SPRING 2015
NEWS Planning for assessment Ca r as r yin g se ss out me nt
Assessing Progress and Achievement – page 6 Learners and teachers share their experiences from early level to fourth level
The Future of Inspection and Review – page 13 Find out why it’s important for Education Scotland to review its approaches to inspection
Evalua
ting
Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy – What the results are telling us – page 8 Find out what makes Scotland unique in its approach to assessment and how the SSLN results are used
FOCUS ON MAKING GOOD ASSESSMENT DECISIONS
Na qu tion as alit y al su ra n
f: www.facebook.com/pages/Education-Scotland t: www.twitter.com/educationscot y: www.youtube.com/user/educationscotland
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Making professional judgements
Education Scotland
A Word from Bill Maxwell
WELCOME Welcome to the second edition of Education Scotland News – our new magazine designed to bring you the latest news on Education Scotland’s activities across the sectors, from the early years to adult learning.
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Bill Maxwell Chief Executive of Education Scotland
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Dr Bill Maxwell, as Chief Executive, is responsible to Scottish ministers for the management, performance and future development of Education Scotland. Bill chairs an internal management board which comprises non-executive directors and the executive team of Education Scotland. The executive team supports Bill in providing leadership, direction and control.
CONTENTS: A Word from Bill Maxwell
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Assessment of Broad General Education
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Assessing Progress and Achievement
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Knowledge into Action: The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy
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Practical Steps to Support Great Learning
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Making Good Assessment Decisions
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A Day in the Life of ...
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Future of Inspection and Review
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Families, Inclusion and Local Authorities
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School Years
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Lifelong Learning
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02 Education Scotland NEWS
Each edition of the magazine will have a special focus to highlight the knowledge being generated by our work on a specific topic or area. In this issue, the special focus is on learner assessment. Since the introduction of Curriculum for Excellence, many areas of practice have been transformed as practitioners have explored new ways of exploiting the full potential of CfE to improve outcomes and create deeper, more engaging experiences for Scotland’s learners. Assessment is one such area in which a transformational shift has been gradually gathering pace, although there is still work to do to ensure that practitioners in every sector fully appreciate the nature and scale of that shift and the benefits it can bring for learners. Assessment in the context of CfE should first and foremost be about ‘assessment for learning’. It is about evaluating children and young people’s learning to inform the next steps in planning their educational experiences, in order to ensure a successful journey through progressive levels of achievement. Of course, assessment frameworks serve multiple purposes and there will also be occasions when summative reporting of assessment information is appropriate, however the majority of assessment is formative in nature, based on professional judgement supported by evidence drawn mainly from day‑to‑day teaching and learning. Getting the right balance in assessment activities is one of the key tasks facing education leaders at present. I am certainly very clear that teachers become more confident in making assessment judgements about learners’ progress when they have opportunities to engage in moderation activities which allow them to compare and contrast their judgements with their peers. As you will see in this newsletter, we are seeking to spread good practice in the sharing of moderation approaches and standards in a variety of ways, including inspection and development visits, conferences and training events. I am pleased to see that practitioners are reflecting on the time currently spent on paperwork, some of which might be better spent on learning and teaching, and introducing more streamlined assessment and planning arrangements as a result. Looking more broadly, improving the quality and equity of learners’ attainment has always been a key focus of our work. We have consistently highlighted that one of the crucial issues facing Scottish education is reducing the unacceptably large gap that exists between the educational outcomes achieved by the richest and poorest in our society. Addressing this gap is central to the Corporate Plan we published in 2013. Since coming into office, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance, have also made it abundantly clear that this challenging issue is a top priority for the Government, with an even stronger and more determined focus than ever before. In this edition you’ll find out more about how we in Education Scotland plan to respond by stepping up the pace and intensity of our work on addressing the equity gap even further, working closely with our partners across local and central government. Exciting times ahead and an opportunity to make a real impact on one of Scotland’s most long-standing and intractable problems!
Bill Maxwell Chief Executive of Education Scotland
Education Scotland NEWS
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Assessment of Broad General Education:
HOW DO WE KNOW OUR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE ARE MAKING PROGRESS? The advent of Curriculum for Excellence and the removal of national assessments prompted a radical change in how we assess learners’ progress, over time. Schools and local authorities can no longer use hard data alone to evidence this, and for both formative and accountability purposes, a new way had to be found.
