EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL

CABINET - 25 SEPTEMBER 2013

CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN (3-18) FOR EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS UPDATE

Report by Executive Director of Educational and Social Services

1. PURPOSE 1.1 To provide information to Cabinet on progress with the priorities identified in

the 2011-15 plan during session 2012-13.

1.2 To seek Cabinet approval for the continuing implementation of a development plan for Curriculum for Excellence for 2011-2015.

1.3 To provide a context for Curriculum for Excellence update reporting within the

Strategic Performance Framework. 1.4 To illustrate the continuing articulation between previously approved cabinet papers and Curriculum for Excellence development and implementation: Priority to attainment in East Ayrshire Schools – 21 October 2009 Early Years establishments Framework – 21 October 2009 Curriculum for Excellence Development – 24 February 2010 Curriculum for Excellence Update Report – 4 May 2011 Curriculum for Excellence Update Report – 26 September 2012 East Ayrshire Council Strategic performance Framework Strategic Priorities: Performance Framework for Raising Educational Attainment and Equipping Young People for the World of Work – 19 December 2012 2. BACKGROUND

2.1 Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) aims to provide children and young people with a coherent, high-quality experience from 3 – 18. There are four clearly identified contexts for learning under Curriculum for Excellence:

The ethos and life of the school as a community

Curricular areas and subjects

Inter-disciplinary projects and studies

Opportunities for personal achievement

2.2 In order to fulfil these four contexts for learning all schools/establishments are

required to provide a curriculum using the following design principles:-

Challenge and enjoyment

Depth

Personalisation and choice

Relevance

Breadth

Progression and coherence 2.3 In providing this 3-18 experience, Education Authorities, through their schools

and through joint working with partner agencies, must ensure that the six entitlements are provided for all young people:

Coherent Curriculum

Broad General Education Up to S3

Senior Phase

Skills for Learning, Life and Work

Personal Support

Positive and Sustained Destinations 2.4 The nature of the experiences provided by teachers therefore in delivering

these entitlements must be achieved through:-

Pedagogy which supports Active Learning

Assessment processes which are an integral part of daily class work and which further improve learning

Strategies to integrate Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing as responsibilities for all

Awareness that learning does not just happen in the classroom or with teachers

An understanding of the difference between attainment and achievement and an awareness for the need to integrate both into the pupil experience

Inter-disciplinary learning which encourages and motivates pupils and which provides a bridge in methodology from Early Years through to Senior Phase.

2.5 The table in 2.6 outlines the key national advice documents and policies that

have been prepared to assist educational establishments prepare for the Curriculum for Excellence and sets out what is still to be completed in the national programme.

2.6 Date Development

2003 Curriculum Review Group is established

2004 The Review Group publish A Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive 2004a) It sets out proposed aims for education and principles of the curriculum A Curriculum for Excellence: Ministerial Response (Scottish Executive 2004b) is published and Ministers establish a Programme Board.

2005 Groups established to review existing guidance.

2006 Progress and Proposals (Scottish Executive 2006a) made more detailed proposals. Building the Curriculum 1 published (Scottish Executive 2006b)

2007 Building the Curriculum 2 Active Learning in the Early Years (Scottish Executive, 2007) September: Draft experiences and outcomes start to be published

2008 Continuing release of and engagement on draft experiences and outcomes including trialling them in a range of schools. Consultation on qualifications on the next generation of national qualifications between June and October (Scottish Government, 2008b) Building the Curriculum 3: A Framework for Learning and Teaching published. This replaces the existing guidance on the 3-5 curriculum, 5-14 curriculum and curriculum design in the secondary sector

2009 April: Publication of full experiences and outcomes June: Announcement of new qualifications framework September: Assessment in Curriculum for Excellence: Strategic vision, key principles, (Scottish Government, 2009c) Building the Curriculum 4: skills for learning, skills for work and skills for life

2010 January: Building the Curriculum 5 - Assessment Framework (Scottish Government, 2010) Availability of assessment exemplars prior to launch of national assessment resource August: Schools begin to deliver Curriculum for Excellence August: Certification of first Scottish Baccalaureates Autumn term: national assessment resource available

2011 January: draft rationale and course summaries for National 4 and 5 published. April: draft course specifications for National 4 and 5 published.

2012 April; planned publication of unit and course specifications for new and revised qualifications at SCQF levels 1-6 (including National 4 and National 5).

2013 April: planned publication of unit and course specifications for revised qualifications at SCQF level 7 (Advanced Higher) August: final certification of qualifications at Standard Grade SCQF levels 3 to 5).

2014 August: first certification of new/revised qualifications at SCQF levels 1 to 5 including the National 4 and National 5. Final certification of current version of Access qualifications.

2015 August: Final certification of qualifications at Intermediate 1 and 2 (SCQF levels 4 and 5). August: First certification of revised qualifications at Higher (SCQF level 6) August: Final certification of current versions of qualifications at Higher (SCQF level 6) and Advanced Higher (SCQF level 7)

2016 August: first certification of revised qualifications at Advanced Higher.

3. DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE (2011-15) 3.1 The Curriculum for Excellence development plan described in appendix 1

provides guidance for taking forward Curriculum for Excellence in East Ayrshire over the next two academic sessions (2013-14, 2014-15). The plan sets out a shared vision for the way forward and clarifies the roles and responsibilities at all levels of those involved in implementation.

3.2 All educational establishments will continue to have Curriculum for Excellence as a key improvement planning priority. As part of standards and quality reporting for session 2012-13 all establishments will provide the Head of Service: Schools with a detailed status report on the full range of issues identified in Curriculum for Excellence planning. The Head of Service: Schools (HoS) will continue to work directly with academies through an agreed rota of monitoring visits. Senior Education Managers will undertake their monitoring visits to Primary schools and will report then to the HoS. The emphasis will continue to be on providing the highest possible quality of experience for every pupil.

The work of East Ayrshire Council‟s Curriculum for Excellence Development Team, which includes both officers and practitioners, has been formally recognised by Education Scotland. In particular, the work on Moderation of Assessment has been specifically recognised and has achieved kite-marking status.

