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“Towards a professional development strategy for Curriculum for Excellence” Update paper for Management Board: 25 February 2010 Purpose 1. The purpose of this paper is to:
To provide Management Board with an updated overview of professional development across the CfE programme. To provide Management Board with updated information on a range of professional development activity taking place at national and local level in relation to CfE. To propose to Management Board how a continued overview of professional development across the CfE programme might be taken forward.
Professional development across the CfE programme 2. On 23 September 2009 the Management Board discussion paper “Towards a professional development strategy for CfE” was published (having previously been approved by Management Board on 20 August). This set a broad strategy for professional development in CfE and sought to stimulate discussion in establishments and more broadly locally. 3. Since that point a great deal of work has been undertaken at national and local level, building professional development in a range of areas, focused on implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. Annex A sets out an indicative, rather than exhaustive, list of work undertaken since the publication of the document and future intentions to August 2010, where that is available. This has been developed from the table provided in the annex of the original document. 4. A proportion of that professional development activity has been driven by the workstreams and projects of the CfE programme, each of which has elements of professional development built in to their planning and delivery. This includes:
Skills and the work to support the launch of Building the Curriculum 4 (in conjunction with Determined to Succeed). Assessment – both the launch and support of Building the Curriculum 5 and the development of the National Assessment Resource. Literacy and Numeracy – work ongoing to develop the MB plan for these cross-cutting themes within CfE. Health and Wellbeing – work undertaken by SG (including professional advisers) and Learning and Teaching Scotland. Support for Children and Young People - work undertaken by SG (including professional advisers) and Learning and Teaching Scotland. Partnership Working – e.g. school /college partnerships – work being undertaken by Scotland‟s Colleges to align with CfE.
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Building your Curriculum – ongoing work led by LTS to provide advice and events to support reflection on, and planning and management of, the 3-18 curriculum.
5. This work has been undertaken by a range of partners, who support professional development for CfE, either in general terms or in relation to specific workstreams. These include:
Learning and Teaching Scotland (including area advisers). HMIE. Scotland‟s Colleges. Scottish Qualifications Authority. National CPD Team. Various Scottish Government policy teams across Education and Lifelong Learning portfolio.
6. National work to support implementation is only one part of the picture. We know that at a local level a significant amount of professional development activity is taking place focused on implementation. This has been supported by the three extra in-service days previously enabled by the Scottish Government, and now augmented by the Cabinet Secretary with the opportunity for a further in-service day. The Scottish Government will continue to monitor the system overall and, when necessary and appropriate, take action with partners to ensure effective implementation. 7. HMIE‟s report “Learning Together: improving teaching, improving learning”, published in November 2009, acknowledged encouraging practice locally in professional development focused on CfE but noted that “this is not in evidence consistently” and “that there is not yet a clear enough link between these activities and improvements in children and young people‟s learning.” 8. The ADES-led Implementation Partnership has taken on an increasingly important role in providing advice and support to local authorities and other partners. This has been a key forum within which partners can share practice around implementation, including the professional development needed to support it, and within which guidance has been developed for local authorities and other partners. This guidance aims to assist in determining progress and clarifying expectations against a national framework. 9. In addition, in terms of monitoring of progress, the implementation workstream includes CPD as a specific strand, with monitoring taking place against progress marker 1(d): a CPD plan is in place to support CfE adoption. 10. Taken together these developments point towards the need to ensure that professional development for Curriculum for Excellence is embedded within local frameworks for implementation. This needs to be seen as a core part of the development of improvement planning processes and individual professional development (through professional review and development or equivalents in other sectors), rather than a separate exercise. There will be a continued need to CfE Management Board – February 2010
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ensure that this is supported from a national level by strategic interventions, designed to support the various components of the overall CfE programme. 11. This approach is in line with discussions at the recent programme planning workshop, at which a clearer understanding was developed of respective accountabilities of partners in relation to programme delivery. Continued overview of professional development across the CfE programme 12. It is suggested that there are two main strands for continued Management Board overview of professional development underpinning CfE. These relate to the continued professional development activity needed to underpin the CfE workstreams; and the need for assurance that local implementation is enabling practitioners to engage in the appropriate professional development . Professional development underpinning CfE workstreams 13. Each of the workstreams and projects within the Curriculum for Excellence programme has appropriate project planning and management processes in place. Most of them will, as integral components of their delivery, have elements of professional development. The overall project management framework for CfE therefore should provide Management Board with the assurance that it needs that the professional development needed to deliver the workstreams is in place. Overview of the role of professional development within local implementation 14. This is an area that has moved on significantly since the publication of the original MB discussion paper, as local implementation has gathered pace, supported by the developing role of the ADES-led Implementation Partnership. 15. That role now includes both offering guidance to local authorities and other partners and gathering information and feeding back to MB on implementation. To attempt to continue to gather information separately from that process on professional development aspects risks duplication and confusion. It is therefore proposed that MB maintains its overview of the role of professional development within local implementation through the ADES-led Implementation Partnership.
