This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
Fashion and Textile Technology National 4.
Curriculum for Excellence is a unique opportunity to raise achievement and to ensure that all learners are better prepared than they have been in the past for learning, life and work. This is because the new curriculum gives real scope to build learning 3 –18 in a joined-up, seamless way. As a result, progression in learning can be much stronger with a clear focus on attributes and capabilities, skills (including higher-order thinking skills), and knowledge and understanding. These are delivered through the experiences and outcomes of the 3 –15 Broad
General Education (BGE) and, at the senior phase, through programmes that build directly on the BGE leading to qualifications. Because of a strengthened focus on the nature and quality of learning experiences, self-motivation is likely to be increased and learners consequently more engaged and enthused. To ensure continuity and progression, qualifications at the senior phase have been designed to embrace this unambiguous focus on highquality learning.
Curriculum for Excellence has the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners in their local circumstances, enabling each to achieve their very best. For example, some centres may take the opportunity to offer qualifications over two years which might involve learners bypassing qualifications at a given level, whereas others may enable learners to work towards qualifications within one year. In both cases, the advice in this paper is relevant to the learning and teaching approaches that learners will encounter. This paper, then, is intended to stimulate professional reflection and dialogue about learning. It highlights important features of learning which are enhanced or different from previous arrangements at this SCQF level.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the Broad General Education?
Fashion and Textile Technology National 4 consists of four Units.

Fashion and Textile Choices

Fashion and Textile Item Development

Textile Technologies

Added Value Unit
To achieve Fashion and Textile Technology National 4, learners must pass all of the Units, including the Added
Value Unit.

FASHION AND TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY
What are the key aspects of Fashion and Textile Technology National 4?
Integrated approach to skills development
The new Fashion and Textile Technology National 4 course builds on the skills developed within the BGE. Learning experiences will have an emphasis on skills development with a particular emphasis on the application of practical skills and textile construction techniques to make a straightforward fashion/textile item. These skills include:
 practical skills and textile construction techniques
 planning and making straightforward fashion/textile items
 safe use of tools and equipment
 knowledge of textile properties and characteristics
 knowledge of a range of factors that influence fashion/textile choices
 basic investigation and evaluation skills.
Hierarchy of Units
Programmes of learning should be planned to encourage learners to aim for the highest level of achievement. The hierarchical nature of the Units allows for smooth progression between the levels and allows for flexibility in the delivery of the learning so, where appropriate, learners can work across the levels. As a result, there are opportunities to build challenging, coherent and enjoyable journeys for learners through all levels. Learners should be given the opportunity to develop their practical skills and textile construction techniques. This will usually be done through making practical items. Sometimes it will also involve applying knowledge, for example, relating to fabric properties to enable the learner to make an item using the most appropriate fabric for a particular end use.
Owing to the focus on skills development, learners may progress at different rates and staff must ensure there are opportunities to show evidence of progress in learning frequently throughout the course so that learners can achieve the highest level possible. This may mean moving between levels, for example to National 5.
Wider range of evidence of learning
The outcomes within the Unit specifications are less prescriptive and there is more focus on skills and applying learning. The available methods of gathering evidence of learning are now far broader, thereby facilitating greater personalisation and choice in learners’ experiences. For example, portfolios, verbal or written feedback, written reports, presentations, observational checklists, photographic or video evidence, and manufactured textile items are all valid ways in which evidence could be generated to meet the necessary outcomes and standards.
Added Value Unit
Learners will be required to complete an Added Value Unit, which will take the form of a practical activity. Care must be taken to ensure that opportunities for personalisation and choice are built in to the practical activity and that learners have had the opportunity to develop the necessary practical skills throughout the course to meet the assessment requirements. The practical activity should be seen as an opportunity for learners to demonstrate their skills, knowledge and abilities. This might be in a new context, for example, when selecting to plan, make and review an item that enables the learner to demonstrate and apply the wide range of the practical skills and textile construction techniques they have gained throughout the course.
How can you develop the learners’ manual dexterity and textile construction skills to enable them to produce an item with an appropriate degree of accuracy?
How can you promote creativity and innovation when tackling the practical activity?

