Tag Archives: parental involvement

Portlethen Academy: Raising the profile of skills in learning and teaching.⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Every classroom has a poster for Skills for Learning, Skills for Life and Skills for Work. Pupil-friendly definitions of these skills were produced by a working group of staff. Teachers are asked to make reference to these skills in their learning intentions and success criteria and in the content of the lesson itself. The impact of DYW is discussed in the videos:

All S1 pupils are recording the development of these skills in a Skills Passport booklet during DCT. The main purpose of the booklet is to help the pupils document the skills they are developing, the subjects in which they use these skills and the evidence they have to support their judgements on how well they are progressing with particular skills in learning, life and work. The booklet also includes sections on profiling, SMART targets, reflection, mental health, recognising wider achievement, subject reports and self-evaluation.

The school has used several key methods to ensure that the strategy has the desired impact to the learners:

  • Researched examples of skills frameworks and received valuable input from Larbert High School after seeing their materials on the National Improvement Hub
  • Decided to develop their version of a skills framework and to link it to their tutor time programme for tracking purposes
  • Established a staff team to develop the framework and materials
  • Introduced the focus on skills to staff at collegiate session.
  • Introduced the focus on skills to pupils at year group assemblies.
  • Produced a set of posters for every classroom
  • Obtained feedback on reference to skills for learning, life and work through pupil focus groups where 5 pupils are selected from various year groups once a week.

The school believes that the changes have impacted on their learners, the key indicators:

  • Promoted skills development in learning and teaching
  • Ensure staff are consistently embedding skills development in their classroom practice
  • Ensure pupils know what skills they possess
  • Helping pupils develop the ability to confidently articulate the skills they are developing
  • Ensure pupils can utilise these skills across different subject areas
  • Ensure pupils realise the value and importance of skills they develop in school and how these relate to the world of work

This is a journey for staff and young people, the key points are:

  • Staff are referencing skills development in their lesson planning
  • Pupils are noticing the increased focus on skills and realising the value as they progress through the school
  • Pupils are becoming more aware of how often they are using different skills
  • Pupils are realising the value of transferrable skills
  • Pupils are realising the importance of skills for their future careers

It has allowed them to monitor it through their focus groups, and they can reference it more easily due to the visual nature of their posters. When they have speakers or reference areas of employment in their career of the week they ensure skills are highlighted.

Portlethen are working hard on partnership and engagement with industry. Curricular experiences through DYW include:

Breadth of careers
Mock interviews
Rural skills
Air traffic control
NHS
Enterprise day (S2)
Micro Tyco
MWOW ambassadors
Hospitality (chef of the week, Royal navy chefs)

Porthlethen see DYW as integral and underpin out their work with young people by making the links between skills and the workplace. They refer to the school as just another workplace, which reinforces the link between education and skills for work. The skills framework has helped by providing a clear focus.

  • Having a visual display of the skills you are focusing on
  • Reference skills in all aspects of the lesson where appropriate
  • Help pupils realise the range of skills they possess
  • Ensure pupils know which skills they are developing
  • Help pupils transfer these skills to different contexts and subject areas

Next Steps
They have started formally recording and documenting skills development and progression in S1. They are looking at creative ways to record and document skills development as the cohort become more mature and progress through the school. They will formalise the inclusion of skills development in lesson planning, learning intentions and success criteria to ensure a consistent approach by all staff.

“I like the framework because I can click on it and see what it means” S1 pupil

“Having the framework on your website helped me link my presentation to the skills required to work in the catering industry in a way that pupils could understand”  DYW presenter.

“The framework diagrams give me a key point of reference in planning lessons and for reference in class.” Teacher

Currie Community High: A shared vision for all learners⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Currie Community High is a very forward-thinking school, which underpins all developments with the principles of good curriculum design, effective learning and teaching, and partnerships (HGIOS 4). These partnerships and networks, including social media, have allowed them to drive forward the progression for their students into a positive destination – with 99.2% of school leavers at Currie Community High School going into either FE, HE or employment.

