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NATIONAL PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION PERFORMANCE REPORT 2003
EDUCATION AUTHORITY INFORMATION

STIRLING COUNCIL

This report summarises some of the key points set out in Stirling Council Children's Services 'National Priorities: Statement of Improvement Objectives' and 'Standards and Quality Report on Schools' Performance 2001-2002'.

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 Margaret Doran (01786 442 526;www.stirling.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

One of the aims of Stirling's Children's Services is to raise achievement in the broadest sense. Part of that Raising Achievement Strategy is to raise attainment in the core skills of literacy and numeracy. Its provisions extend across all sectors.

The charts below provide information on the attainments in reading, writing and mathematics achieved by pupils in Stirling Council's primary schools and in the first two years of secondary school. They also provide information on the targets which have been 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 Stirling Council, its comparator authorities and nationally at end June 2002.

The authority has set targets with its primary schools to raise levels of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics 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 Stirling 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 Stirling Council, its comparator authorities and nationally at end June 2002.

The authority has set targets with its secondary schools to raise levels of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics in S1 and S2 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 Stirling 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%. Nationally 92.6% did this and 94% of pupils did this in comparator authorities. Stirling Council has set a target that 96% 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 Stirling 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 Stirling Council's secondary schools in National Qualifications (post-appeal) compared with attainment in comparator authorities and nationally.

The authority 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 Stirling 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

All teaching staff have had the opportunity to take part in the authority's programme of Professional Review and Development.

The authority has introduced an online booking service for its locally-organised in-service training courses.

87% of primary and 60% of secondary teachers have completed their NOF ICT training; all school librarians have completed the training.

Staff from 32 of the authority's schools have attended training in support of the implementation of the People Matter Too initiative.

All headteachers attended a 2-day course on Improving Leadership. Headteachers have also been attending elements of corporate management/leadership training programmes. 14 members of staff are studying for their SQH qualification.

Staff have participated in international exchange and study visits.

Outcome 2 - Increased self-discipline of pupils

Funding to support the implementation of the recommendations of Better Behaviour, Better Learning has been devolved to schools. Schools have been encouraged to adopt flexible approaches to the curriculum to enable learning to become better matched to pupils' needs. The development of pupil support bases was continued and included the increased use of ICT within them, particularly in promoting the personal and social development of pupils. Plans were drawn up for the development of a further three primary support bases.

The ways in which support for pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties is provided were restructured.

The levels of attendance and exclusions in Stirling's schools are shown below.

Levels of attendance

The authority has set itself the targets of raising the percentage attendance in its primary schools to 95.8% by the end of session 2004/2005 and in secondary schools to 90.0% within the same timescale.

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 a target of reducing to 28 the days lost per 1000 pupils to exclusions in primary schools by the end of session 2004/2005 and reducing to 88 the days lost per 1000 pupils in secondary schools within the same timescale.

27% of pupils in Stirling schools are involved in buddying, mentoring or similar schemes. Stirling intends to develop further buddying schemes in all schools, where appropriate, with support materials and training for schools. It would expect the numbers of pupils involved in such schemes to rise to 30% over the next two years.

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

The pupil:adult ratio in Stirling's primary schools is 15.4:1 currently. Nationally the ratio is 14.2:1. Stirling has set itself the target of reducing this ratio to 15:1 by the end of school session 2004/2005.

There has been significant investment in the development of the school estate. A new, PFI-funded Balfron High School was opened; further PFI-funded developments are under development. There is a rolling programme of school refurbishments which has been shared with schools and parents. 40% of primary schools were fully networked at the end of session 2001-2002.

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

The educational progress of children who are looked after by the Council is tracked and monitored. All schools have a member of staff designated to co-ordinate the attainment and welfare of looked after children. The authority's policy on looked after children requires that reports on the progress of looked after children are made regularly to the Council's Children's Committee.

The progress of looked after children is supported by making computers and other resources available to children in foster and other care settings.

