HMIe National Thematic Inspection 2025 – Local Authority Approaches to Supporting School improvement
North Ayrshire Council · 3 June 2025
Back to Cabinet — 3 June 2025 and its agenda
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NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 3 June 2025 Cabinet Title: HMIe National Thematic Inspection 2025 – Local Authority Approaches to Supporting School improvement Purpose: To inform Cabinet of the outcome of the HMIe National Thematic Inspection of local authority approaches to school improvement, and to provide information about the performance of North Ayrshire Council Education Service in this context. Recommendation: It is recommended Cabinet: a) Considers the content of the national report published by Education Scotland, including its key recommendations; b) Considers the specific feedback on approaches to school improvement in North Ayrshire and notes that local recommendations will be incorporated into future service improvement planning; and c) Commends the contributions of staff at all levels across the service to this work. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 In June 2024, a national thematic inspection was carried out across all 32 Scottish local authorities to evaluate how effectively they support school improvement. The review focused on four themes: improvement planning/reporting, self-evaluation, professional learning, and school support. 1.2 The inspection identified strong national practice in collaborative planning, professional learning, and school-level support. Locally, the authority’s Professional Learning Academy and Quality Improvement Framework were highlighted as examples of effective practice. Positive relationships, data-informed planning, and tailored interventions were also noted as key strengths in North Ayrshire. 1.3 Local recommendations included further strengthening learner involvement in school evaluation and planning, expanding cross-sector collaboration, and enhancing the evaluation of professional learning. These will be taken forward in the next Education Service Improvement Plan. 2. Background 2.1 In June 2024, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education launched a national thematic inspection of Scotland’s local authorities. This inspection focused on how effectively local authorities support school improvement. It offered an opportunity to evaluate strengths, identify challenges, and explore opportunities to ensure high-quality
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education for all learners across the country, and to highlight the important and distinct role of education authorities in that regard. 2.2 All 32 local authorities were inspected between September and October 2024. There was a focus on learning about what is working well and hearing about challenges encountered as well as proposed improvements. 2.3 The national thematic inspection set out to gather evidence around the following four themes: • How local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through implementing effective improvement planning and standards and quality reporting; • How local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through self-evaluation and quality assurance; • How local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through professional learning; and • How local authorities deliver universal support and challenge for all schools, and targeted support for specific schools to improve the quality of education. 2.4 A team of inspectors, including a local authority Associate Assessor, visited North Ayrshire Council in September 2024. Pre-inspection questionnaires were issued to head teachers and members of the quality improvement team. A range of documentation was submitted in advance of the inspection along with a self-evaluation summary of the work and impact of the Education Service in pursuit of the four themes above. 2.5 At the start of the visit, inspectors met with the Executive Director and the Chief Education Officer for an initial discussion about the local authority context and a strategic overview of our approaches to supporting school improvement under each of the four themes. Inspectors then met with a range of key stakeholders across the service to explore the themes in greater depth and gather further evidence. This model was applied across all local authorities to ensure consistency. Focus group meetings were held with: • The education service leadership team • Members of the central quality improvement team • Head teachers • Class teachers • Trade union representatives • Elected members • Parent representatives 2.6 Findings of the national report In the national report, it was acknowledged that local authorities play a pivotal role in supporting schools to improve the quality of education. The report is generally positive, with a number of strengths identified. Across Scotland, inspectors saw strong examples of strategic leadership, robust data-driven self-evaluation, and collaborative cultures where schools and local authorities work together to improve outcomes for children and young people. Positive relationships, grounded in professional trust and respect, underpin many of these successes. In particular, effective leadership at all levels – central officers, school leaders, and middle leaders – has emerged as a powerful driver for sustainable improvement.
