my articles: connected

www.LTScotland.org.uk/connected

Follow the leaderFROM POLICY TO PRACTICE

connectedLEARNING AND TEACHING SCOTLAND | MOV ING EDUCAT ION FORWARD

Issue 20 | Spring 2008

The Scottish Learning Festival 2007

Scotland’s young entrepreneurs

The ICT challenge

On the moneyAll this hand-wringing must seem very dull to the average pupil in a Scottish classroom – indeed, it’s beginning to feel repetitive even to adults. For many young people, finance is for mum and dad to worry about. As long as the pocket money keeps coming and the latest gadgets appear under the tree at Christmas, they have no reason to worry about anything as boring as budgets and bills.

Yet as Scottish educationalists recognised years ago, finance is not boring. It affects everything from our emotional health, relationships and lifestyle choices to international politics, development and the environment. And if the current

O ne year since the nation woke to news of America’s financial woes, the headlines declaring an impending

recession are relentless. Analysts have long been touting the view that ‘if the US sneezes the UK catches a cold’ and the recent news on HBOS has shown that, contrary to popular belief, Scotland will by no means be immune. Rising petrol prices, falling house prices, the threat of fuel poverty and ever-tighter household budgets show that the economy is struggling.

generation has amassed record debt and economic instability, it’s crucial that the next generation is better prepared to make the right choices.

NOT JUST STANDING ORDERSEnter the Scottish Centre for Financial Education. Established in 2002 as part of Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), the Centre aims to support local authorities, schools and teachers to provide high-quality Financial Education for all their learners. The Centre is funded by a consortium made up of the Scottish Government, Financial Services Authority and industry partners including the Royal Bank of Scotland,

Who says finance is boring? A range of innovative resources and enterprise projects has schools adding up the benefits of Financial Education. Nicola More reports

connected | Autumn 2008

Prudential, Standard Life, Halifax Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Stirling Park.

The Centre has worked closely with these industry partners on the development of a series of award-winning and innovative classroom resources that deliver Financial Education in a way that is fun and relevant to children’s lives. As well as educating young people about the

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communicating the message, whilst

enterprise projects and memorable experiences such

as school trips also help to link the complexities of finance back to the real world in which children live.

“We could talk about the demutualisation of Standard Life from now until doomsday,” laughs Jim. “You have to start from where kids are and hook in to the things young people are interested in. For example, we might teach P2 children about vending machines, school dinners and how much they pay for snacks. Pupils in upper primary and early secondary could learn about the costs involved in running a mobile phone. By secondary, we can introduce classes around Fair Trade and economics.


practicalities of home finance – income tax, VAT, bills, direct debits, interest rates – the learning programmes also tie in closely with other areas of the curriculum, such as enterprise, trade, politics and more.

“We aim to improve financial capability against five key criteria,” explains Jim Lally, Director of the Centre. “We want young people to be better at keeping track of their finances, making ends meet, choosing products, planning ahead and taking a much greater interest in the financial economic world in which we live.

“One of the mantras we put forward is that teaching pupils Financial Education is much more than showing them the difference between a direct debit and a standing order. We want to improve young people’s financial capability as part of their general education. A lot of people don’t realise how Financial Education pervades

Pupils at Sunnyside Primary School in Glasgow got a taste of enterprise, social studies and employment thanks to Money Week.

Supported by Learning and Teaching Scotland’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education, Money Week is a themed week during which every class does some work on issues related to money. During the week, all aspects of the school curriculum link in to the central theme of developing financial capability.

Teachers at Sunnyside developed a range of money-related activities designed to suit each age group and to give as broad an experience of Financial Education as possible.

P1 and P2 pupils took part in role playing activities to develop their understanding of the value of money. The P1 pupils learned through their Pound Shop whilst the creation

of a Seaside Café showed P2 pupils how we use money. P3 pupils created charity boxes to raise funds for Yorkhill Children’s Hospital, which the school’s enterprise programme supports. Children were delighted to see how their money helped when they visited the hospital.

