Curriculum for Excellence Timeline

Curriculum for Excellence: timeline Date Development 2001 September: Education, Culture and Sport Committee decide to hold an inquiry into ‘purposes of education.’ 2002 March: Scottish Executive establishes ‘National Debate on Education.’ Briefing packs were sent to every school and education authority in Scotland, and to over 200 organisations who intended to hold National Debate events. Around 800 events were held in total. A hotline number and website supported the Debate. It is estimated that over 20,000 people took part. 2003 January: Cathy Jamieson MSP made a statement to parliament , and published the Scottish Government’s response to the National Debate on Education: “Educating for Excellence, Choice and Opportunity. She said: “Our vision is for every school to be a centre of excellence. I want young people to leave school with the skills, the attitudes and the expectations that they need to succeed in Scotland and in the world. Comprehensive education is no longer about one size that is supposed to fit all”. Simplified assessment and a review of the school curriculum were two of the issues highlighted. March: Education Culture and Sport Committee reports on its inquiry and includes a recommendation that: “There is a need for fundamental change in what happens inside schools, because in a rapidly changing world education must change to meet new needs.” There was an emphasis on moving away from assessment, focusing on pupil involvement, on higher order critical thinking skills and recognition that the expressed need for change was balanced by a desire for a period of stability. November : Curriculum Review Group is established. 2004 November: Curriculum Review Group publish A Curriculum for Excellence Purposes and Principles which set out the ‘four capacities’ for the first time: ““Our aspiration for all children and for every young person is that they should be successful learners , confident individuals , responsible citizens and effective contributors to society and at work” The group proposed that a curriculum should: • make learning active, challenging and enjoyable • not be too fragmented or over-crowded with content • connect the various stages of learning from 3 to 18 • encourage the development of high levels of accomplishment and intellectual skill • include a wide range of experiences and achieve a suitable blend of what has traditionally been seen as 'academic' and 'vocational' • give opportunities for children to make appropriate choices to meet their individual interests and needs, while ensuring that these choices lead to successful outcomes • ensure that assessment supports learning In the forward, Government Ministers (Peter Peacock and Euan Robson) proposed: • a single curriculum 3-18, supported by a simple and effective structure of assessment and qualifications: • greater choice and opportunity, earlier, for young people, • more skills-for-work options for young people, • more space in the curriculum for work in depth, • young people achieving the broad outcomes that we look for from school education, both through subject teaching and more cross-subject activity • more space for sport, music, dance, drama, art, learning about health, sustainable development and enterprise, and other activities that broaden the life experiences - and life chances - of young people At the same time, A Curriculum for Excellence: Ministerial Response was published which provided a far more specific list of policy commitments “In the light of the principles and purposes emerging from A Curriculum for Excellence , which we accept in full, we will set in motion a programme of work to address issues which we know need to be tackled as a matter of priority. These developments will be part of the process of creating a single, coherent, Scottish curriculum 3-18.” This document set out the following commitments: • We will revise and streamline curriculum guidelines to free up space for children to achieve and teachers to teach, for implementation in 2007. • We will deliver new guidance on a reformed approach to education in S1 to S3 which will increase opportunities for challenge, choice and motivation, for implementation from 2007. • We will deliver a new way of recognising the achievements and attainment of all young people from S1 to S3 from 2007. • We will deliver a new course and qualification in learning about skills-for-work for 14-16 year olds by 2007 • A cycle of continuous updating and reform of the curriculum across all areas of learning will begin immediately, starting with the science curriculum 3-18. • We will make reforms which ensure that assessment supports learning and that there are valid and reliable measures of national levels of attainment in key areas of children's learning. • The Age and Stage regulations, which say when young people can sit exams, will be abolished and replaced with clear guidance to safeguard young people's interests, in 2005. • We will continue the ongoing review of the National Qualifications structure and courses. • We will increase and enhance school/college partnerships so that pupils will have a high quality experience in colleges and gain suitable recognition for their work, for implementation in 2005. • We will help teachers to apply the principles of A Curriculum for Excellence to improve teaching, learning and assessment with immediate effect. There was a broad range of stakeholders to be involved in implementation: We need to learn from what has worked best in the past. In developing and implementing detailed policy and guidance we will make full use of the professional knowledge and expertise of the education community to ensure widespread support and commitment. We will engage with parents, employers, universities, colleges and organisations. We will work closely with teachers to ensure that the changes will work in the classroom. Some of these developments will take place quickly, such as the piloting of new skills-for-work courses. Others will take place over the medium to longer term, following consultation with the education and wider community. Agencies such as the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and the Scottish Executive Education Department will work in partnership to support these developments. This is not a once-and-for-all task but a continuing process. The curriculum must develop and change so that it continues to meet the needs of our young people. There will be a continuing cycle of evaluation, refreshment and renewal, taking account of developments in technologies for learning and in our knowledge and understanding. We are embarking together on a process which will have a profound influence on the education of our children and young people 2004- 07 Nov 2004 to Dec 2007 : A Curriculum Review Programme Board spent three years developing the overall architecture of a revised curriculum 2006 March The programme board publish “Progress and Proposals ” which made more detailed proposals for reform. There was a focus on the need for engagement with stakeholders. What lies behind this document is 15 months of consultations and stimulating discussions with thousands of educational staff around the country. The values and principles of A Curriculum for Excellence have resonated with almost everyone with whom we have spoken. There is a genuine feeling of excitement about our goal of enabling all young people to become successful learners, responsible citizens, effective contributors and confident individuals. This document explains more of how that enthusiasm can be reflected in a new approach to the curriculum. […] In the past, national curriculum developments have often been supported by central guidelines, cascade models of staff development and the provision of resources to support the implementation of guidance by teachers. Our approach to change is different. It aims to engage teachers in thinking from first principles about their educational aims and values and their classroom practice. The process is based upon evidence of how change can be brought about successfully - through a climate in which reflective practitioners share and develop ideas. 2006 - Published between 2006 and 2011, the Building the Curriculum series provides guidance on a range of CfE issues. These were: 2011 • BC1: The contribution of curriculum areas (2006) • BC2: Active learning in the early years (2007) • BC3: A framework for learning and teaching (2008) • BC4: Skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work (2009) • BC5: A framework for assessment (2011). With supplements on ‘Reporting’ (June 2010), ‘Understanding, applying and sharing standards’ (Oct 2010), ‘Recognising achievement, profiling and reporting’ (Dec 2010) and ‘Quality assurance and moderation’ (March 2011). 2007 - Experiences and Outcomes were developed over two years and cover eight curriculum areas. These set out the learning outcomes expected from 2009 pre-school to the end of S3, from ‘early’ to ‘fourth’. This forms the ‘broad general education’ prior to the Senior Phase when pupils take qualifications. 2008 June – Oct : Consultation on qualifications on the next generation of national qualifications Proposals included: • A new qualification will replace the present Standard Grade General and Credit levels and Intermediate 1 and 2 ( SCQF 4 and SCQF 5) qualifications • New awards in literacy and in numeracy will be available at SCQF levels 3 to 5 • Increased flexibility such as: studying National Qualifications over 18 months

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