CHAPTER 7: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
A number of respondents in both schools and local authorities noted the need for more guidance and support in order to build awareness and usage of ScotXed. As such, communication is an issue that is important for the ScotXed Unit and Partnership.
7.1 WAYS IN WHICH INFORMATION ON SCOTXED IS CURRENTLY RECEIVED
All respondents were asked to say the ways in which they currently received information on ScotXed and as can be seen in chart 7.1, key channels for local authority staff were on-line help within the ScotXed website (71%) and guidance / advice notes from the Scottish Executive ScotXed Unit (29%).
Data from the telephone interviews with schools emphasise the importance of local authority staff, with the two highest mentions being a contact within the local authority (cited by 23%) or guidance / advice notes from local authority ScotXed representatives / staff (cited by 16%). There was little by way of difference in responses from headteachers and admin / support staff.
Chart 7.1 Sources of advice and guidance used to aid understanding and use of ScotXed
Source: Q7 (schools) & Q11 ( LA)
Base: LA staff (66); School staff (253)
Notes to chart: numbers may not add to 100% as respondents could respond to more than one category
- EFFECTIVENESS OF COMMUNICATION / INFORMATION CHANNELS
Staff in local authorities were largely happy with information and communication they received from the ScotXed Unit. In particular, designated ScotXed representatives had regular ScotXed meetings where they were given opportunities to hear about new developments, potential developments and provide their opinions on ScotXed. As such, local authority staff generally felt they had a good understanding of how ScotXed worked. Most of our qualitative respondents within local authorities noted that the ScotXed Unit is responsive to requests or queries and keen to listen to their views.
While the ScotXed Unit at the Scottish Executive provides regular guidance and support to local authorities, data from the qualitative discussions showed that most local authorities will take this and use it as a basis for providing their own guidance and support to staff in schools. One respondent noted "we take what the ScotXed Unit produce and turn this into local authority speak." As such, very little guidance and support or training materials produced by the ScotXed Unit directly reaches staff in schools.
Another way in which respondents in schools received information about ScotXed was through CAMs (Cluster Administration Managers) based within secondary schools who are responsible for meetings with primary school admin / support staff within their cluster in order to explain information required by ScotXed. Those within cluster schools noted the importance of this level of contact, although some CAMs themselves noted that they do not always have the necessary resources to meet with cluster schools as regularly as they might like.
Some schools used a SEEMIS / Phoenix representative in preference to local authority staff or the Scottish Executive Unit, although this did not appear to be because they felt that these representatives will provide better information than their local authority, rather that they have long standing relationships with these representatives.
Most of the schools participating in the qualitative discussions claimed to be happy with information coming out from the local authorities and, in some instances, local authorities had also provided training on ScotXed. This will be discussed further in the following chapter.
While most respondents were happy with information received on ScotXed, there were some requests for more guidance and support to be issued to ScotXed users and potential users. Some respondents asked for basic guidelines on how to access the website; others wanted more information on how to manipulate and interpret data.
7.3 PREFERENCES FOR RECEIVING INFORMATION
While most of our qualitative respondents were relatively happy with the information they received on ScotXed, there were requests for a variety of different channels to be utilised in delivering this information.
If information to be provided is basic, easy to understand and factual with no need for discussion or further explanation, then written documentation is an acceptable means of providing this information.
Conversely, if information to be provided is likely to need further discussion or practical experience, then most of our respondents had a preference for face-to-face meetings. For example, those who had attended roadshows found these to be a useful way of obtaining information on how ScotXed can be used to maximum effect. Roadshows also provide an interactive environment offering opportunities for questions to be raised and clarified. An additional advantage is that they offer opportunities for individuals from the ScotXed Unit to meet with users and present a pro-active and friendly face. This can help to reduce the sense of remoteness and the lack of partnership working felt by many schools.