Sharon Hayward Head Teacher Blairdardie, Primary Glasgow, Chair of Glasgow Assessment Strategy Group
Gone are the linear paths of learning with tests at the end of a level to prove a child was making progress and in came research (Hayward et al 2012 and Mansell et al 2009) to substantiate a much more holistic approach to assessment which leads directly to the improvement of learning. The development of teacher professionalism and confidence, as trust is increasingly given to their assessment judgements, has allowed a growing ‘intelligent accountability’ (Hayward et al 2012). Teachers moderate assessments at the start of their planning process, identifying next steps in learning from prior learning. Social moderation as a primary mechanism for ensuring teachers robustly discuss and negotiate judgements based on a shared standard, thus raising achievement, is at the heart of best classroom practice. Ensuring time for professional dialogue which illustrates trust in teachers’ judgements, is crucial. Time is required too, for teachers to converse with learners, ensuring they are both clear what skills and attributes have been learned,
how they can be evidenced from normal day‑to-day learning and teaching, and how this can be applied in learning, life or work; a process which need not rely on a cumbersome folio of evidence. The importance of teachers adopting manageable procedures to robustly track pupil progress across the curriculum without recording everything a pupil says or does is vital. As is the need to adopt a dynamic tracking system involving learners and teachers in identifying next steps in learning, rather than labelling. Our previous assessment culture and practices were firmly embedded, but at last, Scotland is moving with more pace towards a renewed understanding of how we best answer the question, ‘how do we know children and young people are making progress?’. Sharon Hayward
Introducing a new improved National Assessment Resource (NAR)
View
Create
Useful Links
New on NAR
Access practitioner, Education Scotland and SQA/SSLN resources
Contribute to National Assessment Resource by uploading and publishing your own resources
Find core web pages and information to support the understanding of assessment and use of NAR.
Link directly to the most recently published resources on NAR
Following consultation with practitioners, National Assessment Resource (NAR) has been redesigned to help improve user experience when accessing quality assessment resources. Key features of NAR • an online resource designed to support assessment approaches for Curriculum for Excellence • provides a single place in which assessment materials for Curriculum for Excellence can be stored. This includes assessment materials developed by Education Scotland, SQA and practitioners • includes examples of emerging and effective practice • provides a way for teachers and practitioners to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations • supports practitioners in deepening their understanding and expertise in assessment If you haven’t been on NAR (www.narscotland.org.uk) for quite a while, why not have another look and see the range of support and resources available to you.
References Louise Hayward, Ian Menter, Vivienne Baumfield, Richard Daugherty, Nasrin Akhtar, Lesley Doyle, Dely Elliot, Moira Hulme,Carolyn Hutchinson, George MacBride, Margaret McCulloch, Fiona Patrick, Ernie Spencer, Georgina Wardle, Harry Blee (until June 2011) and Liz Arthur (2012) ‘Assessment at Transition. Project Report.’ University of Glasgow, UK. Warwick Mansell, Mary James, the Assessment Reform Group (2009) Assessment in Schools. Fit for Purpose? A Commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. London. Economic and Social Research Council, Teaching and Learning Research Programme.
04 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
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ASSESSING PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT Assessment of the broad range of planned learning is required across the full range of contexts and settings in which the curriculum is experienced
A number of exemplars are currently available on the National Assessment Resource (NAR) which provides annotated exemplification of evidence of learners’ work which typifies achievement of a level. The exemplification: • •
is related to significant aspects of learning in a curriculum area includes both teacher and pupil voice on the learning
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can be used by practitioners to understand, apply and share standards.
This page highlights some of the exemplars that are available for each level. Why not visit the NAR to explore the range of materials available, or the Education Scotland website to view the workshops that have been developed to support practitioners use of these materials.
Second Level Modern Languages Pupil Voice “Throughout the French presentations I have made my French more fluent.” “I have been able to use full sentences rather than just words. This will help me in conversations if I go to France and meet someone French and if I know little words I can use them to make sentences.” “The skills I have used while creating a French presentation are confidently standing up and speaking in French and developing my fluency.” Teacher Voice The pupils in the videos both demonstrate secure talking at second level. After commenting on the weather in various locations, which was changed each time to avoid memory learning, they were able to construct accurate sentences with little or no support, demonstrating the ability to apply their knowledge and understanding of vocabulary and sentence construction. The pupils are fluent, with accurate pronunciation during their short presentations. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/ ModLangSecondLevelWeatherforecasts_tcm4-833067.pdf
Third level Health and Wellbeing, Food and Health, Nutrition Pupil Voice “ I arranged the pepper I added in an attractive way to encourage people to eat my pizza.” “I used herbs instead of salt to season and flavour my pizza sauce.” “If I was to make this again, I would swap the bacon for chicken to help reduce fat.”
