SPRING 2015
NEWS
Planning for
assessment
Ca
r
as r yin
g
se
ss out
me
nt
Assessing Progress and
Achievement – page 6
Learners and teachers share
their experiences from early
level to fourth level
The Future of Inspection and
Review – page 13
Find out why it’s important for
Education Scotland to review its
approaches to inspection
Evalua
ting
Scottish Survey of Literacy and
Numeracy – What the results
are telling us – page 8
Find out what makes Scotland
unique in its approach to
assessment and how the SSLN
results are used
FOCUS ON
MAKING GOOD
ASSESSMENT
DECISIONS
Na
qu tion
as alit y al
su
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t: www.twitter.com/educationscot
y: www.youtube.com/user/educationscotland
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Making
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judgements
Education
Scotland
A Word from Bill Maxwell
WELCOME
Welcome to the second edition of Education Scotland News – our new magazine designed
to bring you the latest news on Education Scotland’s activities across the sectors, from the
early years to adult learning.
07
15
Bill Maxwell
Chief Executive of
Education Scotland
17
19
Dr Bill Maxwell, as Chief
Executive, is responsible
to Scottish ministers
for the management,
performance and future
development of Education
Scotland. Bill chairs an
internal management
board which comprises
non-executive directors
and the executive team of
Education Scotland. The
executive team supports
Bill in providing leadership,
direction and control.
CONTENTS:
A Word from Bill Maxwell
03
Assessment of Broad General Education
04
Assessing Progress and Achievement
06
Knowledge into Action: The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy
08
Practical Steps to Support Great Learning
09
Making Good Assessment Decisions
10
A Day in the Life of ...
12
Future of Inspection and Review
13
Families, Inclusion and Local Authorities
14
School Years 16
Lifelong Learning
18
02 Education Scotland NEWS
Each edition of the magazine will have a special focus to highlight the knowledge being
generated by our work on a specific topic or area. In this issue, the special focus is on
learner assessment.
Since the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence, many areas of practice have been
transformed as practitioners have explored new ways of exploiting the full potential of
CfE to improve outcomes and create deeper, more engaging experiences for Scotland’s
learners. Assessment is one such area in which a transformational shift has been gradually
gathering pace, although there is still work to do to ensure that practitioners in every sector
fully appreciate the nature and scale of that shift and the benefits it can bring for learners.
Assessment in the context of CfE should first and foremost be about ‘assessment
for learning’. It is about evaluating children and young people’s learning to inform the
next steps in planning their educational experiences, in order to ensure a successful
journey through progressive levels of achievement. Of course, assessment frameworks
serve multiple purposes and there will also be occasions when summative reporting of
assessment information is appropriate, however the majority of assessment is formative
in nature, based on professional judgement supported by evidence drawn mainly from
day‑to‑day teaching and learning.
Getting the right balance in assessment activities is one of the key tasks facing education
leaders at present. I am certainly very clear that teachers become more confident in making
assessment judgements about learners’ progress when they have opportunities to engage
in moderation activities which allow them to compare and contrast their judgements with
their peers. As you will see in this newsletter, we are seeking to spread good practice in the
sharing of moderation approaches and standards in a variety of ways, including inspection
and development visits, conferences and training events. I am pleased to see that
practitioners are reflecting on the time currently spent on paperwork, some of which might
be better spent on learning and teaching, and introducing more streamlined assessment
and planning arrangements as a result.
Looking more broadly, improving the quality and equity of learners’ attainment has always
been a key focus of our work. We have consistently highlighted that one of the crucial
issues facing Scottish education is reducing the unacceptably large gap that exists between
the educational outcomes achieved by the richest and poorest in our society. Addressing
this gap is central to the Corporate Plan we published in 2013.
Since coming into office, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and Cabinet Secretary for
Education and Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance, have also made it abundantly clear
that this challenging issue is a top priority for the Government, with an even stronger and
more determined focus than ever before.
In this edition you’ll find out more about how we in Education Scotland plan to respond by
stepping up the pace and intensity of our work on addressing the equity gap even further,
working closely with our partners across local and central government. Exciting times
ahead and an opportunity to make a real impact on one of Scotland’s most long-standing
and intractable problems!
Bill Maxwell
Chief Executive of Education Scotland
Education Scotland NEWS
03
Assessment of Broad General Education:
HOW DO WE
KNOW OUR
CHILDREN AND
YOUNG PEOPLE
ARE MAKING
PROGRESS?
The advent of Curriculum for Excellence
and the removal of national assessments
prompted a radical change in how we assess
learners’ progress, over time. Schools and
local authorities can no longer use hard data
alone to evidence this, and for both formative
and accountability purposes, a new way had
to be found.
Sharon Hayward
Head Teacher Blairdardie,
Primary Glasgow,
Chair of Glasgow Assessment
Strategy Group
Gone are the linear paths of learning with
tests at the end of a level to prove a child
was making progress and in came research
(Hayward et al 2012 and Mansell et al 2009)
to substantiate a much more holistic approach
to assessment which leads directly to the
improvement of learning.
