Quality in Education City, Country: Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, Scotland [UK] Dates: 12/05/2008 – 16/05/2008 Group Reporter: Vida Motekaityte

Home , Callanish, Laxdale

Group Number: 140 Theme: Quality assurance in education and training Title: Quality in Education City, country: Isle of Lewis, Hebrides, Scotland [UK] Dates: 12/05/2008 – 16/05/2008 Group reporter: Vida Motekaityte

GROUP REPORT

Group No: 140 Type of visit: General Education

Aim of the visit: The visit focuses on quality assurance in a bilingual setting.

Organiser: Catherine MacLennan, Quality Improvement Officer, Liniclate Education Centre, Benbecula, Western Isles, Scotland

Participants: Austria Renate Hof France Bruno Siour Finland Li-lo Sáderholm Germany Ines Klemm Hannelore Schreiber Lithuania Vida Kamenskiené Poland Ewa Górczak Portugal Paulo Esteireiro Spain Isabel Aráez Sweden Ulla Zachrisson Carlsson Paul Alsén

1 CONTENT and REFLECTIONS

Monday 12th May Programme for the day - Welcome at the Education Development Centre by Murdo Macleod, Director of Education; - Introduction of participants and their involvement in quality improvement in their home countries; - Presenting Curriculum for Excellence by Mrs C. Dunn, Head of Service Secondary; - Introducing Quality improvement procedures by Miss Joan MacKinnon, Head of Service- Quality Improvement; - Reporting on Support and Challenge by Mr Bernard Chisholm, Head of Service Early Years and Inclusion; - Visit to the Nicolson Institute, Stornoway.

Reflection - Relevant to the theme presentations from various representatives of the Scottish Education System; - Good choice of topics for presentations as they provide the participants of the visit with a deep insight of the quality education system; - The group want to highlight the proper approach to this subject particularly the choice of positive vocabulary: “success”, “quality”, “excellence”, “how good can we be?”; - The group appreciate the “Quality Framework” session for its coherence, clarity and utility; - The theory part was very detailed and challenging and the visit to the Nicolson Institute allowed the participants to see how it is put in practice; - It would have been highly beneficial to observe teachers and students in the classrooms.

Tuesday, 13th May, 2008 Programme for the day - ICT-Systems for schools in Scotland, presented by ICT-coordinator Hamish Budge - Continuing Professional Development – Presentation by Donald MacLeod, CPD-coordinator - possible explanation to the excellent PISA-results in Finland, presented by Li-lo Saderholm - Visit to Laxdale School; Quality Improvement in a Primary School presented by Headteacher Sandra MacLeod

Reflection - The group appreciated: - That national agreement states, that all teachers should have a commitment to maintain their professional expertise and have a continuing professional development plan, which is shown in their Personal Development Portfolio; - A policy and good strategies to support continuing professional development: 2 days of workshops for all teachers in the region; 2 days of workshops for teachers at their schools, 1 day for preparing the new school-year; option of twilight trainings during the term; - A huge intranet for Scottish teachers for communication, information and professional development, that means lots of possibilities for teachers;

2 - General Teaching Council of Scotland giving support to schools and teachers (www.gtcs.org.uk); - A Standard for full registration for new teachers ensures that new teachers understand educational policy and practice and are aware of their own role; - The use of normal computer-programmes for learning in all ages (e.g. Nintendo: Big brain academy); - Well-educated and respected teachers in Finland and personalisation and individualisation to support every child - Laxdale School being very well organized for learning with good environment and opportunities for music etc - Good facilities with teaching materials and smartboard - Teachers and administration work as a team and create a warm atmosphere for learning and living

Wednesday 14th May 2008 Programme for the day - Meeting at the Educational Development Centre; - Presentations by three Primary Head Teachers on Quality Improvement in small primary schools/shared headships (being a pilot initiative since 3 years, with 6 headteachers working in this scheme so far); - Presenting University of the Highlands and Islands by Ian Minty, Education Network Leader; - Visit to Lews Castle College and to Sgoil nan Loch School; - Visit to the southern part of the Island.

Reflections - The group highlighted the following strengths to learn from: o Accessibility of the headteacher to all relevant stakeholders (time management being a main challenge). o Permanent process of quality improvement, structured monitoring, highly standardised documentation (improving reliability of monitoring and evaluation results) o Large set of toolkits and templates available helping to structure the work with different stakeholders (teachers, parents, pupils). Templates partly provided by national authority, partly developed by the headteachers. o Good quality of education in small schools, with regard to knowledge and skills o Strong team work and openness to new ideas encourage innovation. - At Sgoil nan Loch School, environmental including was very interesting e.g. outdoor classrooms for experimental experiences; - A wide range of pupils with special needs are included in ordinary classes.

Thursday 15th May Programme - Visit to Callanish Stones and the Carloway Broch - Visit to Shawbost School and welcome by Mr. IG MacDonald, Head Teacher - Black House, Arnol visit

3 - Ceilidh/Buffet and Show of folk music at Sawmill Woodlands Centre

Reflections - Experiencing history, culture and traditions of the Island; - The group appreciates the different resources and tools to quality education in a Primary school; - Participation in sample ICT French and Science Lessons; - The group admires the warm welcome and the interaction with the pupils.

Conclusions We should end by saying we have learnt plenty of good things. As an example, we could mention resources and tools to quality education in a bilingual educational system: ICT resources, human resources and other tools. It was also noticeable to us the high level of involvement and motivation on the part of the different educational sectors of the islands: teachers, students, authorities, headmasters and families. Support given to teachers can be clearly seen and maybe the key to their involvement and success. Another tool to quality education they are quite familiar with is evaluation and self-reflection, a necessary device to quality teaching and learning. There is a culture of evaluation absent in some other European countries. Creating the Wikispace website was a good idea for keeping in touch and sharing further experience. All in all, we can say that the islands` educational system works for excellence constituting hence a model to follow.

We would like to thank the organizers, especially Catherine MacLennan and Iain MacKinnon, for their kindness and great hospitality.

Tapadh leibh!