P4 and P5 each had a taste of the real world of finance, which came as quite a surprise! Pupils in P4 discovered that bikes are very expensive and set to work looking for the best deal, whilst P5 turned their group points into pounds for a weekly pay packet. They were very unhappy to see a tax deduction in their pay packet on Friday morning!

For the senior pupils in P6 and P7, Money Week provided an opportunity to learn about the cost of living. They discovered how to budget and also how to be wise to persuasive marketing language. The cost of a week’s food came as a surprise to many. The P7 pupils also took part in an enterprise project where they had to design, create and sell an item for profit.

At the end of Money Week, the classes treated the whole school to a slideshow sharing their activities. Plans are already under way for next year!

Money Week proves a rich experience for Sunnyside Primary

everything we do. We’re talking about attitudes, behaviours, values – things that are very central to education. It has to be cross-curricular and wide-ranging if it is to play a part in changing perceptions.”

THE BIG BAD WORLDThe Centre takes a variety of challenging and often surprising approaches to achieving this. For example, Jim and his team have found drama to be a powerful way of

Sunnyside Primary tots up the bill in its Seaside Café


“I don’t believe you can have financially capable young people unless they have an understanding of the big bad world in which we live. That’s part of being responsible citizens and even more crucial in the current financial climate.”

Part of educating young people about the “big bad world” is equipping them to look after their personal finances – ensuring they make wise decisions on products, find employment and have a firm grasp on the way that money can affect everything from their physical health to their mental wellbeing and relationships. “I’d like our young people to be as questioning out of school as they are in it,” says Jim. “I want them to be savvy consumers so they don’t let big corporations bully them, and it’s important that they think both about the effect their financial decisions have on others and the effect other people’s financial decisions might have on them.”

Yet as well as understanding finance in local, personal terms, Scottish school pupils are also discovering how money does indeed make the world go round. “This is an open-ended, distinctly Scottish approach to Financial Education that says ‘let’s take in the full world’” says Jim. “It leads on to discussions around Fair Trade, equal rights, international politics, sustainability and even gender issues. Children have an in-built sense of fairness and we can tap into that. I’ve already heard lots of kids talking about Primark using child labour. They hate that, and suddenly they see how finance can change lives for the better or worse.”

FINANCIAL INCLUSIONFor young people living in some of Scotland’s most disadvantaged areas, this will come as no surprise. One of the targets

Transition project adds up to success

of the Centre is to support the Scottish Government’s agenda in tackling financial exclusion. Development Officer Patricia Griffin works closely with Glasgow City Council in this area, and the Centre has developed resources to support the creation of credit unions in schools. Going one step further, the Centre team has even helped parents to fill in application forms for the Government’s Child Trust Fund.

“Research shows that people who come from less affluent backgrounds are often actually very good at making ends meet – probably because they have to be,” says Jim. “Despite that, we have whole swathes of Scotland where up to 50% don’t have a bank account or home insurance, and that means if disaster strikes they could lose everything. They’re also at risk of falling prey to doorstep lenders, who legally get away with charging 400% interest rates, and that’s dangerous territory. Less affluent communities might have third or fourth generation unemployment. To break these vicious cycles we have to try to help people to become more financially capable.”

However, Jim stresses that Financial Education is for everyone. Well-off parents of privately educated children do not necessarily discuss finance, and their comfortable living might mean their child does not understand the value of money. For that reason, the Centre treats private schools as the 33rd local authority. This universal approach also means the Centre does not concentrate Financial Education on qualifications. “Financial Education is for every child and we don’t want to risk excluding anybody,” says Jim. “Our resources are designed to be as accessible and flexible as possible and we even offer Gaelic versions, audio versions and sign language versions.”

A Financial Education project has eased the transition process for two schools in North Ayrshire.

Greenwood Academy and its feeder primary Dreghorn worked in partnership on a project called Mobile Madness. The project saw P7 pupils take part in lessons themed around mobile phones. Pupils were tasked with costing packages, looking at handset options, discovering what different individuals need from their phone and what they can afford to pay, then finding the most suitable deal.

Mobile Madness starts in the summer term of P7 and continues in the autumn term of S1, introducing a level of stability into the challenging transition process. Teachers from Greenwood make regular visits to Dreghorn so pupils see a familiar face when they start secondary school.

