Tag: Education Scotland

Closing the Gap progress report

Good progress is being made towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap, a new report has found.

The study examines improvements made through the Scottish Attainment Challenge, and wider education policies, towards closing the attainment gap during this Parliamentary term.

The report highlights a number of key strengths in the education system, including a systemic change in culture and ethos, improved learning and teaching, strengthened collaboration, work with families and communities and a focus on health and wellbeing.

The findings show:

  • the gap between the proportion of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) from the most and least deprived areas achieving the expected level in literacy and numeracy has narrowed since 2016-17
  • the gap between the proportion of S3 pupils from the most and least deprived areas who achieved their expected level in numeracy narrowed between 2016-17 and 2018-19
  • the participation gap between those who live in the most deprived and least deprived areas has narrowed year-on-year between 2016-17 and 2019-2020
  • 96% of headteachers felt that they had a good awareness of the range of approaches that can help close the poverty-related attainment gap
  • 90% of headteachers reported they had seen an improvement in closing the gap in their schools in the past five years
  • 88% of headteachers expect to see improvements in closing the gap over the next five years

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Closing the poverty-related attainment gap and giving every young person the chance to fulfil their full potential, regardless of their background, remains our defining mission.

“Our ambition is a long-term one and this report clearly shows significant progress has been made in the last five years. We know that COVID-19 has made our ambition of achieving equity in education harder and I would like to thank all of our teachers and support staff for their extraordinary contribution and resilience shown throughout the pandemic.

“We have put in place a comprehensive range of measures, supported by the £750 million Attainment Scotland Fund, to turn the corner with the attainment gap.

“We have seen improvements across a number of indicators, including a narrowing of the gap between pupils from the most and least deprived areas achieving the expected level in literacy and numeracy.

“Longer term, we have also seen the gap narrow in initial positive destinations and the proportion of pupils achieving one pass or more at SCQF Level 5 and 6.

“The International Council of Education Advisers has acknowledged progress is being made and headteachers are positive about the impact of our measures, have a clear understanding of what is working and are optimistic about improvements being embedded and continuing over the next five years. I am greatly encouraged by this welcome progress and am confident we are on the right path.

“To mitigate against the impact of the pandemic, we are investing a record £200 million in the Attainment Scotland Fund in 2021-22, including an additional £20 million of Pupil Equity Funding.

“We are also investing £50 million in the Challenge Authorities and Schools Programmes next year and will support the Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund with more than £11 million. This is alongside £375 million in education recovery over this year and next to recruit additional teachers and support staff and address digital exclusion.

“I am determined to continue to support our young people through these unprecedented times and the evidence from this report and the Equity Audit will guide our thinking for the next phase of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. Now, more than ever, there is a need to stay the course with our vision of equity and excellence.”

Looking at performance of pupils since 2009-10, the report also finds:

  • the percentage of school leavers in a positive initial destination consistently increased between 2009-10 and 2018-19, for all leavers. The gap in positive initial destinations also decreased in this period
  • the gap between pupils achieving 1 pass or more at SCQF Level 5 has reduced from 33.3 percentage points in 2009-10 to 20.8 percentage points in 2019-20
  • the gap between pupils achieving 1 pass or more at SCQF Level 6 has reduced from 45.6 percentage points in 2009-10 to 36.1 percentage points in 2019-20

Gayle Gorman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Chief Executive of Education Scotland, said: “We are happy to see the improvements detailed in the report and it is heartening that nine out of ten schools have seen a recent improvement in closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

“We recognise this work is more important than ever and the evidence from this report and the Equity Audit will inform the Scottish Attainment Challenge moving forward.

“Our Attainment Advisors have strong partnerships with every local authority and remain focused on working collaboratively with them, our schools and their community partners to ensure our most disadvantaged learners continue to be supported to achieve their aspirations.

“This is a long-term commitment that has been supported by a system-wide, collaborative endeavour across Scottish education to make Scotland the best place to grow and learn.”

Professor Chris Chapman, Senior Academic Adviser to the Scottish Attainment Challenge programme, said: “This report highlights both government’s commitment to equity and the cultural change that has occurred in Scottish education over the past five years.

