This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
Administration and IT 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?
Administration and IT National 4 consists of four Units.

IT Solutions for Administrators

Communication in Administration

Administrative Practices

Added Value Unit
To achieve Administration and IT National 4, learners must pass all of the Units, including the Added Value Unit.

ADMINISTRATION AND IT
What are the key aspects of Administration and IT National 4?
Skills development
Learning experiences will have an emphasis on skills development and the application of those skills. These include:
 the ability to use straightforward IT applications, such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases, presentations and desktop publishing and use them to complete administrative tasks
 basic skills in using technology such as the internet for communication purposes or for gathering information
 the skills, qualities and attributes required of administrators
 the ability to use technology including the internet for communication purposes and investigations
 basic organisational and planning skills, for example, organising small-scale events
 basic skills in organising, processing and communicating simple information in familiar administrative contexts
 working co-operatively with others through organising small-scale events or meetings
 working independently completing administrative tasks.
Hierarchy of Units
A hierarchy exists between Administration and IT National 4 and National 5. Learners will be expected to demonstrate a greater degree of autonomy with less support from staff as they progress through programmes of learning.
Added Value Unit
The Added Value Unit, the Administration and IT assignment, will focus on challenge and application drawing on the knowledge, understanding and skills which have been developed in the other three Units. This will give learners a suitable opportunity to demonstrate and apply the range of skills they have developed throughout the course.
What are the key features of learning in Administration and IT National 4?
Active learning
Learners are expected to continue to experience active learning in the senior phase. Throughout their learning experiences, it is essential that learners have the opportunities to engage and challenge their own thinking and to develop the higher-order thinking skills required to do so. Learners should have the opportunity to develop skills such as problem solving by testing out their ideas; and logical and creative thinking skills through doing, exploring and taking initiative, for example, using the internet to research and find information and then use this information to create an itinerary for a business person .
Learning and teaching approaches should encourage active, participative and experiential opportunities to allow learners to apply and develop their organisational, administrative and IT skills. For example, organising a smallscale meeting/event or carrying out straightforward administrative tasks related to real life contexts thus giving learners the opportunity to apply their knowledge, this may include setting up the agenda for a meeting and sending out the agenda to the relevant people using email.
Learning independently
Learners have the opportunity to experience a wider range of learning and teaching approaches in different contexts that can better meet their needs and build on their experience and achievements in the BGE. Learners will be able to apply their knowledge of administrative practices through carrying out administrative tasks that are work related, for example designing a health and safety poster to be displayed in the work place.

ADMINISTRATION AND IT
To enable independent thinking skills and learning, teachers will want to reduce focus on teacher-led activities and place a greater emphasis on learners’ experiences whereby choices are made by the learner, based on each individual’s expertise and skill level. For example, learners may make choices regarding the most appropriate method of communicating a piece of information. This could be by digital presentation, a graph or a brief report.
To further promote personalisation and choice, teachers will want to explore learning and teaching approaches that encourage learners to investigate and research a range of administrative activities relating to real life contexts, thus giving learners the opportunity to apply their learning to familiar and unfamiliar situations.
Administration related practical activities will allow learners to develop creative thinking skills and make decisions on, for example, choosing the appropriate software to use for a specific task or the most appropriate layout for their document.
Taking responsibility for learning
Learners should be expected to take more responsibility for their own learning and to develop an awareness of themselves as learners. Learning activities could be planned in consultation with learners. Practical activities should encourage learners to take personal control of their own learning and opportunities for learners to reflect on and discuss their own progress are likely to be built in to all planned learning experiences. Learners should be encouraged to monitor their own progress, set targets and make effective use of feedback to improve.
Learning intentions and success criteria will need to be explicit to ensure that learners are able to take full responsibility for their own learning. Learning and teaching approaches will also be developed that will promote the development of learners’ skills in self- and peer-evaluation. Learners may be asked to comment upon the work of others in their class against set criteria, for example, presentation, accuracy, clarity, etc.
How will you ensure that all learners are making informed decisions about where they are at in their learning and what they need to do to progress?
Collaborative learning
Learning and teaching approaches should encourage collaborative working. This can help to develop essential social and interpersonal skills. Group activities such as supporting or organising a meeting/event or working together to create a presentation may offer suitable opportunities for learners to work in partnership, take responsibility and learn from each other. In order to be successful, a group of learners would want to demonstrate how each member’s particular area of skills and expertise could be best utilised to meet the needs of the group and the task. A collaborative learning approach will enrich the learning experience for the learners and make the learning more meaningful. Learners may work together to organise a school event such as the school play or a parents’ evening.
How can you ensure that all learners take on roles and responsibilities, appropriate to their level of skills and abilities, in group tasks?

ADMINISTRATION AND IT
Applying learning and skills development
There are opportunities to develop higher-order thinking skills, for example, through the application of knowledge in unfamiliar situations. A feature of the learning experience is the development of enterprise and employability skills.
Learners will gain an understanding of the value of these to their future careers through relating their knowledge, understanding and skills to real life contexts. Learners should have the opportunities to tap into their natural inventiveness and their desire to create and work in practical ways.
How are you developing skills for learning, life and work?
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:
Administration and IT National 4: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47431.html
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/nationalqualifications/subjects/administration.asp
Support materials produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support materials and events planned for this year. 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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