This staff development guide has been developed as part of a commitment we made in 2005. In our foreword ‘Residential Care and Education: Improving practice in residential special schools in Scotland’ 2005, we said that we would work with service providers to disseminate good practice as well as support an improvement agenda. The aim of the guide is to provide practical support for evaluating and improving the quality of provision and to promote excellence. It is for all residential schools and secure care services. The guide draws from best practice in monitoring and evaluating across different sectors of education as well as from the best practice in residential special schools and secure care accommodation. The guide takes account of the key features of the sector such as the importance of collaborative working, the benefits of support and provision of learning oppurtunities across 24 hours and the need to re-engage learners through a strong focus on all aspects of health and well-being.
The guide has been developed by a working group which included senior managers from residential special schools and secure care accommodation as well as representatives from HMIE and the Care Commission. This partnership highlights the close working relationship across care and education at all levels within this sector and between the inspectors and regulators. We wish to record our appreciation to all the authors for the commitment to the production of this high quality guide.
We commend this guide to you as the means to highlighting best practice to all staff. It also provides a practical tool-kit to enable staff, external managers, agencies and placing authorities to judge the quality of provision across care and education. Through robust evaluation, undertaken in partnership with others, the improved quality of residential special schools and secure accommodation services can result in the best outcomes for children and young people. This is our aspiration for Scotland’s children.
Graham Donaldson, Senior Chief Inspector, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education and Jacquie Roberts, Chief Executive, Care Commission.