Class Differences

How School is Set to Change

Education, education, education...it's what politicians talk about and parents fret about. But what's changing in Scotland's schools, and how can we learn more about what's happening?
In this special report, Scotland Parent puts the Curriculum for Excellence under the spotlight, hears a teacher's point of view and a parent’s, and also looks at how to find additional learning support for our children.

CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE

What's the future for early years, primary and secondary education in Scotland? Three words: Curriculum for Excellence. The phrase you have heard before, but what does it actually mean for your children? So what's happening now?  And do the views of parents count? Scotland Parent talked to Dan McGinty, team leader of the engagement team for Curriculum for Excellence at Learning and Teaching Scotland, to find out.

First things first - what exactly is Curriculum for Excellence?
Curriculum for Excellence is the first full-scale review of the curriculum in Scotland.  
It will create a single, streamlined curriculum for all children and young people between the ages of three and 18.
It's building on the good things that are already going on in education in Scotland and offering greater choice and opportunities for pupils and more freedom for teachers to do what they do best. Curriculum for Excellence aims to create confident individuals,
successful learners, responsible citizens and effective contributors and equip children and young people with the skills needed for life and work in the 21st century.

What will happen over the next school session?
Guidelines for the outcomes and experiences that children will work towards will be shared with schools, parents and the public during 2007-08. Some outcomes for science were released in March and the next phase will focus on the rest of the science outcomes, numeracy and modern foreign languages. Other areas of the curriculum will be shared throughout the next academic year.  Parents can keep up to date with the release of outcomes and experiences and new developments at the website at
www.curriculumforexcellence.gov.uk.

How can parents get involved?
The impact of Curriculum for Excellence will be significant and parents want to understand what the changes mean for their children. The proposals will directly influence the learning experiences of their children, which we want to be enjoyable, challenging, and involve a range of activities within and beyond the classroom.  We understand that  parents value information not from faceless people in Glasgow or Edinburgh but from their own school, so we're preparing information that will be distributed to schools and community education centres. We also have a dedicated online newsletter that is available with further information at
www.curriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk/resources/newsletters.asp.

How to find out more:
1. Visit www.curriculumforexcellence.gov.uk. Dan McGinty recommends parents read the sections on Building the Curriculum 1 and 2.
2. Ask for more details from your child's school.  The Curriculum for
Excellence engagement team visits schools and local authorities across Scotland.  Your child's headteacher can give you details of their involvement in your local area.
3. If you need more information or have a specific question you can
contact Learning and Teaching Scotland by email at enquiry@ltscotland.org.uk.

FROM A TEACHER'S PERSPECTIVE 
Marj Adams, principal teacher, Forres Academy

I suppose in some respects no one can quibble with the aims of the Curriculum for Excellence - they are admirable, if a little bland. The
issue is how can they be implemented? Most local authorities are tinkering round the edges of the ideas. Over the last few years there
have been a huge number of initiatives regarding teaching and learning strategies, but the problem is that these excellent strategies are not taken on board nationwide, so many pupils and teachers do not benefit from them. The Labour administration produced the documentation for the Curriculum for Excellence. Will it definitely be maintained by the SNP?
Curriculum changes happen very slowly. There are so many stakeholders to take into account that parents will not be met with sweeping changes overnight. At the end of the chain, for example, are universities and colleges - what do they expect from their
undergraduates? Schools are slow to change - some secondary schools, for instance, still compel S.5/6 pupils to take English and maths even although universities no longer, as a rule of thumb, require these subjects. I don't think that parents will see major changes in the next academic year. Initiatives published on the Learning and Teaching Scotland website are fine but could have happened without the Curriculum for Excellence.
Good teachers have always been aware of the need to develop the capacities of their pupils as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors to wider societies. The best teachers who taught me helped me to be
all of these things although they had never heard of today's Curriculum for Excellence.

ADDITIONAL NEEDS FOR LEARNING

Whether it's working out words or numbers, children can need extra help with education for all kinds of reasons. It may be that English is an additional language, they may have lost a parent and therefore a source of learning support at home, or they may have learning
difficulties. Whatever the reason, children and young people with additional support needs have a right to have these needs met. To find out what support parents and children can expect and are entitled to, we talked to Sally Cavers, senior development officer at Enquire, a Scottish advice service for additional support learning.

