Educational & Social Services

EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Statement of Commitment

Our Statement of Commitment provides a broad picture
of the nature of the education service in East Ayrshire within
which the Local Improvement Objectives will be delivered.

Our Commitment is:

"Developing excellence in education
and improving opportunities for all through
Quality, Equality, Access and Partnership"

QUALITY

• Creating a climate of achievement
• Identifying good practice
• Disseminating good practice
• Establishing means to monitor and evaluate the work of the Department
  

EQUALITY

• Equality of opportunity for all, irrespective of gender, race or disability
• Valuing diversity in individuals and communities
• Ensuring a fair distribution of resources
• Counteracting discrimination and victimisation
  

ACCESS

• Open for all
• Assisting those in greatest need to benefit from the service
• Determining views locally
• Promoting lifelong learning
  

PARTNERSHIP

• Forming strong and constructive partnerships
• Working with parents, school boards and community groups
• Working with local businesses, industry, higher education
  and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire
  

Through this commitment, East Ayrshire's Department of Educational and Social Services will provide life-long opportunities for all of the residents of East Ayrshire.

The hallmark of the service will be the priority given to core skills and, particularly, raising levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy for learners of all ages. This will be achieved through quality provision in Early Years establishments, all schools and Community Learning.

Access to quality services is an entitlement for all learners irrespective of where they live in East Ayrshire, or their gender, race, disability, learning difficulty or disadvantage.
All aspects of the service will be subject to rigorous monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement. This monitoring will extend to all services and aspects of resourcing that support the educational process.

Through strong partnerships, particularly with social services in a merged department, learning opportunities will be enhanced. Whenever possible new ways of improving learning will be identified. Unique opportunities exist to draw together a broad range of resources in support of those involved in the department, whether they be students, parents or service providers.Foreword
This statement of Local Improvement Objectives in Education, Priority to Improvement, is an important step in ensuring the continuous improvement of the educational service in East Ayrshire.

As an Education Authority we have always been in the forefront in terms of developing the provision for our children and young people. These achievements can be found in our published Standards and Quality Reports. Because of this tradition we see this document as being much more than the fulfilment of a legal requirement.

Our Local Improvement Objectives will be integrated into an overall approach to quality management. This is why they have been combined in this document with our Statement of Commitment and our Vision for schools. Taken together these three statements provide a clear idea of the direction in which the service is to develop and the expectations that accompany the development.

Through the service and development planning mechanisms this direction can be turned into a programme for improvement that meets local and establishment needs. The needs of our young people are at the centre of our planning. We are always striving to improve the support for young people.This is our key priority.

An important part of the process of producing these objectives has been the involvement of both users and providers of the service. This level of involvement will continue in the various planning processes that follow. We are also committed to reporting to parents, service users and staff on the progress that has been made as a result of this substantial investment in an ambitious programme for improvement.

This statement will, therefore, be of considerable significance to all those with an interest in education in East Ayrshire. We hope that you find it helpful as a guide to how we will plan for improvement in the year 2003.

Graham Short
Executive Director of Educational and Social Services

Councillor Thomas Farrell JP
Chair of the Education Committee

How this statement will contribute to the improvement of educational services.

East Ayrshire Council has always had a commitment to the improvement of educational services. This is manifest in the existence of its Statement of Commitment and the fact that strategic plans for Education have been published since local government reorganisation in 1996.

There is a long tradition of planning for improvement at the level of schools and services. East Ayrshire was also one of the first Authorities to publish a Standards and Quality Report.

The production of an annual statement of improvement objectives is, however, a requirement of the Standards in ScotlandÕs School etc Act 2000. This sets out a system for educational improvement at national level.

In this statement you will see that five National Priorities have been set by the Scottish Ministers. East Ayrshire is required to identify Local Improvement Objectives for each of these national priorities.

Measures have also been identified for each priority. This is to allow an assessment to be carried out on the level of success that has been achieved in relation to each priority.These measures have themselves been largely determined at national level, as a result of wide consultation.

At Authority level, a Service Improvement Plan will be developed using these objectives to provide a focus for improvement initiatives.

This Service Plan will provide detail on matters such as timescales; the groups of staff, establishments or services that will be involved; and the resources and funds that are forecast as being necessary to deliver the improvements. The standards and targets that will be used in conjunction with each measure will be developed in full consultation with schools. Further detail on these standards and targets will be provided in the Service Improvement Plan.

Schools and educational services will use these objectives to help identify their own priorities for improvement. These will be published through establishment improvement plans. Parents are entitled to have access both to establishment improvement plans and a summary of these important documents.

At the end of the year the Authority will publish a report summarising the achievements in relation to these objectives. This report will, in turn, influence the production of a new, or revised, list of objectives for the next planning cycle.

How this statement was produced

This Annual Statement of Improvement Objectives has been produced as a result of a major series of consultation exercises within East Ayrshire. The groups that have been involved include:

• Headteachers of all primary, secondary and special schools.
• Heads of all Early Years establishments.
• Groups of teachers
• Staff other than teachers who are employed in schools
• Trades Unions
• School Boards
• Groups of parents
• Pupil Groups
• Staff from educational and other Council services
• Other stakeholders with an interest in education.
  

A starting point was provided by the key document A Strategic Plan for the Education Service, 2000-2003, which was itself the product of consultation with both users and providers of the education service. Throughout 2001 - 2002 an extensive audit of establishment plans and the results of evaluations at establishment and authority level was carried out. Together these exercises have informed the production of this Statement.