North Eastern Education and Library Board Annual Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2004
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ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2003 / 2004 NORTH EASTERN EDUCATION AND LIBRARY BOARD North Eastern Education and Library Board Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 31 March 2004 Laid before the Houses of Parliament by the North Eastern Education and Library Board In accordance with Paragraph 12(2) and 12(4) of the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000 and Paragraph 41 of the Schedule to the Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Prescribed Documents) Order 2004 18th May 2006 Laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly under Article 38(2) of the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 by the North Eastern Education and Library Board 18th May 2006 Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 18th May 2006 HC 1055 LONDON: The Stationery Office £14.60 NIA 292/03 CONTENTS CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD 2 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S COMMENTARY 3 BOARD MEMBERSHIP 4 SUMMARY OF KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2003/04 5 INTRODUCTION FUNCTIONS OF THE BOARD 9 MISSION STATEMENT 10 STRATEGIC THEMES 13 BOARD STRUCTURES 14 STRATEGIC THEMES MEETING NEEDS 17 RAISING STANDARDS 23 BROADENING HORIZONS 31 RESOURCES 42 ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 46 CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD It gives me great pleasure to introduce the North Eastern Education and Library Board’s Twelfth Report covering the 2003-2004 financial year. As this is my first report as Board Chairman I should like to pay tribute to my predecessor James Currie. It has been another year of notable success for the Board, tempered by a sad note with the retirement of the Chief Librarian, Pearl Valentine. During her nine years with the Board she contributed to many changes in the Library Service, moving it into the digital age of free internet access for everyone. In January of this year I was delighted to take part in the North of England Education Conference hosted in Northern Ireland by the five Education and Library Boards. The organising Committee under the leadership of our Chief Executive took this unique opportunity to showcase not just the professionalism and creativity within education in Northern Ireland but also the many and varied talents of our young people. Those fortunate enough to attend the Gala Opening of the Conference will not easily forget the extravaganza of song and dance. This spectacle set the scene and introduced the theme of ‘Education in a Pluralist Society’ which ran throughout the Conference. Many and deserved accolades were paid to Gordon Topping for the pivotal role which he played in the organisation of this very successful Conference. I take this opportunity on behalf of my colleagues on the Board to congratulate and thank our Chief Executive. Living in reflected glory is good. The same high degree of organisational skill and management expertise was in evidence as the Board achieved the Gold Standard in the Steps to Excellence programme run by the Northern Ireland Centre for Competitiveness. The North Eastern Education and Library Board was the only public sector body in the Province to achieve the Gold Standard award this year, having obtained a Silver award last year at its first attempt. Add to this the success of the Board’s Youth Service in being presented with the Government’s Charter Mark for excellence in public service and you have even more evidence of what real quality public services can and should be like. However this is only the tip of the iceberg. The Annual Report contains example after example of the work which constantly goes on to improve our services across a whole range of areas. I have been privileged during the past year while visiting schools, youth clubs and libraries to see evidence of best practice across the Board. No-one could fail to be impressed by such concerted efforts. Success is not a destination but a journey and the Board, its members and officers are committed to this journey. Finally I wish to thank my Vice Chairman, Patsy McShane, for his support, my Board colleagues for their wisdom as important decisions are taken and the many dedicated staff who make it all happen. Joan Christie OBE Chairman 2 CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S COMMENTARY Partnership is a word we hear quite often these days and for a very good reason. No one individual and no one organisation can expect to function successfully in today’s multi-faceted society without the support of others. In an environment where there is co-operation, with each constituent partner contributing their strengths, there is a far greater likelihood that what is promised can be delivered and the outcomes we seek can be realised. This annual report is testimony to what we as individuals working together as teams have achieved over the