First Minister marks the new school year
Pupils the length and breadth of Scotland are returning to school this week to start the new academic year.
We have transformed Scottish education for the better with the rollout last year of Curriculum for Excellence to all secondary schools. We want to build on that success for 2011-12 as we move towards implementing the new National qualifications, beginning in two years time.
We are conscious of the importance of keeping parents engaged during in a time of change, and work is ongoing to ensure that they and other key stakeholders get the kinds of user-friendly information they need regarding the curriculum and the new qualifications.
To mark the new school year, today I visited the brand new state-of-the-art Carnegie Primary School in Dunfermline, built as part of the council’s ‘Building Fife’s Future’ programme.
The school has a range of environmentally sustainable design features, including its own wind turbine, combined heat and power plant and rainwater harvesting. This is a prime example of the kind of innovative, sustainable learning environments that we want to see more of around the country. The latest figures show that more pupils than ever are being taught in good quality accommodation and I am determined to see the situation improve further.
The Scottish Government is providing £800 million of investment towards Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme, which will see at least 55 schools built or substantially refurbished across the country.
Work is already underway, and I look forward to seeing the results of this vital work in the coming months and years.
I would like to wish every pupil – whether they’re just starting their school journey, or about to finish it – every success as they continue their education under Curriculum for Excellence.
10 comments
I have just tried to get to grips with cfe and to be frank I am absolutely horrified. The materials are unclear, full of jargon and full of double speak.
My daughter will be in the first wave of children to go through this process. It is a disgrace that the course is not yet complete and yet she will be expected to pick up the pieces as it emerges.
Its clear that schools are in no way ready for this – my daughter doesnt really get homework, there is no direction from the school and its clear that teachers havent got a clue whats going on.
These websites are terrible – misleading, difficult to make comments and I have no hope of feedback.
My daughter is utterly confused and cant tell me how all this is going to work and having read some of the materials how can I blame her.
This is a shambles of disasterous proportions – populated by a world of faceless bureaucrats filled with their own sense of self importance using a language all of its own.
It isnt acceptable and I want to understand how my daughter and I will be guided through this mess to ensure my daughter actually gets an education and attains qualifications which are properly recognised and worthwhile? Right now all this is is a mess.
It will be no consolation but CfE started impacting on Secondary school children with the 2010-2011 cohort!
For what it’s worth some of the elements of CfE that the First Minister claims have “transformed Scottish education for the better” include:
*Teachers have been encouraged to be more adventurous and take greater risks in their teaching. Unfortunately, HMIE still hammer any schools / teachers which do not come up to their ideal of what “good teaching” is. Alarmingly, when HMIE were sent to schools to informally discuss progress it turned into an information-gathering exercise so the inspectors could try and guess what CfE actually meant in a school situation!
*Upcoming National Qualifications will not be “beginning in two years time”, they actually need to launch in 2012. Such significant qualifications should, of course, have highly developed, clearly laid out syllabi already in the hands of teachers so they can plan and develop the materials need. Feel free to go to the SQA website where you will find an alarming absence of such detailed material. In this respect, as in so many, it’s not that “teachers haven’t got a clue whats going on” in any other sense than they have been let down by a succession of Cabinet Secretaries, the SQA and so on.
*Effective moderation of the current vague conceptions of CfE achievement : secure etc are allegedly met by the National Assessment Resource (NARs) – this is not the case – NAR is varied collection of examples NOT national standards. Local authorities may implement their own assessment moderation (three levels of achievement / progress is a VERY blunt tool) but that will give no confidence in equality of learning and assessment throughout Scotland
*Ultimately you are absolutely correct, “It isn’t acceptable”, and if you look back through the comments you will see that many agree with you. Many cohorts of children are suffering and will suffer educationally despite the best efforts of teachers to try and ameliorate the worst excesses of this classic example of a good theory put into bad practice by a succession of politicians of various political stripes. Scariest of all is that too many of these politicians have too much invested to do anything but grin and push on despite the impending icebergs.
I completely agree with pgallagher from paisley about how terrible the new curriculum for excellence is.