“The drive to improve outcomes for children and young people from Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities has been placed centre stage of the reform agenda.

“Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenge and magnified the necessity of ensuring that all children and young people reach their full potential irrespective of their circumstances.”

Napier academics help bring home schooling to the small screen

Science practicals filmed for Education Scotland and BBC Bitesize offering

Academics from Edinburgh Napier’s teacher education programme have been helping bring science into the home for thousands of secondary school pupils in Scotland.

The University’s Dr Colin McGill (above), Dr Fiona Savage and Dr Eric Easton have worked with Education Scotland and the BBC Bitesize team to film a number of practical experiments to ensure that pupils studying science subjects continue to learn as lockdown restrictions remain in place. 

Work with Education Scotland commenced last Autumn, with a selection of practical experiments filmed within the laboratories at Edinburgh Napier’s Sighthill campus.

These films – which saw the team work with Ian Stewart, a Chemistry teacher from Beeslack Community High School in Midlothian – are available via YouTube, West OS and Glow – Scotland’s nationally available digital environment for learning – as part of the National e-Learning Offer (NeLO).

In addition to supporting the development of these films for NeLO, Ian also teaches on the Senior Phase Study Support programme run via e-Sgoil for NeLO.

The content covered in the videos is broad, ranging from general science activities such as making a pH indicator from red cabbage for S1-S3 pupils, to videos to support learning at National 5 and Higher Chemistry such as measuring the average rate of a chemical reaction and testing carbonyl compound. 

Dr McGill has also recently completed further filming for the BBC Bitesize platform. 

Filmed over three days again at the University’s Sighthill campus, Dr McGill teamed up with Education Scotland and Ian Stewart to devise around 30 – 40 video ideas for Chemistry and the sciences.

This content was aimed at the Broad General Education (BGE) sciences curriculum all the way up to Higher Chemistry and included demonstrations on testing for gases, electrolysis and cracking alkanes. The BBC Bitesize filming was co-ordinated by Education Scotland.

Edinburgh Napier’s Dr McGill was delighted to play a part in supporting teachers through the on-going pandemic. He said: “I think these tools are very important to help pupil learning during the pandemic.

“It’s impossible for many practical activities to be done remotely so this at least gives pupils an opportunity to see the practical activity taking place and to then apply their learning from watching the activity.

“Teachers have been amazing during this pandemic and I would argue that the work they have put in to support their pupils is hugely underestimated, so if these videos have gone some way to help reduce their workload in any way then that is a huge positive for me. 

“If and when things start getting closer to normal, these videos will still be very valuable for pupils to go over a practical that they carried out in class, or to support pupils who are absent from school for any reason.

“The technical support from Bill Surrage and Sandra Dunbar has allowed this practical work to take place – I’m really grateful to them for the support they have provided. I’m also really grateful to everyone that has made safe access to the Sighthill campus possible.”

A selection of the Education Scotland videos can be viewed on YouTube here or can be accessed via the NeLO supported resources blog.

Edinburgh Napier’s Professional Diploma in Education (PGDE) courses are designed by teachers, for teachers. The programme specialises in Biology, Chemistry, Maths or Physics, allowing students to become a secondary school teacher.

Each subject is accredited by the General Teaching Council for Scotland. 

More information on the programme can be found here.

Fabulous Forthview supporting families through COVID

Local Primary School’s ‘highly-effective practice in family learning and parental engagement’ is shared across Scotland

Education Scotland has highlighted Forthview Primary School’s outstanding work during the pandemic in their latest Scotland Learns e-bulletin .

When HM Inspectors visited Forthview Primary School as part of the thematic inspection of family learning, they noted their highly-effective practice in family learning and parental engagement.

The school have provided a recovery update on how their practice in family learning and parental engagement has been developed during lockdown and since schools returned in August.

They share what is working well for Forthview children and their families at this time. A sketchnote (above) has been developed to share this practice.

Online support for new teachers

Hundreds of teachers who are new in post, or working in pastoral or child protection roles, are to be offered support to manage the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education Scotland and the General Teaching Council for Scotland have partnered with social enterprise organisation KnowYouMore who will provide coaches for the new online one-to-one sessions. Sessions are already being offered to headteachers as part of a support package funded by the Scottish Government last September.

