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NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION PERFORMANCE REPORT 2003
EDUCATION AUTHORITY INFORMATION

SCOTTISH BORDERS COUNCIL

This report summarises some of the key points set out in Scottish Borders Council's Education Department's 2001/2004 Service Plan and a position statement which contains targets and a report on progress in respect of the National Priorities.

For a full understanding of the position in this education authority and its plans for improvement you should refer directly to these documents or contact David Mallen (01835 826 540;dmallen@scotborders.gov.uk).

The summary is presented here under individual National Priority in Education outcomes for simplicity but the actions and programmes referred to may often relate to more than one National Priority.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 1 - ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTAINMENT

To raise standards of educational attainment for all in schools, especially in the core skills of literacy and numeracy, and to achieve better levels in national measures of achievement including examination results

Outcome 1 - Increased levels of numeracy and literacy

Schools have specific attainment targets; almost all schools publish these in the school development plans. Personal learning plans, with their individual pupil targets, are becoming increasingly common in their use across the authority. The use of baseline assessment in secondary schools is currently under review, but in primary schools the Pre-school/P1 transition record is used extensively.

Pupil progress is tracked in relation to targets and in relation to the progress made by pupils in relation to their baselines.

Assessment systems which emphasise the formative role of assessment, 'assessment for learning' rather than 'assessment of learning', are increasingly common across the authority's schools.

The authority's Early Intervention Programme is being rolled out to all schools and the use of the approaches it is based on have been extended into the middle years of primary.

Guidance on curriculum flexibility has been distributed to all schools.

In-service training has continued to support all of the above initiatives.

The charts below provide information on the attainments in reading, writing and mathematics achieved by pupils in Scottish Borders Council's primary schools and in the first two years of secondary school. They also provide information on the targets which the education authority has set in respect of these aspects of pupils' learning.

Chart 1. Percentage of pupils in P3, 4, 6 and 7 meeting or exceeding age appropriate 5-14 levels in reading, writing and mathematics in Scottish Borders Council, its comparator authorities and nationally at end June 2002.

Scottish Borders Council has set targets with its primary schools to raise levels of attainment between now and the end of school session 2004/2005.

Chart 2. Levels of attainment at end June 2002 compared with anticipated percentage of pupils in P3, 4, 6 and 7 who will meet or exceed age appropriate 5-14 levels in reading, writing and mathematics in Scottish Borders Council and nationally by the end of school session 2004/2005.

Chart 3. Percentage of pupils in S2 meeting or exceeding their age appropriate 5-14 level, level E, in reading, writing and mathematics in Scottish Borders Council, its comparator authorities and nationally at end June 2002.

Scottish Borders Council has set targets with secondary schools to raise these levels of attainment between now and the end of school session 2004/2005.

Chart 4. Levels of attainment at end June 2002 compared with anticipated percentage of pupils in S2 who will meet or exceed their age appropriate 5-14 level, level E, in reading, writing and mathematics in Scottish Borders Council and nationally by the end of school session 2004/2005.

The percentage (averaged over 3 years from 1999/2000 to 2001/2002) of the original S4 cohort who by the end of S6 had attained SCQF level 3 or better in English and mathematics was 94.2%. Nationally 92.6% did this and 94.3% of pupils did this in comparator authorities. Scottish Borders has set a target that 96.5% of its pupils should achieve these levels of attainment by 2005. The equivalent national target is 94%.

Outcome 2 - Improved examination results

The charts below provide information on the attainments in National Qualifications achieved by pupils in Scottish Borders Council's secondary schools. They also provide information on the targets which the education authority has set in respect of these aspects of pupils' learning.

Chart 5. Levels of attainment (a three-year average for 1999/2000 to 2001/2002) of pupils in Scottish Borders Council's secondary schools in National Qualifications (post-appeal) compared with attainment in comparator authorities and nationally.

Scottish Borders Council has set targets with its secondary schools to raise levels of attainment in National Qualifications by the end of school session 2004/2005.

