Summary Report on Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland Inspections
Perth and Kinross Council · 26 April 2023
Back to Scrutiny and Performance Committee — 26 April 2023 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL Scrutiny And Performance Committee 26 April 2023 Executive Sub-Committee Of Learning & Families Committee 15 May 2023 SUMMARY REPORT ON CARE INSPECTORATE AND EDUCATION SCOTLAND INSPECTIONS Report by Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) (Report No. 23/117) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report provides an overview of the performance of Education and Children’s Services inspected and reported over the past year by the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland, since the previous report of this type in 2022, and sets out the Service’s approach to implementing improvement actions arising out of inspections, as well as the wider school improvement framework. 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: • Scrutinises and comments as appropriate on the contents of the report. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Summary of Inspections • Section 6: Conclusion • Appendices 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 Care Inspectorate 4.1.1 Regulated care services in Scotland are inspected by the Care Inspectorate using a range of quality frameworks, each with Key Questions and Quality Indicators (QIs). Services are measured against the National Health and Social Care Standards. Where inspected, each Key Question and contributing QI is graded on a 6-point scale in which 1 = unsatisfactory, 2 = weak, 3 = adequate, 4 = good, 5 = very good and 6 = excellent.
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An updated A quality framework for day care of children, childminding and school aged childcare was published by the Care Inspectorate and was used in test inspections, without published grades, before full implementation. This framework is now in place for inspections carried out since 1 June 2022. 4.1.2 The framework is framed around four key questions. Each of these include a number of QIs for actual inspection. • How good is our care, play and learning? • How good is our setting? • How good is our leadership? • How good is our staff team? The final key question is: • What is our overall capacity for improvement? This requires a global judgement based on evidence and evaluations from all the other key areas but is not evaluated specifically. 4.1.3 The Care Inspectorate conducts unannounced inspections for all regulated services as the main inspection method unless there are practical reasons that this is not appropriate. There are longer intervals between inspections for better performing services and a greater focus on risk-based inspections for poorly performing and high-risk services such as those which provide 24-hour residential care. 4.1.4 Following an inspection, the Care Inspectorate may set out a series of: • Recommendations: statements that set out actions the care service provider should take to improve or develop the quality of the service. • Requirements: statements which set out what is required of the care service provider to comply with relevant legislation. 4.1.5 Care service providers must submit an action plan to the Care Inspectorate addressing any requirements and recommendations identified. Progress against the action plan is monitored by the Care Inspectorate through annual return and self-assessment forms submitted by the care service provider and through subsequent inspection. 4.2 Education Scotland 4.2.1 Education Scotland inspects and reports on the quality of education in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) settings, primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, community learning and development services, colleges, and residential educational provision.
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4.2.2 Education Scotland’s programme of routine inspections was paused in March 2020 in response to COVID-19. From December 2021, Education Scotland invited schools and ELC settings to take part in ‘Recovery Visits’. In Perth and Kinross, three primary schools completed the self-selection process to put their schools forward to take part and four ELC settings were also visited. No specific grades for QIs were reported from these visits. In November 2021, Education Scotland carried out three thematic reviews nationally. These were on the themes of outdoor learning, approaches to supporting young people’s wellbeing and local approaches to recovery. Three Perth and Kinross Council schools and one funded partner ELC setting participated in this process. 4.2.3 Inspections resumed post COVID-19 pandemic in September 2022 across all local authorities, selecting early years settings and schools for inspection on a proportionate basis as previously, using a sampling approach. 4.2.4 The inspection advice note from Education Scotland has been updated to reflect the challenges faced by schools and education settings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The process aims to be more proportionate and responsive and takes into account the unique circumstances of each setting. HM Inspectors continue to use the quality improvement frameworks ‘How Good Is Our School?’ (4th Edition) and ‘How Good Is Our Early Learning and Childcare?’ as the focus for inspections. However, they will also focus on the experiences of learners and how their learning and wellbeing needs are being met. They are first and foremost interested in the learning experiences and achievements of children and young people, and how schools and settings are ensuring these are of the highest quality. For school inspections, the following HGIOS4 Quality Indicators (QI) are evaluated on a six point scale: Full inspection Model • 1.3 Leadership of Change • 2.3 Learning, Teaching and Assessment • 3.2 Raising Attainment and Achievement • 3.1 Ensuring Wellbeing, Equality and Inclusion Short inspection Model • 1.1 Self-evaluation for self-improvement • 3.2 Raising Attainment and Achievement 4.2.5 A short letter is provided to report the inspection, highlighting strengths and aspects for development, and includes a table indicating the QI evaluations against the six-point scale. The inspection evidence gathered during the inspection is published online as a document called the Summarised Inspection Findings (SIF). 4.2.6 A meeting is held after the publication of the initial inspection letter. Parents, local elected members and members of the Learning and Families Committee