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2.7 Recommendations of the national report The report made 7 recommendations as detailed below: • Ensure that all schools receive high-quality, consistent support through robust universal provision. This should reduce variability within and across local authorities and secure equitable outcomes for learners. • For schools requiring targeted support, implement robust action planning, monitoring and accountability. This is essential to ensure that necessary improvements for learners are secured at pace. • Prioritise leadership development for middle leaders, particularly in secondary schools, where improvement outcomes are less consistent, with a focus on the principles of self-evaluation for self-improvement. • Establish a national professional learning programme for local authority central officers. This will help to build capacity and professional knowledge in school improvement and effective support and challenge practices. • Develop flexible models of support that address the specific needs of rural, remote, and island schools. • Embed local authority collaborative approaches to foster collective accountability for school improvement, ensuring these are consistently grounded in robust self- evaluation, and lead to accurate understanding of individual and collective improvement priorities. • Improve the strategic use of data at both local authority and school levels. This includes developing staff capacity to interpret data effectively and use data- driven insights to inform self-evaluation, improvement planning, and resource allocation. 2.8 Feedback to North Ayrshire Council following inspection The document of summarised findings specific to North Ayrshire is included at Appendix 1. The feedback was very positive and validated the content of our self- evaluation, both in terms of key strengths and areas for further development. A summary is included below: 1. Supporting Effective Improvement Planning and Standards and Quality Reporting • The Quality Improvement Framework (QIF) provides clear guidance on self- evaluation, planning, and reporting, ensuring consistency. • Strong leadership and collaboration foster trust, enabling honest discussions and tailored support for schools. • Schools use data-driven decision-making, incorporating attainment, attendance, and stakeholder feedback. • A structured stakeholder engagement process, including parents and learners, supports improvement planning. 2. Supporting Schools to Improve the Quality of Education Through Self-Evaluation and Quality Assurance • A rigorous quality improvement cycle includes school visits, data analysis, and peer collaboration. • Improvement Trios and cross-sector work enhance self-evaluation and best practice sharing.
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• Frequent moderation of data and reviews ensure targeted support and accountability. • The authority has refined its school visit model to allow more flexible, needs-based engagement. 3. Supporting Schools to Improve the Quality of Education Through Professional Learning • The Professional Learning Academy (PLA) offers structured, in-school support, including “in residence” training. • Peer networks and mentoring provide collaboration opportunities for school leaders and staff. • The council is expanding subject networks and leadership development across primary and secondary schools. • Increased focus on evaluating the impact of professional learning ensures sustainable school improvement. 4. Delivering Universal Support and Challenge for All Schools, and/or Targeted Support for Specific Schools to Improve the Quality of Education • A structured universal support system provides clear expectations and ongoing engagement. • Schools receive tailored interventions based on data analysis to address specific challenges. • Targeted action plans and peer mentoring help schools improve learning experiences and attainment. • A strong culture of professional challenge and support ensures accountability while fostering positive relationships. Local recommendations • Further strengthen learner involvement in school evaluation and planning. • Enhance cross-sector collaboration – expand peer evaluation, subject networks, and transition links between primary and secondary schools. • Enhance systematic evaluation of impact of professional learning to support long- term effectiveness. 2.9 North Ayrshire’s Professional Learning Academy was included as a national practice example in the final published report, reflecting the strength of this in-house delivery model as part of our overall approach to supporting the professional learning needs of our education workforce. In addition, our well-established Quality Improvement Framework was identified in our local report as an example of effective practice worth sharing, given its pivotal role in underpinning our work to support school improvement across the service. 2.10 The local recommendations for future consideration will be incorporated into the Education Service Improvement Plan from session 2025-26 onwards. 3. Proposals 3.1 It is recommended Cabinet: a) Considers the content of the national report published by Education Scotland, including its key recommendations; b) Considers the specific feedback on approaches to school improvement in North Ayrshire and notes that local recommendations will be incorporated into future service improvement planning; and c) Commends the contributions of staff at all levels across the service to this work. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty
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Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 None. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 In supporting our schools to improve outcomes for all learners, we aim to reduce the impact of poverty and other inequalities. We aim to ensure all children experience the best start in life. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 Proposals outlined in this report support the Council Plan 2023-28 strategic aim to “transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for local people” and more specifically “improving educational attainment and achievement and closing the attainment gap” activities. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 A wide range of stakeholders were involved in the inspection activity in North Ayrshire. This has ensured that a broad representation of views have been taken into account by inspectors when they produced the local summarised findings following the inspection. There will be ongoing engagement going forward as next steps are planned as part of service improvement planning processes. Andrew McClelland Chief Education Officer, Head of Service (Education) For further information please contact Andrew McClelland, Head of Service (Education), on (01294) 324413. Background Papers Local authority approaches to supporting school improvement | National thematic inspections | HM Chief Inspector reports and guidance | Inspection and review | Education Scotland