I work in a school and see the effect it is having on staff and pupils. The moral of the teachers is unbelievably low. They have no idea what the benefits are going to be for the pupils if there are actually going to be any. There is next to no homework for my child and sits very little tests apart from being assessed on poster work. How does that prepare them for sitting proper exams later on!!! The curriculum hasn’t even been written in some cases so how are the teachers ment to be prepared for the year ahead.
Are these new qualifications going to be worth the paper they are written on or are you going to find out later that this has been a complete waste of time and revert back to the old system which was actually working.
Why change what is already working.
I am sorry you feel this way. Surveys have shown strong parental support for CfE. Schools are working hard on it and teachers are very engaged.
If there is a particular problem in your area, then I would like to hear about it as I have repeatedly stressed the need for Government to offer help on CfE wherever it is needed. Please email me on cabsecell@scotland.gsi.gov.uk and I will try and provide assistance.
Michael Russell
Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning
According to two recent Scottish Parent Teacher Council Surveys:
*There is “No consensus on the benefits of CfE” [12/08/11]
*”78% [of parents surveyed] lack confidence in the new qualifications framework” [29/08/11]
It would be interesting to know what surveys the Cabinet Secretary refers to, the mode of questioning and the survey sample.
I do not think that anyone could disagree that schools are working hard on it – the lack of clarity and clear materials has meant schools have had to work VERY hard (on top of all the other work and almost constant sniping from COSLA to boot – not good for morale) and still with no guarantee that it will be acceptable to HMIE
Teachers are engaged, although I believe that a significant majority are engaged much as the French and Poles were engaged by the German Blitzkrieg in the late 1930’s : under attack, tired, constantly trying to plan for circumstances beyond their control and with a growing sense of unease that they and their students are encircled and doomed!
Finally, for the Cabinet Minister to try and particularise parental concerns by intimating the problems are to do with a a particular region / education authority / school suggests stunning myopia or the beginnings of a witch hunt; either are increasingly common from on high when parents and educational professionals dare to question or raise concerns – hardly following best CfE practice in encouraging questioning minds!
I would have to disagree with the statement “strong parental support”, as a parent of three children, one of whom is going to be a guinea pig for the CfE, I would say strong parental confusion is closer to the truth. My daughter who will be in this guinea pig year, is not clear on how this directly affects her. She is unsure whether she gets the right to choose her subjects going in to S3 or not due to conflicting stories. Are we going to produce a batch of pupils who will end up in no mans land educationally when this ‘plan’ fails and the educational system is changed at a later date to resemble something we already have but with a nice shiny title. Coming from old school education where right and wrong (especially spelling) and competitiveness were held in high regard i cannot believe some of the things my daughters tell me about their education and the methods employed to deliver it. CfE seems to be even more woolly and looks set to fail, even comments on this site from teaching staff would appear to bear this out.
Regards
Well it’s been a week and still no reply from the Cabinet Secretary about the survey data supporting his statement – quick to try and hunt down a school not organising pep rallies for CfE tho!
Once again – what surveys does the Cabinet Secretary refer to, what mode of questioning was used and the nature of survey sample?
At least the Minister for Learning and Skills identified the survey he used so the weaknesses in his interpretation could be verified – what a good sport!
Here are links to the two Scottish Parent Teacher Council surveys referred to above.
http://bit.ly/nVnaCx
This is a small survey and the results are mainly positive. We have taken note where concerns are raised. We will build on this by continuing to provide information to parents, pupils and others, and our active dialogue with them will pick up areas where further information is needed.
http://bit.ly/pPYiUG
Again, only a small survey. Shows that most respondents are aware of changes to qualifications.
The two recent SPTC surveys may be small but they reflect the concerns of parents ACTIVELY involved with schools and the welfare of their children. To dismiss them and suggest it’s just about the need for ‘further information’ is to miss the point- these genuine concerns are the result of informed observations and judgements made by parents.
Very disappointed to receive this: “Ministers may not give a personal reply to every query, especially if an answer has previously been provided or other information has been made available”.
NO answer has ‘previously been provided’ as to where the Cabinet Secretary got his evidence to say “Surveys have shown strong parental support for CfE” and NO relevant ‘other information’ either. Ergo fails to match the magic criteria for non response.
There is no need for a ‘personal reply’, a public statement will do! If the Cabinet Secretary cannot support his statement have the courage to say so.