The development of teacher professionalism
and confidence, as trust is increasingly given
to their assessment judgements, has allowed
a growing ‘intelligent accountability’ (Hayward
et al 2012). Teachers moderate assessments
at the start of their planning process, identifying
next steps in learning from prior learning.
Social moderation as a primary mechanism
for ensuring teachers robustly discuss and
negotiate judgements based on a shared
standard, thus raising achievement, is at the
heart of best classroom practice. Ensuring time
for professional dialogue which illustrates trust
in teachers’ judgements, is crucial.
Time is required too, for teachers to converse
with learners, ensuring they are both clear
what skills and attributes have been learned,
how they can be evidenced from normal
day‑to-day learning and teaching, and how
this can be applied in learning, life or work; a
process which need not rely on a cumbersome
folio of evidence.
The importance of teachers adopting
manageable procedures to robustly track
pupil progress across the curriculum without
recording everything a pupil says or does
is vital. As is the need to adopt a dynamic
tracking system involving learners and
teachers in identifying next steps in learning,
rather than labelling.
Our previous assessment culture and practices
were firmly embedded, but at last, Scotland
is moving with more pace towards a renewed
understanding of how we best answer
the question, ‘how do we know children
and young people are making progress?’.
Sharon Hayward
Introducing a new improved
National Assessment Resource (NAR)
View
Create
Useful Links
New on NAR
Access practitioner,
Education Scotland and
SQA/SSLN resources
Contribute to National
Assessment Resource by
uploading and publishing
your own resources
Find core web pages and
information to support the
understanding of
assessment and use of NAR.
Link directly to the most
recently published
resources on NAR
Following consultation with practitioners, National
Assessment Resource (NAR) has been redesigned to
help improve user experience when accessing quality
assessment resources.
Key features of NAR
• an online resource designed to support assessment approaches for Curriculum for
Excellence
• provides a single place in which assessment materials for Curriculum for Excellence can
be stored. This includes assessment materials developed by Education Scotland, SQA
and practitioners
• includes examples of emerging and effective practice
• provides a way for teachers and practitioners to develop a shared understanding of
standards and expectations
• supports practitioners in deepening their understanding and expertise in assessment
If you haven’t been on NAR (www.narscotland.org.uk) for quite a while, why not have
another look and see the range of support and resources available to you.
References
Louise Hayward, Ian Menter, Vivienne Baumfield,
Richard Daugherty, Nasrin Akhtar, Lesley Doyle,
Dely Elliot, Moira Hulme,Carolyn Hutchinson, George
MacBride, Margaret McCulloch, Fiona Patrick, Ernie
Spencer, Georgina Wardle, Harry Blee (until June 2011)
and Liz Arthur (2012) ‘Assessment at Transition. Project
Report.’ University of Glasgow, UK.
Warwick Mansell, Mary James, the Assessment Reform
Group (2009) Assessment in Schools. Fit for Purpose?
A Commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research
Programme. London. Economic and Social Research
Council, Teaching and Learning Research Programme.
04 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
05
ASSESSING PROGRESS
AND ACHIEVEMENT
Assessment of the broad range of planned learning is required across the
full range of contexts and settings in which the curriculum is experienced
A number of exemplars are currently available on the
National Assessment Resource (NAR) which provides
annotated exemplification of evidence of learners’
work which typifies achievement of a level.
The exemplification:
•
•
is related to significant aspects of learning in
a curriculum area
includes both teacher and pupil voice on
the learning
•
can be used by practitioners to understand, apply
and share standards.
This page highlights some of the exemplars that
are available for each level. Why not visit the NAR
to explore the range of materials available, or the
Education Scotland website to view the workshops
that have been developed to support practitioners use
of these materials.
Second Level
Modern Languages
Pupil Voice
“Throughout the French presentations I have made my French more fluent.”
“I have been able to use full sentences rather than just words. This will help me in conversations if I
go to France and meet someone French and if I know little words I can use them to make sentences.”
“The skills I have used while creating a French presentation are confidently standing up and
speaking in French and developing my fluency.”
Teacher Voice
The pupils in the videos both demonstrate secure talking at second level. After commenting on the
weather in various locations, which was changed each time to avoid memory learning, they were
able to construct accurate sentences with little or no support, demonstrating the ability to apply their
knowledge and understanding of vocabulary and sentence construction. The pupils are fluent, with
accurate pronunciation during their short presentations.
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/
ModLangSecondLevelWeatherforecasts_tcm4-833067.pdf
Third level
Health and Wellbeing, Food and Health, Nutrition
Pupil Voice
“ I arranged the pepper I added in an attractive way to encourage
people to eat my pizza.”
“I used herbs instead of salt to season and flavour my pizza sauce.”
“If I was to make this again, I would swap the bacon for chicken to
help reduce fat.”
Early Level
Teacher Voice
Allowing pupils the opportunity to make their pizza enhances the
learning and teaching of this topic as pupils can see how healthy
changes can be simple to make. This task also provides an
introduction to food product development which we study further
at fourth level.
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/
ThirdLevelFoodandHealthNutrition_tcm4-835175.pdf
Numeracy and Mathematics
Pupil Voice
“Rhinos, hippos, houses and elephants are heavy.