“With Curriculum for Excellence focusing on the 3–18 age group, the idea is that transitions should be seamless,” explains Frances McGrane of LTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education. “The new curriculum says that children should be taught what they need to know, and in today’s climate they need to know about money. Through that they discover global citizenship, enterprise and social studies. It makes learning relevant to the pupils and it’s wonderful to see them so engaged.”

KEY STATISTICS

A massive 120 primary schools across Glasgow

– and many more nationally – now take part in Money Week

(source: Scottish Centre for Financial Education)


CHANGING ATTITUDESThe aim is to engage every pupil, helping to prepare the next generation and change attitudes and behaviours. Prepared improvisations have proved a very effective way of achieving this, as Bannerman High School in Glasgow discovered. The Learning and Teaching Scotland film crew attended

the school to film a series of drama sessions exploring various financial scenarios. In one improvisation, pupils acted out the role of a father who had been pretending to go to work despite having lost his job, and the argument that ensued when his wife discovered he had turned to gambling as a solution. Another school re-enactment focused on a single mum who struggles to meet her children’s demands after she loses her job. In this improvisation, the mother’s children realise the error of their ways when their friends tell them they’re being selfish!

“What we have seen is their attitude to some of the more materialistic things in life begin to alter,” says Jim. “We have all heard about the ‘bank of mum and dad’. Many young people rely on their parents to dig them out of a hole and we want them to be more realistic in their expectations. We’re looking at things like pester power in the supermarket. Very few parents tell us their child understands the way money comes in and out of the household and it’s important that we open their eyes to the way the world works. Parents have an important role to play too and we’re working on involving them more.”

In many senses, the modern world has contributed to children’s lack of understanding where money is concerned. As Jim points out, the introduction of debit cards and cash-back means a child in a shop might see their parent hand over a plastic card and get it back along with their groceries and some more money! Meanwhile, internet banking contributes to a notion of money as somehow abstract and separate from the real world. Add to that the misguided perception that it’s rude to talk about money, and education has much work to do!

“There’s already some fantastic work under way at schools across Scotland,” says Jim. “The Scottish Government is carrying out an evaluation of Financial Education at present, the results of which are expected in November. That will give us some idea of the impact we are having. I expect the roll-out of Curriculum for Excellence to have a very positive effect. The outcomes on numeracy [see box], social studies and health and wellbeing will all feed in to pupils’ grounding in finance. What we are working towards is supporting the responsible citizens of tomorrow.”

Numeracy at a glance

Laying the foundationsChildren and young people need to be confident and competent in their numeracy skills to function responsibly in everyday life and contribute effectively to society. Strong skills in numeracy provide the foundations which can be built on through lifelong learning and in the world of work. Under the new curriculum, all teachers have responsibility for promoting the development of numeracy.

What it means for your schoolThe draft experiences and outcomes are designed to encourage imaginative ways of teaching and learning. Teachers and schools should ask themselves how they use numeracy in everyday life and what skills are important to them. This then offers examples of how to involve numeracy in their lesson. A PE teacher

can address distance as part of athletics or a home economics teacher as part of measuring. It is about building life skills in young people and making numeracy relevant. Teachers can collaborate with each other to develop links across the curriculum.

Key questions How well are our children progressing? Where do

development opportunities exist? How can we use the draft

experiences and outcomes to promote good practice? What development needs must we address? How can we build on current structures? What role will each department and teacher play? How can we engage parents and the community? How will we evaluate the impact of teaching numeracy across the curriculum?

Download the full draft experiences and outcomes at www.LTScotland.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence/outcomes/numeracy

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KEY STATISTICS

UK debt increases by £1m every five minutes (source: www.creditaction.org.uk)



Tina Livingston and Rona Doig of Standard Life reflect on their successful partnership with LTSIn recent years, debt has spiralled out of control, and our attitudes to debt are very different today than in the past. Finance has grown increasingly complex and many people find it confusing, so there is a need to get back to basics. The products may change but the fundamentals are the same – you need to have enough money to repay your loans.

