CfE Management Board – 15 January 2014 - Paper 4.1
Implementation Group Report for CfE Management Board
December 2013
The Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Group met on 19 November 2013. The
Group had their regular meeting and then moved on to the Parliament to meet with the
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and Dr Allan, Minister for
Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages.
Programme Report
Overall, the programme is on track for delivery according to plan.
Early Years and Broad General Education
This workstream is on track with no cause for concern at this time. Resources being
produced have a focus on supporting the areas of assessing progress and
achievement, monitoring and tracking.
Senior Phase
The Implementation Group has continued to monitor the evolution of a variety of
approaches to organising Senior Phase provision in schools. Recent statements from
Universities have helped schools to deepen their thinking on models of delivery in the
Senior Phase and helped create a context in which more schools are looking at moving
away from traditional models.
Qualifications
Currently, SQA's CfE programme is flagged at amber, due to a number of programme
milestones having not been met by their original due date. However, contingencies
have been invoked to ensure that all external deadlines are met. This is being very
carefully managed and monitored by SQA.
N1-N5
Implementation of the new National 1 to National 5 qualifications is progressing. This
is a demanding workload for teachers which requires a significant cultural shift, with
practitioners taking on more professional responsibility for assessment. Many
practitioners have embraced this change and the additional professional autonomy
that Curriculum for Excellence, including the new National qualifications,
offers. Others have still got some distance to travel but all partners are working with
local authorities and centres to help practitioners on this journey.
Feedback has been received from a range of stakeholders, including ADES, SLS, EIS
and SCIS, on the implementation of N3 to N5. This feedback, along with the first round
of Quality Assurance, will be used to shape actions to support practitioners, schools,
local authorities and colleges.
CfE Management Board – 15 January 2014 - Paper 4.1
The first of three rounds of QA will run from 22 November to 24 December 2013. This
will give a comprehensive picture of understanding of standards and assessment
practice. Once results have been considered, SQA will offer help and advice in a
number of ways, including:
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Following QA, each centre will receive a report the effectiveness of their
assessment practice;
General and subject specific key messages from the first round of QA will be
issued from December through to end January;
Publication, on SQA's secure site, of subject specific exemplification of
standards materials;
Publication of additional materials developed by the Principal Verifier for
delivery locally by LA Nominees;
Subject specific CPD at LA/sector level in priority subjects, for example Maths,
Biology, Chemistry, Physics and English. Requests in other subject areas will
also be considered. This support will run from mid Jan to mid/end March.
Publication of frequently asked questions in subject specific areas to be
published over December and January;
Additional subject events for Sciences and Computing Science were delivered
by SQA and Education Scotland.
Higher
The Group has monitored and responded to concerns regarding the preparedness of
departments in schools to deliver the new Higher courses. As Chair of the
Implementation Group, I wrote to Directors of Education to re-state national
expectations regarding the continued phased implementation of new National
Qualifications, particularly the new Highers. Professional associations and parent
groups have been supportive of the Implementation Group’s advice.
Following the Cabinet Secretary’s speech to ADES there was some media coverage
which required further clarification of the national expectation for schools to move to
the new Highers. These media reports were handled and supported by very helpful
comments from SLS, COSLA, and the EIS. In addition, ADES issued a further advice
note to Directors of Education which further re-enforced the national expectation of
progression from National 5 to the new Highers.
There is currently a range of activities planned to support implementation of the new
Higher courses. This includes, from SQA, over 140 subject specific implementation
events and publication of Higher assessment materials; and from Education Scotland
in partnership with ADES, support materials for every Higher course.
Other proposed actions include leadership events, run by ADES, on the senior phase
and new qualifications. These events will be supported by SQA and Education
Scotland.
CfE Management Board – 15 January 2014 - Paper 4.1
Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool
The Implementation Group have had a demonstration of the tool and are content that
the project is on track. However, the project remains at Amber due to the increased
interest in the tool and the scale of the cultural change which will be required. A
programme of engagement with local authorities is planned, prior to the tool going live
in August 2014. Planned activities include the development of case studies, a series
of events across Scotland and the use of media and networks.
The Group recognise that there is a need to develop a clear understanding of how
national statistics on school performance will be analysed and presented in the future,
in the light of the introduction of SPBT measures.
The SPBT has had positive endorsement from a number of stakeholders, including
the EIS.
Parents and Carers
Iain Ellis, Chair of the National Parent Forum of Scotland, attended the last
Implementation Group meeting to discuss with members the concerns of parents and
the support which the NPFS can offer. Current areas of concern from parents include
the new appeals process, implementation of the new Highers and the effectiveness
of communication with the parent community. Group members outlined the activities
planned to increase the confidence of parents. Implementation group members and
Mr Ellis agreed that strong and local communication is key to addressing issues.
Representatives of the IG will meet regularly with the NPFS to continue the positive
dialogue.
Communications
The communications strategy remains strong with milestones being delivered in full.
Highlights of completed activities include the publication of further CfE Briefings (on
Political Literacy and Sciences for All). Further briefing papers are planned for late
Spring with these having a focus on learning and teaching. Future activities will focus
on delivery of CfE in 2013/14 and the Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool.
Risk Register and Issues
The Implementation Group continue to monitor carefully the programme risks.
Two new risks were added to the risk register.
The Group recognise that they will have a role to play in the communication and clarity
of message around the first of the new National Qualification results which will be
published in August 2014. A communications briefing will be provided to the
Management Board.
CfE Management Board – 15 January 2014 - Paper 4.1
Annual Report to the Management Board
The Implementation Group plan to move towards an annual summary report for the
Management Board which shows progress against actions in the Implementation Plan.
This will be discussed at future IG meetings.
Meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
The Implementation Group had a very positive meeting with Mr Russell and Dr Allan.
Both ministers were very keen to hear feedback from the group and were keen to
confirm their support for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. Ensuring
that we have effective arrangements in place to identify and respond to emerging
issues in the implementation process was a strong theme in the discussion.
Dr Bill Maxwell
Chair, Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Group
December 2013