Feathers, leaves, hats and paper are light.”
Teacher Voice
Initially the child discussed what the word heavy meant. He linked
this to light items too. He then explored and compared three items
using a balance.This allowed the child to explore the idea of ‘equal’
and what this meant. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/
EarlyLevelMeasuermentAugust14_tcm4-833717.pdf
Fourth Level
Technologies
First Level
Expressive Arts – Art and Design
Pupil Voice
“The colours look nice and hot.”
“All the patterns stand out and are different.”
Teacher Voice
The learners have shown first level by researching Fair Isle
patterns and drawing out their own shapes and patterns to create
four different strips of pattern. These designs were then transferred
onto polystyrene strips with the right amount of pressure to achieve
a clear print. The learners then demonstrated understanding of hot
and complementary colours through their choice of four printing
inks and the background paper. The printing is controlled and
most patterns are clear. The learner has used control to build up
repeated patterns and capture the style of the Fair Isle patterns.
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/
ArtandDesignFLSept14_tcm4-832247.pdf
06 Education Scotland NEWS
Pupil voice
“After looking at different types of light patterns, I decided to change
my design so that I could do a more complex pattern.”
“I found patterns of light I liked and thought about how I could cast
one either at the side of the shelf or on the sheet metal.”
Teacher Voice
In the final stages of the project, learners built on the information
they had gathered about a design shop and its products. Having
evaluated products which the design shop sell, they were able to
balance their own creative ideas with design features appropriate
to design shop range. The learners’ next challenge was to fulfil
the design brief by producing an efficient and economic storage
solution made from manufactured boards and using knockdown
fittings. To do this, learners had to apply their knowledge of
materials, techniques and processes.
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/
Technologies4-3amend_tcm4-830217.pdf
Education Scotland NEWS
07
PRACTICAL STEPS
TO SUPPORT GREAT
LEARNING
Knowledge into Action
THE SCOTTISH
SURVEY OF
LITERACY AND
NUMERACY
Scotland is leading the way in innovative
educational self-evaluation. The Scottish
Survey of Literacy and Numeracy
(SSLN), and supporting professional
learning resources, makes Scotland
unique in its approach to assessment
and supports ongoing self-evaluation.
What is SSLN?
The Scottish Survey of Literacy and
Numeracy (SSLN) is an annual samplebased survey that monitors national
performance in literacy and numeracy,
in alternate years, at P4, P7 and S2.
Nationally, about 4,000 pupils participate
in the survey at each stage.
available on: reading; writing; and
listening and talking.
It is aligned to CfE and supports
assessment approaches and
programmes for raising attainment in
literacy and numeracy.
The results allow national level reporting
of attainment in literacy and numeracy
as well as of pupils’ and teachers’
experiences of learning and teaching.
It takes place in May each year, with
results published in the following spring.
Practitioners who trained as support
assessors and assessed the listening
and talking component of the 2014
Literacy Survey gained GTCS
recognition for their role.
Why is it important and what are
the benefits?
The results are used in the development
of professional learning resources.
These can be found at
www.educationscotland.gov.uk/ssln.
Numeracy resources are available
on: measurement; fractions, decimal
fractions and percentages; ideas of
chance and uncertainty; estimation
and rounding; time; numeracy; and
mathematic skills and numeracy
progression. Literacy resources are
Writing
Pupils performing well, very well or
beyond the relevant level for their stage:
P4: 64%
P7: 72%
S2: 64%
The survey findings provide evidence to
assist with policy making and research.
Results can be used for quality
assurance and evaluation and
improvement by schools local
authorities.
Numeracy Attainment
Pupils performing well or very well at
their relevant level (SSLN 2013):
P4: 69%
P7: 66%
S2: 42%
Literacy Attainment
Reading
Pupils performing well or very well at
their relevant level:
P4: 83%
P7: 90%
S2: 84%
It is vital to ensure that systems and processes support great learning, rather than hinder it.
Dialogue, not paperwork or digital technologies, is key to achieving this. There is no place for
systems that do not improve pupil performance and life chances. Visit the Tackling Bureaucracy
area of the Education Scotland website for more information (http://ow.ly/K0hrh)
Listening and Talking
Pupils performing well, very well or
beyond the relevant level for their stage:
P4: 56%
P7: 58%
S2: 46%
Attainment levels at both P4 and P7
were lower in 2013 compared to 2011.
The difference in S2 performance
was negligible.
Pupils living in areas of least deprivation
were more likely to be performing well
or very well than pupils living in areas
of most deprivation, across all stages.
More Specifically
This is
This is not
Within schools, good quality
professional dialogue
between teachers, school
leaders, support staff, pupils
and parents is essential.
grouping together related
experiences and outcomes
and engaging in professional
dialogue to support learning
and improve learners’
experiences.
developing paperwork to prove
coverage of every experience
and outcome or dialogue that
has taken place.
The main purpose of forward
planning is to assist teaching
and learning.
planning to the level of detail
required to improve learners’
understanding of the most
significant aspects of learning.
an inflexible or bureaucratic
approach which is unnecessary
to support learning.