The vision has grown from the establishment of a strategy group in 2016-2017 with representatives from all faculties, including Pupil Support and Support for Learning, who aimed to identify strengths and areas to develop and implement DYW, including discussion with the leadership team. These key areas then influenced their three-year strategy and the opportunities they now offer, as part of their curriculum that develops the young workforce.

They continue to reflect and develop, using data through baseline testing with S1, S3 and S5 (every two/three years), to lead and develop creative and innovative opportunities for students, including :

 

S3 STEM Networking Event

WOW (World of Work) Week

To enhance their curriculum offerings, they are working as an SCQF Ambassador School, raising awareness of different levels of qualifications and how they can influence an individual student’s learning journey. Included in this are  work-based learning opportunities, including Foundation Apprenticeships and work placements. They have created a series of webpages to share information and opportunities with students and parents, while being an effective tool to engage partners.

Each department has conducted an evaluation, through using a revised tool, constructed from the Education Scotland’s CES Learning Resources, to reflect on the teacher/practitioner entitlements. Each department identified two or three areas that need developing as part of their improvement planning. Through their customised CLPL, ’Staff Industry Insight Sessions’, work to meet these development needs, along with industry support and partners such as Scotland’s Enterprising Schools (SES).

Through each year, they work to raise awareness with staff, students, parents and partners on the importance of a curriculum that develops the young workforce.

All of their opportunities embed the Career Education Standards (CES) (3-18) and their own Skills Framework (based on BTC 4: Skills for Learning, Life and Work), giving students the opportunity to become more aware of where their learning, skills and subject choices will lead them on their learning journey.

Once piece of advice that Currie Community High offer:

“manage the workload of staff and members of the strategy group, it is vital that someone has the strategic responsibility for driving DYW forward, however it does not solely sit with them, allowing the sustainable development and longevity of DYW beyond 2021. For this to be sustainable, support from partners for opportunities, including financial support, will allow this to grow and embed for years and students to come!” John Schmidt DYW Lead

Currie Community High have a major focus on skills and careers awareness (CES) which begins from P7 (as part of transitions) to S3, which engages parents, along with plans to expand this throughout the Senior Phase. They are currently reviewing their work placement strategy through utilising the Education Scotland Work Placement Benchmarking tool, based on data and student voice, to provide tailored opportunities for individual pathways. After the successes over the last 3 years, from 2019-20 they are moving forward as a cluster to develop a new ‘Currie Cluster DYW Strategy Group’.

Quotations from young people

S1: ‘I feel inspired to create my own bookstore and read more’

S1: ‘Getting a job or the right person for a job is very competitive’

S2: ‘I learnt about how teamwork is important in real life’

S2: ‘I had a chance to explore different jobs in a calm and free environment’

S3: ‘I learnt about tactics of persuasion and how to trade and invest’

S3: ‘Some parent/carer jobs are high level, which made me think about what I needed to do’

S5/6: ‘I want to go to college and it was great way to see what the different options are for me’

Grants of between £500 and £2,000 -Scotrail’s Community Grants⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Scotrail’s Community Grants Fund
The ScotRail Foundation provides grants of between £500 and £2,000 to grass roots community groups and charities in Scotland.

Your PTA or parents’ group might qualify  as long as there is a wider benefit.  Applicants should read the guidelines before making an online application.
Applications must fit within at least one of the following criteria to be eligible for funding:
• Promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing
• Targeting improvements in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing in primary schools
• Improving the community’s environmental impact at a local level, encourage recycling or upcycling, or run environmental information or outreach programmes.
The next deadline for applications is 30 September 2016. 
Contact: Foundation Scotland, Tel: 0131 524 0340 [ e-mail | website

Learning Families – Intergenerational Approaches to Literacy Teaching and Learning⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

“All of the programmes featured in this publication by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning  share valuable experiences and lessons. They reflect a view of effective learning families whereby each child is a member of a family, and within a learning family every member is a lifelong learner. Among disadvantaged families and communities in particular, a family literacy and learning approach is more likely to break the intergenerational cycle of low education and literacy skills..” (Elfert and Hanermann 2014)

http://uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/keydocuments/Literacy/en/learning-families.pdf

