At its meeting last week, East Dunbartonshire Council considered the ‘Improving Outcomes for Young People through School Education’ report, recently published by Audit Scotland.
Welcoming the report’s findings, Joint Council Leader Andrew Polson said, “This is a fabulous reflection of the great work carried out by our Education Service here in East Dunbartonshire. Of the four performance measures, this Council is the second top performing council in the two measures relating to achieving one award and five or more awards at level 5; we are the second top performing mainland council in relation to school leavers participating in education, employment or training; and we are the top performing council in relation to school leavers achieving at least level 4 in numeracy and literacy. The comparison data begins in 2013/14 and the Council has demonstrated continuous improvement in each of the following years - a truly excellent performance.”
The comprehensive Audit Scotland report considers the progress made nationally and by individual councils and clearly emphasises that school education is not just about exam results, but also aims to improve children’s and young people’s health and wellbeing and support wider outcomes such as vocational qualifications.
Joint Council Leader Vaughan Moody added, “As part of that wider remit of school education, beyond exam results, the report considers the progress councils are making in relation to closing the poverty related attainment gap. We have prioritised attainment and achievement for all our young people in East Dunbartonshire, as highlighted in our East Dunbartonshire Local Outcome Improvement Plan. Whilst there is huge variation nationally, we are delighted that East Dunbartonshire has the narrowest gap of all councils in Scotland - with evidence of a continued narrowing of the gap between those in our most deprived area compared to those in our least deprived areas, clearly showing our efforts are having an impact.”
The Council’s schools and early years’ centres are currently working to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on learning and on the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the area. The focus of the central team is in carrying out self-evaluation in a number of key areas:
- The provision and outcomes for care experienced children;
- The provision for children with additional support needs;
- An audit of the provision of mental health;
- A review of the provision of nurture and parenting and family learning support.
This work will inform planning within schools, the Council and Integrated Children’s Services through our local Delivering for Children and Young People Partnership (DCYPP).
Councillor Polson continued, “The Audit Scotland report demonstrates that our Education Service is truly delivering for all our children and young people – testament to our great central Education Team and all those working in our fantastic schools. The ongoing evaluation currently underway will be essential to inform our approach as we work through recovery and plan for future delivery to ensure that we continue to achieve and improve on our own very high standards.”
Notes:
The full report, published on the Audit Scotland website, details performance information and key messages which have implications for strategic planning nationally and within councils. The key messages include:
- School education is not just about exam results, but also aims to improve children’s and young people’s health and wellbeing and support wider outcomes such as vocational qualifications. The Covid-19 pandemic has affected children and young people in many ways, including their learning, wellbeing and economic circumstances. Pupils living in the most challenging circumstances have been most affected by school closures.
- Those involved in planning, delivering and supporting school education were working well together prior to the pandemic. This strong foundation helped them to collaborate to deliver a rapid response to Covid-19 in exceptionally challenging circumstances. The pandemic has reinforced the importance of school education and other sectors working together to tackle issues which affect young people’s life chances and outcomes, such as child poverty and health and wellbeing.
- Both national education policy and the curriculum reflect the importance for pupils of different pathways and opportunities, and outcomes beyond exam results. There has been an increase in the types of opportunities, awards and qualifications available to children and young people and an increase in the number awarded. However, better data is needed to understand if other outcomes, like wellbeing and confidence, are improving.
- There is wide variation in education performance across councils, with evidence of worsening performance on some indicators in some councils. At the national level, exam performance and other attainment measures have improved. But, the rate of improvement up until 2018–19 has been inconsistent across different measures.
Four key measures were used in the report to evaluate the performance of Councils:
East Dunbartonshire Council:
| % of school leavers who leave school with 1+ Level 5 | % change since 2013/14 | % of school leavers who leave school with 5+ Level 5 | % change since 2013/14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96.2% | +1.8% | 85.8% | +7.2% |
| % of 16 -19 year olds participating in education, employment and training | % change since 2013/14 | % of school leavers achieving literacy and numeracy at Level 4 | % change since 2013/14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96.1% | +0.5% | 97.3% | +0.3% |
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