Audit and accountability have
a part to play in schools.
sharing practice and engaging
in professional dialogue
to improve learning and
teaching.
developing paperwork to record
information unnecessarily.
Digital technologies for
planning and reporting
systems should be used
with caution, particularly
in relation to the time spent
on them.
a tool to support professional
dialogue to improve learning
and teaching.
a time-consuming system
which distracts teachers from
learning and teaching.
Parents are looking for
teachers to report on their
child’s learning and progress.
good quality engagements
with teachers, to help
improve their child’s learning
and provide a summary of
their child’s progress.
a time-consuming report, or
a tick box approach, which
does not help parents support
future learning.
Quality assurance and
moderation is part of the daily
life of a school.
evidence produced from
day-to-day learning and
teaching to improve learners’
experiences.
burdensome paperwork to
prove quality assurance
processes are in place.
Pupils performed best in the following
organisers:
P4: Data and Analysis
P7: Data and Analysis
S2: Number and Number Processes
08 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
09
MAKING GOOD
ASSESSMENT
DECISIONS
Assessment 3-18 must be valid, reliable, fair and manageable for all involved
and must be consistently applied for all learners in all centres. Therefore,
there are common quality assurance processes to the moderation of the
broad general education between ages 3 and 15 and the senior phase,
including approaches for the new National Qualifications. This means that
the quality assurance (QA) process established in 3-15 will continue to be
valuable when quality assuring the senior phase and new qualifications.
Evaluating
In what way has reflecting on the evaluation
process and outcomes led to the identification
of professional learning opportunities?
Planning for
assessment
ting
Ca
r
as r yin
g
se
ss out
me
nt
Evalua
In what ways have you contributed to
or used the assessment exemplars on
the National Assessment Resource for
moderation purposes?
Quality assurance and moderation
What opportunities are there for you to
engage in professional dialogue when quality
assuring learner evidence, both within and
outwith your establishment?
As a school/department, what are you
doing to develop your understanding of the
need to plan for assessment as an integral
part of learning and teaching in both the
BGE and senior phase?
Carrying out assessment as
part of learning
Na
qu tion
as alit y al
su
ra
n
ce
ce
n
ra n
u
ss ti o al)
a
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10 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
Making
professional
judgements
National quality assurance
Planning for assessment as
part of learning
What range of evidence, from a variety
of assessment approaches, do you need
in order to be confident that assessment
evidence coming from the learner is
appropriate and robust in both the BGE
and senior phase?
Making professional
judgements
How do you go about gathering and
considering assessment evidence in a
way that is collaborative and informs your
professional judgements?
11
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ...
AN EDUCATION OFFICER
Claire Harvey,
Education Officer,
Education Scotland
Tell us a bit about your role as an Education
Officer in Education Scotland.
Tell us about a piece of really positive
practice that has stuck in your mind.
My role focuses mainly on the area of
assessment. As with most roles in education,
no two days are ever the same. One day
I might be speaking at an educational
conference or event, the next I might be in a
school working with practitioners and seeing
practice first hand, and other days I am desk
based working on developing national support
for practitioners.
There is genuinely so much positive,
enthusiastic and engaging practice happening
right across the country that it is difficult to
isolate any one particular piece of work!
However, perhaps one particular area in which
we have seen some very encouraging work
recently is where secondary schools recognise
the alignment between assessment in the
broad general education and assessment in
the senior phase. Prior to the nationals last
session, many young people and practitioners,
were feeling overwhelmed by the amount of
assessment being undertaken, now we are
seeing a much more positive shift and balance
in schools. Schools have structures in place for
moderation in broad general education which
is supporting verification in the senior phase.
Some of these positive examples have been
captured and will be available soon on the
Making Good Assessment Decisions area
of our website.
At the moment, the assessment team is
working very closely with curriculum teams
to support practitioners’ understanding
of assessing progress and achievement.
Together, we are working with establishments
across the country, developing further
annotated exemplification for the National
Assessment Resource (NAR). These
resources support practitioners moderate
standards within their own establishment.
We are also working with the Developing
Young Workforce team in Education Scotland
on profiling. We feel it is important to highlight
that profiling is a process not a product, as
very often too much emphasis has been
placed on the final product - the profile,
whether paper or electronic.
What is the question you are most
commonly asked by practitioners?
Dialogue is at the centre of assessment and
evaluation of children and young people’s
learning. This includes dialogue between
learners, between practitioners and learners
and among practitioners. The question
we are most often asked is, when can we
make time for this? Time taken in class, to
engage in dialogue with children and young
people, ensures that both the learner and the
practitioner has a clear understanding of where
they are in their learning and supports the
tracking process. This is the time of year when
practitioners are negotiating their work time
agreement. Time to work collegiately
on assessment and moderation forms part
of these negotiations. Establishments, where
this time has been allocated from the work
time agreement, are recognising the benefits
from this.
THE FUTURE
OF INSPECTION
AND REVIEW
Alastair Delaney
Chief Operating Officer and Director of Inspection
Are there any common misconceptions
about assessment that you encounter often?