Early Level
Teacher Voice Allowing pupils the opportunity to make their pizza enhances the learning and teaching of this topic as pupils can see how healthy changes can be simple to make. This task also provides an introduction to food product development which we study further at fourth level. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/ ThirdLevelFoodandHealthNutrition_tcm4-835175.pdf
Numeracy and Mathematics Pupil Voice “Rhinos, hippos, houses and elephants are heavy. Feathers, leaves, hats and paper are light.” Teacher Voice Initially the child discussed what the word heavy meant. He linked this to light items too. He then explored and compared three items using a balance.This allowed the child to explore the idea of ‘equal’ and what this meant. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/ EarlyLevelMeasuermentAugust14_tcm4-833717.pdf
Fourth Level Technologies
First Level Expressive Arts – Art and Design Pupil Voice “The colours look nice and hot.” “All the patterns stand out and are different.” Teacher Voice The learners have shown first level by researching Fair Isle patterns and drawing out their own shapes and patterns to create four different strips of pattern. These designs were then transferred onto polystyrene strips with the right amount of pressure to achieve a clear print. The learners then demonstrated understanding of hot and complementary colours through their choice of four printing inks and the background paper. The printing is controlled and most patterns are clear. The learner has used control to build up repeated patterns and capture the style of the Fair Isle patterns. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/ ArtandDesignFLSept14_tcm4-832247.pdf
06 Education Scotland NEWS
Pupil voice “After looking at different types of light patterns, I decided to change my design so that I could do a more complex pattern.” “I found patterns of light I liked and thought about how I could cast one either at the side of the shelf or on the sheet metal.” Teacher Voice In the final stages of the project, learners built on the information they had gathered about a design shop and its products. Having evaluated products which the design shop sell, they were able to balance their own creative ideas with design features appropriate to design shop range. The learners’ next challenge was to fulfil the design brief by producing an efficient and economic storage solution made from manufactured boards and using knockdown fittings. To do this, learners had to apply their knowledge of materials, techniques and processes. http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/ Technologies4-3amend_tcm4-830217.pdf
Education Scotland NEWS
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PRACTICAL STEPS TO SUPPORT GREAT LEARNING
Knowledge into Action
THE SCOTTISH SURVEY OF LITERACY AND NUMERACY
Scotland is leading the way in innovative educational self-evaluation. The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN), and supporting professional learning resources, makes Scotland unique in its approach to assessment and supports ongoing self-evaluation. What is SSLN? The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) is an annual samplebased survey that monitors national performance in literacy and numeracy, in alternate years, at P4, P7 and S2.
Nationally, about 4,000 pupils participate in the survey at each stage.
available on: reading; writing; and listening and talking.
It is aligned to CfE and supports assessment approaches and programmes for raising attainment in literacy and numeracy.
The results allow national level reporting of attainment in literacy and numeracy as well as of pupils’ and teachers’ experiences of learning and teaching.
It takes place in May each year, with results published in the following spring.
Practitioners who trained as support assessors and assessed the listening and talking component of the 2014 Literacy Survey gained GTCS recognition for their role.
Why is it important and what are the benefits? The results are used in the development of professional learning resources. These can be found at www.educationscotland.gov.uk/ssln. Numeracy resources are available on: measurement; fractions, decimal fractions and percentages; ideas of chance and uncertainty; estimation and rounding; time; numeracy; and mathematic skills and numeracy progression. Literacy resources are
Writing Pupils performing well, very well or beyond the relevant level for their stage: P4: 64% P7: 72% S2: 64%
The survey findings provide evidence to assist with policy making and research. Results can be used for quality assurance and evaluation and improvement by schools local authorities.
Numeracy Attainment Pupils performing well or very well at their relevant level (SSLN 2013): P4: 69% P7: 66% S2: 42%
Literacy Attainment Reading Pupils performing well or very well at their relevant level: P4: 83% P7: 90% S2: 84%
It is vital to ensure that systems and processes support great learning, rather than hinder it. Dialogue, not paperwork or digital technologies, is key to achieving this. There is no place for systems that do not improve pupil performance and life chances. Visit the Tackling Bureaucracy area of the Education Scotland website for more information (http://ow.ly/K0hrh)
Listening and Talking Pupils performing well, very well or beyond the relevant level for their stage: P4: 56% P7: 58% S2: 46%
Attainment levels at both P4 and P7 were lower in 2013 compared to 2011. The difference in S2 performance was negligible. Pupils living in areas of least deprivation were more likely to be performing well or very well than pupils living in areas of most deprivation, across all stages.
More Specifically
This is
This is not
Within schools, good quality professional dialogue between teachers, school leaders, support staff, pupils and parents is essential.
grouping together related experiences and outcomes and engaging in professional dialogue to support learning and improve learners’ experiences.
developing paperwork to prove coverage of every experience and outcome or dialogue that has taken place.
