Building the Curriculum 3 identifies a wide range of examples of organisations and partners who can actively assist learning experiences, the development of the four capacities and the fulfilment of entitlements.
Adopting a partnership approach builds on key aspects of national advice and guidance including Lifelong Partners (our school/college partnership strategy), Skills for Scotland and More Choices, More Chances.
Such national advice and guidance emphasises the importance of schools, training providers, community-based and non-formal learning providers, employers and further and higher education working together.
Joint planning and coordination is necessary to ensure that everyone involved is clear about their own roles and responsibilities in relation to assessment.
Cross-sector partnerships
Effective cross-sector partnerships require consistent approaches to learning, teaching and assessment. Such partnerships include working in associated school clusters, and may also include colleges, community learning and development services and the voluntary sector.
As part of effective partnership arrangements staff should ensure that:
- there is a common understanding of standards and assessment approaches and the contribution each partner is making
- assessment information is used to plan children's and young people's progression
- there is continuity and progression in learning and teaching methodologies, and recognition of achievements.
School-college partnerships
Partnership arrangements should ensure that school and college staff carefully monitor the progress of all young people and intervene promptly to ensure that learners continue to progress.
Effective procedures should ensure that school and college staff exchange appropriate information about strengths, development and support needs. Details of each individual learner's progress and achievements in college courses should be provided to relevant staff and used within school tracking and support systems.
The advice and guidance contained in the Shared Assessment of Need, widely applied in partner settings including further education, Careers Scotland and employability services, emphasises a staged and coordinated process.
Partnerships with parents
Parents are key partners in supporting their children's learning. In schools, staff should help all parents to understand what children are learning, how their work is assessed and how they, as parents, can support their children's learning.
Schools should ensure that parents are aware of their children's learning goals and targets and they have access to information on their child’s current progress and achievements. Staff should discuss options and progression routes with parents as partners in their children’s learning. While this is the case for all parents, there are particular requirements to involve them where children and young people have needs that require them to have individualised educational programmes (IEPs) or coordinated support plans (CSPs).
Reflective questions
- How effective are you in helping all parents understand assessment approaches and how they can contribute to their children’s learning? How might this be further developed?
- How will you develop arrangements with other partners who contribute to the child's or young person's learning to ensure all are clear about their roles and responsibilities in assessment?
- How well do you work with partners to ensure a shared understanding of standards and expectations?
- How effective are arrangements for sharing assessment information and support needs with all partners?
- To what extent do you consider others who support young people's learning as part of your learning community and involve them fully when you are evaluating progress?
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