2017 National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan

Annex A

SUMMARY OF COMPLETED ACTIVITY FROM THE DELIVERY PLAN AND CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

We are addressing the ongoing issue of teacher recruitment in the North East through the Transition Training Fund, in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils. Through investment of £400,000 in 2016/17 we provided guaranteed employment for up 20 individuals from the oil and gas sector while they trained as teachers in STEM subjects.

We established a new International Council of Education Advisers during summer 2016, with the first meeting of the Council taking place in September 2016.

In August 2016 we established a panel of teachers to discuss key developments in Scottish education and to monitor workload demands.

We provided funding to ensure that we have the right number of teachers, with the right skills, in the right places to educate our young people. All local authorities in Scotland were allocated an appropriate share of £88 million funding in financial year 2016/17 to meet the agreement to maintain teacher numbers and support probationer teachers.

We have ensured that, where appropriate, the SQA, Education Scotland, schools and local authorities delivered the commitments made in the first report of the Assessment and National Qualifications Group. We have also ensured that the SQA delivered the actions to simplify and streamline qualifications set out in the 51 'subject reports' published in May 2016. ^[1]

The senior phase self-evaluation guide for practitioners in schools and colleges was delivered in June 2016.

In August 2016, we published a clear and concise statement on Curriculum for Excellence and benchmark guidance for assessing literacy and numeracy at each CfE level.

In September 2016, following consultation with the Assessment and National Qualifications Group, we announced changes to National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications to reduce the burden of assessment for teachers and young people.

We worked with schools to focus the curriculum to meet children's needs fully and close the gap in early years settings and primary schools. For example, we published ways in which the vocabulary gap can be closed through a literacy-rich curriculum in P1-3 in August 2016.

We worked with the National Parent Forum of Scotland and other parent organisations to develop a comprehensive parent communication plan for the National Improvement Framework in September 2016.

We published the results of the Financial Review of the Early Learning and Childcare sector in September 2016.

Data collection of teachers' professional judgement of achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels was completed in September 2016 and published in December 2016.

HM Inspectors carried out a focused review of the demands placed on schools by each local authority in relation to Curriculum for Excellence. This review reported with recommendations in September 2016.

From September 2016, the SQA will also consult stakeholders on how best to streamline its course documentation for the national qualifications. ^[2]

In December we provided advice and support to ensure that schools, parents and communities are effectively involved in improvement planning on the basis of the evidence generated by the National Improvement Framework and school self-evaluation.

The first round of Read, Write, Count gift bags were gifted to families of P2 and P3 children in November 2016.

In autumn 2016, we conducted a thorough analysis of all the evidence generated by the National Improvement Framework in consultation with stakeholders and with scrutiny from the new International Council of Education Advisers.

In December 2016, we published an annual National Improvement Framework Evidence Report, with progress against the four priorities and evidence against all of the six drivers of improvement.

In December 2016 we published performance indicators on employability skills and positive school leaver destinations as part of the National Improvement Framework Evidence Report.

We developed evidence from early years activity for inclusion in the National Improvement Framework Evidence Report in December 2016.

In December 2016, we published an improvement plan and revisions to the National Improvement Framework in consultation with key stakeholders.

We collected and analysed relevant information on school leadership from inspection and local authority self-evaluation in advance of January 2017.

We issued advice in December 2016 to support more consistent and robust annual reporting on school improvement.

In December 2016, we published information for parents on a school-by-school basis, including for the first time information on achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels in literacy and numeracy at stages P1, P4, P7 and S3.

In 2016 we worked with GTCS to explore options to bring further flexibility into registration for teachers who have qualified outside Scotland while ensuring that our high level of teacher professional standards are maintained. Progress included the introduction of a new category of provisional (conditional) registration and updated registration criteria ensuring the requirement is for broad equivalence to a degree and Scottish teaching qualification.