How has additional support for learning changed in recent years?
The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 was a very important new law, introducing the term 'additional support needs' which recognises the huge variety of reasons why children may need extra help with their education. It aims to help all children with additional support needs make the most of their education by placing new duties on educational authorities. It is too early to assess the full impact of this law but many examples of good practice can be found and over time we expect these examples to become common practice across Scotland.

What support is available?
Different kinds of support are available depending on your child's needs. Where possible, the support your child receives will be given
in ways that do not make them feel singled out. It should be a part of their everyday life at school. It is very important that as a parent
you are involved in the decisions that are made about your child's support and kept informed of your child's progress at school.
Your child may have a plan to make sure their learning needs are met and to arrange the support they receive. This plan may be called a personal learning plan (PLP), individualised educational programme (IEP) or co-ordinated support plan (CSP) depending on your child's
needs.

Different methods of support for learning:

* Changing the curriculum to suit your child's needs
* Individual or small group teaching
* Group work support in the school
* Specific support from a classroom assistant, additional support
needs assistant or behaviour co-ordinator
* Support from a visiting teacher
* Adapting the school building
* Peer-support arrangements such as buddying, paired reading and circle time
* Teacher taking advice from a specialist
* Attending a special unit attached to the school
* Attending a special school

What can parents do if they think their child is not receiving adequate support?

If you are worried that your child is not receiving the help that
will allow them to get the most from their education you should:

* Talk to your child's teacher and tell them your concerns. It is
always helpful to outline where you feel your child is struggling and
to suggest other ways their needs could be supported. If you have done this and you still feel your child needs more or different support you should speak to the headteacher of your child's school.

* If you still have concerns once you have spoken to your child's
school you could contact a member of staff in your local authority who are responsible for support for learning in your area. You could ask Enquire who this would be.

* If this doesn't solve the problem, you could also consider
independent mediation. Independent mediation services must be
available under the Additional Support for Learning Act. It is a way

of resolving disagreements early on and would allow you to meet a
relevant person from your child's school or education authority to try
to agree a solution.

* If you wish to make a complaint you could ask your child's school or the council who this complaint should be made to. There are other formal ways to resolve disagreements about additional support for learning such as independent adjudication and the additional support needs tribunal for decisions related to a co-ordinated support plan.

How can Enquire help?

"We provide independent advice and information to families of children who need extra help at school, to children and young people themselves and to professionals who work on their behalf. Enquire offers:

* a telephone helpline and online enquiry service
* guides, factsheets and regular newsletters
* training and talks tailored to the needs of parents and professionals
* services for children and young people including workshops and
interactive pages on the website: www.enquire.org.uk

Contact Enquire:
Helpline number: 0845 123 2303
Textphone: 0131 222 2439
Online: www.enquire.org.uk

OUTDOOR LEARNING

A sturdy pair of wellington boots may soon become a basic part of the school uniform, as more schools take the classroom into the playground and beyond. Outdoor learning has traditionally been used for teaching geography and environmental topics, as well as more recent Eco Schools intitiatives. However, schools are now being encouraged to look at how outdoor learning can be used across the curriculum, from nursery to secondary school.
Balfron High School is one of around 20 schools and colleges piloting a rural skills course, through which pupils learn fencing, tree-planting, hedge planting and path work.
Falla Hill Primary School in Fauldhouse, West Lothian, has begun a Forest School with Forestry Commission Scotland, which means that P.6-7 spend every Wednesday in the woods for a structured day of learning.
Even little ones are wrapping up to take in the great outdoors. Red Squirrel Nursery by Liff, Dundee, includes regular nature adventures. Owner Jane Logie says: "We spend the majority of each day outdoors, where we cover all areas of the curriculum. We have a sensory garden, herb and vegetable garden, wormery and a red squirrel feeder, which a local countryside ranger recently put up during a visit. Even the babies get their waterproofs on to crawl around in the grass".