Financial Education is about developing essential life skills. Regardless of what children do in life, they will have to manage money and be responsible. As part of Standard Life’s commitment to corporate social responsibility, if we can do anything to help develop the right attitudes in young people, we have a responsibility to do that.

To that end, four years ago we began to investigate how we could contribute more. We met with various internal and external parties, including Jim Lally of LTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education, to find out what was going on in terms of Financial Education. We wanted to see where the gaps were to understand how we could contribute. We discovered that although there was some fantastic work going on at secondary level, there was an opportunity to develop financial education in primary and early years. So we asked ourselves ‘how can we make Financial Education really exciting for young people?’

It’s our responsibility to help develop the right attitudes and behaviours

The national conference on Financial Education takes place in Edinburgh on 4 December – see the website for more details. www.LTScotland.org.uk/financialeducation

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FURTHER USEFUL LINKS

www.creditaction.org.uk for debt statistics

www.moneysavingexpert.com consumer advice from GMTV’s Martin Lewis

www.pfeg.org Personal Finance Education Group for the national picture

Find out moreLTS’s Scottish Centre for Financial Education offers a vast range of resources, information and inspiration for the development of Financial Education across Scotland. Key resources include:

MoneySense: an online resource developed and presented by the Royal Bank of Scotland, aimed at secondary pupils.

On the Money: four stories by four of Scotland’s top children’s authors. An award-winning resource developed in partnership with Standard Life.

Adding up to a Lifetime: an interactive resource which follows the lives of four animated characters from school to retirement. Developed in partnership with Prudential.

Money Week: building financial capabilities: primary focused CD-ROM based on a themed week where Financial Education takes centre-stage.

It offers a fun way to communicate

the key messages of financial education to primary school

pupils

Jim told us about Money Week, which we were happy to support. Our thoughts also turned to the potential of storytelling to engage pupils, and to our delight LTS shared our view, and began discussions with Scottish Book Trust. Out of those discussions came On the Money.

On the Money is a wonderful resource. It’s positive and engaging, offering a fun way to communicate the key messages of financial education to primary school pupils. It was very important to us that it was inclusive and accessible, so we developed Gaelic, sign language and audio versions. The resource also links in with ICT, with images available to download.

On the Money was developed in close consultation with teachers, who were pleased to see that it was both flexible and cross-curricular. The resource also proved a hit when we trialled it with pupils. We’re developing a Gaelic version of the book (the existing Gaelic edition is in audio only) and it will shortly launch in Northern Ireland.

Our partnership with Learning and Teaching Scotland shows how public, voluntary and private sectors can work together and produce really positive results.

On the Money was launched by LTS in partnership with Standard Life

A philosopher once said: “Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their

food, and tyrannise their teachers.” Sound familiar? It may sound like the favoured chant of 21st century media but in fact, the speaker was Socrates.

It is perhaps one of the earliest suggestions of teachers and parents being ‘in it together’. But far from being tyrannised by the nation’s youth, parents and teachers across Scotland are working in close partnership with pupils to develop an education that is meaningful and relevant to them. In doing so, they are strengthening family ties, encouraging greater community interaction – and having fun.

The notion of parents as partners in learning might be viewed as part of Scotland’s focus on holistic education. Just as Curriculum for Excellence embraces a broad definition of achievement, Parental Involvement recommends a partnership approach in delivering education.

It’s a strategy that Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop made clear in her speech at the recent National Conference: “I am keen to see parents supporting their children’s learning and ensuring that the parents’ voice is heard and can contribute to education policy,” she said. “To support this, we have a National Parental Involvement Co-ordinator, Lorraine Sanda, and we have a Field Team of three officers working with schools and local authorities.”


This follows the implementation of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006, which was made up of three key elements: the establishment of parent councils to replace the previous school board system, supporting learning at home, and developing home-school relationships.

“It’s about encouraging communication and ensuring that schools reflect the needs of parents,” explains Lorraine Sanda. “I hope that Scotland will be looked upon as an international leader in Parental Involvement.

“There remains the challenge to make it happen in all our schools and nurseries. We can’t change culture overnight but we are making good progress through our partnership approach. We are not trying to

Parents have an important role to play as partners in their children’s learning, and they’re making their voices heard all across Scotland. Connected reveals some success stories

Why ask the parents?