The new programme now includes support for more than 500 teachers in their first four years of post-probation to discuss any personal or professional pressures they are facing as a result of delivering remote learning.

Education Secretary John Swinney, said: “COVID-19 has placed unprecedented strain on school staff and none more so than those who have pastoral care and child protection responsibilities ensuring the emotional welfare of our children and young people as we recover from the pandemic.

“The teacher support package I announced last year will complement the existing professional training and support already taking place for staff in schools across Scotland. Teachers need to be part of a supportive online community and have the space to stop and think about issues that are causing concern.”

Gayle Gorman, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Education Scotland Chief Executive, said: “Education Scotland is fully committed to ensuring the education workforce feel supported and I’m delighted this next phase of our coaching and mentoring offer is available more widely.

“We have found that it really benefits teachers to know there is someone with a listening ear who are there for them. Our 1:1 coaching and mentoring sessions for Headteachers have proved a really popular way of supporting their wellbeing and now the offer is also open to post probation teachers, teachers new to role and those with pastoral responsibilities. I would encourage more practitioners to sign up.”  

Ken Muir, Chief Executive, of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, said: “GTC Scotland is pleased to be working with our partners in education to deliver this important coaching to support hard-pressed teachers who are doing all they can to maintain quality learning in challenging circumstances.

“In addition to this coaching, GTC Scotland itself has invested heavily in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of education professionals and will continue to do so throughout the pandemic.”

Education: Remote learning guidance published

Guidance for teachers and families to support remote learning in schools has been published by Education Scotland.

It has been created in partnership through the Education Recovery Group and sets out a shared understanding of the key principles of remote learning, the support and resources available for teachers and families and what children and young people are entitled to.

This is in addition to remote learning guidance already produced by local authorities for schools to plan and prepare.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Our national e-learning offer, launched in June 2020, is already strengthening the remote and e-learning option available to schools.

“All authorities and schools in Scotland are already able to access to live, recorded and supported learning resources, while more than 50,000 devices such as laptops have been distributed to children and young people to help with remote learning.

“I am grateful for the huge amount of work that has already been done to prepare for next week and more is being done in order to continuously improve the national remote learning offer. 

“This guidance sets out a range of entitlements for children and young people during the period of remote learning. It highlights the importance of achieving an appropriate balance of live learning and independent activity and an entitlement to ongoing dialogue, reflection and feedback with teachers.”

Link to guidance

Share your stories of lockdown learning and teaching

Education Scotland wants to celebrate the fantastic work we know has taken place right across the country over the last few months – and we need your help!

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the sudden closure of school buildings and other learning sites. There were many examples of extraordinary work across the entire education system to support learners and communities.

For many learners, this was through distance and online platforms, with different forms of on-going contact with their teachers, childcare workers, youth workers, tutors and others. Of course, for children and young people, support from parents and carers continued to be key to their learning.

We’d like you to share your stories with us and we’ll use as many as we can to create a book of celebration to showcase the important work carried out by educators, learners, parents and communities at this unprecedented time.

Check out our website for more information, but be quick – the closing date for submissions is 10 October. 

We can’t wait to hear your story!

Education Scotland: CLD survey now open

Working with Scotland’s communities is a national study to find out more about the diverse range of paid workers and volunteers that provide community learning and development (CLD) across Scotland.

The online survey aimed at the organisations that employ these workers and volunteers is now open until Friday 10 April.

We know that community learning and development approaches are used by workers and volunteers with a variety of job titles in a range of different organisations in the community, voluntary and public sectors.

We want to hear from as many of these organisations as possible to build a current national picture of how many workers and volunteers there are, what they do, and what their training and development issues are.

Please be aware that we’re only looking for one response on behalf of each organisation or service.

The findings from the survey will be used to inform national community learning and development policy and planning.

Working with Scotland’s communities is being carried out by Education Scotland on behalf of theScottish Government, in partnership with the following national partners – Youthlink Scotland;The Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC); The Workers Educational Association(WEA); The CLD Standards Council for Scotland; and CLD Managers Scotland.

For more information and to access the survey, please go to the Working with Scotland’s communities page on the Education Scotland website.

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