3.3 The priorities set out in the development plan in appendix 1 relate to the

overall focus of Curriculum for Excellence in East Ayrshire. These are:

Learning and Teaching

Assessment and Moderation

Recording and Reporting

Experiences and Outcomes

Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing

Curriculum Structure

Senior Phase

Monitoring and Evaluation

3.4 Parents and carers, and the information which is provided to them, will continue to be in sharp focus in the years ahead. As schools consolidate curriculum-change planning and begin to consider the impact of transitions, senior phase and new qualifications, it is essential that parents have information that gives them access to the changes in learning and teaching being made in schools and that they are comfortable with the role they are being asked to play. A parental guide to Curriculum for Excellence is currently being developed and will be implemented during session 2013-14. The CfE development team are currently consulting with focus groups of parents to work towards agreement of the content and format of the document.

3.5 Key national developments which support CfE implementation, but which are not directly included in the original EAC plan, continue to be addressed e.g.

Donaldson Report recommendations on “Teaching Scotland‟s Future” and the GTCS initiative on professional Update.

3.6 Key authority initiatives such as the continuing development of the Business Enterprise Skills Centres (BESC) are having a significant impact on the success of key elements of Curriculum for Excellence. Annual establishment improvement plans which evolve from the authority development plan will explicitly incorporate such initiatives into the priorities of schools and establishments from 2012-13 onwards. The partnership between EAC and local business leaders continues to progress and to provide mutual benefit. Business Leaders have supported young people through mentoring, through support with groups of pupils and leading Enterprise events. A number of our key business leaders have also worked with teaching staff to help give focus to the development of the Business Enterprise curriculum.

It is anticipated that BESC reporting will have an identified place in Schools Standards and Quality Reporting. Standards and Quality reporting is collated in September each session to coincide with initial SQA information being made available.

3.7 Monitoring, evaluation and review of the operational outcomes from the CfE Development Plan will now be reported annually to Cabinet through the Standards and Quality Report in September each year under the heading „Raising Attainment‟, or otherwise at the request of Cabinet and/or Governance and Scrutiny.

3.8 The outcomes achieved from the actions underpinning the CfE plan will also be part of the Strategic Priorities Framework document which comprises data on CfE and non-CfE targets and milestones.

3.9 The Council‟s performance management system „EPMS‟ will be used to gather data and intelligence to inform continuous improvement in relation to the outcomes in the CfE Development Plan and the „Priorities for Raising Attainment‟ annual reports.

4. COMMUNITY PLANNING IMPLICATIONS 4.1 The key educational outcomes of curriculum for excellence articulated in the

CfE Development Plan are also encapsulated in the Community Plan: „Improving Lifelong Learning‟. This will help to ensure that all partners involved in learning have a clear and collectively defined role in working with the authority and educational establishments to achieve the positive outcomes encapsulated in the four capacities of: „successful learners; responsible citizens; effective contributors and confident individuals‟.

5. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5.1 The financial implications arising from the introduction and embedding of the development plan will be met from specific CfE budgets (moderation and assessment) and from the annual block grant.

6. HUMAN RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS 6.1 There are no HR implications arising as a result of this report. 7. POLICY/LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 7.1 Nil at this stage 8. RISK IMPLICATIONS 8.1 The Education Team have introduced monitoring systems to ensure

consistent progress in Raising Attainment for children and young people through the CfE plan implementation phase.

9. EQUALITIES IMPACT ASSESSMENT 9.1 There are no direct equality impact issues arising from this report. 10. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that Cabinet:

i) approve the report on the Curriculum for Excellence development plan update attached as Appendix 1;

ii) approve the reporting of progress on the 2011-2015 CfE plan as part of

annual Standards and Quality Report for Education or as requested by Cabinet and Governance and Scrutiny;

iii) otherwise, note the contents of this report.

Graham Short Executive Director of Educational and Social Services AW 12/6/13

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Sections 1.4 and 2.6 refer to all of the key Local and national Curriculum for Excellence papers.

Members requiring further information should contact Alan Ward, Acting Head of Service: Schools on Tel (01563) 576126 or Kay Gilmour, Head of Service: Community Support on Tel (01563) 576104. Implementation Officer: Alan Ward, Acting Head of Service: Schools

Appendix 1

DEVELOPMENT PLAN: „ IMPLEMENTATION OF CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE IN EAST AYRSHIRE (2011-2015)‟

1. Learning and Teaching (Pedagogy) Expectation 1: Staff in centres, schools and learning communities will implement the Learning and Teaching (Pedagogy) Policy 1.1 Educational Services will:

Publish a revised Learning and Teaching (Pedagogy) Policy incorporating best practice from Assessment is for Learning, Critical Skills, Active Learning, Teaching for Understanding and Teacher Learning Communities

Facilitate appropriate CPD to meet staff needs 1.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Provide appropriate CPD to ensure effective implementation of the policy

Focus class and playroom observations on learning and teaching 1.3 Staff will:

Engage in peer discussion and observation focusing on pedagogy

Seek out and participate in CPD opportunities

In December 2012 the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Policy document was launched to schools after a rigorous consultation process and an intensive, final drafting period. The document represents an excellent statement of intent regarding standards and expectation of classroom experience for all children and young people from 3-18. The format of the document provides accessible reading for all users and partners, but is essentially a document for Early Childhood Centres, primary schools and secondary schools against which establishments‟ practice will be measured. (The Performance Framework for Education specifically focuses on schools and centres taking ownership of the standard of learning and teaching in any establishment and the imminent publication of the authority-wide self-evaluation and school review policy will be implemented to support this approach). The overall format of the policy encompasses clear definition of excellent practice but also encompasses quite specific strategies which focus on key aspects of learning .

