Tag: Scottish Government

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?

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

Improving Personal and Social Education

Consent education to be part of updated teaching resources.

New resources to address sexual harassment and updated consent education guidance have been recommended as part of a review of Personal and Social Education (PSE).

The PSE recommendations will ensure schools and teachers have the resources and support needed to ensure a more consistent approach in responding to the issues young people face today.

Updated guidance for schools to strengthen the delivery of age and stage appropriate consent education will be taken forward and new resources to address the issue of sexual harassment, both in schools and online, will be developed.

The review also recommends updating guidance on mental health support available to pupils and staff and says schools should engage with pupils in the design and delivery of PSE classes.

Speaking at Queen Anne’s High School in Dunfermline, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “Personal and Social Education is critical to giving young people the knowledge, skills and resilience to navigate the various stages of their lives and reach their full potential.

“Pupils have told us that PSE needs to be more relevant, empathetic and informative and must reflect the issues facing young people today. Updated consent education will be stage and age appropriate, will involve young people in the design and delivery of classes and will deliver more consistent teaching at all levels.

“The recommendations will also ensure a high standard of learning and support in mental, physical and emotional wellbeing and will give pupils greater access to mental health support.”

An implementation group, jointly chaired by Cosla and the Scottish Government, will take forward the review’s recommendations.

COSLA’s Children and Young People Spokesperson, Councillor Stephen McCabe, said: “COSLA welcomes the publication of this report and the recommendations it contains – we look forward to working with Scottish Government, Education Scotland, teaching unions, representative third sector organisations and others, to ensure these are implemented appropriately.

“Personal and Social Education is an important element of the work schools across Scotland are involved in everyday to ensure that children and young people develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need now and in the future for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing.”

Find out more on the review of PSE and read in full the recommendations report.

 

Scottish Government funding to raise awareness of the risks of running away

Two leading charities are joining forces to develop materials to educate children and young people about the dangers of going missing and encourage them to access support. Continue reading Scottish Government funding to raise awareness of the risks of running away

Record number of students from deprived areas at university

Positive progress on equal access to higher education

A record number of full time first degree students at Scottish universities were from the most deprived areas in Scotland last year. 

New figures show that, in 2017/18, 15.6% of students entering university were from the 20% most deprived areas. This is 0.4% short of the Government’s target for 2021.

Last year also saw an increase in the total number of Scottish students enrolling in Scottish universities.

The statistics, published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), show the latest progress in the drive to widen access to higher education.

Higher Education Minister Richard Lochhead said: “These statistics highlight the good progress being made on widening access to higher education. I’m pleased to see more Scots going to university here and a record increase in entrants from our most deprived areas.

“Combined with recent UCAS statistics, this shows demonstrable progress towards giving every young person in Scotland an equal chance of success, no matter their background or circumstance.

“It is also great to see a record number of enrolments and an increased number of qualifications achieved in 2017/18. All of this speaks to the level of excellence found across our higher education institutions.”

Between 2016/17 and 2017/18:

  • Total Scottish domiciled students (undergraduate and postgraduate) at Scottish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) increased by 1.2% to 160,875
  • The number of students (undergraduate and postgraduate) at Scottish HEIs increased by 2.1% to 247,110
  • Entrants (undergraduate and postgraduate) to Scottish HEIs increased by 3.2% to 104,520
  • EU and non-EU domiciled enrolments to Scottish HEIs increased by 1.7% and 5.1% respectively
  • Qualifiers from Scottish HEIs increased by 2.4% to 76,595

Following the Commission on Widening Access, a target was set that, by 2021, 16% of students entering university will be from Scotland’s most deprived backgrounds, increasing to 20% by 2030. At 15.6% for 2017/18, this is just 0.4 percentage points off the 2021 target.

The latest UCAS statistics from the 2018 End of Cycle Report showed an increase in acceptances for 18 year old students from deprived backgrounds.

The full set of information on 2017/18 enrolments published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency is available as an interactive publication.

 

 

New drug driving laws and roadside testing to improve road safety

Zero tolerance for people caught driving with illegal drugs in their system.

Scotland’s stringent road safety laws will be strengthened further by the introduction of drug driving limits and roadside testing on 21 October this year. 

There will be a zero tolerance approach to eight drugs most associated with illegal use, including cannabis, heroin and cocaine, with limits set at a level where any claims of accidental exposure can be ruled out.

Meanwhile, a list of other drugs associated with medical use will have limits based on impairment and risk to road safety.

This will make it easier to hold drug drivers to account as there will no longer be a requirement to prove that someone was driving in an impaired manner.

Regulations laid in the Scottish Parliament, subject to MSPs’ approval, will permit prosecutions where different drug types are found to be above specified levels.

Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service have been making preparations and are on track for implementation in October.

Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The introduction of drug driving limits will strengthen the power of Scotland’s police and prosecutors to tackle the minority of drivers who irresponsibly put themselves and other road-users at risk.

“Drug driving is completely unacceptable, and we will continue to use all of the tools at our disposal to prevent the avoidable deaths and damage caused by those who drive under the influence of drugs.

“Together with our stringent drink-driving limits, these new laws will ensure that Scotland has the UK’s most robust laws against impaired and unsafe driving.”

Chief Inspector Stephen Innes of Police Scotland said:

“Police Scotland is committed to reducing road casualties, and tackling drink and drug driving is a key focus of our activity. The devastating impact of drug driving on victims, communities and users themselves cannot be understated.

“This new legislation will significantly enhance our ability to detect and deter motorists engaging in this extremely risky driving behaviour.

“We are currently working closely with key partners and plans are well advanced to deliver this new legislation in October this year.”