The main purpose of forward planning is to assist teaching and learning.
planning to the level of detail required to improve learners’ understanding of the most significant aspects of learning.
an inflexible or bureaucratic approach which is unnecessary to support learning.
Audit and accountability have a part to play in schools.
sharing practice and engaging in professional dialogue to improve learning and teaching.
developing paperwork to record information unnecessarily.
Digital technologies for planning and reporting systems should be used with caution, particularly in relation to the time spent on them.
a tool to support professional dialogue to improve learning and teaching.
a time-consuming system which distracts teachers from learning and teaching.
Parents are looking for teachers to report on their child’s learning and progress.
good quality engagements with teachers, to help improve their child’s learning and provide a summary of their child’s progress.
a time-consuming report, or a tick box approach, which does not help parents support future learning.
Quality assurance and moderation is part of the daily life of a school.
evidence produced from day-to-day learning and teaching to improve learners’ experiences.
burdensome paperwork to prove quality assurance processes are in place.
Pupils performed best in the following organisers: P4: Data and Analysis P7: Data and Analysis S2: Number and Number Processes
08 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
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MAKING GOOD ASSESSMENT DECISIONS
Assessment 3-18 must be valid, reliable, fair and manageable for all involved and must be consistently applied for all learners in all centres. Therefore, there are common quality assurance processes to the moderation of the broad general education between ages 3 and 15 and the senior phase, including approaches for the new National Qualifications. This means that the quality assurance (QA) process established in 3-15 will continue to be valuable when quality assuring the senior phase and new qualifications.
Evaluating In what way has reflecting on the evaluation process and outcomes led to the identification of professional learning opportunities?
Planning for assessment
ting
Ca r as r yin g se ss out me nt
Evalua
In what ways have you contributed to or used the assessment exemplars on the National Assessment Resource for moderation purposes?
Quality assurance and moderation What opportunities are there for you to engage in professional dialogue when quality assuring learner evidence, both within and outwith your establishment?
As a school/department, what are you doing to develop your understanding of the need to plan for assessment as an integral part of learning and teaching in both the BGE and senior phase?
Carrying out assessment as part of learning
Na qu tion as alit y al su ra n ce
ce n ra n u ss ti o al) a t y era tion i l d a a Qu d mo nd n an cal a (lo
10 Education Scotland NEWS
Education Scotland NEWS
Making professional judgements
National quality assurance
Planning for assessment as part of learning
What range of evidence, from a variety of assessment approaches, do you need in order to be confident that assessment evidence coming from the learner is appropriate and robust in both the BGE and senior phase?
Making professional judgements How do you go about gathering and considering assessment evidence in a way that is collaborative and informs your professional judgements?
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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ... AN EDUCATION OFFICER
Claire Harvey, Education Officer, Education Scotland
Tell us a bit about your role as an Education Officer in Education Scotland.
Tell us about a piece of really positive practice that has stuck in your mind.
My role focuses mainly on the area of assessment. As with most roles in education, no two days are ever the same. One day I might be speaking at an educational conference or event, the next I might be in a school working with practitioners and seeing practice first hand, and other days I am desk based working on developing national support for practitioners.
There is genuinely so much positive, enthusiastic and engaging practice happening right across the country that it is difficult to isolate any one particular piece of work! However, perhaps one particular area in which we have seen some very encouraging work recently is where secondary schools recognise the alignment between assessment in the broad general education and assessment in the senior phase. Prior to the nationals last session, many young people and practitioners, were feeling overwhelmed by the amount of assessment being undertaken, now we are seeing a much more positive shift and balance in schools. Schools have structures in place for moderation in broad general education which is supporting verification in the senior phase. Some of these positive examples have been captured and will be available soon on the Making Good Assessment Decisions area of our website.
At the moment, the assessment team is working very closely with curriculum teams to support practitioners’ understanding of assessing progress and achievement. Together, we are working with establishments across the country, developing further annotated exemplification for the National Assessment Resource (NAR). These resources support practitioners moderate standards within their own establishment. We are also working with the Developing Young Workforce team in Education Scotland on profiling. We feel it is important to highlight that profiling is a process not a product, as very often too much emphasis has been placed on the final product - the profile, whether paper or electronic.
What is the question you are most commonly asked by practitioners? Dialogue is at the centre of assessment and evaluation of children and young people’s learning. This includes dialogue between learners, between practitioners and learners and among practitioners. The question we are most often asked is, when can we make time for this? Time taken in class, to engage in dialogue with children and young people, ensures that both the learner and the practitioner has a clear understanding of where they are in their learning and supports the tracking process. This is the time of year when practitioners are negotiating their work time agreement. Time to work collegiately on assessment and moderation forms part of these negotiations. Establishments, where this time has been allocated from the work time agreement, are recognising the benefits from this.
