Primary 1 assessments: what do you think?

Independent review team call for views.

Views are being sought on the use of standardised assessments for Primary 1 (P1) children as part of the independent review led by David Reedy.

The review is seeking views from interested parties including teachers, councils, professional associations and parent groups.

Mr Reedy is being supported by a small review team including Dr Eve Bearne and two members of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.

Work is already underway and a programme of school visits and engagement with practitioners and other stakeholders is being developed.

David Reedy said: “I encourage anyone with an interest to get in touch with the review, particularly those with experience of the assessments during the 2018/19 academic session.” 

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “It is crucial that we have the appropriate approach to assessment in our schools and that is why I commissioned this independent review into the use of P1 assessments.

“The review will consider the evidence gathered and be led by what is best for pupils. I look forward to receiving the review’s conclusions later this year.”

School children in P1, P4, P7 and S3 complete online standardised assessments in literacy and numeracy as part of everyday learning and teaching.

The assessments are designed to help identify children’s progress, providing diagnostic information to support teachers’ professional judgement.

The review will consider and provide recommendations on the following issues:

  • the compatibility of the assessments with the play based approach in the early level of Curriculum for Excellence
  • the alignment of the assessments to the benchmarks for the early level
  • the effect of taking an on-line assessment on P1 children
  • the usefulness of the diagnostic information provided to teachers and how it supports their professional judgement
  • the implications of the review for the ongoing development of the national Gaelic Medium Education standardised assessments
  • the future of the assessments. In particular whether they should continue in line with the current continuous improvement model, be substantially modified, or be stopped.

The review will be asked to provide conclusions and recommendations on each of these issues by the end of May 2019. The recommendations of the review will then be brought back to Parliament for consideration.

If you would like to contribute to the review please email p1review@gov.scot

Independent review of P1 assessments remit.

Continue reading Primary 1 assessments: what do you think?

From Scotland to Canada: Burns night boost for haggis exports

Scots around the world celebrate Burns Night

Tonight, Scots in Canada will be celebrating Burns Night with a hearty serving of haggis, thanks to the rise in exports from Scotland’s largest producer of the iconic meat pudding. Continue reading From Scotland to Canada: Burns night boost for haggis exports

Fighting the throwaway culture

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has reiterated the Scottish Government’s pledge to introduce a deposit return scheme as part of plans to further tackle plastic waste.

Deposit return will increase the quality of recycled materials collected in Scotland. By collecting more drinks containers here, we could recycle them back into items for the food and drinks industry – for example, plastic bottles being recycled to make new plastic bottles – rather than exporting them for other uses. This would be a benefit to industry based in Scotland, which has an increasing demand for recycled materials of high quality.

Visiting Coca-Cola European Partners bottling plant in East Kilbride, she said: “I am proud of the fact that Scotland was the first part of the UK to commit to a deposit return scheme as we are determined to do all we can to prevent discarded drinks containers from ending up in our streets and seas.

“A deposit return scheme as part of the wider circular economy will not only be an effective way of increasing recycling rates and reducing litter, but also provide an opportunity to secure a new source of high quality material, develop our recycling infrastructure and create jobs as part of our ambition to drive the circular economy on our journey to carbon-neutrality.

“We will bring forward the next steps on designing our deposit return scheme shortly, which will complement our world-leading action on climate change, whilst we continue to maintain our environmental standards in the face of Brexit.”

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Zero Waste Scotland is currently working on the design of Scotland’s deposit return scheme, a critical part of developing a more circular economy where no resources are wasted.

“There is an increasing demand for quality recycled content here in Scotland from businesses such as Coca-Cola, and people don’t want to see plastics being used once and needlessly discarded. That’s why deposit return, which brings that material back to be used again, here in Scotland, is a win for both the environment and our economy.”

Coca-Cola European Partners is currently the largest user of recycled plastic in the UK food and drink industry, having invested significantly to help transform the UK’s PET recycling and reprocessing capabilities over the past decade.

Nick Brown, Head of Sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners Great Britain, said: “At Coca-Cola European Partners we want to make sure all our packaging is recovered so more can be recycled and none ends up as litter.

“Deposit return schemes are a major change for shoppers, retailers and producers but we know that a well-designed deposit scheme can increase recycling and reduce the littering of beverage packaging in a way that works for everyone.

“Industry has a lot of experience of running successful deposit return schemes around the world and we look forward to working with the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland to make sure we design a scheme that works for Scottish businesses and Scottish shoppers, and makes the biggest possible impact on littering and recycling.”

 

 

 

 

Edinburgh Living: opening doors in Clermiston

Scottish Housing Minister Kevin Stewart visited the first homes to be delivered as part of “Edinburgh Living”, a new housing partnership between the City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Futures Trust earlier this week.    Continue reading Edinburgh Living: opening doors in Clermiston