Given preferences from many for more direct - face-to-face - contact, there were some requests for more roadshows or forums to be set up. That said, some of our respondents noted that they had previously had an opportunity to attend a roadshow and had not gone because of a lack of time. Particularly for those in primary schools, for whom ScotXed can be perceived as increasing workloads because of information requests, with little by way of providing useful information in return, attending training on ScotXed is not necessarily a priority. Furthermore, there is often an issue of obtaining extra staff cover.
There is also a need to ensure that the correct information reaches the correct individual. In local authorities and some stakeholder organisations there is a designated individual who has involvement in ScotXed, and there do not appear to be any problems over the receipt of information, particularly as there are regular meetings with the ScotXed Unit for many of these individuals. However, within schools (particularly larger schools where there could be a number of admin / support staff wishing to access ScotXed), it is important to ensure that information reaches all of these individuals. While communication to schools is largely the remit of local authority staff, there is potential for the ScotXed Unit to provide more guidance to local authorities on how to present and distribute information.
7.4 COMMUNICATION ACROSS THE PARTNERSHIP
While this chapter focuses primarily on issues of information provision and communication, it is important to understand views on communication across the Partnership and how effective this is. All local authority staff participating in the telephone interviews were asked to say to what extent they felt they were involved in a number of aspects of ScotXed (a lot, adequately, not enough or not at all).
As chart 7.2 shows, a large majority of local authority staff felt they were involved either adequately or a lot across all aspects of ScotXed. Designated ScotXed representatives have more regular contact with ScotXed than do those in a day-to-day or strategic role and this was borne out by the data. Of local authority staff:
- 97% felt they have access to educational information in order to monitor and improve services;
- 95% felt they are kept well informed about any changes / updates in relation to MIS and ScotXed;
- 89% felt that their contributions are valued;
- 85% felt the concept of partnership has been fundamental to the achievements of ScotXed;
- 79% felt they are able to contribute to the decision making processes undertaken with ScotXed;
- 78% felt they understand the reasoning behind decisions within ScotXed that are made.
With the exception of "having access to educational information in order to monitor and improve services", slightly higher proportions of designated ScotXed representatives agreed that they had adequate or a lot of involvement in each element of ScotXed, than did those in a day-to-day or strategic role within the local authorities.
Chart 7.2 Working with ScotXed and role in the process of electronic data exchange
Source: Q12 ( LA)
Base: LA staff (66)
It is important to ensure that communication between all those involved in the ScotXed Partnership is as effective as possible. All local authority staff participating in telephone interviews were asked to say how effective they felt communication is between schools and local authorities in relation to ScotXed; how effective communication is between local authorities and the ScotXed Unit at the Scottish Executive and how effective communication is within local authorities in relation to ScotXed.
As shown in chart 7.3, almost all respondents claimed that each channel of communication was either "very" or "quite" effective. While communication is an issue that needs to be borne continually in mind by both local authority staff and the ScotXed Unit, views on the current effectiveness of communication were largely positive. There is no evidence from the results of this evaluation that communication is considered to be poor or ineffective by those in schools or local authorities.
Chart 7.3 Local authority staff views on working with ScotXed and effectiveness of communication
Source: Q13 & 14a/b ( LA)
Base: LA staff (66)
Stakeholders participating in the qualitative discussions were positive about the effectiveness of channels of communication with ScotXed.
In summary:
- The findings emphasise the importance of local authority staff as a channel of communication and information for schools. Little guidance produced by the ScotXed Unit directly reaches schools; rather that produced by the ScotXed Unit is reinterpreted and issued to schools in order to reflect local circumstances;
- Local authority staff are generally happy with the information they receive from the ScotXed Unit and via meetings or involvement in Task Groups;
- While views on existing forms and channels of communication are largely positive, there are requests for a number of different information channels to be used, depending on the nature of the information being provided. Opportunities for interactive questioning or practical application of ScotXed such as those provided by roadshows are welcomed, although attendance may not be a priority for many;
- Views on the effectiveness of communication channels utilised are positive, although there is a need to ensure that information reaches all those who need to receive it;
- A large majority of local authority staff feels involved in all aspects of ScotXed and a majority also claims that each channel of communication is effective.