THE FUTURE OF INSPECTION AND REVIEW Alastair Delaney
Chief Operating Officer and Director of Inspection
Are there any common misconceptions about assessment that you encounter often? Unfortunately, a fairly common misconception is that assessment means simply tests as opposed to assessment of and for learning. As a result, things become very complicated. It is very heartening when there is a ‘light bulb moment’ and the process of assessment is recognised as the on-going practice that happens day in and day out in the classroom.
What hints and tips would you offer practitioners to help in their day to day practice? The recurring phrases we use are dialogue with learners and professional dialogue. I would urge all practitioners to have another look at the Tackling Bureaucracy area of of our website which emphasises the key messages of planning, assessment and moderation. This will help highlight and explain how dialogue is more important than unnecessary paperwork, which takes away from valuable time for learning and teaching.
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Education Scotland is reviewing its approaches to inspection across all sectors. The purpose of the review is to ensure that inspection takes account of all the recent changes in Scottish education, and continues to support improvements in the performance of educational establishments and services across Scotland. This review is seeking to explore what inspection might look like in three to five years’ time. As this is a long‑term review, inspections continue in the meantime to use the published principles and frameworks currently in place. No changes will be made until full consultation has taken place, reports have been produced and discussed at a national level and some pilot work has been undertaken. It is likely to be 2016 before any changes will come into effect.
Education Scotland NEWS
Seeking the views of all stakeholder groups for the review is an essential and major element of this work, and we have a range of different approaches to ensure consultation is as wide as possible. An External Reference Group including representatives from a wide range of professional organisations has been established to provide advice and support. Over the last few months, Education Scotland has been holding a series of regional conversation events to which various local authority and college representatives have been invited. More of these are planned. Over all of the conversation days, each local authority will have had the opportunity to nominate representatives from across all sectors to attend an event and share their views. For further information about the review, please visit the Education Scotland website: http://ow.ly/GD8Gc If you would like to give us your views, or would like to be kept informed at a later stage of the consultation, please email inspectionreview@educationscotland.gsi. gov.uk and provide your email address/contact details.
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FAMILIES, INCLUSION AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES DIRECTOR’S UPDATE We are delighted to share aspects of the work from the Families, Inclusion and Local Authorities teams in this edition of Education Scotland News. Our teams have been working on some exciting projects which you can learn about here. As the new strategic director, I am looking forward to working with you in the year ahead. Improving attainment is a key focus of our work and we have consistently highlighted that one of the key issues facing Scottish education is reducing the unacceptably large gap that exists between the educational outcomes achieved by the richest and poorest in our society. We are determined to do everything we can to improve attainment and life chances for the most disadvantaged children in Scotland. With that in mind, we are working closely with the Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) and colleagues in the Scottish Government to take forward our commitment in the Programme for Government to appoint attainment advisors who will support the national drive to raise attainment across the whole country. You can read more about this in these pages. Lesley Brown, Strategic Director for Families, Inclusion and Local Authorities
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Inspections in Early Learning and Childcare settings In the autumn we published additional information to the Inspection Advice Note (2014-15) for staff working in early learning and childcare settings (http://ow.ly/GDao6). This information is provided to support staff in the delivery of the early level curriculum. We continue to undertake some of our inspections jointly with colleagues from the Care Inspectorate and work increasingly closely in relation to shared training and planning. Early Learning sharing practice We continue to engage with practitioners to highlight effective practice that exemplifies national practice guidance, including Building the Ambition. (http://ow.ly/IcGAb) Find out what is happening in early learning and childcare and family learning settings across the country by looking at the new sharing practice case studies on the Education Scotland website. (http://ow.ly/GDaAL)
CHECK IT OUT
We would love to hear from you if these case studies have inspired you to take forward improvements of your own. Contact: enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk INCLUSION Access to Education Fund The Access to Education Fund was announced in June 2014, identifying £1.5 million to help children and young people overcome barriers to learning caused by disadvantage or deprivation. All 32 local authorities were allocated funding, with 247 successful bids covering all sectors, including primary, secondary, special and all-through schools, as well as learning communities and authority-wide projects. Dyslexia Education Scotland is working with partners through a Scottish Government working group to deliver the recommendations from Making Sense: Education for Children and Young People with Dyslexia (2014). The executive summary of Making Sense is now available online at http://bit.ly/makingsense14
CHECK IT OUT Children’s Rights The Recognising and Realising Children’s Rights resource aims to develop participants’ knowledge and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) with the purpose of promoting rights-based values, attitudes, skills and practices among those adults who have a duty of care for children and young people. (http://ow.ly/GDggL)
We are now working collaboratively with our partners to produce a professional learning package. Educational Psychology Services Education Scotland will be undertaking a programme of validated self-evaluation with all Educational Psychology Services (EPS) across Scotland, starting in April 2015. A pathfinder site has recently been successful in trialling the approach and associate assessors have been appointed to work alongside Education Scotland staff. LOCAL AUTHORITIES Raising Attainment As part of the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2014-15, Education Scotland will be working with ADES and other partners to establish a network of attainment advisors who will reach into every learning community in Scotland to build capacity in our schools. The aim is to build capacity in the Scottish education system to raise attainment and close the gap in literacy and numeracy through a range of key interventions designed to support improvement. This will enhance existing work already underway in schools and local authorities, as well as national initiatives such as the School Improvement Partnership Programme and Raising Attainment for All. Local Partnership Agreements Education Scotland is taking forward a range of activities as part of our local partnership agreements (LPAs) with local authorities. LPAs will be a key tool for planning the range of Education Scotland support in local authorities and are being developed in close collaboration with local authorities. Our area lead officers coordinate this work and some have outlined our approach to LPAs with elected officials.
