Staff praised by inspectors

Staff at community learning and development (CLD) have been praised in a new report that describes them as being committed and passionate about the work they do in local communities.

But a recently published report into Falkirk’s also says that improvements are need across several areas.

The report was produced by Education Scotland, after an inspection.

As well as praising the staff, it highlighted key strengths such as: high quality learning programmes that are flexible and tailored to individual need; an increasingly strong focus on progression and raising aspirations; significant numbers of learners who contribute to supporting their community.

The inspection team however, also said that significant improvements were needed and they discussed with the team how they might continue to improve their work.

Agreements included: improve joint planning at a local level; improve information sharing at a local level; improve understanding of service priorities amongst CLD staff; and improve continuing professional development in self-evaluation and planning.

A spokesperson said: “Our area lead officer along with the education authority will discuss the most appropriate support in order to build capacity for improvement and will maintain contact to monitor progress.

“We will revisit the local authority to check on progress within one year of publication of this report.”