Chart 6. Levels of attainment (a three-year average for 1999/2000 to 2001/2002) of pupils in Scottish Borders Council's secondary schools in National Qualifications (post-appeal) compared with anticipated levels of attainment (a three-year average for 2002/2003 to 2004/2005) locally and nationally by the end of school session 2004/2005.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 2 - FRAMEWORK FOR LEARNING

To support and develop the skills of teachers, the self-discipline of pupils and to enhance school environments so that they are conducive to teaching and learning

Outcome 1 - Continuing professional development of teachers' skills

Guidelines for CPD, a CPD Framework, were developed by a working group which included union representation. A probationer induction programme was introduced.

Staff were trained in the delivery of effective teaching and learning; this training was grounded in contemporary understandings of how people learn.

NOF ICT training continued. In this general connection, staff from the authority were involved in the NGfL Masterclass Programme.

Outcome 2 - Increased self-discipline of pupils

A working group has been set up with secondary schools to take forward the recommendations of the Discipline Task Force set out in Better Behaviour, Better Learning. Assertive discipline techniques are well-established in a majority of the authority's primary schools.

The levels of attendance and exclusions in Scottish Borders' schools are shown below.

Levels of attendance

The authority has set itself the targets of having an average percentage attendance of 96.5% in primary schools and 95% in secondary schools by the end of session 2004/2005. The national target for attendance by the end of session 2004/2005 is 95% for primary and 90% for secondary. These figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

Exclusions from schools

The figures in the above table are drawn from the Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication Exclusions from Schools, 2000/2001.

The authority has set itself a target of 7 days lost to exclusions per 1000 pupils in primary schools by the end of session 2004/2005 and 101 days lost per 1000 pupils in secondary schools within the same timescale.

Almost all secondary schools and a majority of primaries have buddying and mentoring schemes in place.

Outcome 3 - Enhanced school environments which are more conducive to teaching and learning

The pupil:adult ratio in the education authority's primary schools is 11.6:1 currently. Scottish Borders has set itself the target of 11.4:1 by the end of school session 2004/2005. The ratio nationally is 14.2:1.

The authority completed a review of its school estate. The authority is considering how to respond to the review.

HGIOS has continued to play a key role in the authority's quality assurance arrangements.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 3 - INCLUSION AND EQUALITY

To promote equality and help every pupil benefit from education with particular regard paid to pupils with disabilities and special educational needs, and to Gaelic and lesser used languages

Outcome 1 - Every pupil benefits from education

Looked after children were provided with enhanced access to ICT, educational software and other resources, including equipment for sport and the expressive and performing arts, and access to classes and coaching. Looked after children with disabilities were provided with play and other equipment.

The percentage of children looked after by the Council aged 16 or 17 who left care with qualifications in English and mathematics at SCQF level 3 or above in school session 2001/2002 was 42% on the basis of the information submitted through the Children Looked After Survey (CLAS). Nationally, the percentage of pupils was 29%. Scottish Borders has set itself the target of raising the percentage of looked after children who achieve these qualifications to 50%.

The average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of pupils in the authority's secondary schools is 60. The average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of pupils nationally is 58 and in its comparator authorities it is 63. Scottish Borders aims to increase the average tariff score of its lowest attaining pupils to 75 by the end of school session 2004/2005.

8.4% of primary pupils are entitled to free school meals; 85.0% of these pupils actually take a school meal. 5.9% of secondary pupils are entitled to a free school meal with 64.4% of these pupils actually taking up their entitlement. Nationally, the uptake percentages for primary and secondary are 79.2% and 59.1% respectively.

The authority's New Community School programme has been rolled out to the Hawick area. A 'roll out' manager has been appointed.

Outcome 2 - Every pupil benefits from education, with particular regard paid to pupils with disabilities and special educational needs

Scottish Borders Council, along with all other education authorities, has prepared and published an action plan setting out how it will improve access to school buildings and the formal and informal curriculum for people with disabilities over the next few years.

Pupils in Scottish Borders who have recorded special educational needs, as defined currently, have an Individualised Educational Programme (IEP). In these programmes targets are set with and for individual pupils; these targets help to structure and focus the pupils' learning. All IEP targets were met in 67% of the 70 schools which accommodate children who have such plans.

The authority produced and disseminated a policy on Support for Learning and a policy on Inclusion.

Secondary schools' practice on inclusion was audited by an external consultant; it is a focus for development within the authority.