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1 National Thematic Inspection: Local authority approaches to supporting school improvement Summarised Findings Local Authority North Ayrshire Council HM Lead inspector Graeme Brown In September/ October 2024, a team of inspectors from Education Scotland visited North Ayrshire Council. During our visit, we talked to senior leaders, local authority officers, parents/carers, headteachers, teachers, representatives from professional associations and elected members. Purpose and themes The purpose of the visit was to gather evidence about how North Ayrshire Council supports school improvement, with a focus on how they support schools to improve the quality of education through: • the implementation of effective improvement planning and standards and quality reporting • self- evaluation and quality assurance • professional learning • universal and targeted support and challenge Context of the local authority North Ayrshire is the fifteenth most populous local authority out of the thirty-two in Scotland and the seventeenth largest, by area. The geography and demography of the local authority is varied and includes small towns, rural and island communities. Forty-six percent of children and young people in primary and secondary schools live within deciles 1-2 of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Approximately 34% of children in primary and 40% of young people in secondary have been assessed as requiring additional support with their learning. Attendance in 2022/2023 was 88%. The national average is 90.2%. There are 48 primary schools, 8 secondary schools, 1 specialist Additional Support needs (ASN) campus and 1 all-through school, across North Ayrshire. Five schools have a specialist provision and 1 school provides Gaelic Medium Education (GME). The education service is led by the Education Service Leadership Team (SLT), which includes a Quality Improvement Team (QIT). The Quality Improvement Team consists of executive managers, senior managers, Quality Improvement Appendix 1
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2 Officers, the Principal Educational Psychologist and they also work with Education Scotland’s Attainment Advisor. Members of the QIT hold a range of strategic, cluster and sectoral responsibilities. Members of the QIT also work in the context of two strategic teams – one leading on Supporting Needs and one on Raising Attainment. Theme 1 - How do local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through implementing effective improvement planning and standards and quality reporting? • How clear and effective is the local authority’s arrangements and advice to schools on self-evaluation, improvement planning and standards and quality reporting? • How does the local authority ensure that schools’ self-evaluation is accurate, rigorous and robust, based on reliable and comprehensive data and information? • In what ways does the local authority promote collaboration with all stakeholders, especially learners, as essential to effective self-evaluation and identification of priorities? • What is the role of central teams in providing critical feedback to school leaders on the quality/robustness of their self-evaluation and school improvement planning processes? • To what extent does the local authority use the data from individual school or cluster improvement plans and standards and quality reports, to direct their officers’ work? North Ayrshire’s Quality Improvement Framework (QIF) has been in place since 2015. Establishments have clear, comprehensive, well-structured advice on a range of areas related to school improvement. These areas include self-evaluation, school improvement planning, standards and quality reporting and quality assurance. Stakeholders regard the QIF as the key document underpinning their approach to school improvement. It sets clear expectations about the role of school leaders and staff, including their engagement with learners and parents. The QIF is reviewed and updated each year based on stakeholder evaluations and other information. The QIF is a clear and useful document which is used effectively to support the consistent application of policy guidance in North Ayrshire’s schools. The Education Service has a commitment to improvement through effective planning and robust quality assurance and reporting. The provision of clear structures and templates to support the planning and reporting process are included within the QIF. These are continually reviewed and refined. For example, the school improvement planning format has been streamlined and includes a clear rationale for change. At the request of headteachers, a standard template for Standards and Quality Reporting has been introduced, providing clarity about expected content. The Head of Service and senior managers demonstrate very strong knowledge and understanding of their schools. They are visible to staff in schools. A high level of professional trust and mutual respect is evident between this central team and headteachers. This ethos supports robust, honest professional dialogue about school improvement. Throughout the session, authority officers consider and discuss information from their school visits and reviews. These visits and reviews include moderation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) judgements and classroom visits, Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Level (ACEL) and Insight data, moderation processes, attendance data, self-evaluation evidence