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are invited to the meeting providing them with the opportunity to discuss the findings of the report and to be consulted on the areas for improvement to be taken forward. Where further inspection activity is carried out, Education Scotland will report publicly to parents and stakeholders. 4.2.7 Areas for improvement, identified during an inspection, are addressed through a School Action Plan. Progress against the Plan is monitored, and a report prepared for parents/carers (and is also shared with the Area Lead Officer) within one year of the report being published. 4.3 Local Authority Quality Improvement Framework 4.3.1 Beyond these formal inspections, there is a well-established quality improvement process in Perth and Kinross schools. The Quality Improvement Framework supports effective self-evaluation, improvement planning and reporting at establishment and department level. There is a structured model of quality assurance activity which includes data analysis, self-evaluation, professional discussion and a planned programme of school visits by central officers. Schools and settings receive either universal, tailored or more intensive targeted support depending on the level of challenge and support required. Learning and Achievement Visits (LAV) are carried out by central officers for specific schools and settings following careful analysis of the school and settings needs. Improvement methodology approaches have been introduced to support effective planning and to measure the impact of improvements. Each school and ELC setting prepared and published their individual School or Centre Improvement Plan for 2022/2023, in collaboration with children and young people, parents/carers, and partners. These school and establishment-level plans inform the Annual Education Improvement Plan. All schools and settings produce an annual Standards and Quality Report (SQR), which outlines progress against improvement plan priorities, attainment, wider achievement and next steps. 4.4 Analysis of Inspection Outcomes 4.4.1 There are a number of factors which make the analysis of the inspection gradings complex over this reporting period. These factors include: • Changes to the inspection models and quality frameworks from 2016 are such that it is not possible to make direct comparisons across prior years; • The number of inspections carried out within the local authority area varies from year to year; and • The selection of QIs and themes can vary from inspection to inspection.
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5. SUMMARY OF INSPECTIONS 5.1. Care Inspectorate Inspections of Services Providing Day Care for Children 5.1.1 This section presents an overview of the performance of services providing day care for children inspected over the past year where Perth and Kinross Council is the registered provider, and for services registered as funded partners. This includes childminders with funded childcare places. The Care Inspectorate Inspection Reports are reported to the Executive Sub- Committee of Learning and Families Committee by exception where any grading has been awarded an evaluation of unsatisfactory, weak, or excellent. In the past year, one service has been reported for receiving excellent gradings. One service was graded as unsatisfactory or weak. 5.1.2 All 23 inspections of services providing day care for children in 2022/23 were unannounced. 5.1.3 To date, in 2022/23, 86% of grades awarded were good or better, similar to the previous year and above national and comparator benchmarks. The proportion of excellent and very good grades awarded is 48%, a similar figure to the 46% in the previous report of this type. Appendix A provides further details and interpretation of the overall figures. The current inspection position of all settings indicates a positive picture relative to national and comparator benchmarks, across all Quality Themes. 5.1.4 Appendix B shows performance from 1 April 2016 to 7 February 2023 by Quality Theme for all inspected services providing day care. Overall, every theme shows consistently high performance. The Quality of Staffing and Leadership and Management shows improvement in the latest year’s inspection. 5.1.5 It is common for only certain Key Questions to be assessed during an inspection. When looking at individual indicators, care must be used in interpretation as some may be evaluated less frequently than others and therefore subject to greater change from year to year. 5.1.6 Education and Children’s Services continues to monitor, support, and challenge all centres through a planned programme of improvement visits. Any setting which achieves a grading of lower than ‘Good’ will be provided with targeted support to secure improvement in that area. 5.2 Care Inspectorate Inspections of Support and Residential Care Services Fostering Service 5.2.1 The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Council’s Fostering Services on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced (short notice). This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care.
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5.2.2 The inspection evaluated the Key Questions “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Good and “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our leadership?”, “How good is our staff team?” and “How good is our setting” Key Questions were not evaluated. The Care Inspectorate identified a number of important key strengths. Adoption Service 5.2.3 The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Adoption Service on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced (short notice). This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. 5.2.4 The inspection found the “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Very Good and the “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our leadership?”, “How good is our staff team?” and “How good is our setting?” were not inspected. The inspection report does not set out any Areas for Improvement. The Care Inspectorate identified a number of important key strengths. Adult Placement Service 5.2.5 The Adult Placement service offers supported lodgings to young people aged 16-26 years. It recruits and supports carers to provide adult placements for young people who are leaving the care of the local authority and for Children Alone Seeking Asylum (CASA). The service also supports carers providing Continuing Care to young people who have been previously looked after on a fostering basis. The Care Inspectorate carried out an inspection of the Adult Placement Service on 31 May 2022. The inspection was announced (short notice) and was the first time it was inspected. This level of inspection is carried out when the Care Inspectorate is satisfied that services are working hard to provide consistently high standards of care. 5.2.6 The inspection found the “How well do we support people's wellbeing?” to be Very Good, “How good is our leadership?” to be Good, “How good is our staff team” to be Very Good and the “How well is our care and support planned?” to be Good. The “How good is our setting?” question was not inspected. The Care Inspectorate identified a number of important key strengths. The inspection report also sets out four Areas for Improvement which relate to further enhancing the quality of performance and practice within the service. 5.2.7 The findings of these three inspections, and an update on progress made towards implementing the areas for improvement, were reported to the Executive Sub-Committee of Lifelong Learning Committee on 29 August 2022 (Report No. 22/196 refers). The grading history for the latest inspections are shown in Appendix C, indicating a change to new QIs.