Parentzone Scotland Parentzone Scotland (www.parentzonescotland.com) aims to help parents and carers support their child’s learning. The website includes a My School section with contact details for every primary, secondary and special school in Scotland, as well as information on school awards and links to school websites. Content from Scottish Schools Online has been archived on the school pages on the site. As the website will be regularly updated we would welcome feedback from parents and other interested stakeholder groups. Parents and carers can subscribe to News for Parents and Carers e-bulletin, which will provide them with information about the latest developments. (http://ow.ly/GDcyi).
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NEWS IN BRIEF Education Scotland NEWS
Look out for the spring 2015 issue of Early Years Matters to be published in March. The School Improvement Partnership Programme (SIPP): Innovating to Tackle Educational Inequality shows good progress is being made, with some partnerships experiencing a positive impact on teachers and learners. Read the SIPP full report or summary version on Education Scotland website (http://ow.ly/GDfQo)
The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 further extends our commitment to promoting and protecting children’s rights. Education Scotland is working to support local authorities, and other partners and stakeholders to ensure readiness for the enactment of this part of the legislation.
Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 – we visited some local authorities to brief council officers on the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and the amendments made to it in August 2014. We have also briefed elected members in some councils on the Act.
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SCHOOL YEARS DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
It has been a busy few months in schools and here in Education Scotland. We hosted a series of primary and secondary leadership events for senior staff in schools, which feedback indicates were a great success. More importantly, it gave us an opportunity to hear the views of school leaders, and these views will help ensure that the support we offer next year meets the needs and priorities of schools. Another key area of focus is the Developing the Young Workforce programme. This ambitious programme provides a renewed focus on Building the Curriculum 4 - Skills for Learning, Life and Work, and will ensure that all young people, 3-18, have the opportunity to engage in purposeful and work-related learning at school. I will provide more detail on our work around this area in future issues. You can learn more about the Government’s new Youth Employment Strategy, launched on 13 December as part of the programme at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/ Publications/2014/12/7750. The strategy includes a useful section on implications for schools. Our new Skills 3-18 team will be supporting its implementation. A really important development has been the publication of the ‘significant aspects of learning’ for each curriculum area. This advice identifies the key progression steps for learners within each CfE level in a clear and succinct way. It is part of our ongoing support for assessment. We are also keen to continue to promote streamlined approaches to planning and assessing learning which fully embrace the recommendations within the report by the ministerial working group on tackling bureaucracy. You can find more advice and support around tackling bureaucracy in a dedicated area on our website. (http://ow.ly/J0lZi) Finally, I am delighted that our new series of email bulletins are proving very popular with thousands of colleagues. If you haven’t already done so, then sign up and keep up to date with the very latest news and information. (http://ow.ly/J0meP) Graeme Logan, Strategic Director for School Years
PRIMARY Primary leadership events – online materials available A series of five very successful leadership conferences was held in September and October 2014 to support primary schools with the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. More information, keynote and presentation materials from these events are available on the Education Scotland website. (http://ow.ly/IB55j) Places were made available for 40% of primary school leaders in each local authority, and the events were attended by representatives from local authorities and professional associations. Evaluating and Improving our Curriculum – Primary We are delighted that there have been over 10,000 page views of this new resource for primary schools. Launched in September last year, this online resource helps support primary schools evaluate and develop aspects of their curriculum. Lots of your colleagues are using it, so if you haven’t checked it out yet it’s worth a visit. (http://ow.ly/IB5wN) SECONDARY National leadership events for CfE Education Scotland, in association with the Scottish Government, ADES, SLS and SQA, built on the success of the 2014 events with a further series of four national events on leadership of CfE in January
CHECK IT OUT Opening Up Great Learning – new series A new series of online narratives and activities to help teachers and staff explore the nature of learning within specific subjects or areas. They can be used when centres or schools, groups of staff or individuals want a stimulus to help them explore learning within a particular subject or area as part of a planned programme of professional learning and enquiry (http://ow.ly/IB5Qj)