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make parents become teachers or teachers parents. Instead, we’re encouraging respect on both sides.”

BACK TO SCHOOLIf the first national conference for Parent Councils is anything to go by, parents are certainly keen to play their part. The conference, held by the Scottish Government and Learning and Teaching Scotland on 7 June, attracted 170 delegates from as far afield as Shetland and Dumfries

and Galloway. “It was a really successful event,” says Lorraine. “Parents are showing their interest, which creates a real buzz, and we have lots to work from.”

The role of the Parent Councils is to support the school by encouraging links between the school, parents, pupils, pre-school groups and the wider community. Of course, there are many levels of interest. Some parents are happy to do their bit to support the school through fundraising and community links, whilst others prefer

Scotland is an international leader in Parental Involvement. The challenge is to

make it happen in our clasrooms

Parental Involvement aims to give parents a voice and help them to support their child’s education

to support their child at home and attend parents’ evenings. Parental Involvement is about supporting parents in whichever level of activity they are most comfortable.

There are many examples of good practice emerging from across Scotland. St Paul’s High School in Glasgow has already revised its traditions to meet parents’ needs. Concerned by falling attendance rates at parents’ evening, the school introduced ‘parents’ week’. Instead of parents attending appointments with a number of teachers on one evening, one member of staff will report on a pupil’s progress in all areas, and the child is invited to attend. As a result of this greater flexibility, attendance by parents at school has doubled. This in turn supports the school’s goals as a school of ambition.


STRENGTHENING BONDSWhilst Parent Councils and parents’ evenings help engage the parent with the school, parental involvement must work in both directions. “Support for learning at home is a key challenge,” says Lorraine. “How do we link it in to what’s going on in schools? How do we cross that bridge?”

One means of bridging the learning is to invite parents to take a more active role in their children’s homework. At St Winning’s Primary School in North Ayrshire, a maths and language project has successfully linked home and school. The school has adopted a range of fun activities across the stages, including ‘mental maths homework’, in which parents of pupils in P1–P3 are given written instructions each Monday to lead their child’s mental arithmetic. This allows for self-assessment and parent comment.

The creation of a class book has also boosted pupils’ proficiency in languages. Each week, the class toy, Tommy Tiger, goes home with a different pupil, and both the parent and the child contribute to a book detailing Tommy’s adventures. Parents have welcomed the activities, telling staff they appreciate the opportunity to support their child’s learning.

“If parents show their children that they’re interested in their education there’s a positive outcome for the child,” says Lorraine. “The natural spin-off is in attainment and attitudes to learning. However, parental involvement also benefits parents themselves. Many had a negative experience in education and this can completely change their approach. It can even build stronger relationships between

parent and child, as parents often feel they ‘lose’ their child when they reach S3 or S4 and become more independent.

“Family learning is a great way of addressing all of those issues. For example, Rosehearty Primary in Aberdeenshire has hosted healthy eating workshops for parents and pupils to attend. Projects like these are a great way of bringing families together not only to create a bond but for the benefit of the community and society as a whole.”

The Parentzone website offers extensive support material, (see below), and Lorraine urges both parents and teachers to engage with these resources. “We’re not talking about parents running classes, we’re talking about helping them to support their child’s learning,” she says. “Nowhere is this more important than with regards to Curriculum for Excellence. Developing confident individuals, successful learners, effective contributors and responsible citizens can only be achieved through partnership, and parents are a vital part of this. If you don’t have parents supporting you, you’re missing a real opportunity.”

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We’re not talking about parents

running classes, we’re talking about

helping them to support their

child’s learning

The Parentzone website has a wealth of material to support the Parental Involvement agenda. For ideas on how to engage parents at your school, visit www.LTScotland.org.uk/parentzone/index.asp

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School-based activities can bring the whole family together

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Daddy cool!Family learning officers at Dumfries and Galloway tried every trick in the book to get dads taking part in school activities. Four years on, there’s no holding them back

It all started with a family portrait. Keen to see dads take a more active role in their children’s education, Sanquhar Primary organised a free portrait of the male side of the family only. It was a popular idea and fathers, uncles, brothers and grandfathers gathered in the gym hall ready for their close-up. The schools took advantage of their captive audience and organised a host of activities – including giant Jenga and Connect Four and even a Stone Age tent – designed to get the men talking to one another.

