Informing parents about CfE
Today my day began with a visit to St Modan’s High in Stirling to meet the parents of children who are due to begin first year after the summer break. The Headteacher Frank Lennon is clearly an inspiring school leader and his enthusiasm for and commitment to Curriculum for Excellence is crystal clear. His school is another example of one that is, most definitely, absolutely on track with their efforts to implement the new curriculum.
The number of parents who came along to the event was impressive, as was the genuine interest and engagement in their child’s education. My discussions with them covered a number of areas, from literacy and numeracy to what will and won’t change in schools and what more can be done to let parents know about the changes.
As on many occasions, I could have spent more time with these committed parents discussing and debating Curriculum for Excellence. I certainly found it worthwhile and hope they did too.
This visit was part of my drive to inform parents about Curriculum for Excellence and how it will improve their child’s education. As you may have heard, I’ve written to the parent of every pupil currently in primary seven to give them information about the new National Qualifications, Assessment and the new approaches to learning and teaching. One of the parents whose child starts at St Modan’s in August said that the leaflet was ‘informative and uplifting’, however there was a plea from around the table for more information on qualifications, assessment and reporting of progress, which I’ll take on board.
I believe Curriculum for Excellence will build on the current strengths of Scottish education and make sure our young people are resourceful, adaptable, flexible, confident and responsible. As Frank Lennon said this morning, it also provides the best opportunity in a generation for teachers to be freed up to use their creative powers and passion for learning to motivate and inspire young people.
We must work together to seize this opportunity to give our young people the skills they need for the jobs of the future and make sure they – and Scotland – will be in a stronger position to succeed.
12 comments
As a parent I would like you to answer the following questions:
Why is my child going to gain less qualifications (5 or 6 according to all suggested models) in S4, at the same levels of study as the 8 generally available at the moment?
Why are Standard Grade General and Intermediate 1 being replaced by a low status, ungraded certificate in most subjects?
Why will the details of the qualifications that my child will encounter not be available until a matter of weeks before he enters S3?
I believe that the lack of planning for assessment in CfE is shamefully irresponsible.
Just as one swallow does not make a summer, neither does one parent saying the ‘leaflet was ‘informative and uplifting’’ mean it’s all going to work out fine, in the short term or the long term.
Many parents will only appreciate the full, and worrying, ramifications as their children progress: reduced choice (even in S2), qualifications not yet developed let alone QC’d and accepted by employers / HE, etc etc.
It is a great shame that the good points in CfE are swamped by horrendous, ill conceived ones.
I was recently sent the following question by a parent:
“Could you clarify the situation about secondary pupils studying the same subjects from 1st to 3rd year, as I am very concerned about this both as a parent and a Learning Support Assistant. Why make children continue to take subjects they struggle in or do not enjoy for another year? Will they only have 4th year to get up to speed and be ready for their exams? As yet, I cannot find this information anywhere and would be pleased if you could give me your views.”
I emailed this question to Learning and Teaching Scotland and was sent the following reply:
“The management of the curriculum is, of course, a matter for schools and authorities. In making their decisions, school managers should be able to justify the approach they take in terms of curriculum guidance. In inspections, HMIE will be looking for evidence of the application of Curriculum for Excellence values, purposes and principles.
The period from S1 to S3 has a clear purpose: that all young people will have a strong platform for later learning and for successful transition to qualifications at the right level for them.
Breadth within this stage is achieved through learning across all of the experiences and outcomes in all curriculum areas to the third level (consistent with the needs and prior achievements of each young person). Most learners will progress towards the fourth level in many aspects of their learning and in a range of curriculum areas. They may do this through specialisation in some areas.
This period needs to be planned to maintain challenge and enjoyment with high expectations. There should be suitable and challenging progression. This period also provides opportunities for learning in depth through opportunities for young people to engage with increasingly demanding concepts and develop skills for learning, life and work.
By introducing breadth, challenge and depth throughout S1 to S3 and focusing on learning, through the experiences and outcomes at a higher level than is current practice, this period of education should lead to improvements in attainment and achievement.
Schools will need to develop a framework which is suitable for them, their situation and which enables progression for all and provides for different kinds of choice.”
I don’t know about others but I don’t really understand this answer! Mr Russell, is it any wonder that there is confusion about the Curriculum for Excellence when parents are given answers like this?
(Eleanor Coner, Scottish Parent Teacher Council)
Looks like the usual smoke-screen verbiage!! In particular, how can there be breadth and depth when some subjects are having lessons reduced, or in the case of History, Geography and Modern Studies one of the three excluded from the curriculum at the end of S1 at the orders of some authorities!!