Unfortunately, a fairly common misconception
is that assessment means simply tests as
opposed to assessment of and for learning.
As a result, things become very complicated.
It is very heartening when there is a ‘light
bulb moment’ and the process of assessment
is recognised as the on-going practice that
happens day in and day out in the classroom.
What hints and tips would you offer
practitioners to help in their day to
day practice?
The recurring phrases we use are dialogue
with learners and professional dialogue. I
would urge all practitioners to have another
look at the Tackling Bureaucracy area of of our
website which emphasises the key messages
of planning, assessment and moderation. This
will help highlight and explain how dialogue is
more important than unnecessary paperwork,
which takes away from valuable time for
learning and teaching.
12 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland is reviewing its approaches to
inspection across all sectors. The purpose of the
review is to ensure that inspection takes account
of all the recent changes in Scottish education,
and continues to support improvements in the
performance of educational establishments and
services across Scotland. This review is seeking
to explore what inspection might look like in three
to five years’ time. As this is a long‑term review,
inspections continue in the meantime to use the
published principles and frameworks currently
in place. No changes will be made until full
consultation has taken place, reports have been
produced and discussed at a national level and
some pilot work has been undertaken. It is likely to
be 2016 before any changes will come into effect.
Education Scotland NEWS
Seeking the views of all stakeholder groups for the review
is an essential and major element of this work, and we
have a range of different approaches to ensure consultation
is as wide as possible. An External Reference Group
including representatives from a wide range of professional
organisations has been established to provide advice and
support. Over the last few months, Education Scotland has
been holding a series of regional conversation events to
which various local authority and college representatives
have been invited. More of these are planned. Over all of
the conversation days, each local authority will have had
the opportunity to nominate representatives from across all
sectors to attend an event and share their views.
For further information about the review, please visit the
Education Scotland website: http://ow.ly/GD8Gc
If you would like to give us your views, or would like to
be kept informed at a later stage of the consultation,
please email inspectionreview@educationscotland.gsi.
gov.uk and provide your email address/contact details.
13
FAMILIES, INCLUSION AND
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
DIRECTOR’S
UPDATE
We are delighted to share
aspects of the work from
the Families, Inclusion and
Local Authorities teams in
this edition of Education
Scotland News. Our teams
have been working on
some exciting projects
which you can learn about here. As the new strategic
director, I am looking forward to working with you in the
year ahead.
Improving attainment is a key focus of our work and
we have consistently highlighted that one of the
key issues facing Scottish education is reducing
the unacceptably large gap that exists between
the educational outcomes achieved by the richest
and poorest in our society. We are determined to
do everything we can to improve attainment and
life chances for the most disadvantaged children in
Scotland. With that in mind, we are working closely
with the Association of Directors of Education Scotland
(ADES) and colleagues in the Scottish Government
to take forward our commitment in the Programme for
Government to appoint attainment advisors who will
support the national drive to raise attainment across
the whole country. You can read more about this in
these pages.
Lesley Brown, Strategic Director for Families,
Inclusion and Local Authorities
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Inspections in Early Learning and Childcare settings
In the autumn we published additional information to the
Inspection Advice Note (2014-15) for staff working in early
learning and childcare settings (http://ow.ly/GDao6).
This information is provided to support staff in the delivery
of the early level curriculum. We continue to undertake some
of our inspections jointly with colleagues from the Care
Inspectorate and work increasingly closely in relation to
shared training and planning.
Early Learning sharing practice
We continue to engage with practitioners to highlight effective
practice that exemplifies national practice guidance, including
Building the Ambition. (http://ow.ly/IcGAb)
Find out what is happening in early learning and childcare and
family learning settings across the country by looking at the
new sharing practice case studies on the Education Scotland
website. (http://ow.ly/GDaAL)
CHECK IT OUT
We would love to hear from you if these case studies have
inspired you to take forward improvements of your own.
Contact: enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk
INCLUSION
Access to Education Fund
The Access to Education Fund was announced in June 2014,
identifying £1.5 million to help children and young people
overcome barriers to learning caused by disadvantage or
deprivation. All 32 local authorities were allocated funding, with
247 successful bids covering all sectors, including primary,
secondary, special and all-through schools, as well as learning
communities and authority-wide projects.
Dyslexia
Education Scotland is working with partners through a Scottish
Government working group to deliver the recommendations from
Making Sense: Education for Children and Young People with
Dyslexia (2014). The executive summary of Making Sense is
now available online at http://bit.ly/makingsense14
CHECK IT OUT
Children’s Rights
The Recognising and Realising Children’s Rights resource
aims to develop participants’ knowledge and understanding
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) with the purpose of promoting rights-based
values, attitudes, skills and practices among those adults
who have a duty of care for children and young people.
(http://ow.ly/GDggL)
We are now working collaboratively with our partners to produce
a professional learning package.
Educational Psychology Services
Education Scotland will be undertaking a programme of
validated self-evaluation with all Educational Psychology
Services (EPS) across Scotland, starting in April 2015.
A pathfinder site has recently been successful in trialling the
approach and associate assessors have been appointed to
work alongside Education Scotland staff.