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and February 2015. Secondary headteachers and depute headteachers from every secondary school in Scotland attended, along with local authority officers. More information and presentation materials will be available on the Education Scotland website. Evaluating and Improving our Curriculum S1-S3 Since its launch in June last year, practitioners across the country have visited this online resource. It provides a clear and concise toolkit to help schools evaluate their curriculum, with a focus on S1-S3. It draws together key aspects of advice related to Curriculum for Excellence and self-evaluation. Why not take some time to explore the range of materials available? (http://ow.ly/IB6Fi) DIGITAL LEARNING AND TEACHING Digital learning is high on Education Scotland’s agenda and we are working closely with the Scottish Government on the delivery of a national digital learning and teaching programme to promote digital development in schools. In March, we’re supporting a National Digital Learning Week and encouraging schools to share, do and develop digital learning approaches. Find out more from our blog and follow @ndlcscot. We’ve been receiving positive feedback about the upgraded Glow service – did you know the new Glow service offers a range of digital tools and resources for learning through a single login? Find out more from the information site, Glow Connect.
NEWS IN BRIEF Education Scotland NEWS
Building Society: Young People’s Experiences and Outcomes in the Technologies report available from 9 March 2015. Advanced Higher support materials available for history, Spanish, simplified Mandarin, traditional Mandarin and Cantonese. Advanced Higher materials will be available for all subject by the end of March 2015.
CHECK IT OUT Curriculum for Excellence: Working with Primary and Secondary Schools An online booklet providing a concise overview of the work Education Scotland is undertaking in the primary and secondary school sectors, including in curricular areas, from April 2014 to June 2015 (http://ow.ly/J0n1Z)
CFE BRIEFING 16: RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE (TIME FOR REFLECTION) The latest issue in the popular CfE Briefing Series was published at the end of 2014, entitled Religious Observance. (A Time for Reflection). The briefing provides information about the role of RO and explores how it is developing across establishments as part of CfE. (http://ow.ly/K0idW) HOW GOOD IS OUR SCHOOL? Education Scotland is also working on a revision of How Good is Our School? A conference will take place in May 2015 at which stakeholders will have the opportunity to hear our thinking so far, and to contribute their views. We then plan to launch the new document at the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2015.
CLTAS Forums – The first group of national learning forums are now up and running. These are for expressive arts, mathematics and numeracy, the middle years, and digital learning. The forums have now clarified their terms of reference and have started reviewing national approaches to supporting the curriculum, learning, teaching, assessment and support. Nominations have been sought
for the remaining eight forums and these will be established during 2015, led by Education Scotland’s senior education officers. Look out for future titles in the Opening up Great Learning Series which include Learning for Sustainability, Outdoor Learning, Skills, Music, Financial Education and World War I.
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LIFELONG LEARNING DIRECTOR’S UPDATE
We are really pleased to be able to share with you the latest news from the Lifelong Learning teams. We have had a busy few months working on some exciting projects. Much of our work has been around Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. We will continue to focus on the themes to ensure that all young people, up to age 24, have opportunities to engage in purposeful and work-related learning across education and training. In doing so we will be linking directly with a range of partners and colleagues as the programme progresses.
TEACHER EDUCATION Working in partnership As lead learners, teachers are at the forefront of Scottish education and are influential in their approaches and attitudes towards learning, innovation and change. Our Teacher Education Team supports teachers at all stages of their careers to improve their practice and impact in a more positive way on young people. The team provides guidance on professional learning and leadership through engagement and publication of resources. These are available on our website. (http://ow.ly/HeJUa)
Learning is undertaken in different ways by different people, from career-long professional learning for teachers, and on-the-job training for young people, to adult learning taking place in community settings. Regardless of where learning is taking place, it provides life-changing possibilities and opportunities.
Aspect review of initial teacher education Teams from Education Scotland comprising HMI, associate assessors and student team members have been undertaking a review of the partnerships between universities and education authorities. Phase one aims to develop a picture nationally of the successes to date and the continuing challenges facing these partnerships.
I look forward to a busy and exciting time ahead. You can read more about our varied work on the following pages.