1. Literacy 2. Numeracy 3. Learning Outdoors 4. Health and Wellbeing 5. ICT (this has been added in light of the ICT review for Education). Each strategy identified features a key driver for learning and there is a clear need to ensure that this policy and these strategies are at the core of the work of all schools. The roll-out for each individual strategy now looks as follows: Literacy Launched April 2013 to be adopted by schools/early childhood centres as of session 2013-14. The document identifies whole school approach to raising standards of literacy and also provides detail for schools on specific support strategies for children and young people who have additional support needs or who have low literacy levels. There is a clear expectation that every establishment must demonstrate a high level of commitment to raising literacy standards. It will also be incumbent on Learning Communities to work more closely together to share practice and to provide greater continuity, challenge and progression for pupils. Numeracy The Numeracy Strategy is being drafted at this point with a proposed launch time of October. The principles of development and delivery stated for literacy also stand for numeracy. There are specific issues for subject departments in secondary schools to look at in terms of delivery as a responsibility for all. Health and Wellbeing was featured in a recent impact assessment undertaken by Education Scotland and which modelled practice and progress across the authority. There was significant praise for the Health and Wellbeing work going on already. The strategy document being produced is a long-term piece of work which is being implemented in an alternative way to Literacy and Numeracy. Where Literacy and Numeracy are completed documents with quite specific standards and approaches being prescribed, Health and Wellbeing is being implemented on an ongoing basis through the work of Secondary School PE Departments, Primary Schools, Active Sports Team, Co-ordinator for Alcohol and Drugs Education, CfE Development Officer and a seconded post paid for by Sportscotland to support high quality PE in Primary Schools. This diverse group reflects the range of strands which make up Health and Wellbeing and the group is tasked with producing a resource-based format for 3-18 Health and Wellbeing for East Ayrshire. The aim is for this version to be completed by the end of the plan period (June 2015) but as resources are sourced or developed they will be rolled out to schools for use until the practice is complete.

ICT Significant funding has been allocated to upgrading of ICT across the authority. This recent development has prompted the need for a review of procurement as well as policy. This will be undertaken and completed over the next two academic sessions, taking us through to the end of the current plan. Learning Outdoors This strategy has now been fully implemented and has shown an outstanding level of success in terms of uptake and engagement particularly with early Years and primary aged children. There is still significant work to be done to challenge secondary schools, including certificate classes, to become more frequently involved in children undertaking learning activities in the school grounds or outside of the classroom. CPD models for schools and centres to support this level of change, continue to evolve but the main thrust of our work will be to develop Communities of Practice and action learning sets which again anticipates the direction of teacher development at national level. We are participating as an authority in Phase 2 of the Strategic Leadership Development Programme with a pilot group working on „engaging learners in their own progress. We are also implementing our own leadership and practice academy (supported by East Ayrshire Council Organisational Development) with a focus on mentoring and online learning. This work will leave the authority well-positioned to anticipate and embrace professional update for teachers which is being rolled out by GTCS. Progress status: Green Development of learning and teaching continues to evolve/improve and this is now fully supported by the roll-out of the L&T policy and the specific strategies associated with it i.e. Literacy, Numeracy, H&WB, ICT, Learning Outdoors. The CPD programmes necessary to support ongoing development are being put in place. EAC is well-placed to take forward the proposed developments from The Scottish Virtual College for Leadership Development. The Education Team are working closely with EAC Organisational Development to move forward with our own Leadership and Practice academy which will anticipate national developments including delivery of the Donaldson recommendations.

2. Assessment and Moderation Expectation 1: Staff in centres, schools and learning communities will demonstrate the

relationship between effective Learning and Teaching and the principles and practices set out in the Building the Curriculum 5 (BTC5) suite of documents.

2.1 Educational Services will:

Provide CPD opportunities to refresh Learning and Teaching (pedagogical) practice and encourage appropriate/relevant use of formative assessment.

Provide CPD in „local moderation‟ at various stages.

Explore the potential of external standardised testing within the Assessment Framework (BTC5).

Create an Early Level Assessment Toolkit in Literacy and Numeracy. 2.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Deliver in-service/collegiate time sessions on the links between Teaching and Learning / Assessment is for Learning and Building the Curriculum 5.

Continue to embed formative assessment practice through BtC5.

Support the rollout of moderation within establishments and learning communities.

2.3 Staff will:

Continue to embed formative assessment practice through BtC5.

Become knowledgeable with all aspects of BtC5 and its implications for practice.

East Ayrshire‟s nationally recognised moderation of assessment plan was successfully rolled-out over the course of this session and has raised confidence levels amongst staff in all sectors in making professional judgements in assessment. Moderation activities have taken a variety of formats and have been led by the CfE Development Officer and by staff recognised to be excellent practitioners. This process will continue to be rolled-out to all sectors and refined to ensure that the assessment tools currently being developed will provide pupils and parents, as well as staff, with sound, holistic assessments of progress. The toolkit will be applicable in principle to all stages and levels. It is important to note that an Ayrshire –wide approach is being developed across the special sector to share practice on moderation of assessment. We are currently investigating the use of the Durham University; Assessment for Excellence online test which has been developed as a diagnostic tool to support holistic assessment of progress. There is recurring cost for this programme but evidence from other authorities indicates a clear aid to teachers in supporting learning, teaching and target-setting. The assessment tool for Literacy has now been finalised and is being tested with a range of school groups. The tool for Numeracy is being looked at through the

Numeracy development group over the course of this session. In broader terms the authority staff are at the stage where we are looking to refine assessment processes and to continue to roll-out the moderation of assessment programme.

Expectation 2: All staff will moderate assessment.

2.4 Educational Services will:

Put structures in place for moderating Literacy and Numeracy assessment within schools, learning communities and across the authority.

2.5 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Direct school appointed assessment coordinators to lead in this area at school and learning community level. Assessment coordinators should be staff within school who demonstrate confidence, knowledge and experience of the nature of effective moderation.

Ensure opportunities for staff to discuss and engage in moderation at establishment and learning community level.

2.6 Staff will:

Take part in moderation activities to develop a shared understanding of standards.