Stirling Council is one of three education authorities involved in the 'Virtual schoolbag' initiative. This initiative aims to support looked after children by raising attainment through access to learning materials and electronic storage of work, overcoming barriers to learning caused by changes in placement, monitoring their progress and piloting and reviewing the use of Personal Learning Plans and workbooks on the Internet.

The New Community Schools initiative was extended in 2002 to include all schools. Five multi-agency groups are now involved in the initiative. Stirling has set itself the target of having seven involved by 2005. Stirling's initiative is being evaluated by the University of Stirling.

The percentage of children aged 16 or 17 and looked after by Stirling Council who left care with qualifications in English and mathematics at SCQF level 3 or above in school session 2001/2002 was 40.0%. Nationally, the percentage of pupils doing this was 29%. Stirling has set itself the target of ensuring that at least 50% of its 16 to 17 year olds leaving care will meet this standard. In addition, the authority has set targets for improving the attainment of looked after children in reading, writing and mathematics in 5-14.

The average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of pupils in the authority's secondary schools is 63. The average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of pupils nationally is 58 and is 54 in the authority's comparator authorities. The authority has set itself the target of raising the average tariff score of the lowest attaining 20% of its pupils to 66 by the end of the school session 2004/2005. Initiatives such as On-Track, run in partnership with Careers Scotland, support the realisation of this intention. In addition, the authority has set itself the target of reducing the number of young people who leave school with no qualifications. The authority's focus on 'closing the gap' will be on the 5-14 range; this focus will direct support and staff development to schools where the numbers of children who are significantly below expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics are greatest.

14.0% of primary pupils are entitled to free school meals; 95.0% of these pupils actually take a school meal. 12.0% of secondary pupils are entitled to a free school meal with 77.0% of these pupils actually taking up their entitlement. Nationally, the uptake percentages for primary and secondary are 72.9% and 59.1% respectively. The authority has set itself the target of maintaining the percentage of primary pupils, entitled to a free school meal, who take a meal at 95.0% and increasing the percentage uptake in secondary schools to 84.0% by the end of session 2004/2005.

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

Stirling 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.

An additional primary communication and language facility was established in Dunblane Primary School.

The authority operates a staged intervention framework which has been designed to ensure that all learners' needs are identified and met at an appropriate level.

An Inclusion Officer and Inclusion Support Workers have been appointed who will work with schools to support the inclusion of children who require significant levels of support to enable them to learn.

Of mainstream primary pupils with special educational needs in the Stirling Council area, 90.3% receive all their education in a mainstream class. 1.2% of mainstream primary pupils with special educational needs in the Stirling Council area receive all of their education in specialist facilities in mainstream schools. There are five such facilities. For secondary pupils the figures are 86.6% and 0.2% respectively. Stirling Council has three special schools catering for 60 pupils.

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

Pupils in Stirling's schools who have 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.

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

The authority makes provision for Gaelic medium education in Riverside Primary School. There is a high level of parent satisfaction with this provision. The pupils experiencing the provision attain highly in Gaelic and in English. The authority received 14 written requests from parents for Gaelic medium education for their children; it was able to meet all but one of these.

Gaelic is taught as a modern language in nine primary schools.

There were just under 200 children in Stirling schools learning English as an additional language. These children receive support from teachers who are trained in English as an Additional Language and who work as part of the authority's Support for Learning Area Network Team (SLANT).

NATIONAL PRIORITY 4 - VALUES AND CITIZENSHIP

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

Outcomes 1 and 2 - Increased respect for self and others and 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

The pupils in the education 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.

The authority encourages its schools to develop active citizenship as part of school life.

Almost all schools have pupil councils. These councils are consulted about School Development Plans. Stirling Council operates a Student Forum and pupils are represented on the Children's Committee. Pupils have been consulted on a number of matters including a Code of Conduct, and approaches to the promotion of healthy living. All Primary 7 pupils have had the opportunity to give expression to concerns at an event called 'Speaking Out'.

The authority is using Think.com to give pupils email addresses. Children in 64% of schools had access to an email address in 2002; all will have access by 2003.