Of mainstream primary pupils with special educational needs in Scottish Borders, 85.2% receive all of their education in a mainstream class. 1.9% of primary mainstream pupils with special educational needs in Scottish Borders receive all of their education in a special unit attached to a mainstream school. For secondary, the figures are 64.8% and 2.2% respectively. Nationally the percentages for the primary sector are 83% and 3%; for secondary they are 73% and 4%. For its comparator authorities the percentages for the primary sector are 79.7% and 5.8%; for secondary they are 70.5% and 4.4%. Scottish Borders has no special schools.

It should be recognised that the collection of this SEN data in 2000/2001 may not have been universally robust.

Outcome 3 - Every pupil benefits from education, with particular regard paid to Gaelic and lesser used languages

The authority did not receive any requests for Gaelic medium education.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 4

To work with parents to teach pupils respect for self and one another and their interdependence with other members of their neighbourhood and society and teach them the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society

Outcome 1 - Increased respect for self and others

The pupils in the authority's schools are involved in a wide range of activities which encourage them to work with others and which are designed to promote their personal and social development ( see section on Quality Indicators). The authority produced guidelines for schools on personal and social development and on health education.

Almost all of the authority's schools have pupil councils. The members of these councils are elected.

Outcome 2 - Increased awareness of interdependence with other members of their neighbourhood and society and teach them the duties and responsibilities of citizenship in a democratic society

Few schools participate currently in any environmental award scheme. Some schools, however, have participated in school grounds improvement projects which have involved parents. The involvement of parents in their children's education has been secured further through the development of revised homework policies in schools and the provision of information to parents about how they can best support their children's learning.

Out of school care and learning arrangements were developed further.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 5

To equip pupils with the foundation skills, attitudes and expectations necessary to prosper in a changing society and to encourage creativity and ambition

Outcome 1 - Pupils are equipped with the necessary foundation skills, attitudes and expectations to prosper in a changing society

Core skill development in secondary schools has focused on the acquisition of these skills in the context of the Higher Still Programme.

The Council set up an intranet. A few schools have their own websites and some schools have made the integration of ICT across the curriculum a focus for work in their current development plans.

Half of the pupils in the authority's primary schools and just under 40% of secondary school pupils participate in sport, arts and cultural activities and learning activities, such as supported study, outwith the core curriculum. Most schools offer such programmes.

All secondary schools have work experience and work shadowing programmes. They also have programmes of visits to and from business and they run enterprise activities such as Young Enterprise. Primary schools also offer enterprise activities.

Chart 7. School leaver destinations; percentage of pupils leaving Scottish Borders Council's secondary schools in 2002 and going on to Higher Education and other destinations compared with comparator authorities and the national position.

Scottish Borders has set itself a target of 37% for the percentage of school leavers who go on to Higher Education after leaving school in June 2005.

Outcome 2 - Increased levels of creativity and ambition in young people

Initiatives referred to in National Priority 5, Outcome 1 and, indeed, throughout this report have a bearing on this outcome.

QUALITY INDICATORS

Scottish Borders Council's schools have used HGIOS in their regular, moderated self-evaluations to reach informed judgements on where they stand currently in relation to these processes. These judgements are summarised below:

• most judged that the 'overall quality of attainment' in their schools was good or very good and that they were good or very good at promoting 'expectations and achievement'
• less than half judged that they had good or very good arrangements for 'staff review and development', and almost all felt that the 'climate and relationships' in their schools were good or very good while the majority judged that they had good or very good 'accommodation and facilities'
• most schools judged that their schools' arrangements for the promotion of 'equality and fairness' were good or very good
• most thought that their arrangements for 'learning support', 'placement of pupils with SEN and disabilities' and 'implementation of SEN and disability legislation' were good or very good
• most judged that their arrangements for supporting the 'personal and social development' of young people were good or very good and that they also had good or very good 'partnership with parents, the School Board and the community'
• most judged that the overall quality of their 'pupils' learning experiences' was good or very good.

Authorities and schools will be continuing to build up their expertise in self-evaluation and moderation of progress with the National Priorities over the period to the end of school session 2004/2005. Some self-evaluation in this report is therefore provisional at this stage. HMIE are undertaking independent and robust external evaluation of how well Scottish schools and education authorities are delivering the National Priorities in Education and their report will be published after the end of school session 2004/2005.

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