The burden of making this work is being put on authorities (who have massive budget cuts to make) and schools (with 72% of secondary teachers ‘not confident at all’ and 2 out of 3 Headteachers ‘not confident at all’ about CfE according to the CfE management Board’s own survey)- clearly you’d have to be very cynical to think that quangos and ministers were distancing themselves from the potential train wreck.
As for what will happen re S4 and 5, there was a very good analysis by Larry Flanagan in the May edition of the Scottish Educational Journal highlighting the lack of poor communication, design problems and potential finance issues relating to CfE qualifications.
simoncclark:
Many thanks for your comments Simon, a reply is being sought and should be posted shortly.
Kind Regards
Maria Campbell (Engage for Education Community Manager)
Hi Eleanor,
Thank you for your thoughts – a full response will be posted as soon as possible.
Kind Regards
Maria Campbell (Engage for Education Community Manager)
Eleanor Coner:
Thank you for your comment.
Pupils should not be studying the same subjects for three years.
Over the 3 years from S1 to S3 they should cover almost everything in the curriculum to the third level (set out in the Experiences and Outcomes materials), and start concentrating on the areas that work for them. The pattern does not need to be the same in every school or for every pupil, and we are encouraging schools to look at different ways of providing for the variety of pupils’ needs. Schools know their pupils, and Curriculum for Excellence is intended to give schools the flexibility they need to meet those pupils’ needs, by challenging them to do more and supporting them where needed.
For the new qualifications, the same principle of flexibility applies. The new qualifications are being designed to build on all learning – instead of needing separate “courses” delivered over S3 and S4. Schools will be able to deliver the most appropriate provision for their learners to maximise progression and achievement. They could provide one and/or two year programmes of learning, with learners being presented when they are ready. Learners will have the opportunity to develop at different rates, at different times, in different areas/subjects across the curriculum. The number and range of qualifications undertaken, as well as when they are undertaken, will be a matter for schools, education authorities, colleges, parents and young people to decide.
I hope that this reply provides a clearer answer to the questions that the parent concerned had raised.
Kind Regards
Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
simoncclark:
Thank you for your questions. I would like to reply to the points that you raise in turn.
In reply to your first question, the number and range of qualifications undertaken will be a matter for schools, education authorities, colleges, parents and young people to decide. With increased flexibility and building on their learning in S1-S3, young people are likely to study up to eight subjects/qualifications from S4 depending on their needs and aspirations. The qualifications are designed to maintain breadth in the curriculum throughout the senior phase of S4-S6, and learning towards these could have been achieved prior to S4. Additionally, the increased flexibility would allow the most able young people to bypass National 4 and National 5 and begin studying for their Highers in S4. It could avoid an unnecessary layer of assessment and encourage young people to focus on learning at the higher levels.
In relation to your second question, in terms of their credibility, the new qualifications at National 4 and National 5 will not be low status. Whilst there will be no external assessment or grading at National 4, SQA will provide external quality assurance, including external verification, to ensure consistent national standards in assessments.
Teacher assessment is already an established feature of National Qualifications and will also feature as part of the National 5 qualification. Teaching staff will use SQA assessments and quality assurance processes to ensure maintenance of national standards.
Teacher assessment increases flexibility in course delivery since teaching staff and young people do not have to plan their learning around the timing of the SQA examination diet. It allows teaching staff to adapt assessment in ways that suit learner’s choices and interests and so increase personalisation and the relevance of assessment and learner motivation. It keeps assessment approaches 3 -15 and the early stages of the qualifications framework consistent and will ease the transition into qualifications for young people. An external exam at this level would be an unnecessary hurdle for most young people and would constrain their progress in learning.
However, the external assessment at National 5 provides a useful experience for young people and adult learners in preparing them for examinations at level 6 (Higher). Overall, the qualifications are designed with an increasing level of external assessment as learners progress through the qualifications framework.
To answer your third question, whilst the new National 4 and 5 qualifications will not be introduced until 2013-14 onwards, we want to make sure that parents, pupils and schools are kept up to date with the development of the new qualifications, so that by the time young people come to take the qualifications from 2013-14, you will be fully aware of the new arrangements.
As development work on qualifications progresses, information will be regularly provided on the SQA and Curriculum for Excellence websites. Proposals for new courses are due to be posted on the SQA website from July and interested individuals and organisations will be encouraged to input their views.