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
Raising Attainment
As part of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government
2014-15, Education Scotland will be working with ADES and
other partners to establish a network of attainment advisors
who will reach into every learning community in Scotland to
build capacity in our schools. The aim is to build capacity in the
Scottish education system to raise attainment and close the gap
in literacy and numeracy through a range of key interventions
designed to support improvement. This will enhance existing
work already underway in schools and local authorities, as well as
national initiatives such as the School Improvement Partnership
Programme and Raising Attainment for All.
Local Partnership Agreements
Education Scotland is taking forward a range of activities as part
of our local partnership agreements (LPAs) with local authorities.
LPAs will be a key tool for planning the range of Education
Scotland support in local authorities and are being developed in
close collaboration with local authorities. Our area lead officers
coordinate this work and some have outlined our approach to
LPAs with elected officials.
Parentzone Scotland
Parentzone Scotland (www.parentzonescotland.com)
aims to help parents and carers support their child’s
learning. The website includes a My School section
with contact details for every primary, secondary and
special school in Scotland, as well as information on
school awards and links to school websites. Content
from Scottish Schools Online has been archived on
the school pages on the site. As the website will be
regularly updated we would welcome feedback from
parents and other interested stakeholder groups.
Parents and carers can subscribe to News for Parents
and Carers e-bulletin, which will provide them with
information about the latest developments.
(http://ow.ly/GDcyi).
14 Education Scotland NEWS
NEWS
IN
BRIEF
Education Scotland NEWS
Look out for the spring 2015
issue of Early Years Matters to
be published in March.
The School Improvement
Partnership Programme
(SIPP): Innovating to Tackle
Educational Inequality shows
good progress is being made,
with some partnerships
experiencing a positive impact
on teachers and learners. Read
the SIPP full report or summary
version on Education Scotland
website (http://ow.ly/GDfQo)
The Children and Young People
(Scotland) Act 2014 further
extends our commitment to
promoting and protecting
children’s rights. Education
Scotland is working to support
local authorities, and other
partners and stakeholders
to ensure readiness for the
enactment of this part of the
legislation.
Schools (Consultation)
(Scotland) Act 2010 – we
visited some local authorities
to brief council officers on
the Schools (Consultation)
(Scotland) Act 2010 and the
amendments made to it in
August 2014. We have also
briefed elected members in
some councils on the Act.
15
SCHOOL YEARS
DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
It has been a busy few months in schools
and here in Education Scotland. We
hosted a series of primary and secondary
leadership events for senior staff in
schools, which feedback indicates were
a great success. More importantly, it gave
us an opportunity to hear the views of
school leaders, and these views will help ensure that the support
we offer next year meets the needs and priorities of schools.
Another key area of focus is the Developing the Young Workforce
programme. This ambitious programme provides a renewed
focus on Building the Curriculum 4 - Skills for Learning, Life
and Work, and will ensure that all young people, 3-18, have the
opportunity to engage in purposeful and work-related learning
at school. I will provide more detail on our work around this area
in future issues. You can learn more about the Government’s
new Youth Employment Strategy, launched on 13 December
as part of the programme at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/
Publications/2014/12/7750. The strategy includes a useful
section on implications for schools. Our new Skills 3-18 team
will be supporting its implementation.
A really important development has been the publication of the
‘significant aspects of learning’ for each curriculum area. This
advice identifies the key progression steps for learners within
each CfE level in a clear and succinct way. It is part of our ongoing
support for assessment. We are also keen to continue to promote
streamlined approaches to planning and assessing learning
which fully embrace the recommendations within the report by
the ministerial working group on tackling bureaucracy. You can
find more advice and support around tackling bureaucracy in a
dedicated area on our website. (http://ow.ly/J0lZi)
Finally, I am delighted that our new series of email bulletins are
proving very popular with thousands of colleagues. If you haven’t
already done so, then sign up and keep up to date with the very
latest news and information. (http://ow.ly/J0meP)
Graeme Logan,
Strategic Director for School Years
PRIMARY
Primary leadership events – online
materials available
A series of five very successful leadership conferences
was held in September and October 2014 to support
primary schools with the implementation of Curriculum
for Excellence. More information, keynote and
presentation materials from these events are available
on the Education Scotland website. (http://ow.ly/IB55j)
Places were made available for 40% of primary school
leaders in each local authority, and the events were
attended by representatives from local authorities and
professional associations.
Evaluating and Improving our Curriculum – Primary
We are delighted that there have been over 10,000
page views of this new resource for primary schools.
Launched in September last year, this online resource
helps support primary schools evaluate and develop
aspects of their curriculum. Lots of your colleagues
are using it, so if you haven’t checked it out yet it’s
worth a visit. (http://ow.ly/IB5wN)
SECONDARY
National leadership events for CfE
Education Scotland, in association with the Scottish
Government, ADES, SLS and SQA, built on the
success of the 2014 events with a further series of
four national events on leadership of CfE in January
CHECK IT OUT
Opening Up Great Learning – new series
A new series of online narratives and activities
to help teachers and staff explore the nature of
learning within specific subjects or areas. They
can be used when centres or schools, groups of
staff or individuals want a stimulus to help them
explore learning within a particular subject or area
as part of a planned programme of professional
learning and enquiry (http://ow.ly/IB5Qj)
16 Education Scotland NEWS
and February 2015. Secondary headteachers and depute
headteachers from every secondary school in Scotland
attended, along with local authority officers. More information
and presentation materials will be available on the Education
Scotland website.