“The portrait was the initial carrot and we set it up so they’d have to mingle,” says Mary-Ann Riddell, Family Learning Co-ordinator at Dumfries and Galloway Council. “Once the photos were printed, we didn’t want to simply send them home with the pupils and never see the dads again. So we said the frames made them a health and safety issue and told dads they’d need to come in to get them – we basically made up endless excuses to get them through the door!”

The school organised a moving slideshow of the photos set to music, and the dads seemed to instantly bond. The Dads’ Club was formed. As a result of Sanquhar’s success, nearby Kelloholm Primary School started up their own Dads’ Club. Now in their fourth year, both clubs are still going strong.

The events aim to appeal to men, with a focus on active pursuits and hands-on tasks. Activities range from the weird (building a trebuchet to launch brussel sprouts) to the wonderful (dads writing stories to read to pupils), but always link to the curriculum.

The groups got off the ground with the help of funding from the local authority’s family learning budget and the Scottish Government’s Families Fund and Community Regeneration Fund. Although these grants set the ball rolling, both groups have taken ownership of their own programme of activities, and Mary-Ann estimates they have raised more than £3,000 through fundraising.

“We were stunned by the dads’ reaction to the groups, and are delighted that they still meet twice a month,” says Mary-Ann. “Now they’ve bonded they’ll try anything, even line dancing and baking!

“We have suggested widening the group to include the rest of the family and wives too but we always get a resounding ‘no’! The dads see it as their chance for quality time with their kid and they want to keep it for themselves!”

The group not only attracts dads, but also granddads, uncles, male carers and foster parents. The impact has been considerable, with an increase in men attending parents’ evenings and school meetings, and better behaviour reported in the classroom. The dads

themselves have also benefited, with many now turning their attention to their own education through courses in photography and computing and even acting as youth workers and tutors. The local secondary school is now considering replicating the project.

“Boys often notice that it’s usually their mother who helps with their homework and that most of their teachers are female, and that gives them this perception that education isn’t ‘macho’,” says Mary-Ann. “The Dads’ Club is helping to change that perception.

It’s also benefiting the community – one dad recently told me that if he sees a young person hanging around the street he will ask them what they’re up to. Previously, he would have looked the other way.

“The most important benefit is that fathers are getting a fantastic opportunity to spend time with their children. They say it has really strengthened their relationship.”

For more information on the Dads’ Clubs, contact Alex Douglas at [email protected]

Dad takes a hands-on role in his child’s learning

connected | winter 2010-11

Planning for the senior phase:

where do I start?

T he senior phase of a child’s education is one of the most important, and potentially one of the most challenging.

Schools are tasked with creating a curriculum that not only provides a meaningful learning experience which supports pupils in obtaining qualifications, but also enables them to develop emotionally, physically and socially as young adults. In short, the senior phase prepares pupils to make their own way in the world.

The flexibility of Curriculum for Excellence means that schools can shape the curriculum around each individual learner, personalising their educational experience and ensuring they study the right range of subjects at an appropriate level for them. Yet this level of flexibility can also lead many schools to wonder ‘where do I start’?

To help answer that question, the Cabinet Secretary Michael Russell MSP asked Learning and Teaching Scotland to develop a series of models designed to stimulate discussion and aid planning and CPD at a local level. There are five models so far – four school models, of which two are real, and two are hypothetical. Each shows the delivery of the full range of learner entitlements and illustrates six learner journeys.

The models are complemented by a range of reflective questions that encourages schools to think about what would work for their learners, and CPD sessions are being planned with local

authorities. More models will follow in the months ahead. The fifth model illustrates the senior phase in a college context.

“The senior phase is not just about qualifications – it’s about looking at the individual experience of each pupil,” says Linda Rae, National Co-ordinator, Building Your Curriculum at Learning and Teaching Scotland. “One of the big challenges is achieving the breadth, depth and progression which builds on the broad

general education but at the same time provides personalisation and choice. I hope the models will help schools to look at the flexible delivery of different learning pathways.

