01 February 2012

Directors of Education

As you may be aware, I have now convened a new Implementation Group for Curriculum for Excellence at the request of the Cabinet Secretary. The group has senior representatives from Education Scotland, ADES, SQA, Scottish th Government and Scotlands Colleges. We had our first meeting on the 13 January. I am writing, as Chair of the Group, to provide guidance on some key issues highlighted in the first annual report on the progress being made in establishing the entitlements of Curriculum for Excellence. The Implementation Group and the Curriculum for Excellence Management Board both recently considered the report and agreed that I should write to you to provide clarification in some key areas which may have an important bearing on curriculum planning in your schools. A summary copy of the annual progress report is attached to this letter, in confidence. You will see from the report that, although there is clear evidence of improvements, progress is mixed. In particular, the report shows clearly that there is not yet full and consistent understanding of the intentions of the broad general education, and some emerging practice is not compatible with its purposes and expectations. I also attach for your information an update of progress on the Cabinet Secretarys CfE Action Plan for 2011/12 announced at the Scottish Learning Festival on 21 September 2011. As you know, one fundamental change being introduced through Curriculum for Excellence is a shift away from what has essentially been a three phase model for delivering the 12 to 18 curriculum (S1/2, S3/4 and S5/6), towards a two phase model. This two phase model comprises a three year period of broad general education in the early years of secondary school, characterised by flexible provision designed by the school and focused on the experiences and outcomes identified in national guidance, followed by a senior phase beginning in S4 in which the learner will build up a portfolio of qualifications, building directly on their previous achievements within the broad general education.

Denholm House Almondvale Business Park Almondvale Way Livingston EH54 6GA

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01506 600 367 01506 600 388 bill.maxwell@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk

www.education.scotland.gov.uk

Transforming lives through learning

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The provision of a broad general education phase, which flows smoothly and progressively from pre-school, through primary and to the end of S3, is a fundamental design feature of Curriculum for Excellence. Experiencing a challenging and motivating broad general education up to the end of S3 is a core national entitlement for all young people and will provide a stronger and broader foundation of learning and attainment for the senior phase and beyond. It is therefore essential that all schools and local authorities ensure that the new curricular models they are developing firmly embed this key characteristic. We are aware that schools and local authorities have been developing a variety of specific approaches to re-designing the curriculum which young people at S1 to S3 experience, intimately connected, of course, with their planning for delivery of the new senior phase. To aid this process, the Implementation Group will shortly begin to produce a number of succinct briefings on the purposes and features of the broad general education, including examples of emerging practice. We hope these will assist you and your staff in the next stages of local implementation, evaluation of progress, and communication with parents. This local approach is one of the key characteristics of Curriculum for Excellence and I expect it to feature increasingly as a core strength of Scotlands education system. In the meantime there are two particular points which I wish to bring to your attention now, as they may require shortterm action in some cases. 1. A few examples of curriculum design propose early presentation of whole cohorts for qualifications during S3. This is incompatible with the purposes of the broad general education. Qualifications should not be taken by young people during S1-S3 unless there are very specific circumstances for individual children. The Curriculum for Excellence Management Board issued a statement on the Senior Phase in May 2011. 2. Choice is an important feature of the broad general education but some emerging patterns of course/subject choice in S1 to S3 are unlikely to allow young people to experience the broad general education as intended. The design of the curriculum during S1-S3 must enable all young people to experience all of the Es and Os up to and including the third curriculum level. Through choices, opportunities should also be provided to enable learners to specialise and to experience greater challenge and depth through selected fourth level Es and Os where they are ready to do so. This should enable young people to progress to a suitably broad range of qualifications when they move on to the senior phase. However, the design of the S3 curriculum should avoid closing off options for the choice of qualifications which pupils may want to have open to them when they enter the senior phase at the start of S4. I am conscious that plans are already in place, or well advanced for the pathways which current S2 pupils will be following in S3, the final year of the broad general education phase. It will be important that you evaluate these rigorously in line with the national expectations of the broad general education, and plan to change them where necessary. We expect to see new and more creative patterns of choice as teachers understanding of the full potential of the Es and Os and the nature of progression from the broad general education to the senior phase becomes more firmly established. These matters will be considered in more detail in the briefings we are planning to issue.

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The Implementation Group will prepare a detailed response to all the main findings of the progress report. That response will be considered by the CfE Management Board in March and then published. It will specify actions needed by all partners and the support which will be in place in 2012-2013. With regard to the role of Education Scotland in particular, I can assure you that during 2012, achieving the intentions of the broad general education from pre-school to S3 consistently across the country will be of the highest priority. The agencys support and development programmes will reflect this. District Inspectors and Area Advisers will be working with you and your teams to identify schools where improvement may be required, the support available and how it could be tailored to your requirements. During secondary school inspections, inspectors will evaluate the quality of the broad general education as learners experience it. Key evidence will include the extent to which learners experiences across the curriculum during S1 to S3 are richer, more challenging and more connected than previously, and evidence that learners are achieving improved outcomes. Inspectors will recognise that this can be achieved in different ways: their focus will be upon the entitlement to the broad general education, and improved outcomes for all learners. Education Scotland will also be providing further guidance and support in a number of other important areas, including preparing for the S3 profile; P7 profiling and reporting; achieving a coherent curriculum across the later stages of primary and into secondary school; and the replacement for STACs. We have evidence that many schools are now planning and delivering rich and ambitious teaching which will significantly improve standards and the quality of young peoples learning. We are seeing practical examples of that happening in action. I look forward to working with you to ensure that every young person experiences the rewarding broad general education which will provide a solid foundation for the senior phase and their future success. Yours sincerely

Dr Bill Maxwell Chair of CfE Implementation Group

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