Take responsibility for implementing sound moderation practice. Moderation Moderation in practical terms means teachers and other professionals working together, drawing on guidance and examples to:

plan learning, teaching and assessment check that learning and assessments provide fair opportunities to meet the

required standards sample evidence of learners' work and review teachers' judgements agree strengths in learners' performances and their next steps in learning provide feedback on teachers' judgements to help them improve their practice

Our moderation strategy continues to raise standards and expectations and levels of consistency across teachers and schools, ensuring that learning is at the appropriate level and learners develop skills for learning, life and work, including higher order thinking skills, which will allow them to be successful in the future. Teachers‟ participation in moderation is a highly effective form of professional development and the feedback from staff regarding this work is overwhelmingly positive. The challenge for the education Team in CfE is that this excellent practice has to

become firmly embedded at all stages in order to continue to raise standards for our young people. In June 2012, East Ayrshire submitted its moderation programme structure to Education Scotland for consideration for the National Assessment Resource (NAR). An essential part of this process involved review by the National Quality Assurance Group (NQAG), an independent panel of experts comprising representatives from HMIE, Scotland‟s Colleges, local authorities across Scotland, and experienced practitioners. NQAG approved East Ayrshire‟s approach to moderation, highlighting it as particularly strong practice and awarding it a „Quality Mark‟. This is the model which has been piloted across primary and secondary schools throughout the local authority and which is being further developed across all sectors. Secondary sector Moderation within curricular areas in the broad general education (S1-3) is now well-established across the local authority. 13 teams of principal teachers and subject leaders meet throughout the year using the process Quality Marked by the National Quality Assurance Group as an example of good practice. From August to November each year the teams select and agree a focus area of the curriculum, engage in professional discussion, joint planning and quality assurance of teaching and learning. From December to April, teaching and learning on the focus area is carried out, and in May each principal teacher/subject leader brings a package of evidence (which includes teaching materials, assessments and examples of learners‟ achievement) from their department to be evaluated by the team using criteria derived from the National Quality Assurance Group. Each department receives formal written feedback from the moderation team, which is used to inform improvements in practice, and an authority-level Subject Report is produced which gives high-level messages about development priorities across the schools in specific subject areas. Reports from the moderation process are also shared with head teachers to support improvements. Over the past two sessions, we have piloted approaches to inter-authority moderation in secondary sector (using the East Ayrshire model) in the areas of English (East and North Ayrshire – Quality Marked by Education Scotland, 2012), RME (East and North Ayrshire, 2013) and RERC (East, North and South Ayrshire, 2013). The latter two projects are proving instrumental in building a network of support for teachers (who can otherwise be relatively isolated within their schools), and providing opportunities for professional development to help improve practice. Primary and Early Childhood In primary sector, moderation across learning communities has been developed using a model based on the successful secondary sector process. It involves agreement of focus areas in literacy and numeracy across primary schools within learning communities at the beginning of the session, and planning a series of development activities throughout the year which allow teachers working with learners at the same stage to share planning of teaching and learning and act as

critical friends in the quality assurance of ongoing work. When planned learning activities have been completed, teachers meet, firstly within their schools, and then across schools in their learning community, to share evidence of teaching and learning, and evaluate its effectiveness. Individual teachers receive formal written feedback on their work, and evaluative reports focusing on schools and on the learning community are compiled. All of these outputs help to inform planning for improvements in teaching and learning. Over the past two sessions, professional development workshops have been held for school leaders and representative staff leading and supporting moderation in each primary school, and this work is ongoing. This session, professional development workshops for leaders in early education and childhood centres were also introduced, and collaborative work across early education and primary education focusing on moderation of early level has taken place. Projects focusing on cross-sector moderation involving primary and secondary teachers have also been taking place within some learning communities this session (for example, the Cumnock Learning Partnership “Shared Responsibility” project which focused on health and wellbeing). In the new session we will focus on supporting teachers in making good assessment judgements based on an appropriate range of high quality sources of evidence, and on further developing the moderation model – in particular on the links between sectors.

Expectation 3: Centres, schools and learning communities have systems for monitoring and tracking achievement and attainment. 2.7 Educational Services will:

Interpret national advice and provide advice and guidance on monitoring, tracking and assessment systems.

Ensure SEEMIS Click & Go can be linked easily to the assessment system.

2.8 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Implement monitoring and tracking systems. 2.9 Staff will:

Act on assessment information to meet learning needs at all levels. East Ayrshire Council has been investigating the use of a tracking and monitoring tool developed by SEEMIS (On Track with Learning) and we are exploring how this will be rolled-out. Secondary schools have been using Click „n‟ Go for some time now to help track reward and award schemes. Many schools have now adopted this monitoring tool as part of their improvement planning for session 2013-14. On Track with Learning supports teachers in improving the consistency of planning, tracking and pupil profiling. This ICT tool is web-based and will be fully integrated with the CfE terminology and processes.

High quality support for pupils in their learning is an integral factor in raising standards in our schools. We continue to have the framework below in place to ensure that there is a consistency of performance in East Ayrshire: CfE Development Officer for Curriculum and New Qualifications. Opportunities for All Officer to support transition from school into positive destinations for ASN and LAC pupils. Social Work: Corporate Parenting Policy. EAST Team: Alternative curriculum and individual support. Children‟s Services Team: tasked to ensure a coherent service delivery. Schools are continuing to develop personal planning for all pupils and this will help shape the culture in schools to ensure shared ownership of learning and development. The recently launched learning and teaching policy sets out the expectation that all schools, centres, parents and pupils have a role to play in supporting learning and in recognising achievement. The Children‟s Services Group will continue to use the Shanarri model as the basis for the GIRFEC agenda s the driver for change and improvement. That is to ensure that all children and young people are:- Safe Healthy Achieving Nurtured Active Respected Responsible Included All school staff are familiar with this model and understand the significance of the GIRFEC model in supporting the vision for children and young people.

Expectation 4: Effective Pupil Support is in place. 2.10 Educational Services will:

Provide support on the implementation of The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended).

Facilitate the sharing of best practice in personal learning planning.

Ensure delivery of high quality support within the context of CfE led by educational establishments and supported by the East Ayrshire Support Team.

2.11 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Ensure learners‟ needs are met as set out in The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended).

Implement personal learning planning.

Review their management and organisational structures to ensure effective personal support.

2.12 Staff will:

Implement the guidance on supporting children‟s learning code of practice (revised edition) in the context of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC).

Reflect on practice to ensure effective learner support.