past year. But the ethos of partnership working stretches beyond the immediate organisation to interlock with others in the public and private sectors and the end result is a service to our customers that is second to none. A prime example of this is our Curriculum Advisory and Support Service (CASS) which has rightly been praised for its role in the Learning Schools Programme of Information and Communications Technology training for teachers supported by the New Opportunities Fund and Research Machines Ltd. The feedback from schools and those involved in the programme here and in the rest of the UK has been overwhelmingly positive. Our Board had the highest uptake by teachers of any authority in the UK, and the completion rate was equally successful. A similar story emerges in relation to the partnerships we have developed between our schools and those in other European countries, particularly with our partner authorities in Brandenburg, Strasbourg and Andalusia. The extent of these partnerships is astonishing and can be witnessed by anyone who views our website. There is little doubt that we are leading the field in this area. While we are on the subject of websites a further example of inter-board co-operation and partnership is the Student Support website which the North Eastern Board has played the leading role in developing. Another good example of partnerships in our Board is the Post Primary Heads Association which has been revitalised in the past year as a forum for discussion and concerted action. There are numerous examples of partnership work with our colleagues in health and social services but I shall refer here to just one. The production of the ‘Everyone Together’ pack for PE teachers working with pupils who have special needs was made possible by funds from the Northern Investing for Health Partnership. These teaching materials provide a tremendous testimony to a multi agency approach and they have been very well received in Northern Ireland and elsewhere. The following pages illustrate many more instances of good practice and I urge you to explore them with an open and enquiring mind. Gordon Topping OBE Chief Executive 3 BOARD MEMBERSHIP The Board consists of 35 members who are appointed by the Minister responsible for Education to represent: y each district council y the interests of transferors of schools y the interests of trustees of maintained schools y the services for which the Board is responsible The membership of the Board from 1 April 2003 until 31 March 2004 was as follows: Representing each Borough/ Representing the services for which the Board District Council is responsible Mr D D Barbour MSc HNC Mrs J Christie MBE Mr J R Beggs MP Mrs U M Duncan MA DASE BA CertEd Mr R F Cavan BA DipEd DMS Mrs P A Gillespie BA DipLib DipKin Mrs O M Church Mrs L A Hicklin Mrs J M Crilly BA(Hons) DipEd Mr M J Johnston BA Mr J K F Currie MBE BEd(Hons) SDA Miss M Laverty Mrs L Frazer BSc(Hons) Mr K M McCann Mr J A Gaston MBE JP Mr S A McCrea BEd BA MA(Ed) Mr J A McBride BA Mr P G McShane Mr A P McConaghy MBE Mr N S Macartney Mr H Nicholl Mr N C Murray Mr A J Templeton Mr J C Reid BSc TD BSc Mr R Thompson JP Mrs C Wegwermer Mr A D C Watson Representing the interest of transferors of Representing the interest of trustees of schools: maintained schools: Mrs M W Crockett Mr J Convery BA DASE (resigned 23/2/04) Rev D S Graham Mr M P Devine BEd DASE MEd Rev J T Jamieson Mrs C M Poots BA MSc PGCE Rev R B Savage Rev T Scott 4 SUMMARY OF KEY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2003/2004 • Taking account of income generating opportunities the Youth Service attracted an additional £1.1m to support the provision of projects and facilities for young people. • The Youth Service, in partnership with MENCAP, researched and produced a good practice guideline relating to the inclusion of young people with learning disability in mainstream youth provision in Northern Ireland. • The Board was awarded ‘Gold’ recognition in the 2003 ‘Steps to Excellence’ awards process. • A Unit Supervisor from the Education Catering Service succeeded in being awarded the Northern Ireland Salon Culinaire 2004 for Education Catering. • The First Annual School Survey was issued to schools in the Board’s area. A 60% response rate was recorded. • The second bi-annual Staff Opinion Survey was carried out. • Mechanisms were developed in order to effectively monitor feedback from customers regarding service quality. • The Education Welfare Service used funding from the European Peace and Reconciliation Fund to set up study support groups in five children’s homes across the Northern Health and Social Services Board area to develop partnership work with the Health and Social Services Trusts and young people in public care. • Special Education established an MLD forum which is representative of all sectors involved in the education of pupils with moderate learning difficulties o Special Schools o Mainstream schools o Units attached to mainstream schools to advise the Board on the future needs of this group of pupils.