CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
CfE Management Board – June 2013
Update from Communications Group: April - May 2013
1.
Summary
 All milestones within the Communication Strategy were delivered in full and on
schedule.
 There has been a good response in the local media to the activity being
undertaken around Inspection Reports. Ministerial visits to schools and
nurseries have helped promote the achievements of the establishments.
 The CfE Communications and Engagement Group have developed an
evaluation plan for CfE Communications.
 Detailed report on activity by stakeholder group is attached.
2.
Highlights of Activities Completed

Course materials across the full range of National 4 and National 5
qualifications have now been published on the dedicated area in Glow. This was
a significant achievement for all involved. The site is proving very popular and
some of the high level statistics (to 31 May) are as follows:
Unique Visitors
19,265
Visits
30,693
Page Views
386,534
Most Popular Page
Views
English – 7,461
Computing Science – 5,731
of
Biology – 5,359
Subject Index Pages
Chemistry - 4,916
Administration – 4,747
Physical Education – 4,727
Total Downloads
94,581
Most Popular
Downloads
Hospitality Cookery Course – National 4 to 5 (916 downloads)
Scottish Borders Council – Administration and IT Challenges:
National 4 to 5 (884 downloads)
Business Management Course – National 5 (846 downloads)
PE Course – National 4 to 5 (811 downloads)
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
English Poster – National 4 to 5 (794 downloads)
Biology Course – National 5 (754 downloads)
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3.
A double page advert was prepared for GTCS magazine, providing a list of
currently available and forthcoming support materials. This appeared in the
March issue.
An A5 promotional flyer was distributed providing a list of currently available and
forthcoming support materials.
Further CfE Briefings on Learning About Scotland and one on The Role of
Community Learning and Development (CLD ) and partnership working.
The SSLN survey report was published and Education published a set of
professional learning resources alongside this.
NPFS produced further titles in the Nationals in a Nutshell series.
NPFS published a Curriculum for Excellence Learning Journey – a simple visual
graph to help guide parents.
A CfE overview leaflet for parents is being developed by Scottish Government
SQA’s audience leaflets have recently been updated and are now available on
the SQA website.
SQA published all 3 releases of Unit Assessment for National 4 Added Value
Units and coursework information for National 5.
SQA published Unit Support Specifications for National 1 and Cycling Award
Support Notes.
SQA advertorials were published in a range of publications in this period –
TESS; Teaching Scotland; SecEd; Re:Source; Institute of Directors Scotland;
The Herald.
Activities planned for next period
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First stage of the evaluation of CfE Communications will be implemented.
This is an online survey which will be followed by a small series of focus
groups.
Next issues of CfE Briefing series to be developed, drafted and published,
the next being one on Curriculum Planning.
The CfE Overview leaflet for parents will be finalised.
The CLD CfE Communication Strategy will be presented to the June
Management Board.
Increased communications will be planned around the Senior Phase
Benchmarking Tool.
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
4.
Issues
None
5.
Actions Required by CfE Management Board
To note the communications activities that have taken place and consider whether the
key issues and actions are in line with where they see the main communications
priorities;
Agree that the planned actions described should proceed as planned.
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Denise Brock
Head of Communications
Education Scotland
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
APPENDIX A
Detailed communications activities by stakeholder group
Current focus for CfE communications and engagement activity with different
stakeholder groups
Background
Key audiences for CfE communications work remain as parents/carers, practitioners,
head teachers, local authorities, education professional associations, the CLD sector,
employers, colleges and the HE sector, as well as learners themselves.
For Leaders/Managers/Practitioners within the system, the key communications
objectives are to support them in the following areas:
Current Activity
•
Course materials across the full range of National 4 and National 5
qualifications have now been published on the dedicated area in Glow. Working
closely with ADES the materials were developed both locally and nationally. In
addition, the site also provides access to the Professional Focus Papers.
•
A double page advert ran in GTCS magazine which communicated the currently
available and forthcoming support for materials for CfE.
•
An A5 promotional flyer was developed providing a list of currently available and
forthcoming support materials and was distributed to all establishments.
•
A further CfE Briefing on Learning About Scotland and one on The Role of
Community Learning and Development (CLD) and partnership working were
published on the Education Scotland website and will be distributed to
establishments before the summer break.
•
The April issue of the CfE Implementation e-bulletin was published and sent to
all schools and colleges.
•
SQA has published all three releases of Unit assessments for National 4 Added
Value Units and coursework for National 5.
•
SQA published Unit Support Specifications for National 1 and Cycling Award
Support Notes.
Planned Actions
•
Communications will be planned around the Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
•
New CfE Implementation e-bulletins will be prepared and send on a monthly
basis
•
Further titles will publish in the CfE Briefing Series
•
Survey to evaluate CfE Communications will open.
•
SQA will publish revisions to mandatory documents for National 2 to National 5.
Parents
Current Activity
•
NPFS have produced further titles of the Nationals in a Nutshell. This is a
series of summaries of the National 4 and National 5 qualifications for parents
and carers.
•
NPFS developed and published a visual graph to help guide parents and carers
through the CfE learner journey including a step by step guide of the five
curriculum levels of the broad general education and into the Senior Phase.
•
SQA continues to provide monthly e-updates to its customers, partners and
stakeholders.
•
Q and A aggregated from NPFS qualifications Plus Events, in partnership with
Education Scotland, Scottish Government and SQA, were published on NPFS
website
Planned Actions
•
User testing will continue to take place to help inform the content and structure
of content provided on the Parentzone website.
•
Scottish Government and NPFS will finalise the Overview of CfE leaflet for
Parents. This will issue to all parents/carers of school age children in August.
•
A CfE Briefing will be developed and distributed around Parental Involvement.
•
The NPFS Annual Conference will take place in October and will be supported
by Education Scotland and SQA.
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Education Scotland to work with NPFS to support delivery of their
communications activity.
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
•
Continue to work with the NPFS to fully understand parental attitudes and
progress, and provide Parent Councils with helpful and relevant information.
•
SQA will continue to inform parents and carers about the development and
delivery of the new National Qualifications.
•
SQA’s CfE webpages and suite of information leaflets (school, college,
universities, parent/carer, learner and employers) will continue to be refreshed
•
SQA will continue to place advertorials in relevant professional journals, as
appropriate.
Employers
Current Activity
•
SQA proactively engaging with employers and business as part of their wider
engagement programme around development of the new qualifications.
Employers are directly involved in the development process.
•
SQA has a dedicated member of its CfE Liaison Team to engage with
employers and stakeholders.
•
SQA Advertorials continue to appear in the IoD Scotland magazine.
•
The SCQF Partnership and Skills Development Scotland are actively engaging
with employers to enhance their understanding of existing and new
qualifications and certification. New materials e.g. qualifications online readyreckoner, employer toolkit on comparing existing and new quals, the My World
of Work resource and the new Career Factsheets are all available on
www.employersandyoungpeople.org .
Planned Actions
•
Continue to work with employers' organisations directly around these issues via
6-monthly meetings and more regularly via updating the employers and young
people web site and sending email alerts around this.
•
Promote the new 'Developing Skills in Practice' interactive resource which will
support teachers to embed skills development within their day to day
professional practice.
CfE Management Board – 11 June 2013 – paper 4.1
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SQA will continue to engage with employers and keep them informed about the
new qualifications, what skills they will help develop and how they are different
from the current system.
•
SQA’s CfE webpages and suite of information leaflets (school, college,
universities, parent/carer, learner and employers) will continue to be refreshed
as required
•
SQA will continue to place advertorials in relevant professional journals, as
appropriate.