Support learners in reflecting on and improving their learning. Curriculum for Excellence guidelines are very clear on the significance placed on high quality support for all pupils. Authority working groups and development officers have been instrumental in ensuring the school pupils with identified needs have a framework and standard to operate against:- Curriculum for Excellence Development Officer – development of best practice. Opportunities for All (formerly MCMC) – improving Learning approaches for ASN pupils and promoting positive destinations. Social Work – Corporate Parenting EAST Team – Developing ASN expertise and alternative curriculum strategies GIRFEC Agenda – shared by all services supporting children Education Services continues to provide a high level of support to all establishments regarding ASN practices in schools. Additionally, the revised management structures will provide a focus for assuring continuing high levels of challenge and support. Schools will develop personal learning planning in line with the new learning and teaching policy which will further ensure that all pupils are consulted about and engaged in the learning process as part of normal daily classroom

practice. Schools do not as yet have consistently high levels of practice in this area but it is an improving situation. School reviews and establishment self-evaluation practices will focus on the GIRFEC agenda as a priority and will have included in their planning the need to provide both universal and targeted support as described in Building the Curriculum series of documents. Progress status: Green

The moderation of assessment model developed by East Ayrshire has been successfully implemented. EAC school staff have worked very hard to develop a consistency of professional opinion around the CfE levels. Baseline data will be included in the Standards and Quality report to be published in September 2013. It is important to note that developments in confidence, accuracy and application of assessment data to daily learning and teaching will continue to be a factor for all authorities across the country and EAC is well-placed to contribute to that debate.

3. Recording and Reporting Expectation 1: Reports to parents reflect CfE. 3.1 Educational Services will:

Produce generic report models for all sectors.

Agree a report format with educational establishments.

Produce report models for additional support needs where appropriate. 3.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Implement the new report format.

Sample staff / pupil / parent views in terms of continuous improvement. 3.3 Staff will:

Complete reports which satisfy the requirements of BtC5 Recognising Achievement, Profiling and Reporting.

Provide feedback on the reporting formats. The reporting format introduced last session was largely successful and was adopted by all schools (with some minor variations in layout rather than content). Profiling was successfully launched for P7‟s in June 2012 and continues to be refined in order

to achieve the desired success criteria. All academies have introduced profiling to S3 and an evaluation will be carried out early in the new session. A high quality exemplar which achieves the success criteria for excellence in profiling is also appended. There are clear implications for the practice of schools in managing this process and ensuring that the quality of reporting is at the level which meets the highest expectations of parents and pupils. The main areas where practice will still need to develop is in reporting on the “specialist” areas for primary schools in a meaningful way without reports becoming too expansive and time-consuming. Many schools have adopted the practice of surveying pupil and parent opinion during consultation evenings. The working group responsible for taking reporting forward will re-convene this coming session to evaluate progress to date.

Expectation 2: All schools have systems in place for recording and reflecting on achievement and attainment. 3.4 Educational Services will:

Produce a recognising achievement framework and certificate.

Co-ordinate approaches to develop a common model for the authority to recognise achievement.

3.5 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Develop roles and responsibilities in relation to the recognition of achievement and management of information on attainment and achievement required for the completion of achievement certificates.

3.6 Staff will:

Assist pupils to record and share their achievements, as appropriate. A wider achievement framework has been developed and has been piloted during session 2012-13 in a number of schools. The framework is based around the four capacities and therefore guarantees a consistency of the language and understanding of the concept and ethos of this process. The basic operation of this wider achievement process will allow existing award/reward schemes to continue but to have an organisation and structure to provide consistency and support. In order to engage pupils to a greater extent the responsibility for upkeep of an e-portfolio to record progress has been developed and will be rolled-out as ICT security issues are addressed. The new learning and teaching policy specifies under the section on personal planning that planning for learning and target-setting for pupils should be part of the daily routine. The system being developed will facilitate the recording and review of

these targets. This aspect of the work is vital to learning and is being monitored closely by the education team. Education Services will continue to focus on delivering comprehensive support for all young people. A key issue which must be challenged in every establishment is to have a robust process around evidence-gathering of how young people are involved in their own learning. The new learning and teaching policy clearly identifies the significance of reflection and review for young people, involving them in planning next steps. The learning and teaching policy will be supported by the self-evaluation and school review launch. Progress status: Green High quality reporting is an essential link between parents and their ability to support children in learning. The new reporting format has been in place and implemented fully for the last two sessions now. Some issues continue to be debated at national level on workload for teachers particularly in primary schools with feedback being required for “specialist” curricular areas. East Ayrshire schools have made excellent progress with reporting. Similarly with profiling, the P7 profiles were successfully introduced last session and S3 profiles were introduced in all academies this session. The pilot of the wider achievement framework was successfully completed and the first certificates were awarded to pupils. The e-portfolio system which will support this development has also been trialled and will be rolled out to all schools over the next two school sessions. East Ayrshire is in a strong position nationally in this area of work. A training and support package is already in place to take this forward.

4. Experiences and Outcomes Expectation 1: Staffs in centres, schools and learning communities are familiar with CfE experiences and outcomes. 4.1 Educational Services will:

Seek out and communicate good practice in delivering the experiences and outcomes across the local authority and beyond.

Facilitate the sharing of good practice across the local authority. 4.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Produce improvement plans reflecting engagement with the experiences and outcomes and four aspects of the curriculum (ethos and life of the school as a community, curriculum areas and subjects, interdisciplinary learning and opportunities for personal achievement) across all curricular areas.

Continue to give high priority to the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, global citizenship, enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Plan and develop interdisciplinary learning based on the experiences and

outcomes.

Use GLOW for gathering information and sharing good practice. 4.3 Staff will:

Use CfE experiences and outcomes in planning and assessment, contributing to development in curricular areas.

Use GLOW to share good practice. Progress with Experiences and Outcomes (E‟s and O‟s) has evolved in the years since the CfE plan was implemented. As the national chronology has been rolled out so East Ayrshire has taken forward developments in tandem with that process. Our close links with Education Scotland have ensured that as the levels of expectation around the use of E‟s and O‟s has increased, our practice has developed to support this e.g. Year 1 the expectation was around staff becoming familiar with E‟s and O‟s, Year 2 the expectation was focused on staff becoming confident in using E‟s and O‟s for planning and assessment and expectation now assumes years 1and 2 with a sense now that this process is embedded in the normal routine work of schools. The moderation strategy implemented by the CfE team has been an excellent vehicle for taking forward the sharing of practice and the development of new L&T strategies. School Improvement and subsequent action plans are all scrutinised by the Education Team to ensure that progress is being made in all the relevant areas including embedding of practice around E‟s and O‟s. During the course of this coming session a curriculum group will convene to look at the long-term strategies for delivering the curriculum which will address how our learning communities can work better together to deliver Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Well-being (responsibility of all), the subject areas / cross-cutting themes and inter-disciplinary learning. There remains a major concern over GLOW development and delivery at national level

Expectation 2: All staff within nursery, primary and secondary are working collaboratively to improve learning and transition at all stages. 4.4 Educational Services will:

Provide a best practice guide on transition arrangements. 4.5 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Ensure collaborative working and transition are part of the improvement planning process.