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3 and views of learners and school staff. The ongoing dialogue and evaluation based on this data supports local authority staff well in ensuring the robustness of schools’ self-evaluations. The extent to which local authority staff know and engage with their schools is an important strength in North Ayrshire’s strategy for school improvement. Senior managers design the level of annual engagement with headteachers, informed by each school’s improvement plan at the start of each session. This bespoke approach ensures that the level of senior manager engagement is tailored to meet the needs of each school. School leaders agree that there are high but realistic expectations placed on them. The blend of timely written ongoing feedback throughout the session and resultant discussion from improvement processes is a very useful practice. This practice is providing more useful and specific information to improve the quality of triangulation of evidence. This allows staff to better report on outcomes and plan further improvement priorities. A culture of collaboration has been successfully nurtured and developed across the service. There is a strong sense that the Quality Improvement Team (QIT) and school staff are working side by side for the benefit of North Ayrshire’s children and young people. The strength and effectiveness of the QIF is enhanced through collaborative working. Leaders in schools and at the authority work together to consider policy and actions. This collaborative ethos is a strong feature of North Ayrshire Council’s approach to school improvement. Staff use a wide range of data effectively throughout the session to inform planning and report on outcomes. Authority senior managers use this data to inform the actions they take to support improvement, such as increased engagement or the sharing of effective practice. Headteachers welcome the advice and support provided by the Attainment Advisor and previous data coach in relation to the effective use of data. The Head of Service shares high level data messages with headteachers on a regular basis at headteacher meetings. Senior managers ensure consistency in the quality of advice and support to schools by engaging in a range of moderation activities, in line with the QIT. They review school improvement plans and standards and quality reports together, undertake joint school visits and share effective practice. School leaders report an increased rigour evident in discussions regarding CfE and Insight data. This is supporting the development at the early stages of a wider 3-18 view of improvement across the authority. As the authority moves forward with this approach, it will be important to further build upon existing arrangements for collegiality, planning and activities between staff at all levels between sectors. There is a clear expectation that headteachers engage with members of the school community as part of their planning and review processes. This stakeholder engagement includes headteachers issuing annual surveys to members of the school community, to consider how stakeholder views influence their evaluations and next stages of planning. Headteachers and local authority officers then discuss the views gathered about the quality of education in the
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4 school. This approach supports regular involvement of a wider group of stakeholders in considering school improvement. The quality of this discussion is enhanced by senior managers’ own engagement with stakeholders in individual schools during school visits and reviews. This includes lesson observations and focus groups with staff and learners which inform further, authority staff’s understanding of the needs and context of each school. Secondary school learners in a few secondary schools are in the early stages of becoming Young Leaders of Learning as part of a pilot scheme. These learners are involved in the evaluation and planning of work in their own schools. School and authority staff should continue to support increased and systematic input from children and young people into improvement and review processes. Similar evaluation work could be expanded to support work between schools. The initial intention of the QIF was to ensure that local authority officers had better assurance about the strengths and areas for improvement in their link schools and that self-evaluations were accurate and robust. Senior managers use the QIF well to structure their regular and frequent visits to schools and meetings with school leaders. As a result, the QIT plays an integral role in providing feedback and challenge to school leaders on the quality of their self-evaluation and school planning procedures. The QIT moderates this feedback regularly between themselves and other school leaders, to ensure that it is constructive for the school involved. Local authority officers share information regularly with each other about individual school improvement plans and standards and quality reports. Local authority staff have been able to use this information to direct improvement activities across the service. For example, they identified concerns around writing in primary 4 across a range of schools and have then worked with school staff, accordingly. Authority staff have also used information gathered from schools to share approaches between schools around improving attendance, Officers’ moderation work also contributes to wider priorities, such as the need to continue to raise attainment, particularly addressing the poverty-related attainment gap. Another priority this work directly influences is the ongoing need to improve and sustain attendance, across the authority. Theme 2: How do local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through self-evaluation and quality assurance? • What methods does the local authority use to evaluate school performance (review the quality of education) for example, gathering evidence from stakeholders, review/validated self-evaluation visits, attainment analysis)? How effective are these methods? How often does this take place? • To what extent do officers carry out regular and rigorous evaluation of the quality of school provision? How is this work quality assured? • How does the local authority evaluate the quality of learning, teaching and assessment? • How clear and effective is the advice and support for schools on approaches to self-evaluation and their quality assurance? How effectively does the local authority moderate this at strategic and school levels? • How does the local authority identify and share effective practice through quality assurance? Is this making a difference across the authority?