Evaluating and Improving our Curriculum S1-S3
Since its launch in June last year, practitioners across the
country have visited this online resource. It provides a clear
and concise toolkit to help schools evaluate their curriculum,
with a focus on S1-S3. It draws together key aspects of advice related to Curriculum for Excellence and self-evaluation.
Why not take some time to explore the range of materials
available? (http://ow.ly/IB6Fi)
DIGITAL LEARNING AND TEACHING
Digital learning is high on Education Scotland’s agenda and
we are working closely with the Scottish Government on the
delivery of a national digital learning and teaching programme
to promote digital development in schools. In March, we’re
supporting a National Digital Learning Week and encouraging
schools to share, do and develop digital learning approaches.
Find out more from our blog and follow @ndlcscot. We’ve
been receiving positive feedback about the upgraded Glow
service – did you know the new Glow service offers a range of
digital tools and resources for learning through a single login?
Find out more from the information site, Glow Connect.
NEWS
IN
BRIEF
Education Scotland NEWS
Building Society: Young
People’s Experiences and
Outcomes in the Technologies
report available from 9 March
2015.
Advanced Higher support
materials available for history,
Spanish, simplified Mandarin,
traditional Mandarin and
Cantonese. Advanced Higher
materials will be available
for all subject by the end of
March 2015.
CHECK IT OUT
Curriculum for Excellence: Working with Primary
and Secondary Schools
An online booklet providing a concise overview of the
work Education Scotland is undertaking in the primary
and secondary school sectors, including in curricular
areas, from April 2014 to June 2015 (http://ow.ly/J0n1Z)
CFE BRIEFING 16: RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE
(TIME FOR REFLECTION)
The latest issue in the popular CfE Briefing Series was
published at the end of 2014, entitled Religious Observance.
(A Time for Reflection).
The briefing provides information about the role of RO and
explores how it is developing across establishments as part
of CfE. (http://ow.ly/K0idW)
HOW GOOD IS OUR SCHOOL?
Education Scotland is also working on a revision of How Good
is Our School? A conference will take place in May 2015 at
which stakeholders will have the opportunity to hear our thinking
so far, and to contribute their views. We then plan to launch the
new document at the Scottish Learning Festival in September
2015.
CLTAS Forums – The first
group of national learning
forums are now up and
running. These are for
expressive arts, mathematics
and numeracy, the middle
years, and digital learning.
The forums have now clarified
their terms of reference and
have started reviewing national
approaches to supporting the
curriculum, learning, teaching,
assessment and support.
Nominations have been sought
for the remaining eight forums
and these will be established
during 2015, led by Education
Scotland’s senior education
officers.
Look out for future titles in the
Opening up Great Learning
Series which include Learning
for Sustainability, Outdoor
Learning, Skills, Music,
Financial Education and World
War I.
17
LIFELONG LEARNING
DIRECTOR’S
UPDATE
We are really pleased
to be able to share
with you the latest
news from the
Lifelong Learning
teams.
We have had a busy few months working on
some exciting projects.
Much of our work has been around Developing
Scotland’s Young Workforce. We will continue
to focus on the themes to ensure that all young
people, up to age 24, have opportunities to
engage in purposeful and work-related learning
across education and training. In doing so we
will be linking directly with a range of partners
and colleagues as the programme progresses.
TEACHER EDUCATION
Working in partnership
As lead learners, teachers are at the
forefront of Scottish education and
are influential in their approaches
and attitudes towards learning,
innovation and change.
Our Teacher Education Team
supports teachers at all stages
of their careers to improve their
practice and impact in a more
positive way on young people.
The team provides guidance on
professional learning and leadership
through engagement and publication
of resources. These are available on
our website. (http://ow.ly/HeJUa)
Learning is undertaken in different ways by
different people, from career-long professional
learning for teachers, and on-the-job training
for young people, to adult learning taking place
in community settings. Regardless of where
learning is taking place, it provides life-changing
possibilities and opportunities.
Aspect review of initial
teacher education
Teams from Education Scotland
comprising HMI, associate
assessors and student team
members have been undertaking
a review of the partnerships
between universities and education
authorities. Phase one aims to
develop a picture nationally of
the successes to date and the
continuing challenges facing
these partnerships.
I look forward to a busy and exciting time ahead.
You can read more about our varied work on the
following pages.
Colleagues have engaged widely
to get a sense of how a number of
recommendations from Teaching
Alan Armstrong,
Strategic Director for Lifelong Learning
Scotland’s Future have progressed.
An important element is gaining an
understanding of how career-long
professional learning is developing
teachers’ confidence and skills in
a progressive way and how this
is impacting on learners as well
as teachers.
