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Curriculum for Excellence: S3 and beyond. Ronnie Summers Head Teacher Musselburgh Grammar School September 2012. Information for parents - review. 2010/11 – S1 arrive August 2010, briefing parents Sept 2010, June 2011 for S2 2011/12 S2 commences June 2011; briefing Feb 2012
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Curriculum for Excellence: S3 and beyond • Ronnie Summers • Head Teacher • Musselburgh Grammar School • September 2012
Information for parents - review • 2010/11 – • S1 arrive August 2010, briefing parents Sept 2010, June 2011 for S2 2011/12 • S2 commences June 2011; briefing Feb 2012 • April 2012 SQA documentation for N2- Higher • 2012/13 • S3 commences June 2012; briefing Sept 2012 • Profiles, final year of Broad General Education
External information • SQA leaflet “Qualifications are Changing” Feb12 • Mike Russell letter to S3 parents August 2012 • Broad General Education leaflet published • CFE Briefing 3: Profiling and the S3 Profile • Expansion of Parentzone website – • http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/parentzone/index.asp
Why S3 is important – part 1 • Final year of Broad General Education • Summative assessment using CFE Level 3 and 4 outcomes and experiences • No external examination for National 3 &4 qualific. • Thus constant sustained best work is required to achieve potential in S3 and be presented at the correct level in S4 – solid base in S3 • Portfolios of work and projects often as part of added value units in S4
Why S3 is important – part 2 • National 5 – external assessment (exam!) where you need to have facts at your fingertip and be used to working at pace – solid base in S3 • Attendance affects attainment (1:3 vs 1:19) • Homework done and done well • “Opportunity for success and the possibility of failure” – learn from mistakes and why you got it wrong • Parents’ Meeting Thursday 29th November
Assessment in S3 • Not based on one piece of evidence only, so similar to S1 and S2 • Evidence – from solo work in class, contribution to group and class work, oral responses and written responses, redrafted work • Developing, consolidating, secure • Breadth, depth and application – 3 dimensional model helpful
Changes – new S3 Profile • All schools to produce this for S3 pupils, but no one model to follow • Capture achievements in and out of school, not just academic progress: • Essentially “strengths”, not “next steps” • Preparation for this in PSE – “reflective pupil” • Learning conversations with staff, pupil driven • Release date of S3 profile still to be decided • S3 report at end of year
Changes - • Currently, Foundation (N3) General (N4) and Credit (N5) tested by external examination • Only N5 tested by external examination • No S3 examinations though some departments may hold class tests to gather extra information • Working on National courses from Easter 2013 • S4 preliminary examinations for N5 pupils in November(?) 2013,no exam leave for all pupils • Remember you can contact Guidance anytime
Progression to qualifications • Broad general education S1-3 to Broad certificated general education in S4 Senior Phase • Parental advice to us – keep qualifications broad, not narrow • So, all will have an award in English (including Literacy), Mathematics (including Numeracy) and Religious and Moral Education • 5 Subjects chosen in S3 continue into S4 (enhancement column subject dropped) • 8 qualifications in S4 to 5 qualifications in S5
SQA documentation April 2012 • SQA website shares all documents openly • http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html • Gives teachers information about a subject course – course specification, unit details, course details and assessment details • Helps staff plan the work for S3 knowing what is to follow in S4 and see the type of assessments being used; know the nature of the added value unit and how long the external assessment is
Example - National 4 English • 4 mandatory Units: Analysis and Evaluation; Creation and Production; Literacy; Added Value Unit – assignment. • Developing skills in reading and listening, writing and talking • No external examination. • Course is pass or fail – must pass ALL units • Internally marked and externally moderated by SQA-trained moderator
National 5 English • 2 Units plus External Assessment (1 paper) • Analysis and Evaluation, Creation and Production – both more demanding than N4 work – leading to 2 pieces for Portfolio. • External paper worth 70 marks – questions on an unseen text(30); 2 questions on texts(2x20) which have been studied in class. • Graded A-D pass on quality of work.
Any general questions? • (Happy to talk about individual pupil progress in S3 face to face afterwards) • Thank you for coming tonight!