Family Learning Research⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

This report presents findings from a study of family literacy programmes in England carried out by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC) at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) between July 2013 and May 2015. This mixed-methods study was funded by the Nuffield Foundation and explored: 1) the impact of school-based family literacy programmes on young children’s progress in reading and writing; and 2) how parents translate and implement what they learn in these classes into the home literacy environment. This study provides evidence that after attending family literacy sessions children improve their literacy skills and there are positive changes in the home literacy environment.

http://www.nrdc.org.uk/?p=838

 

Twitter in the Primary School Classroom⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

INVITATION TO TAKE PART IN A RESEARCH STUDY

You are being asked to take part in a research study that will investigate how effective the use of Twitter is in the primary classroom. My name is Kirsty McKay and I am a fourth year teaching student from the University of Dundee. The research from this study will be used by myself and is supervised by Anna Robb.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH STUDY

Participation in this research would benefit staff working within a school and parents as it aims to find out whether or not Twitter is an effective communication tool to encourage parental involvement. This research would also benefit myself in relation to my own professional development and can inform my future practice.

You can find out more about Kirsty’s research and access her thesis questionnaire at Twitter in the Primary School Classroom.

Newsletter: Gaelic Medium Education⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Comann nam Pàrant, the national organisation that advises and supports parents/carers of those in Gaelic Medium Education (GME), has recently published a newsletter

The newsletter includes information on

  • Education (Scotland) Bill
  • Guidance on Gaelic Education
  • National Parent Forum Conference for Parents
  • Supporting the development of literacy and numeracy with Read Write Count
  • useful information to help parents/carers support their child’s learning.

Please continue to read

Join Literacy Week 2015⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

elinet

elinet

Join Literacy Week 2015: a week full of literacy-related events throughout Europe this fall!
The European Literacy Policy Network (ELINET) supports Literacy Week 2015, which aims at raising awareness for low literacy throughout Europe. It will start on 8 September 2015, UNESCO’s International Literacy Day, and run until 17 September 2015. ELINET spiced up the campaign by organizing a contest for the best literacy event, as well as an official closing event featuring high-level speakers in Brussels on 17 September.
The Literacy Week 2015 website (www.literacyweek.eu) already shows over 90 registered events! Those registered before 17 August 2015 automatically took part in the contest. A jury will assess the creativity, feasibility and resourcefulness of registered events and invite three nominees to the official closing ceremony in Brussels, where the winner will be presented with the Literacy Week Innovation Award.
Aside from the prize ceremony, this distinguished literacy event will also feature a story exhibition, panel discussions, a reception, and speeches by prominent speakers: Tibor Navracsics (European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport), Marianne Thyssen (European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility), H.R.H. Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (UNESCO Special Envoy on Literacy for Development), Barbara Bush and Dorothy Bush Koch (Founder and Honorary President of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy), a Learner Ambassador and high-level panellists from different sectors.

 

Family Learning at UNESCO International Literacy Day 2015⤴

from @ Education Scotland's Learning Blog

Making rockets!

Making rockets!

UNESCO International Literacy Day 8th September 2015

UNESCO International Literacy Day has been celebrated for over a decade. This year the theme is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. There will be a large range of partners coming together to share the diverse range of approaches used in Scotland to cultivating literacy skills and to explore science as a context for developing literacy skills for all. Family learning will be featured as an approach to engaging families with children from an early age to develop literacy skills through inspiring and fun experiments!

Following the success of last year’s network of networks’ celebration of UNESCO International Literacy Day in the Emirates Arena we invite you to join us on Tuesday September 8th at Glasgow Science Centre from 10.00am until 3.30pm.

This year’s theme is Literacy and Sustainable Societies. See the UNESCO info graphic about Literacy and Sustainable Development

Our keynote speakers are Dr Alasdair Allan Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, and Heather Reid OBE CPhys, FinstP (Heather the Weather).

Participants will have the opportunity to attend a morning and an afternoon seminar as well as to explore the science centre. Further details will follow.

Places are limited so register here now.

The workshop, delivered in partnership with Dundee Adult Learning Team, will highlight everyday activities that families can do with materials found around the home that will support a love for sciences and increase literacy and numeracy skills.

Join us at International Literacy Day 2015 in the Glasgow Science Centre for the workshop “Babble and Dabble”!