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5 North Ayrshire Council uses a thorough and rigorous quality improvement cycle to support schools to improve the quality of education through self-evaluation and quality assurance. This cycle is supported and exemplified very clearly in the QIF. Evidence is gathered from classroom visits, focus groups, ACEL and Insight data, moderation processes, attendance data, self-evaluation evidence and views of learners and school staff. Since its introduction there have been improvements in the quality of school self-evaluations and quality assurance processes. This forms part of a continuous cycle of improvement and supports a clearer focus on tackling improvement areas, such as attainment and attendance. Local authority officers, school leaders and school staff report that their use of the QIF is underpinned by key principles relating to self-evaluation and quality assurance. This includes the decision to commit to building capacity further within and between schools for effective self-improvement by schools. There is evidence that this strategy is increasingly successful. School leaders are beginning to visit each other’s establishments more often and building a wider perspective on approaches to evaluation, as a result. Elements of the QIF relating to self-evaluation and quality assurance change, as required, each year. This flexibility helps it to be a more responsive and effective framework. Authority staff highlight that this close relationship with schools and detailed understanding of self-evaluation and improvement priorities has helped them to understand their link schools’ strengths and development areas more effectively. Senior managers are therefore able to offer more constructive and targeted support for their link schools. Each school is linked to a senior manager from the QIT. In addition to on-going meetings across the year, the senior manager undertakes a number of day-long visits. Different visits focus on different How Good Is Our School? 4th Edition (HGIOS4) quality indicators or focus areas for improvement. Taking account of each school’s circumstances, the link senior manager may be accompanied by colleagues from the QIT or other headteachers or staff from different schools. Headteachers report this individualised approach, underpinned by common principles and processes, is helpful and responsive to their needs. Each school has a maximum of 4 of these visits each year. This visibility and ongoing presence enhances the quality of the specific and informed support local authority officers can offer schools. The outcomes of these visits are considered on an ongoing basis and as part of the individualised planning of priorities and associated support and engagement for the next school year. Previously, each school had a minimum number of formal visit days each year. Local authority officers have opted to remove this minimum for 2024/25. The intention of this is to allow even more individualised approaches for each school. The effectiveness of this new approach on outcomes for children and young people will be evaluated with headteachers and the QIT. Moving forward It will be important to ensure that this approach is evaluated rigorously over a period of time.
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6 Senior managers and school leaders also collaborate on other evaluation and review processes. Every school is a part of a 4-year cycle of more detailed Establishment Reviews, staffed by authority staff and staff from other establishments. Reviews are generally 2 or 3 days long and focus on specific quality indicators as agreed between the headteacher and their link senior manager in advance. The purpose of the reviews is to support establishments to focus in-depth on specific aspects of school improvement. Authority leaders have recognised the importance of cross-sector work to ensure a 3-18 approach is taken to tackle key priorities such as raising attainment. School leaders report that they are benefiting from undertaking quality assurance and review activities in other sectors. They also report that senior managers are also upskilling themselves beyond their traditional sectors. Improvement trios of schools have been introduced, following initial pilots and evaluations. A trio is composed of 3 schools, which school leaders and other staff use to review each other’s work, data and processes as part of the cycle of evaluation. Following the pilot, this approach has now been extended to include all schools. Staff involved are not limited to school leaders. Headteachers drove the establishment of trios to promote collaboration and peer learning. There is evidence that the use of these trios adds an effective further layer to the self- evaluation process by emphasising detailed, context-driven peer collaboration and evaluation. School leaders particularly appreciate opportunities to validate findings by triangulating evidence, including direct observations with senior manager visits and Establishment Reviews. School staff also appreciate the strategic input of members of the Quality Improvement Team into the trio process. As planned, local authority staff should continue to explore how to involve a wider range of staff from smaller primary schools in trio activities. Authority staff should also continue to work with school leaders to identify ways in which actions which arise from trio work lead to improved outcomes for children and young people. There is a strong focus from local authority staff and school leaders on evaluating the quality of learning, teaching and assessment. For example, improvement trios are currently focused on Quality Indicator 2.3 on learning, teaching and assessment. Senior manager visits include time spent in classrooms and with teacher and learner focus groups. Visitors from the authority QIT or other establishments are a visible feature in North Ayrshire classrooms. As part of these processes, visitors engage in lesson observations and follow-up dialogue. Visitors also engage in focus group discussions with teachers and learners on the quality of learning, teaching and assessment. Key messages and findings are then shared with school staff. There is evidence that this ongoing focus on learning, teaching and assessment helps to ensure its central role as a driver for improvement and underpins almost all priorities. A few staff engage with approaches to learning, teaching and assessment out with North Ayrshire. For example, in connection with Gaelic Medium Education (GME). The authority should consider how the quality and reliability of evaluations of learning, teaching and assessment can be improved by more engagement with other authorities and their approaches.