COMMUNITY LEARNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
Education extends beyond school,
that’s why the work of our CLD
team promotes lifelong and life-wide
learning. The team provides advice,
leadership and support to develop
CLD policies and improve practice
in Scotland. We inspect and review
learning communities to ensure
high standards.
New strategies for Youth Work and
Adult Learning will be implemented
this year.
National policies
Additionally, we will be assessing
the quality of the developing
opportunities for 16+ young
people in education, training and
employment, with a focus on young
people in custodial care. A refreshed
strategy for English for Speakers
of Other Languages (ESOL) will be
published in the spring.
CHECK IT OUT
Showcase of excellence in colleges
New examples of excellence gathered during reviews, annual
visits and aspect report activities, have been added to the online
showcase. (http://ow.ly/GSpL7)
18 Education Scotland NEWS
CHECK IT OUT
Innovative CLD practice
New case studies have been added
to the innovative practice section
of the CLD website. (http://ow.ly/
IRzkB)
CLD workforce survey
We are working with partners to find out
who delivers CLD in Scotland. This will
build a reliable picture that will provide
government with clear information which
will allow it to plan support for the CLD
sector.
More information about our CLD work
is available on our website
(http://ow.ly/GSeSA). You can also sign
up to receive our monthly e-bulletin
(http://ow.ly/GSeLx).
COLLEGE
Following mergers, Scotland now has 27
colleges across 13 regions. As well as the
challenges inherent in merging several
colleges into one large institution, colleges
must work even more closely with schools
and employers to develop relevant,
coherent senior phase pathways, as
recommended in Developing Scotland’s
Young Workforce (http://ow.ly/GSlXt).
NEWS
IN
BRIEF
Education Scotland NEWS
Quality arrangements in
Scotland’s colleges
We are continuing with external reviews,
annual engagement visits and aspect
reports across the college sector on behalf
of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
We have started work on the development
of the next quality arrangements for
colleges from 2016 onwards. These
arrangements are likely to be radically
different from current review programmes,
firmly predicated on colleges’ own
self‑evaluation, and undertaken in
close partnership with colleges’ regional
outcome managers.
POST-16 EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
Developing Scotland’s Young
Workforce
The recommendations from Education
Working for All! are at the forefront of
activity for the post-16 team at Education
Scotland, particularly since the publication
of Developing the Young Workforce.
We have set up a number of formal
groups, to help take forward the
recommendations from Developing
Scotland’s Young Workforce.
Careers information, advice and
guidance external reviews
Our external reviews of Careers
Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG)
services provided by SDS continues with
the publication of the Clackmannanshire
review report and the forthcoming
publication of the North Lanarkshire
review. A full programme of external
reviews for 2015-16 has been agreed with
SDS. Reports from the reviews to date are
available on our website
(http://ow.ly/HeLYA).
Aspect reviews of careers information,
advice and guidance
We have begun an aspect task on SDS’s
online service, My World of Work and
will publish our findings in the summer.
Moving forward in the cycle of our work
in CIAG services, we will be undertaking
at least one aspect review each year
alongside the scheduled external reviews.
With SDS, we are also reviewing the
off-the-job training element of modern
apprenticeships in Scotland. Currently,
the team is preparing for the review of
off-the-job training in engineering modern
apprenticeships. We will conduct a further
14 reviews of the remaining industry
sector apprenticeships over a four-year
cycle. We will publish a national report for
each industry sector reviewed.
To keep updated on the post-16 news,
sign up to receive our monthly e-bulletin
(http://ow.ly/GSeLx).
This spring look out for the publication of the
refreshed national strategy for English for Speakers
of Other Languages (ESOL).
Help build a picture of CLD in Scotland by taking part
in the CLD workforce survey which is live now until
10 April.
19
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Key Curriculum Support resource
Education Scotland offers a number of free email updates and news
alerts to keep you informed of the latest developments and events in
Scottish education.
Visit the Key Curriculum Support
pages on the Education Scotland
website, an online one-stop shop for
CfE, which aims to assist practitioners
and parents when searching the
web for curriculum-related materials
and advice. This guide was created
following feedback from some
practitioners that information and
resources were located on numerous
different websites and were not
always easy to find.
We’re delighted to offer you a range of publications with a focus on
specific areas, sectors and topics. These all include the latest news
and key information along with links to new resources and support
materials all in one place and relevant to your area of work.
Key Curriculum Support has a variety
of menus for you to choose from to
locate everything you might need in
relation to the new curriculum.
You can sign up to as many email updates as you like, they are free and
delivered straight to your inbox. Simply select an area of interest you
would like to subscribe to.
Visit the Key Curriculum Support
resource at: educationscotland.gov.uk/
keycfesupport
Sign up at: educationscotland.gov.uk/newsandevents/emailupdates
Save the Date.
SLF 2015 will take place on
Wednesday 23rd and
Thursday 24th September.
Registration for the biggest event in the
education calendar will be open from
May onwards.
Find out more at the SLF website:
www.scottishlearningfestival.org.uk
A Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
T +44 (0)141 282 5000
E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk
W educationscotland.gov.uk