The Big Picture
People from across education, business and the voluntary sector met the new ministerial team to have their say on the future of Scottish education.
Education Secretary Michael Russell was joined by Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning and Skills, and Angela Constance, Minister for Children and Young People, and took part in a question and answer session with representatives from organisations covering every part of the education journey from the early years to university.
Listen to the Question and Answer session
Those in attendance included trade unions, charities, business leaders, local authorities, partner organisations, schools, colleges, universities as well as teachers, parents/carers and young people themselves.
Read tweets from the Big Picture event #engagebigpic on Twitter
15 comments
Will there be a transcript? The tweets, trendy as ever our Scottish Government are, fail to give real insight, beyond the chap who appears to have, or hopes for, an IT contract with Scottish Government tweeting about ‘our games design work exemplifying this’ – at least he got his free advertising plug!!
As ever, quality communication from our leaders.
Good to hear a positive response from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on the call to provide mandatory training on additional support needs for trainee teachers.
Pupils with additional support needs are five times more likely to be excluded from schools than pupils who do not have additional support needs. This needs to change. More training for teachers – specifially focused on learning disability and autism – would help them to support these pupils to
meet the challenges they face successfully within the learning environment
ENABLE Scotland, Scotland’s leading learning disability charity, has published a petition calling for this to happen. You can sign it here: http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/enablescotlandteach
We don’t plan to produce a transcript but you can listen to the whole Q&A session at the link above.
Shame about not producing a transcript, haven’t we got technology that will do that? Will we ever know how truly representative the ‘Big Picture’ was ? From the tweet the ‘Big Picture’ seemed more like the ‘Big Pep Rally’ for Mike & co.
As a representative of the third sector working in partnership with over 20 schools in the area of financial education, I would have liked to attend The Big Picture but was unaware of its existence until after the event. How can I ensure I can participate in any future consultations of this kind?
The Big Picture is the start of a process and there will be more engagement events held locally from the autumn and beyond. These will be widely publicised on this website nearer the time.
I was present at the Big Picture event, and my question, on the Future Management of Schools, was answered clearly and helpfully by the Cabinet Secretary. I think it is important to commend him, and the two Ministers in his Education Team, for being prepared to sit in front of an audience of a broad range of educationalists, united only by the strength of their personalities and their opinions, and take questions without prior knowledge for an hour. Judith McClure
Just listened to the introductory video – every sector mentioned except early years. Hope that is not a sign of things to come. Very keen to know what this governments plans are for putting teachers back into early years now they have a majority and cannot use minority government status as an excuse for not implementing manifesto promises.
Totally agree with Cabinet Secretary re mandatory training on additional support needs for trainee teachers.
Does the Cabinet Secretary believe that there should also be mandatory training in this area for trainee Early Years workers who are not teachers?
Not entirely sure how much commendation the Cabinet Secretary and his two Ministers really need considering answering questions from concerned members of the public, educationalists et al is, de facto, part of their job description. The issue is how broad a range of opinions and views were invited and what criteria were used for selection of those present.
The statement “People from across education, business and the voluntary sector met the new ministerial team to have their say on the future of Scottish education” appears to follow the usual practice, as evidence by review groups instituted by the Cabinet Secretary: careful selection to achieve the required answers. This is neither ‘having their say’ or debate, it is deliberate manipulation and alarmingly gauche at that!
The early years workforce who deliver services to our children and young people are at the forefront of Scottish Government policy. They are an essential part in the delivery of our Early Years Framework and are key to ensuring every child in Scotland has the best start in life and has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
We know that parents have a major influence on shaping a child’s life but we also recognise more than ever the importance of quality childcare and pre-school education. We know the quality of a service is directly related to staff and management qualifications. This is why registration of the early years and childcare workforce with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is based on required qualifications as part of our drive to raise standards. We need a flexible workforce that’s well trained and supported in a multitude of areas given the complexity of issues that may affect an individual child and their family. The workforce must have the right skills, knowledge and values to do the best job they can for our children and young people.
Angela Constance, Minister for Children and Young People
Should I interpret the Ministers post above as saying that mandatory training in ASN IS needed for early years workers?
How often should the Early Years Workforce training and qualification programme be reviewed to ensure that it meets fully the needs the service we want to provide?
Training in ASN may be necessary for workers in early years (and those working with children and young people of all ages). We’ve recently consulted on the content of a “common core” of skills, knowledge and professional values for this broad group of workers. A Working Group consisting of the General Teaching Council, Social Services Council and NHS Education for Scotland (amongst others) will consider the responses before reporting to me. An implementation plan will then be created which could consist of a range of actions including changes to National Occupational Standards, professional standards, qualifications, induction training and continuous professional development.
National Occupational Standards (NOS) set out the skills, knowledge and understand required to perform competently in the workplace, and form the basis of national qualifications such as SVQs. These standards are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they are relevant, ‘fit for purpose’ and meet employers’ needs. A review of the NOS in Children’s Care Learning and Development is currently underway.
Angela Constance, Minister for Children and Young People
Thank you for your reply. I note with interest that a review of the NOS in Children’s Care Learning and Development is currently under way. Can you tell me who is leading that review and how one might contribute to it?
You say training in ASN MAY be necessary for workers in early years, do you not believe that it IS necessary as there is no real pre service training currently.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is leading the review and more information can be found here. The SSSC held three initial events in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen but more are planned- please keep checking the website or contact the SSSC for more information.
Regarding ASN training, the Working Group I mentioned in my previous post will be reporting to me with their analysis of the consultation and so I can consider this point in more detail then.
Angela Constance, Minister for Children and Young People