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7 Senior managers take care to moderate evidence and outcomes so that examples of effective practice can be highlighted and shared. For example, this occurs regularly in headteacher meetings and also in response to a specific school’s requirements or improvement priorities. This helps promote more effective discussions and reflection. There is an ongoing focus on triangulation and moderation by senior managers, to support a better understanding of a school’s needs and context at all levels. Overall, the frequent and detailed programme of authority visits and increasingly collaborative review process is further improving school leaders’ own skills in self- evaluation and improvement. It is helping to identify key areas for improvement in schools and plan support as required. For example, improving processes in monitoring and tracking in specific schools. There is also evidence that a strong approach to ongoing self-evaluation is beginning to support middle leaders to be more actively involved, although this can vary significantly across the authority. Theme 3: How do local authorities support schools to improve the quality of education through professional learning? • What professional learning does the local authority currently provide to support school improvement? • What is the impact of this on developing the skills and knowledge of school leaders and staff on school improvement? • What support systems (e.g., mentoring, networks of practice, peer support groups, cluster support) are available for school leaders and staff? How are these approaches improving school performance and outcomes for learners? • To what extent do senior leaders have opportunities to support improvement beyond their own establishment? What difference is this making? • How effectively does the local authority utilise Associate Assessors (if applicable) to support school improvement across establishments. • Does the local authority’s professional learning strategy draw on support from national organisations? North Ayrshire Council primarily uses their Professional Learning Academy (PLA) to focus professional learning on improvement. The PLA is a team who offer a range of supports such as courses, targeted visits and “in residence” programmes to staff and schools within North Ayrshire. The work of the PLA links to schools’ improvement plans. The PLA is an important part of the authority’s strategy to upskill existing school staff and enable them to support and develop each other. A significant investment of time and resources to support this is the PLA “in residence” training. This training embeds a PLA teacher in a school for around 9 weeks, working alongside teachers in classes to team teach, observe and plan learning experiences and create resources. The PLA was initially established using Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) funding. As a result, the main focus of “in residence” training is to help close the poverty-related attainment gap and targets learners who primarily reside within SIMD deciles 1 or 2. However, other targeted establishments are now also in
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8 receipt of PLA support. There is evidence that the use of “in residence” PLA staff has helped teachers to improve outcomes for learners. For example, in a primary school play pedagogy project and a literacy and numeracy project in a secondary school. The PLA “in residence” programme is supported well by the processes and principles of the QIF. The role of the PLA and aims of their programme are planned well by headteachers working with senior managers. A “contract” is drawn up which defines the nature of the support, its aims and how success and impact will be evaluated. This is called the Professional Learning Objective (PLO). Before starting, PLA staff conduct assessments of the school’s specific needs and run an ongoing programme of informal conversations, coaching, targeted interventions and bespoke training. PLA staff typically spend one day a week out of school over the 9 weeks to devote to planning and research. Both PLA and school staff report that this blended approach of research and working directly with school staff and learners is successful. It is clear that this blended approach makes the support of PLA staff helpful in supporting school staff to transform theory into reality in the classroom. Local authority staff and school leaders have correctly identified the need for a deeper evaluation of the PLA ‘in residence’ programme. Therefore, in 2024/25 the final term of the school year will be used to enable PLA staff to revisit “in residence” schools to evaluate the impact and sustainability of the work. Authority staff should consider how this principle of rigorously evaluating the impact of professional learning interventions can be applied to other work with schools by the PLA. Local authority staff should continue to ensure that aims remain measurable and ambitious. There is a range of further offers available to school staff through the PLA. These include twilight professional learning, a professional learning lending library and a range of bespoke training sessions. The flexibility of approaches taken on the professional learning offer is particularly helpful for staff working in island schools. North Ayrshire Council has recognised the importance of professional learning for a range of staff. Their Pupil Support Assistants (PSAs) also benefit from a specialised professional learning programme through the PLA. This programme has been increased and improved in line with the authority’s regrading of PSAs from grades 4 to 5. As a result, there is evidence that specific young people are benefiting from an improved level of support. North Ayrshire Council’s overall strategy on professional learning is one that is mindful of sustainability in developing the skills of their existing workforce. In addition, however, local authority officers are keen for education staff to “look outwards”. This happens, for example, through the South West Educational Improvement Collaborative (SWEIC). There is an increasing range of wider support systems and networks in place for practitioners. These include networks such as the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) Co-ordinators Network and groups such as the Reporting to Parents Working Group. Some of these networks and groups are necessarily
