As a new nationwide campaign to recruit Children’s Panel members draws to a close shortly, people across Scotland are being called upon to apply if they think they have what it takes to help a child out of a dark place.

Scotland’s national poet, Makar Liz Lochhead is backing the recruitment drive with a new poem, written through the eyes of a troubled child.  The acclaimed poet has penned ‘Trouble is not my middle name’ to appeal to the 600 volunteers needed to ensure the system offers the best support to neglected, troubled and abused children across Scotland.

It is hoped the poem, which explores the feelings of a child in despair, will help attract the right type of individual, willing to make the commitment to help change the life of a vulnerable child in their area.

“Trouble is not my middle name / not who I am /If you help and care / real hope is there” - a bench, bearing these lines from the poem, was unveiled at Edinburgh’s Botanic Gardens by Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell, and current panel member, 23-year old Heather Scott, to launch the recruitment drive;

There are currently around 2,500 panel volunteers in Scotland who regularly attend hearings to address the needs and behaviour of children and young people who face serious problems in their lives.  These problems can include a child being abused, a child failing to attend school, the child’s parents having difficulty looking after them, or a child committing an offence.

No qualifications are needed as full training is given to help prepare panel members of the difficult decisions they will face.

To register your interest in becoming a panel member, call 0845 601 2770 or text PANEL 4 to 61611.  Further information on the Children’s Panel is available at www.childrenspanelscotland.org.

Related:
My experience – David Rundell, a recent recruit to the Children’s Panel.
My experience – Malcolm McGregor, on 15 years as a Children’s Panel member.

SQA have published the

The Draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher Courses define the mandatory assessment requirements for National Courses at Higher and ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year. They describe the structure of the relevant Higher Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

We’re still welcoming comments on the new qualifications, so if you have any feedback, please submit it via www.sqa.org.uk/haveyoursay or contact a member of the CfE Liaison Team.

If you want to find out more about the new National Qualifications, visit www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence

Scottish Qualifications Authority

A national event this week run by Education Scotland brought practitioners together to share knowledge, experience and ideas about how to do this. 

Here, Minister for Commonwealth Games and Sport Shona Robison talks about why it is important to develop a legacy for learning from the Games.

More information on the Games Legacy website.

Colleges will work more collaboratively within 12 regions, allowing them to plan regionally and deliver locally, Education Secretary Michael Russell said yesterday.

In a statement to Parliament, Mr Russell also welcomed reports on the governance of higher and further education and gave a commitment to taking the recommendations forward in consultation with the sectors.

In his statement, he said: “Our system of post-16 education serves young people in Scotland well. Our colleges and universities do a good job of equipping students with the knowledge and skills they need for the workplace. However that doesn’t mean we are complacent, we need to make sure our system is the best it can be.

I believe developing a regional basis for colleges will make the sector more efficient and responsive to the needs of students and local economies. This approach was proposed in two Scottish Government consultations last year and regionalisation has been strongly supported by the college sector and others in their responses.

I expect colleges to collaborate and plan together within 12 newly-created regions and I expect provision to continue to be delivered locally. We will now work with the sector and the Scottish Funding Council to put these new arrangements in practice.

I am also pleased to publish the reviews carried out by Professor Griggs and Professor von Prondzynski into further and higher education governance. There is much in both of these reports that makes sense and I believe they can help develop the way our institutions are managed.

I plan to take the recommendations of these reviews forward in discussion and consultation with the further and higher education sectors, as we reform post-16 education and put learners at the centre of our education system.”

You can see the new college regions here.
More information on the Higher and Further Education Governance reviews.

Related:
Engage – Post-16 Reform section.

New college regions:

- Highlands & Islands – will include Perth, Lews Castle, Orkney, Shetland, Inverness, Moray, North Highland, Argyll, and West Highland Colleges.

- Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire – will comprise Aberdeen, and Banff and Buchan Colleges.

- Fife – where we will see Fife, Adam Smith, and Carnegie Colleges, and the non land-based provision at Elmwood College.