Colleagues have engaged widely to get a sense of how a number of recommendations from Teaching
Alan Armstrong, Strategic Director for Lifelong Learning
Scotland’s Future have progressed. An important element is gaining an understanding of how career-long professional learning is developing teachers’ confidence and skills in a progressive way and how this is impacting on learners as well as teachers. COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT Education extends beyond school, that’s why the work of our CLD team promotes lifelong and life-wide learning. The team provides advice, leadership and support to develop CLD policies and improve practice in Scotland. We inspect and review learning communities to ensure high standards. New strategies for Youth Work and Adult Learning will be implemented this year. National policies Additionally, we will be assessing the quality of the developing opportunities for 16+ young people in education, training and employment, with a focus on young people in custodial care. A refreshed strategy for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) will be published in the spring.
CHECK IT OUT Showcase of excellence in colleges New examples of excellence gathered during reviews, annual visits and aspect report activities, have been added to the online showcase. (http://ow.ly/GSpL7)
18 Education Scotland NEWS
CHECK IT OUT Innovative CLD practice New case studies have been added to the innovative practice section of the CLD website. (http://ow.ly/ IRzkB) CLD workforce survey We are working with partners to find out who delivers CLD in Scotland. This will build a reliable picture that will provide government with clear information which will allow it to plan support for the CLD sector. More information about our CLD work is available on our website (http://ow.ly/GSeSA). You can also sign up to receive our monthly e-bulletin (http://ow.ly/GSeLx). COLLEGE Following mergers, Scotland now has 27 colleges across 13 regions. As well as the challenges inherent in merging several colleges into one large institution, colleges must work even more closely with schools and employers to develop relevant, coherent senior phase pathways, as recommended in Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce (http://ow.ly/GSlXt).
NEWS IN BRIEF Education Scotland NEWS
Quality arrangements in Scotland’s colleges We are continuing with external reviews, annual engagement visits and aspect reports across the college sector on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). We have started work on the development of the next quality arrangements for colleges from 2016 onwards. These arrangements are likely to be radically different from current review programmes, firmly predicated on colleges’ own self‑evaluation, and undertaken in close partnership with colleges’ regional outcome managers. POST-16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce The recommendations from Education Working for All! are at the forefront of activity for the post-16 team at Education Scotland, particularly since the publication of Developing the Young Workforce. We have set up a number of formal groups, to help take forward the recommendations from Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. Careers information, advice and guidance external reviews Our external reviews of Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (CIAG)
services provided by SDS continues with the publication of the Clackmannanshire review report and the forthcoming publication of the North Lanarkshire review. A full programme of external reviews for 2015-16 has been agreed with SDS. Reports from the reviews to date are available on our website (http://ow.ly/HeLYA). Aspect reviews of careers information, advice and guidance We have begun an aspect task on SDS’s online service, My World of Work and will publish our findings in the summer. Moving forward in the cycle of our work in CIAG services, we will be undertaking at least one aspect review each year alongside the scheduled external reviews. With SDS, we are also reviewing the off-the-job training element of modern apprenticeships in Scotland. Currently, the team is preparing for the review of off-the-job training in engineering modern apprenticeships. We will conduct a further 14 reviews of the remaining industry sector apprenticeships over a four-year cycle. We will publish a national report for each industry sector reviewed. To keep updated on the post-16 news, sign up to receive our monthly e-bulletin (http://ow.ly/GSeLx).
This spring look out for the publication of the refreshed national strategy for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Help build a picture of CLD in Scotland by taking part in the CLD workforce survey which is live now until 10 April.
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Key Curriculum Support resource
Education Scotland offers a number of free email updates and news alerts to keep you informed of the latest developments and events in Scottish education.
Visit the Key Curriculum Support pages on the Education Scotland website, an online one-stop shop for CfE, which aims to assist practitioners and parents when searching the web for curriculum-related materials and advice. This guide was created following feedback from some practitioners that information and resources were located on numerous different websites and were not always easy to find.
We’re delighted to offer you a range of publications with a focus on specific areas, sectors and topics. These all include the latest news and key information along with links to new resources and support materials all in one place and relevant to your area of work.
Key Curriculum Support has a variety of menus for you to choose from to locate everything you might need in relation to the new curriculum.
You can sign up to as many email updates as you like, they are free and delivered straight to your inbox. Simply select an area of interest you would like to subscribe to.
Visit the Key Curriculum Support resource at: educationscotland.gov.uk/ keycfesupport
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Save the Date. SLF 2015 will take place on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th September. Registration for the biggest event in the education calendar will be open from May onwards.
Find out more at the SLF website: www.scottishlearningfestival.org.uk
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