will be available from 9.30am and the conference will begin at 10am, concluding at 4pm. Please use the back page for your application which should be fully completed and returned by Friday 10 October 2008.
 |
 |
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Wednesday 5 November 2008
PROGRAMME
09:30 |
Registration, refreshments and music |
|
10:00 — 10:15 |
Welcome |
|
10:15 — 11:00 |
HMIE: HOW GOOD ARE WE NOW? |
|
11:00 — 11:45 |
Keynote Address: HOW GOOD CAN WE
BE? |
|
11:55 — 13:45 |
Our community of good
practice: |
|
13:45 — 14:35 |
HOW CAN WE GET THERE? |
|
Paths to transformation 1 |
Curriculum |
|
14:40 — 15:35 |
Paths to transformation 2 |
Leadership and excellence |
15:35 |
Next Steps, Future
Challenges |
|
16:00 |
Close |
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