- Tayside, of which Dundee & Angus Colleges will form part.

- Glasgow – a single region comprising Anniesland, North Glasgow, Stow, John Wheatley, Cardonald, Langside, City of Glasgow.

- West - Reid Kerr and Clydebank Colleges, and the Inverclyde campus of James Watt College.

- Ayrshire – will include Ayr, Kilmarnock, and the Kilwinning campus of James Watt College.

- Dumfries & Galloway – comprising Dumfries & Galloway College.

- Borders – comprising Borders College.

- Lanarkshire – will comprise Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Motherwell, and South Lanarkshire Colleges.

- Edinburgh & Lothians – Jewel and Esk, Stevenson, Telford and possibly West Lothian Colleges.

- Central – Forth Valley and possibly West Lothian.

Education Secretary Michael Russell announces new college regions.
Governance reviews of both higher and further education were also recently published.

Latest Post-16 Reform:
For all the latest news and updates on Post-16 Reform see the following resources.
Engage For Education – Post 16 section.

At the request of the Scottish Government in June 2011, Professor von Prondzynski of Robert Gordon University and Professor Russel Griggs, chair of the board of Dumfries and Galloway College, began two reviews of the governance of Higher and Further Education.

Coinciding with Education Secretary Michael Russell’s statement on college regions yesterday, they and their review panels have now made the following recommendations:

Higher Education Governance Review (full report here)
The Higher Education Governance Review by Professor von Prondzynski contains recommendations including:

- The Scottish Parliament should enact a statute for Scotland’s higher education sector setting out the key principles of governance and management.

- A Scottish Higher Education Forum should be established, convened by the Scottish Funding Council and chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning.

- The chair of the governing body should be elected, thus reflecting the democratic ideal of Scottish higher education electing chairs of court (recommended by a majority, one member dissenting).

Further Education Governance Review (full report here)
The Further Education Governance Review by Professor Griggs contains recommendations including:

- A move to a regional structure of colleges and a set of proposals for regional governance.

- The removal of a rule debarring people over 70 from being appointed to the governing body of a college.

- The Scottish Government establishes its own leadership and strategic guidance of the sector through the creation of a new FE Strategic Forum.

These recommendations will now be considered in the context of the wider reforms of post-16 education. You can follow the progress of that here and on the discussion hash tag #Post16Reform.

Education Secretary Michael Russell announces new college regions.
Governance reviews of both higher and further education were also recently published.

Latest Post-16 Reform:
For all the latest news and updates on Post-16 Reform see the following resources.
Engage For Education – Post 16 section.

With only one week of the Children’s Panel recruitment campaign to go, current panel member Malcolm McGregor describes his experiences. 

He explains, “I heard about the Children’s Panel recruitment campaign on the radio and with my children growing up I had time to volunteer. I was looking for something to do in my local area and felt that I could really help to make a difference to the lives of children living in my community.

“There are great rewards to being a panel member. Not only do you get to see the difference that your help has made to children and the benefits that they can reap through the process but it also helps you to grow as a person. I’ve taken a huge amount of personal benefit from becoming a panel member.

“I’m a taxi driver so my time is flexible but my colleagues and family are very supportive. The panel is also very accommodating of my availability. Sometimes they can ask you to come in at the last minute but you can say no if you are busy.”

“Panel members need to have good listening skills and must work well in a team. We need to work together to come to a decision which puts the child’s best interest first. 

“If you are considering volunteering as a panel member then I would recommend you go along to an open evening and speak to other panel members. They will be able to answer any questions you have and help you to decide whether the Children’s Panel is something you want to be part of.

“There are a lot of benefits personally and professionally for people who become panel members and I would thoroughly recommend it.”

Click here to view online videos and spend a moment in the shoes of the children that the panel helps every day and see how you can become a part of making their lives better by joining the Children’s Panel.

The

The sub-group’s membership includes a Headteacher, a Chartered Teacher, representatives from the GTCS, Association of Directors for Education Scotland and Deans of Schools of Education. It also includes representatives from Education Scotland and the Scottish Government.

