The Kintyre Forum

CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE TO BE BROUGHT TO LIFE FOR PARENTS

Teachers in Argyll and Bute will soon be using a new toolkit to help explain changes to the school curriculum to parents.

The resource aims to give parents and carers more information about how the new curriculum will affect their children and how they can get involved.

Schools in Argyll and Bute are currently preparing and developing their plans for implementation of Curriculum for Excellence in August 2010. This resource lets teachers show parents examples of how learning will change with film clips, images and slides to bring it to life.

Leaflets have also been developed for parents which explain each level - early years, primary and secondary. In addition, posters have been printed for school notice boards and sent to every school.

Councillor Isobel Strong, Argyll and Bute’s spokesperson for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “I am delighted that this toolkit is now being rolled out. Curriculum for Excellence represents a significantly different approach to the way in which learning and teaching has traditionally been carried out, and it is very important that parents understand the changes and what they are designed to achieve.

“I am sure parents in Argyll and Bute will welcome both the information itself and the fact that they will largely be hearing it from the teachers themselves, who will of course be at the forefront of delivering the Curriculum for Excellence.”

Education Secretary Michael Russell has urged teachers to take advantage of the new resource to update parents on the Curriculum for Excellence.

Mr Russell said: "As changes to learning and teaching begin to take place in schools around Scotland, we know parents want to hear more about what's going on.

“Our research shows that they want to hear from those who are teaching their children. That's why we've worked with parents and teachers to put together a flexible toolkit - containing film clips, case studies, and a bank of slides to make sure teachers can feel confident explaining the changes.

"I'd encourage headteachers and teachers to think about when is best to talk to their parents about these changes, perhaps at an upcoming parents evening, and use the parts of this toolkit they feel will work best for them.”

Gerry McTiernan, a member of the National Parent Forum, said: "We are embracing exciting times in Scottish education. Parents need and want to be part of this welcome development and we look forward to Curriculum for Excellence giving all our children a better education and better opportunities. I hope the new toolkit will encourage schools and parents to take Curriculum for Excellence forward together."

The resource was developed following research which showed parents want more information about Curriculum for Excellence from teachers and their child's school. The toolkit was developed by Learning and Teaching Scotland with the National Parental Involvement Coordinator, parents, headteachers, teachers, and council staff across Scotland.

Parents should ask their child’s school for more information on the new curriculum or visit www.parentzonescotland.gov.uk

Bernard McLeary, Chief Executive of Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), the education body that led on the production of the Parent Toolkit, said : “The aim of this resource is to provide teachers with the confidence to engage with parents about Curriculum for Excellence and help them understand the positive impact that the new education system will have on their children. I’m confident that the Parent Toolkit will play a key role in ensuring that all Scotland’s parents are fully up to speed with the implementation of the new curriculum.”

The Parent Toolkit can be viewed online at www.curriculumforexcellence.org.uk

Interesting article and readers comments in this piece in the Scotsman. Not sure what to think about CfE? Is the example highlighted below really from the architects of CfE, if so how can teachers ever prep for that - where are the boundaries?

http://www.scotsman.com/education/John- ... 6488196.jp


AS WE celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Reformation, one of its lasting legacies is being destroyed. Scottish education, once the envy of the world, is being wrecked by an outdated and discredited educational theory.

Pupils just starting back at school are guinea pigs in this back-to-the-future experiment branded "Curriculum for Excellence". Now, just as you should never play cards for cash against a man called Doc, you should never trust a politician who comes selling "excellence". What they offer is invariably the very opposite.

What is being done in our schools is a massive act of vandalism, and those first to suffer will be the least academically able. For, in the guise of modernisation, public exams at 16 are being abolished. In place of Standard Grades will be teacher assessments.

So, pupils who leave school at 16 will have nothing that independently validates what they have learned. This is already one of the costliest decisions that a young person can make, but at least they might have some paper qualifications to take to an employer - or to use when they return to learning. Now they'll just get a note from the dominie. What an appalling prospect.

For those who stay on it's little better, for they are going to be taught through topics. Yes, those staples of primary school education - the Romans, the Stewarts, the Egyptians - are not going to be left behind with childish things, they will dog pupils till they get to university. Academic subjects for teaching are being abolished. Of course, Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) call it "inter-disciplinary" education, but it will be topics for sure.

Here's their helpful example: "In modern studies a group might be exploring issues about a disaster that's in the news such as an earthquake. If it's in another country, there is potential for links to geography to study the area. Physics could look at natural forces that caused the disaster. The relevant language class might explore expanding vocabulary and reading foreign language newspapers covering the news. ICT could look at communication systems used."
more - http://www.scotsman.com/education/John- ... 6488196.jp

As a parent of a child starting Campbeltown Grammar this session, I am becoming extremely concerned of those very points. When she leaves school what will she have? Unlike her brother and sister, she will not be sitting standard grades (or so I believe). I think they are able to sit Higher's in 5th and 6th year but the majority of exams qualifications with be Intermediate grades. What worries me is that employers or further education establishments will not understand these changes either, limiting these kids when applying for positions.

As a parent how do I help her in her education when nothing seems to be structured. It seems to read like they will be carrying out 'projects' bringing in all the usual subjects when they are relevant, but surely this will lead to confussion and missed sections of important information.

I may be wrong and I will reserve judgement, but I am worried that this experiment will affect my child and her peers for their future in education.

This is a bit of an 'in-joke' for teachers ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfBgImjQDhw

partly in response to the green folders sent to every teacher in Scotland outlining the whole CfE framework.

Here's their helpful example: "In modern studies a group might be exploring issues about a disaster that's in the news such as an earthquake. If it's in another country, there is potential for links to geography to study the area. Physics could look at natural forces that caused the disaster. The relevant language class might explore expanding vocabulary and reading foreign language newspapers covering the news. ICT could look at communication systems used."

Maybe this will make some subjects more relevant and connected, as I remember thinking how dry and bitty a lot of learning was when I was growing up?

Sadly, I don't think that the Scottish educational system has been the envy of the world for some time. People are more likely to mention Sweden. I have been someone who has worked with the adults who have left school (some for many years) who have not learned to read and write enough to reach anywhere near the potential of their mental ability. This affects every aspect of these people's lives, and mostly leads them in to a lifetime of poverty. I have often thought of what a waste of some people's lives, who have been so badly let down by the Scottish education system. These people left school without a certificate to take to an employer.

I think that the Curriculum for Excellence is harder for the secondary schools to organise but I am hopeful that with more creative working and good teachers fewer pupils will be left behind. However, with increasing cuts to Education budgets and informal supports to young people, the potential for the Curriculum for Excellence to fail pupils is increased.