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5.3 Education Scotland Inspections of ELC Settings and Schools 5.3.1 This section presents an overview of the performance of Perth and Kinross Council’s ELC settings, including partner providers, and schools inspected by Education Scotland and reported to the Executive Sub Committee of Lifelong Learning Committee/Executive Sub Committee of Learning and Families Committee up to 20 March 2023. 5.3.2 During academic session 2022/23, since the last report of this type, two co-located ELC settings/primary schools were inspected, and reports published. Of the 6 ELC QIs, four were graded ‘Good’, one ‘Satisfactory’ and one ‘Weak’. Of the 6 primary school QIs inspected, one was graded ‘Very Good’, three ‘Good’ and two were rated ‘Satisfactory’. A combined summary of performance (2016/17 to date) is shown in Appendix D. Where a setting or school received a grade of less than ‘Good’, an action plan is developed with the school to secure improvement in that area. 5.3.3 Performance against comparator local authorities, and Scotland as a whole, is shown in Appendix E. Perth and Kinross Council consistently outperforms both the comparator group of local authorities and the Scotland average across both the primary school and ELC sectors, particularly when looking only at indicators graded as “Very Good” or better. There are currently insufficient secondary school inspections to allow for full comparison (6 QIs across 2 school inspections), but limited benchmarking information is also provided in Appendix E. 5.3.4 Areas for improvement identified during an inspection are addressed through a School Action Plan. Progress against the Plan is monitored, and a report prepared for parents/carers (and is also shared with the Area Lead Officer) within one year of the report being published. 5.3.5 Individual inspection reports are scrutinised by members of the Executive Sub-Committee of the Learning and Families Committee. 6. CONCLUSION 6.1 The analysis of the gradings and reports by the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland provides further information on the standards and quality in our services and sets a clear agenda for continuous improvement.
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Author Name Designation Contact Details Paul Davison Corporate Research and Information Manager ECSCommittee@pkc.gov.uk 01738 475000 Approved Name Designation Date Sheena Devlin Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) 17 April 2023
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal Yes External None Communication Communications Plan None 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (i) and (ii). Corporate Plan 1.2 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Plan Objectives: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy;
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(iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to Objective No. (i) and (ii). 1.3 The report also links to the Education & Children’s Services Vision, Values and Priorities in respect of the following key Priority areas: • Best Start • Learning and Achievement 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 N/A Workforce 2.2 N/A Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 N/A 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. The proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. The proposals have been considered under the Act; however, no action is required as the Act does not apply to the matters presented in this report. This is because the Committee are requested to note the contents of the
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report only and the Committee are not being requested to approve, adopt or agree to an action or to set the framework for future decisions. Sustainability 3.3 Under the provisions of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003, the Council has to discharge its duties in a way which contributes to the achievement of sustainable development. Under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 the Council also has a duty relating to climate change and, in exercising its functions must act: • In the way best calculated to delivery of the Act’s emissions reduction targets. • In the way best calculated to deliver any statutory adaption programmes. • In a way that it considers most sustainable. 3.3.1 The proposals have been considered but are not applicable for this report. Legal and Governance 3.4 N/A Risk 3.5 N/A 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 Relevant Heads of Service and Service Managers within Education and Children’s Services have been consulted in the preparation of this report. External 4.2 N/A 5. Communication 5.1 In the case of an initial Education Scotland inspection of a school, a public meeting is held after the publication of the inspection report with invitations going to parents, the local elected members, and members of the Learning and Families Committee. These meetings give parents, carers, and other members of the community the opportunity to discuss the findings of the inspection and to be consulted on the areas for improvement to be taken forward. Where further inspection activity is carried out, Education Scotland will report publicly to parents and stakeholders. Other continuing engagement activities undertaken by Perth and Kinross Council will also be reported to parents and
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stakeholders. This includes the publication of reports to parents on Extended Learning and Achievement Visits and follow-up reports on the school’s website and on each school’s page on www.pkc.gov.uk. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS The following background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (and not containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to a material extent in preparing the above report: • Education Scotland Inspection reports, published by Education Scotland. • Care Inspectorate Inspection reports, published by the Care Inspectorate. 3. APPENDICES 3.1 Appendix A: Summary of performance, services providing day care of children inspected by the Care Inspectorate Appendix B: Grading History, services providing day care of children inspected and published by the Care Inspectorate, 2016/17 onwards Appendix C: Grading History – Fostering and Adoption and Adult Placement Services Appendix D: Cumulative Overview of Education Scotland Inspections in 2016/17 - 2022/23 by Performance Indicator Appendix E: Cumulative ELC Settings and Primary School Inspection Performance relative to Comparator Authorities, by Education Scotland Quality Indicator, Academic Years 2016/17 – 2022/23