Recommendations 16. Management Board is invited to:
Note this update on professional development across CfE. Note the information on national developments and events contained in Annex A. Approve the proposed means to continue to maintain an overview of professional development across the CfE programme.
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Annex A “Towards a Professional Development Strategy for CfE” Update on national developments and events related to professional development from September 2009 – August 2010 August - September 2009
Support for staff from LTS commenced in the following curriculum areas; Social Studies, Technologies, Science, Literacy & English, Numeracy & Maths, Modern Languages, Health & Wellbeing.
Publication of paper on Senior Phase. Publication of Assessment Vision and Key Principles paper. Publication of professional development discussion paper.
Series of events supporting GLOW implementation, linked to specific curricular areas. Symposium examining definitions of literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing and ways of assessing associated skills and key competencies. More Choices More Chances conference for local authority leads. Conference exploring outdoor learning programmes and how this can be used to deliver cross-curricular themes within CfE. HMIE/LTS CfE Good Practice in Mathematics conference HMIE/LTS CfE Good Practice in Scottish History conference Scottish Learning Festival.
October 2009
Publication of report on recognising achievement collaborative enquiry projects.
Five national engagement events in support of launch of early years resource. Play and Active Learning in the Early Years Conference to discuss role of Active Learning around CfE
„Bridging the Gap‟ roadshow on MCMC Support within CfE – North Lanarkshire
Launch of pilot programme on personal support - North Lanarkshire.
Launch of Building the Curriculum 4 – Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and Skills for Work.
Build on current Building your Curriculum (ByC) insights. Continue to work with key practitioners from early years, primary, secondary, special schools involved in developing current and further insights for the web. (e.g. Ross High School, Dumbarton Academy, Nicolson Institute).
ByC - Guidance for local authorities and school managers to support and
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challenge progress in designing curriculum structures.
CfE Parental Involvement: meeting for local authority leads in this area.
HMIE Professional Learning publication - Developing Global Citizens
ByC - Further support provided for primary, secondary and special schools in developing and designing curriculum structures. Ongoing publication of case studies on LTS website.
Implementation of pilot project on supporting children and young people – North. Lanarkshire.
Where next for CPD and Learning Rounds; National CPD Network event.
October-November 2009
Three national engagement events with Scotland‟s colleges – „Building the College Curriculum‟. HMIE/LTS CfE Good Practice Conference in Arts and Creativity. HMIE/LTS CfE Good Practice in RME conference. HMIE/LTS conference on Good Practice - Autism.
November – December 2009
ByC senior phase 2-day workshop involving LTS, Scottish Government, HMIE, SQA, youth work, further education and voluntary sectors.
Youth work and CfE: roadshows in several venues.
First meeting of steering group for the National Assessment Resource – continuing initially until spring 2010, and population of resource to continue thereafter.
Colleges‟ early years and CfE conference
Glow Building Communities - Early Years & Primary 1-3 Glow Building Communities – Maths
Cross curricular teaching units in the German Classroom.
Draft results of CPD Online survey from National CPD team available
Launch of „Learning Together: improving teaching, improving learning‟ – including focus on role of CPD – HMIE.
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January – February 2010
Launch of Building the Curriculum 5 – Assessment Framework Engagement events nationwide to support launch.
Launch of Parental Toolkit for practitioners in all centres
Ongoing publication of case studies on LTS website.
Induction for newly appointed 16+ Learning Choices (16+ LC) local authority leads. 16+ Learning Choices network events – LTS bring together local authorities and key partners involved in implementing the model. 16+ Learning Choices in the Senior Phase – national events for the wide range of partners involved in post-school transition planning and delivery.
February 2010 – July 2010
Regional engagement events for BtC 4 - Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and Skills for work: Qualifications, Assessment and Skills Division, Scottish Government, in conjunction with Determined to Succeed.
Building your Curriculum senior phase – recall day workshop.
Production of guidance to clarify roles and responsibilities of key partners in the 16+ LC/MCMC agenda
Publication of guidance from recognising achievement, collaborative enquiry projects.
Event to disseminate work done on support for children and young people.
Guidance on recognising achievement in the Early Years.
Guidance on supporting all Scotland‟s children and young people to get the most from the opportunities that CfE will provide.
16+ Learning Choices in the Senior Phase – national events for the wide range of partners involved in post-school transition planning and delivery.
Production of 16+ Learning Choices Policy & Practice Framework , clarifying partners‟ roles and responsibilities in implementing the model.
CPD and support events supporting implementation of SSA (2011?)
A series of events sponsored by Scotland‟s Colleges to support Implementation of CfE within the colleges sector, across transition points/MCMC/Skills development and BtC4.
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Cross- sectoral conference on professional development organised by National CPD team.
HMIE „Count Us In‟ conference on inclusion, Spring 2010.
August 2010
Certification of first Scottish Baccalaureates.
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