“They are not designed to be exhaustive or prescriptive. Instead, they aim to provide inspiration. The new curriculum brings with it an opportunity to approach things in a totally new way, and I hope the models will support schools to think more creatively about how they deliver the curriculum.”

“The senior phase is not just about qualifications – it’s about looking at the individual experience of each pupil”

Learning and teaching Scotland has pulled together five models of how senior phase education might look under Curriculum for Excellence. read on for some inspiration

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www.ltscotland.org.uk/connected

connected | winter 2010-11

change is that pupils in S4 can choose to undertake two-year courses, and particularly capable pupils and those in S6 may take a one-year course. Many pupils will take a combination of routes A and B, mixing them to suit their own needs and interests.

This is a structure we have never tried before. It enables the most able pupils to bypass a national examination in S4, allowing them to get started early with Highers. This level of flexibility is also beneficial for less academic young people. We are looking at ways to improve achievement as well as attainment, for example by developing life skills such as enterprise and encouraging work in the community through the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and similar schemes. We are taking Curriculum for Excellence as our

“We are charting new territory”

choice in some curriculum areas by the start of S2, and strengthened our commitment to interdisciplinary learning. Moving up into the senior phase, S4–S6 are timetabled as a single cohort and will follow one of two key routes (see panel on right).

Route A is most suitable for less academic pupils, including up to 10 options with a three-period allocation for each. There is one core column for PE, PSHE and RE. In Route B, pupils have a choice of five courses at SCQF levels 4,5,6 and 7. There is a six-period allocation for each column, but one period of each is dedicated to other activities related to achievement. The biggest

Prior to starting the modelling exercise, we were looking at S1–S3, so planning the senior phase curriculum required us to think quite far ahead about how we can meet the needs of the full range of learners as they come up into S4 and beyond. We needed something that was flexible enough to cater for all interests and abilities, so we came up with small building blocks through which learners can build up their qualifications. It works a bit like a jigsaw puzzle that will be pieced together over time.

Under the broad general education, we have maintained a traditional curriculum structure for S1, introduced a degree of

Stewart Young, headteacher of clydebank high School, shares his experiences of establishing the senior phase curriculum

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www.ltscotland.org.uk/connected

Clydebank High School Senior Phase: At A Glance

School roll: 1414 location: urbAnFME: 20.6% School wEEk: 30 periods X 53 Minutes

kEy FEaturESbroad general education:• Traditional curriculum structure for S1 • Degree of choice in some curriculum areas at the start of S2 • Significant commitment to interdisciplinary learning

SEnior PhaSE:s4 to s6 are timetabled as a single cohort and will follow routes:

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download all the Senior phase Models at www.LtScotland.org.uk/sharingpractice/s/curriculummodels

routE a routE B

six-period allocation to each column, but only five periods

will be available to the course, with remaining one period

being used for other activities relating to achievement

Choice of five courses at scQf levels 4,5,6 and 7

s4 pupils following route b will undertake two-year courses

one-year courses will be available for s6 pupils and those demonstrating

aptitude and talent

checklist, and ‘successful learners’ is only one of the four capacities – we want to ensure we are meeting them all.

The model represents our plans for the senior phase. We have conducted six learner journeys which informed our thinking, and discussed our ideas with pupils and parents, but the next step is to look at the practicalities, such as timetabling. We are charting new territory here, so it’s important that we have as much support as possible. With that in mind, we conducted a wide consultation and have created a steering group made up of at least one member of staff from each curriculum area. Building a senior phase curriculum is not a management thing – it’s important that the whole school has a sense of ownership.

intended for pupils studying at scQf levels 1,2 or 3

pupils may also study at national 4 provided that their prior experience

is appropriate

1 42 53 64 7

up to 10 options with three-period allocation each

two courses could be

combined to provide a six-period

allocation for courses at

national 4 or 5

one core column for pe, pshe and re

coMBination routESMany pupils will take a combination of route A and b

courses appropriate to needs and abilities

pupils will have two routes to choose from when they reach S4

my articles: connected

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