In 2002, four (8%) of primary schools were registered with the Eco Schools Award Scheme. The authority has set itself the target that 5% of its schools will have achieved Eco School status by August 2003 and 10% by August 2004.

There are 33 School Boards; they are supported in a variety of ways including the provision of training to their members. 58 members of boards received training from the authority in 2002.

NATIONAL PRIORITY 5 - LEARNING FOR LIFE

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

The education authority has a Skills for Life policy which covers areas associated with National Priority 5. These include (i) the development of core skills, (ii) relationships and (iii) education for the world of work. A staff development programme supports the implementation of the policy.

Five secondary schools have Sports Co-ordinators; primary schools are involved in the Active Primary School pilot initiative run by sportscotland and they are involved also in the TOP Play and TOP Sport initiatives.

The authority runs 'artist in schools' programmes; it has an annual expressive arts exhibition; it operates orchestras, bands, a traditional music development project and residential music courses for senior pupils; it mounts public concerts to showcase pupils' talents. A Music Development Officer has been appointed. School projects are run in conjunction with local and national arts organisations such as the MacRobert Centre, RSNO, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and others. More than 900 young people received instrumental instruction in primary and secondary schools.

103 staff from 39 primary schools have been trained in the use of Go for Enterprise. 86 teachers from 30 primary schools were trained in the use of Enterprising Infants. 1815 pupils took part in these programmes. Other activities undertaken by schools include outside visits, guest speakers, fund-raising events and running tuck shops. 67% of primary schools provided such activities. 98% of pupils in secondary schools participated in work experience programmes. Secondary pupils were also involved in projects such as Make it in Scotland, Young Enterprise and Insight into Business.

The Ladders for Learning project with the University of Stirling provided opportunities for 45 young people to take part in a range of learning activities at the university. These include a residential event. An authority/university liaison group was established to plan extensions to that programme.

36.2% of the pupils who left Stirling's secondary schools at the end of June 2002 went on to Higher Education. Nationally, 32.0% of school leavers did this. 32.0% of school leavers in the authority's comparator authorities went on to university or some other form of Higher Education. Activities such as those undertaken in Ladders for Learning are expected to increase the numbers of young people going on to Higher Education. The authority has set itself the target of maintaining the percentage going on to Higher Education and of increasing the percentage of school leavers going on to Further Education from 14.5% to 20.0% in 2005.

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

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

The initiatives referred to immediately above contribute not just to Outcome 5.1 but also 5.2. For example, the Skills for Life Programme is concerned with the promotion and the development of the skills and personal qualities which associate most strongly with creativity, problem solving and thinking skills and ambition.

QUALITY INDICATORS

HMIE inspections of schools are grounded in the systematic application of the criteria published in How good is our school?. A number of these criteria are seen as having a particularly strong association with the outcomes derived from the National Priorities. HMIE reports on Stirling Council schools inspected in 2001-2002 recognised its schools as having many key strengths across the full range of HGIOS criteria. They also recognised many strengths relating to the criteria most strongly associated with the National Priorities, including:

• levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy (NP1.1)
• the positive ethos of schools (NP1.2)
• the breadth and balance of the curriculum (NP1.2)
• well-planned processes for staff review and development (NP2.1)
• the leadership qualities of headteachers and their senior management teams (NP2.3)
• very good arrangements for support for learning (NP3.2)
• very good provision for pupils with special educational needs including a strong commitment to inclusion (NP3.2)
• the overall climate of schools (NP2.2) and the relationships which they had with pupils, parents, including School Boards, and the wider community (NP4.2)
• the opportunities provided to enhance pupils' personal and social development (NP4.1), including the wide range of activities set up to promote young people's participation in decision making
• the opportunities provided to enhance young people's engagement in sporting and cultural activities (NP5.1).

These reports also identified areas for development. The information derived from the analysis of these HMIE reports and from a wide range of other sources, including education authority quality audits, analysis of attainment information, analysis of school development plans and standards and quality reports, has allowed Stirling Council to identify and describe clearly defined priorities for action. These have been addressed in its Local Improvement Plan, the outcomes of which are based on the National Priorities and its Local Outcome Agreement targets.

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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