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9 sector-specific, however authority staff are in the early stages of trying to establish more cross-sector groups. A depute head teacher network has been created for secondary school staff. This network is already proving to be a successful forum for collaboration, for example shared work is underway on best approaches to timetabling. Authority staff should now continue with plans to establish equivalent groups for primary depute headteachers. Senior managers should also continue with plans to expand their Subject Networks beyond the English and Maths networks. As planned, they should consider how these can be 3-18 networks rather than limiting involvement to secondary principal teachers. This will be an important priority for the local authority, especially as they have identified the importance of a 3-18 approach to raise and sustain attainment. A range of school staff have become involved in approaches such as “donate a day”, where they work collaboratively at the local authority headquarters on specific issues. Helpfully, this has generated some useful materials to support schools. For example, summaries of useful literature to support learners with an additional support need (ASN). This has been successful in continuing the theme of collaboration between practitioners to support wider improvement. These collaborative activities are currently open to all staff. As a next step, authority officers should work with school leaders to identify more specifically targeted school staff who may benefit from these collaborative activities. Headteachers welcome the regular, structured and constructive time spent in headteacher meetings. They also welcome the carefully designed, collaborative improvement “Heads Together” days which happen 4 times per school year. A well-structured calendar linked to the QIF supports meetings and days throughout the school year. This is an important support network between peers in addition to being a decision-making forum. Headteachers appreciate that their voices are listened to and acted upon. They report that these meetings are genuinely collegiate. This genuinely collaborative culture has led to headteachers leading the inception of a range of strategic improvements, such as the establishment of the trios and a greater involvement of staff from other schools on school visits. New headteachers are supported through peer mentoring. Paired with a more experienced headteacher, they are sensitively supported to establish trusting relationships, working “shoulder to shoulder” and establishing key connections through visits and support. Headteachers comment positively on the impact of this and its contribution towards positive working relationships. There is increased focus on headteachers having greater input to support improvement beyond their own establishment. Some of this greater input is through well-structured approaches such as the “Heads Together” collaborative days. Headteachers are increasingly present in each other schools in trios work and in reviews and visits. School leaders are able to support each other with context-specific and practical suggestions. These views are valued and acted on by local authority senior managers. There is evidence that this is supporting improvement to local authority processes, and also in schools where specific action plans of support have been put in place.
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10 The authority uses associate assessors and headteachers who have recently been through the inspection process effectively. They regularly have opportunities to share their experiences at headteacher meetings to share key learning from the inspection processes, from other local authorities and priorities to support development. This is well planned and sits within the wider context of learning from each other, as established by the QIF. This is helping to share and widen school leaders’ perspectives on school improvement. Theme 4: How do local authorities deliver universal support and challenge for all schools, and/or targeted support for specific schools to improve the quality of education? • What is the universal offer of support and challenge for all schools? • How does the local authority use the data from individual school or cluster improvement plans and standards and quality reports, to provide targeted support? • What measures are used to identify the need for targeted support? • Is there targeted support for specific schools? What might that look like? (examples?) What action is taken if a review of a school concludes that a school is not performing satisfactorily and requires targeted support? • What support systems (for example: mentoring, networks of practice, peer support groups) are available for school leaders and staff? • What is the role of central staff in facilitating/contributing to collaborative approaches, which improve school performance and outcomes for learners? The QIF very clearly outlines and exemplifies the universal support available to schools from local authorities. This is welcomed by school leaders. There is a shared understanding of expectations for both school staff and local authority officers. School leaders benefit from regular support and challenge from members of the QIT throughout the year. This includes regular meetings which involve analysis of school improvement planning priorities, attainment, attendance, internal school quality assurance procedures and a range of other actions. This programme is supported further by 4 day-long visits, at most, which consider different HGIOS4 quality indicators and include observations of learning, teaching and assessment. School leaders and other staff are increasingly involved in trio arrangements with other schools and all