4.6 Staff will:

Work with colleagues within and across sectors to improve learning and transition.

Education and Social services continues to work in a joined-up manner to

ensure best possible transition arrangements for all youngsters before , during and after transfer. The guidelines have been in place for some time and fully support excellent communication necessary to facilitate transition. Progress continues to be made on improving curricular links between sectors and establishments and in particular progress has been made regarding joint training in self-evaluation and forward planning in Learning Communities rather than as individual establishments. Feedback from HT‟s has been very positive. Education Scotland have been working closely with us on this issue. The main topics for discussion at the moment are centred on the need to work more closely to deliver CfE but in particular to prepare for the implementation the national proposals around languages (1+2) and the development of the Science/engineering curriculum in primary schools. There are presently key papers being developed on these issues.

Progress Status: Green School staff groups, across all sectors, have been growing in confidence and expertise with use and application of experiences and outcomes. There will be another round of increased expectation from EducationScotland in August 2013 and plans for progress for next session will address this increase. EAC staff continue to attend/contribute to seminars, conferences and in-service training etc to maintain the pace of progress. A substantial increase in the frequency and depth of collaborative work and the feedback from staff involved gives confidence to our assertions of progress and improvement.

5. Literacy, Numeracy & Health & Wellbeing Expectation 1: All staff within nursery, primary and secondary are embedding Literacy, Numeracy and Health & Wellbeing across learning. 5.1 Educational Services will:

Support local authority Development Teams in Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing.

Produce guidelines for establishments.

Provide CPD on the Responsibilities of All.

Disseminate good practice via GLOW. 5.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Focus on Literacy, Numeracy, Health and Wellbeing across learning within establishment improvement plans and evaluate their impact.

Promote collegiate groups focusing on these areas. 5.3 Staff will:

Incorporate Literacy, Numeracy & Health and Wellbeing experiences and outcomes across learning.

Support learners in developing in these areas. The information below is an extract from the annual return to EducationScotland which covers progress with section 5 of the EAC CfE plan:-

Positive progress

The local authority published a refreshed strategy in literacy (2013) and will publish numeracy (2014) which will foster and support consistent approaches, promote effective progression and continuity and make clear the roles and responsibilities of all.

In order to build on the Authority‟s Roots of Empathy Programme, the Parenting Skills group has created Primary 6 and S1-4 PSE/HWB parenting and relationship units. The units highlight the nurture needs of 0-3 year olds and encourage our young people to enhance their knowledge and practical skills in this important area. The pupils also learn how to create healthy relationships.

Youthlink Scotland‟s NKBL (No Knives Better Lives) Campaign is being implemented in our S2 PSE/HWB programmes.

East Ayrshire Council is an MVP Authority (Mentors in Violence Prevention programme) and we are presently developing this programme in Doon Academy. Senior mentors will encourage S1 and S2 pupils to reflect on their views of violence and learn safe ways to stand up to violence in their communities.

This session, four of our Learning Communities have participated in Police Scotland‟s “Shared Responsibility” programme where pupils learn about the economic, environmental and social implications of the cocaine industry on

both Scotland and Columbia. The project shows that decisions we make in life can have implications across the globe. One learning community tackled the project as an S1 interdisciplinary project while the other three learning communities selected a transition focus.

Skills for learning, life and work across the curriculum are a key feature of improvement planning in all establishments and learning communities.

In secondary schools, courses have been audited to identify core literacy, numeracy and health and well being experiences and outcomes, whilst specific experiences and outcomes are addressed through whole-school interdisciplinary projects. Common approaches to core aspects of literacy and numeracy have been developed and shared across departments and with parents and carers.

In the early years and primary sectors and in special schools, there has been integrated delivery of these key skills throughout the curriculum for some time. Improvement work has therefore focussed on making the presence of skills developed within learning more explicit, and on the importance of providing opportunities for learners to make good progression in skills development. This has included making enhanced use of a variety of contexts for learning such as within the life and ethos of establishments, in outdoor learning contexts, and in the wider community.

In secondary schools, a variety of approaches to strengthening the focus on skills are in evidence. In addition to the work on the responsibilities of all (see Section 2 and above) schools have been making enhanced use of opportunities to develop skills. For example, learners‟ awareness of the curriculum areas and subjects and aspects of the life and ethos of the school in which they are developing particular skills has been tracked, with the results used to inform improvement planning. At local authority moderation meetings, professional discussion of key skills within the new qualifications has been linked to effective practice within the broad general education. Teachers have discussed their expectations of young people in relation to Education Scotland‟s lines of development in literacy and numeracy and have made use of professional development packs to determine improvements in practice.

Tracking and monitoring of learners‟ progress in literacy and numeracy is being undertaken through development of establishments‟ existing good processes. In early years sector, revised profiling has been developed, providing ongoing tracking of children‟s progress and feeding into a transition profile. This is a developing area in secondary schools where we are seeing some innovative approaches, including the appointment of staff with specific remits in overseeing learners‟ progress across the curriculum in skills for learning, life and work, including literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing, and departments and faculties taking lead responsibility for specific experiences and outcomes which are the responsibility of all. Quality assurance processes at establishment and local authority level, including the local authority moderation programme, are supporting practitioners in their understanding of the central importance of breadth, challenge and application in assessment of learner progress.

A cross-sector team is developing and piloting assessment tools in literacy and numeracy in order to enhance the range of evidence of achievement and quality of professional judgements, supporting improved progress for learners.

This support will be launched formally in session 2013-14.