The main focus of the sub-group concerns developing proposals on how:

- To shift the balance of professional learning to more collaborative and sustained approaches that centre on self-evaluation and outcomes for children.

- The intended outcomes of CPD can be identified and evaluated.

- On-line CPD becomes part of the blended approach for teachers.

- Priority areas can be identified and promoted at all levels.

- To build greater accreditation and Masters level credit into CPD; and to develop mentoring across the system.

We have drafted proposals and discussed them with key stakeholders. We held a seminar in December that was attended by around 60 colleagues from schools, universities, local authorities and other key stakeholders in Scottish education. We have also visited schools to discuss the proposals directly with practitioners. Our next steps will be to refine the proposals, considering the feedback we have received, and add more detail.  The Sub-group is meeting early in February to do this.

We are due to report back to the National Partnership Group in June with our detailed proposals. Between now and June we will continue to disseminate and discuss our work with practitioners and key stakeholders. 

There will be another post next month from colleagues involved in the National Partnership Group providing more information on another area of its work.  In the meantime we would be pleased to hear any of your comments via this blog or you can send them to the National Partnership Group at NPGTeacherEducation@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

Professor Kay Livingston,
Chair Sub-Group 2,
National Partnership Group

Engage Section – Teaching Scotland’s Future (#TeachScotFut)
Get the latest updates and more on the background to Teaching Scotland’s Future via our dedicated section, including a timeline of events and plans for future updates and Q and A’s with the sub-groups involved in the report.

Follow @EngageForEd on twitter or ‘like’ us on Facebook for live news/updates. The twitter hash tag for discussion around this topic is #TeachScotFut.

With 16 categories ranging from Active Nation, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Schools to Teacher of the Year and Lifetime Achievement, the awards celebrate success and recognise the dedication shown by schools, teachers and education supporters across the country.

Last year, Hamilton teacher Christine Emmett achieved success as Teacher of the Year in the Scottish awards and went on to win the title at UK level.

Nominating couldn’t be easier. Just go to the Scottish Education Awards website, browse through the awards categories and criteria and complete the application form.

Nominations are open until March 2, 2012, so get your votes in now!

See all the different categories here.

Last week we introduced you to the Children’s Panel recruitment campaign, with a week to go until the campaign ends we would like to introduce you to a recent panel member, David Rundell.

Having recently retired, David joined the panel 6 months ago and here he gives an insight into what it takes to be a Panel member and an overview of the training he undertook. We hope that David’s experience encourages you too to be a part of the Children’s Panel.

David Rundell
David, aged 63 from Blackhall in Edinburgh, is retired and has been helping vulnerable children in the local community for over six months as a Children’s Panel member.

He completed the new member training in April and sat on his first hearing session in May.  He explains, “I applied for the panel a few years ago but it wasn’t the right time.  As I retired in 2009 I now have more time to devote and I’m pleased I waited as is it is a role that you need to commit to. 

I’m a parent and I’ve always been interested in helping children.  I was on the school PTA and the School Board so getting involved in the Children’s Panel was a natural follow on from that. 

Joining the Children’s Panel is not something to be taken on lightly.  The training is very good but it is challenging.  It’s very interactive and participatory.  You learn a lot from working as part of a group and you need to actively take part.  Every new member is nervous at their first hearing but you really are very well trained for the role. 

The pre-service training is quite a lot and takes up about seven days over weekends in the first four months, together with four evenings and some day-time panel observations.   The weekends are very intensive and sessions last from 9am until 5pm with guest speakers and lectures.  About 80 per cent of the course is role play and case studies, which is great.  You do study some of the legal background behind the system but it’s presented in a way that is practical and relevant.

If you’re interested in becoming a panel member then go for it!  If you‘ve thought about it then do take the next step and find out more.  The training will help you overcome any doubts you have and bring out all the skills you need.”

To register your interest in becoming a panel member, call 0845 601 2770 or text PANEL 4 to 61611.  Further information on the Children’s Panel is available at www.childrenspanelscotland.org.