schools benefit from a 4-year cycle of Establishment Reviews. These processes support improvement planning, quality assurance and self-evaluation, but also offer an ongoing process of support and challenge. School leaders welcome the robust yet supportive nature of these interventions. These effective processes identify areas for improvement and resulting actions. The ongoing programme of well-planned universal support is increasingly flexible to allow bespoke interventions for schools. Senior managers are able to use their detailed knowledge of their linked schools to plan this support effectively with school leaders. This planned support allows local authority officers and school leaders to focus improvement and support activities efficiently. Senior managers engage in robust sharing and moderation of data about their linked schools with each other. The QIT analyses and discusses school information during protected time. Senior managers have established an
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11 environment of professional trust where they can challenge each other on the quality and effectiveness of evidence and improvement actions. This professional culture around moderation and triangulation of evidence is promoted throughout the education service. Senior managers’ analysis and moderation of school data includes information from reviews, visits, ACEL and Insight data, attendance data, self-evaluation evidence and views of learners and school staff. The moderation process between senior managers means they are better able to identify schools which may require this support. Local authority officers intervene with different forms of targeted support, depending on schools’ needs. Action plans with clear priorities are created, and there is ongoing support from Senior managers and other QIT members to implement these priorities. These effective action plans are clear, prioritised, time-limited and explicitly evaluated. School leaders requiring targeted support may be paired up with peer mentor support, and other school leaders may also be involved in action plans. Local authority officers emphasise that this is conducted sensitively and balances professional dignity for senior leaders with the need to ensure that improvements for learners are enacted. This consistent commitment to a constructive working relationship is an important strength of the authority’s approaches to working with schools. There is evidence that individual schools have been able to improve, for example the quality of learning experiences, due to this structured and targeted support. Overall, the role of authority staff in working under the principles and practice of the QIF is having a positive impact on actions taken to support school improvement in North Ayrshire. School leaders are clear that authority staff foster a collaborative culture very effectively. Senior managers are approachable, available and supportively challenging. This well-planned work is contributing effectively to the development of a culture rooted in self-improvement. The authority has used its improvement framework to help identify specific areas of improvement such as improving the quality of monitoring progress in learning, and the effective use of targeted interventions to support this. Local authority staff, working with school leaders, have identified raising attainment as a key priority. School leaders are now encouraged to look at raising attainment from the perspective of attainment across the whole authority and at all levels. 5. Any other relevant information Local authority officers, school leaders and professional association representatives reported positively on authority attitudes to staff wellbeing. Authority staff are keen to do this meaningfully by ensuring school staff are
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12 listened to and their voice and views are an important part in shaping actions and agendas. Headteachers reported how much they valued the authority’s awareness of the importance of their wellbeing. Headteachers felt that this was balanced well with professional challenge and high expectations. 6. Effective practice worth sharing The Quality Improvement Framework provides clear and comprehensive guidance and principles for school improvement. It is underlined by key principles of building capacity, developing positive working relationships and ensuring that local authority staff genuinely know their linked schools very well. The QIF has become successfully embedded and it allows culture and systems to be knitted together with principles, guidance and exemplars. The QIF provides key messages and information from a range of sources to support school leaders in planning, evaluation and improvement activities. It provides establishments with background information; an overview of what staff need to know and what they need to do. It includes information on planning and reporting procedures, agreed templates and exemplars. It also makes explicit links to national documentation such as How Good Is Our School? 4th edition and the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) Standard for Headship. The inclusion of calendars ensure a shared understanding of the expected timing and frequency of planning and review actions. The clear strategic aim to ensure that the capacity of schools to self-improve is evident as a thread running through school improvement approaches. This is enhanced by highly individualised support from authority officers, from whom it is clear that genuinely knowing schools well to best support them is their “core business”. The PLA has been designed with sustainability in mind, and all levels benefit from professional learning – including pupil support assistants. Developing positive relationships and a culture of professional trust is also an important part of North Ayrshire’s approach to school improvement. This allows for robust yet supportive discussions and actions to take place. There is an understanding that supporting “operational” issues for school leaders is also an important part of furthering school improvement.