There has been some very good use made of messages and professional development materials from the Scottish Survey of Numeracy by learning communities, who have integrated this work into their moderation activities. This will provide a model for future developments in the use of SSLN.

Several developments in moderation (for example, in numeracy and mathematics at third level) have focused on the creation of shared assessments across secondary schools to share the standard and enhance the range and quality of evidence of learner achievement. Discussion of the Assessing Progress and Achievement Professional Learning resources has prompted staff to agree to share portfolios of learning in literacy and numeracy across schools, in order to agree on appropriate evidence.

The design of learning experiences using models such as Critical Skills has enhanced staff confidence in embedding opportunities for skills development into programmes.

There are strong and well-developed partnerships with local employers which have enhanced the skills curriculum for young people at all stages, bringing relevance to learning via employers delivering aspects of the curriculum; providing real-life learning contexts for learners, including visits, work experience and competitions. Every secondary school has a Business Enterprise and Skills Centre built around initiatives and programmes tailored to the needs and talents of learners. Through these programmes young people develop skills for learning, life and work such as communication, organisation, teamwork and leadership, in addition to learning specific career-related skills and achieving a range of qualifications, up to Higher level.

Within the health and wellbeing curriculum, the authority approach to substance misuse education has been further developed by staff working with partners such as NHS Scotland to extend the programme to include nursery to P2.

Parents and carers have welcomed the CfE focus on skills, as has been evident from engagement within establishment and at learning community meetings. Establishments have included parent showcase evenings in their celebrations of learner achievement at the conclusion of many skills-based projects to further enhance parental understanding and support for these developments.

Challenges

Continued development of assessment and moderation in literacy and numeracy in the context of Health and Wellbeing.

Further development of mental health and social wellbeing aspects of the health and wellbeing curriculum.

Further dissemination of effective approaches to delivering skills for learning life and work across the curriculum.

Development of systems to meet the needs of all establishments in tracking and monitoring learners‟ progress in literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and skills for learning, life and work.

Progress status: Green The status indicator reflects the level of progress being made in relation to our CfE plan. We raised the level of expectation for schools, pupils and parents through the introduction of the Learning and Teaching policy and the associated strategies and we will closely monitor implementation of the outcomes for children and young people in the years ahead through the strategic priorities reporting framework. It is important to note that Literacy and Numeracy levels in our young people and in adults remains a major concern and is the highest of our priorities.

6. Building your Curriculum Expectation 1: All staff within nursery, primary and secondary will be knowledgeable about Building the Curriculum 3, 4, 5 and adapt/change practice accordingly. 6.1 Educational Services will:

Host Building your Curriculum events, with appropriate follow-up, to support all sectors.

Disseminate materials to be used at in-service/collegiate time to allow establishments to deliver sessions as required.

Use the CfE Bulletin, CfE blog, and GLOW pages to ensure establishments are informed of all relevant developments in national policy.

6.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Provide in-service/collegiate time sessions for staff.

Ensure practice meets CfE requirements and expectations.

Build sustainable learning communities to deliver CfE.

Support full utilisation of GLOW. 6.3 Staff will:

Be knowledgeable with BtC 3, 4, 5 and deliver Learning and Teaching

EAC has now hosted two Raising Attainment Seminars designed to support curriculum development and the delivery of high quality experiences for all young people. All schools and centres were represented by senior managers. The events had clear outcomes and implications for schools‟ planning. The evidence from the returns of the Improvement plans for next session is a clear increase in the focus on outcome based planning and the evidence to be gathered in due course on the impact for learners. All schools received training and resources on the 3-Horizons model as part of a national pilot with EducationScotland which looks at a 5-year plan for schools attempting to identify those things which we will no longer do in five years time and attempting to predict what will need to be done in five years time which are not being done at the moment. The CfE Blog continues to be used but there are concerns over our capacity to update and develop it. There will be a new Self-evaluation and school review policy rolled-out next session which will help standardise a consistently high level of S.E. in schools with an audit tool-kit specifically designed to facilitate health-checks for individual establishments In order to confirm ongoing progress with CfE implementation Learning Communities are now working much more effectively together to share practice and to have consistent methodology which supports better continuity in young people‟s education and learning. A review of the first three years of BGE in primary and secondary schools will be undertaken during 2013-14. This will link into the next round of statements from EducationScotland regarding increased expectations for the curriculum (and other aspects of schools‟ work) to be fed into the inspection process.

Expectation 2: Secondary schools and all through special schools to have plans in place to ensure that S1-3 meets the principles of curriculum design. 6.4 Educational Services will:

Disseminate the latest thinking from the national centre to establishments.

Co-ordinate and share ideas/expectations amongst the secondary schools.

6.5 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Produce school and department improvement plans with priorities which reflect BtC3.

6.6 Staff will:

Deliver priorities as set out in their school and department improvement plans.

Each HT meeting has, as a standing item, a section on CfE update (a bulletin is produced by the CfE development officer and sent out to all schools) ensuring that there is good communication and an opportunity to clarify and discuss any issues arising. Specific examples of this would be the guidance from SQA on new Qualifications and the roles and responsibilities for members of staff in schools was particularly detailed and needed further time to be planned in for extra discussion. There is an opportunity for HT/schools to contact the team for a follow-up support visit from EAC or from external experts such as our SQA link officer.

All school improvement plans have a section for CfE which should indicate

outcome-based targets generated from self-evaluation and any specific targets predicated on the national time-line e.g. SQA new qualifications

Standards and Quality reporting provides a basis for discussion with HT‟s for

the monitoring visit (usually in November) for the Education Team to discuss progress with individual HT‟s.

Progress status: Green Curriculum development continues to evolve and become more sophisticated and more integrated across all sectors. A great deal of work has been done this session on bringing heads of establishment together to look at joint planning for the curriculum , for methodology and outcomes for children and young people. In particular it has been an intensive period of preparation for academies as they bring new qualifications on-stream and begin the first implementation of Senior Phase.

Expectation 2: 16+ Learning Choices outcomes achieved 7.4 Educational Services will:

Maintain and strengthen strategic and operational links with FE, HE and other partners.

Co-ordinate the information from MCMC data to direct and inform future development.

7.5 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

Assess the curricular needs of cohorts.