In the meantime, for further information on the qualifications development process and proposed implementation timelines see http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/38539.2272.html
Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning
My son was given one of these letters at school even though he is only going into P5.
What was the purpose of the unused first class stamp? This is a prime example of wastage at its best. Letters can easily be circulated by giving them to children at school to pass to parents. If you are worried about it not getting through, then at least use a second class stamp.
The content of this communication filled me with horror. It demonstrates dumbing down of our education system at its finest.This “curriculum” will come back to haunt you in about 10 years time. The idea of applied learning is fantastic, but if you don’t have the basic knowledge of a subject then you’re not going to be able to apply it to anything.
For exmple:”Physics has moved on from learning the electromagnetic spectrum.”
Does the EM spectrum now not exist in Scotland by some strange new law of Physics which you have discovered? If the basics of this are not taught, then what hope have you of appying it to things such as communications technology, microwave technology, infrared technolgy, LASER technology, x-ray technology and nuclear tecnology etc etc?
Education is like building a house- if the foundations aren’t right, the rest of the construction is rubbish.
“English is more than essay writing”- agreed, but much of everyday study in tertiary education involves report writing, and essays under exam conditions, and many jobs require regular written reports. You can’t just have all the “touchy feely stuff” without the basics.
Our local secondary schools are now asking children to choose their options in January of FIRST YEAR- they are making decisions on subjects they have never been taught, and are having their choices limited by whether or not there are enough teachers available! The science department which is one of the best in the country is having to ditch a teaching method which is tried and tested and works for all abilities.
You would have done better to simply invest time and money ensuring that children come out of primary school with a good standard of reading and writing which is the only real foundation for a good education,as so many are lost within the system.
I’ll finish by asking you this: When did Scotland last produce a scientist of international repute?
Oh, and what will happen to qualifications acheived in 6th year. In the 1980’s when I sat CSYSs they were equivalent to first year university- is that still the case?
nt:
Thank you for your comments.
We decided to distribute the leaflets with 1st class postage as we wanted to enable schools to get these important information leaflets out as quickly as possible to all parents and carers of pupils on the point of making the key transition to secondary education. We didn’t want to assume that schools would be able to make their own arrangements to distribute these before the end of term nor burden them with any additional costs.
You raise some very important points about the importance of ensuring that children and young people achieve the foundations of reading and writing. I want to assure you that raising standards in both literacy and numeracy is central to Curriculum for Excellence. This will drive forward improvements in teaching and learning to ensure our young people have the skills they will need for learning, life and work.
Let me also assure you that subjects remain an important part of the core curriculum, and Curriculum for Excellence is not weakening this subject base. In particular, I want to address some of the points you raise about science. The reference in my letter to the example of moving on from learning the electromagnetic spectrum is not about moving away from learning the basic laws of physics but changing how our children and young people learn about these. As you rightly point out understanding important scientific concepts is key to many applications of science but children and young people need to see these in a context which they can relate to. The Experiences and Outcomes set out how pupils will learn about science under Curriculum for Excellence. They are designed to present science in a fresh and inspiring way, related to the real world.
A vibrant science research base and a skilled scientific workforce are key to the Government’s vision for Scotland. Today’s pupils are the scientists and engineers of tomorrow and improving children and young people’s experiences of science is a key priority.
Last year we hosted a Schools Science Summit to look at ways of improving children and young people’s learning motivation and achievement in science; and most recently in March this year we launched a Science and Engineering Action Plan (Science and Engineering 21 – An Action Plan for Education in the 21st Century) which set out a range of actions to improve science education including proposals to involve role models in the classroom to bring a real life dimension to science.
To answer your question about courses of study in 6th year.
Advanced Higher qualifications are currently studied in S6 and intended to provide students with greater depth of study and experience of independent learning than is available at Higher level.
Advanced Highers provide a bridge between the class-based learning, typical of Highers, and the more self-motivated and proactive type of study necessary at college or university. Studying for Advanced Highers brings young people the rewards of intellectual challenge, the opportunity to deepen their knowledge and develop higher-level skills such as research and analysis, extended essay-writing and investigation techniques.
Both Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications remain highly regarded across the range of public opinion, including parents, employers, universities and young people and adults themselves. Under Curriculum for Excellence these qualifications will remain but will be reviewed and revised to ensure that they provide good progression from National 4 and 5 and reflect the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
I hope that you find this response clarifies the points that you have raised.
Michael Russell Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning
I wanted to read the ‘Letter to P7 Parents’ but the link does not appear to be working.