FASHION AND TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY
What are the key features of learning in Fashion and Textile Technology National 4?
Active learning
The use of active learning approaches will enable learners to become engaged with the learning and challenged in their thinking. The use of a variety of different methodologies will ensure that learning experiences meet the needs of all learners. Problem solving activities including, for example, those used to illustrate the importance of fabric properties and their practical application, will encourage not only the consolidation of ideas and the development of practical skills but also creativity and evaluation skills. Developing a textile item to meet the needs of a particular consumer will develop skills, such as planning, organisation and research, and will also provide opportunities for learners to reflect on their own learning. Topics, such as environmental issues and body image, provide rich contexts in which to develop higher-order skills such as analysing and evaluating.
How can you introduce a wide variety of learning and teaching approaches which will motivate and challenge learners?
Learning independently
Throughout the BGE, learners will have experienced increased independence in their learning and will have exercised greater responsibility for it. To further develop these skills, staff will look to reduce the focus on teacherled activities and place greater emphasis on providing learners with the opportunity to make decisions about their own learning. This might be done, for example, by selecting a particular factor that influences fashion/ textile choices, or by choosing an era of fashion that interests them when carrying out an investigation. When developing practical skills learners will often work independently and will have to make decisions about the standard of their own work as regards skill development and the need to meet appropriate standards of quality. Through the use of design briefs, learners will plan their time, use a variety of investigative techniques and develop their own practical skills in a setting that allows for a greater degree of personalisation and choice.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the BGE, to meet the needs of a wide range of learners?
Responsibility for learning
Learners should develop an awareness of themselves as learners to enable them to take more control of their own learning and progress. The use of learning intentions and success criteria will help learners become aware of their learning journey and allow them to recognise clearly how they are progressing. Planning learning activities, such as practical or investigative tasks with the learners, will allow for greater personalisation and choice and help them to become more involved in learning opportunities that are tailored to suit their own interests. Learners should monitor their own progress and set targets aiming to make use of effective feedback to improve their skills and knowledge, for example, when reviewing the standard of their practical work or reflecting on their contribution to group tasks.
Evaluation and self-assessment techniques evident in the BGE should be further developed to encourage this type of reflection.
How will you ensure learners are making informed decisions about where they are in their learning and what they need to do to progress?
Collaborative learning
Learning and teaching approaches should encourage and develop collaborative working. Problem-solving tasks, for example, developing fashion/textile items or investigating fashion trends, offer excellent opportunities for learners to work in partnership and to learn from each other. In order to be successful, a group of learners would

FASHION AND TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY want to demonstrate how each member’s particular area of skill and expertise could best be utilised to meet the needs of the group and the task. Using real life scenarios such as researching, planning and carrying out a fashion show to present practical work to an audience, will enable them to learn from each other, work to their strengths, and take on individual and group responsibilities. Using an enterprising approach, for example, making items for a charity, will encourage an ethos of respect, promote partnership working and further develop the four capacities.
How will you ensure learners use their initiative and work together responsibly during group tasks?
How will you ensure that all learners take on roles and responsibilities appropriate to their level of skill and abilities in group task?
Applying learning and skills development
Learning experiences will enable learners to develop and apply the practical and technological skills, knowledge and understanding necessary for them to make straightforward fashion/textile items within a variety of contexts.
They will have meaningful and regular opportunities to develop higher-order thinking skills, for example, through the application of knowledge in a practical context, which allows them to analyse tasks, think critically and develop creativity. Learning experiences will also lead to the development of other skills such as literacy, for example, when researching topics such as environmental impact of the textile industry, or interpreting paper pattern instructions, or numeracy, for example, when measuring. This might take place during the making of fashion/textile items or carrying out lay planning and the use of visits to fashion shows, manufacturing companies and colleges, which will also help learners make the link between their own learning and the world of work.
How can you use real life contexts for many learning experiences?
How will you give the learners the opportunity to integrate their knowledge across the learning experiences?

FASHION AND TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY
The SQA website provides you with the following documents:

Assessment Overview

Course Specification

Unit Specification

Support Notes

Course Assessment Specification

Unit Assessment Support Packages
Full information on arrangements for this qualification is available at the SQA website:
Fashion and Textiles National 4: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/56936.html
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/healthandwellbeing/princ iplesandpractice/index.asp
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/technologies/principlesa ndpractice/index.asp
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/video/c/video_tcm4497835.asp?strReferringChannel=educationscotland& strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – links with local business, creative fashion, skill development
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/video/c/creativepartnerships.asp?strReferringChannel=educationscotland
&strReferringPageID=tcm:4-615801-64 – creative partnerships
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/expressivearts/index.asp
- design and staging of fashion shows/displays.
 http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/video/index.asp?id=educationaltheme\|presentation subject\|key themes\|Assessment – NARs and formulating assessment evidence
Support materials have been produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support materials and events are planned. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-to-date details available from the page below.
Published and planned support for Curriculum for Excellence: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/publishedandplannedsupport
T +44 (0)141 282 5000 E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk W www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
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