Identify vulnerable pupils at an early stage

Track and provide support for these learners.

In partnership with Skills Development Scotland, track offers of learning opportunities and destinations.

Support young people in accessing information. 7.6 Staff will:

Incorporate skills for learning, life, work into courses.

Attend SQA and ASDAN engagement events as appropriate.

Keep up-to-date with developments on the SQA and ASDAN websites and contribute to consultations as appropriate.

The Opportunities for all Officer (OFA) post replaced the previously named post of MCMC. We have continued to improve the accuracy and quality of information around OFA with particular reference to our looked after pupils (LAC). We now have more formal links with partner services within EAC and we continue to review our links with Skills Development Scotland (SDS) in order to ensure the best possible support for our most vulnerable youngsters. Staff in academies, primary schools and Early Childhood Centres continue to monitor and track pupils. The LAC officer has developed and implemented a specific support plan for the LAC group to focus on the task of bringing parity to the level of expectations across all pupil groups. This aim is reflected in the Strategic priorities document for EAC. We have continued to develop our plans, through the OFA officer, for delivering through-care and aftercare for our most vulnerable groups. Our new learning and teaching policy is designed to focus on improving standards of Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Well-being to all children and our development of Broad General Education (BGE) supports this aim. Courses which are being offered in BGE give appropriate time and focus to development of skills for life, learning and Work and this approach continues to increase the relevance of lessons and activities for young people.

Progress status: Green The HoS undertook a monitoring visit to all academies early in November 2012 to specifically discuss progress with senior phase implementation. All academies were asked to produce their planning and documentation to evidence their progress. All academies had high level and detailed curricular plans which show a variety of strategies across the authority to facilitate the necessary changes. All requirements from the SQA have been met and in-house training for support of delivery of the new qualifications has been organised and is in place for early in the new session as per the national time-line. Progress has also been made during session 2012-13 on supporting looked after pupils in particular and in addressing positive and sustained destinations for all young people. There is still considerable work to be done in terms of Opportunities for All, but strong progress has been made and the expectations from the CfE plan have been met. More effective links with the new Ayrshire College will continue to benefit our pupils.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation Expectation 1: The focus across all sectors and at all stages in the implementation of

Curriculum for Excellence is on improvement through self-evaluation. This is based on high quality leadership of self-evaluation, including effective support for CPD and evaluating its impact on the work of staff and the achievement of learners.

8.1 Educational Services will:

Monitor and evaluate implementation and impact of Curriculum for Excellence through the work of the ESS Management Team.

8.2 Educational establishments and learning communities will:

have clear knowledge and understanding about how learners are progressing

maintain a strong focus on evaluation of practice to ensure a high quality of teaching, consistent with the experiences and outcomes, and of the impact of changed methodologies on outcomes for learners

use self-evaluation and work collaboratively to develop a shared understanding, consistently apply and improve standards and expectations including through moderation, sharing best practice and benchmarking with other establishments

In secondary schools and through special schools, have considered the planning for and development of the senior phase, and curriculum phasing, to allow adoption of the new national qualifications in 2013/14.

The members of the ESS Team have a clearly defined role to ensure that schools‟ and centres‟ self-evaluation processes are robust and rigorous. To paraphrase HGIOS 3/Child at the Centre:- for self –evaluation to be considered excellent there must be a commitment to it; it must be systematic and there must be an identifiable impact for learners which focuses on improved learning and teaching. The HoSHoEY/SEM‟s / EY officers therefore have developed a set of agreed criteria, based around the CfE Entitlements for children and young people, that indicates levels of progress with CfE implementation and the consequent quality of experience for young people. In order to come to an agreed conclusion of progress levels, SEM‟s and Early Years officers undertake a number of visits to all of their establishments. Through the consequent professional dialogue/discussion with HT‟s Heads of Centre and staff during monitoring visits, schools/centres are supported in coming to an agreed assessment of their progress against the entitlements (of the six entitlements only 4 apply to primary schools and ECC‟s). The HoS schools carries out a minimum of 4 monitoring visits to each academy, one of which is specifically allocated to discussing in detail, progress against the six entitlements. The process has two dimensions then: firstly to ensure that self-evaluation is taking place within agreed policy in all schools/centres; secondly to come to an agreement about the level or quality of progress being made against the entitlements and the CfE implementation plan.

Details of the excellent progress being made will be featured in the S&Q report published in September 2013. Assessment processes in all schools/centres continue to improve and the confidence of teaching staff in their own judgements of CfE levels is strengthened again this session as the benefits of a high quality moderation of assessment programme continue to deliver greater consistency in deciding levels. All schools and centres are therefore in a stronger position to accurately monitor progress of pupils as they go through the experiences and outcomes. The CfE development officer and a small team have produced a tool-kit to support accurate information –gathering from all schools with regard to pupil performance in CfE levels. This will be tested in the early part of next session as statistics are put together on numbers of pupils achieving specified levels at P7 and S1 and possibly P3 and S3. The authority is also investigating the use of Assessment for Excellence (Age) Testing which will support our holistic approach to testing with an online diagnostic approach. All schools are required to comment in their Standards and Quality reporting on the impact of improvement planning and action planning in schools to ensure that new methodologies are being implemented and effective. The scrutiny of all parts of the planning cycle is a key task for Senior Education Managers and the Head of Schools. The authority S&Q report is based on the individual S&Q reports from each school/centre. During session 2013-14 we will continue to use the Community of practice model for teaching staff to support review and reflection. Senior Phase preparations have been completed and the first group of students to enter senior phase begins this coming session. There has been significant pressure on secondary schools‟ systems in order to prepare for this new phase. We have the requisite numbers of SQA subject verifiers in place and the training programmes for these staff are now scheduled and prepared for. We have had effective communication with SQA on a range of subjects and we have addressed all queries raised by schools in preparation for the launch of National 4 and 5 qualifications. Progress status: Green The monitoring regime now in place ensures that a senior education manager has responsibility for identified schools and works closely with the HT of each school to ensure that progress is being made and to an appropriate level. The authority will be rolling out a new self-evaluation and school review policy to support schools in achieving the increased expectations being demanded from the implementation of curriculum for excellence.