National Parent Conference 2011

Write at Home

Greenwood Academy

This session outlined parental involvement activities at Greenwood Academy, including the Write At Home project, developing focus groups with parents and work with parents on e-portfolios on Glow.

Find out more about Write at home at Greenwood Academy.

Outdoor Learning

National Parent Forum

The journey through education, for any child in Scotland, must include opportunities for a series of planned, high quality outdoor learning experiences. The workshop explored the document Curriculum for Excellence through Outdoor Learning and its background. Using case studies, there was discussion of what outdoor learning means in practice.

You will find more information in the Curriculum for Excellence - Outdoor learning factfile.

New National Qualifications

SQA

This workshop was designed to provide the opportunity to hear about and discuss the new National Qualifications which are being developed to support Curriculum for Excellence.

Curriculum for Excellence Senior Phase

Bishopbriggs Academy

Bishopbriggs Academy is the Scottish partner school of the Goethe Institute. The workshop focused on the impact the partnership has had on the teaching of German, some of the opportunities and experiences youngsters have been exposed to, and how all of this sits within the context of Curriculum for Excellence.

Useful links and documents:

Scotland’s National Centre for Languages (SCILT)

School Inspection Framework - The role of parents in inspection and improvement

Education Scotland

HM Inspectors of Education recently launched their inspection framework document 'Arrangements for inspecting schools in Scotland'. It covers the inspection of stand-alone pre-school centres, primary schools (including those with nursery classes), secondary (including community learning and development as part of secondary), and aspects of transition, special, independent and all-through schools.

As part of the new inspections, inspectors have extended the ways in which parents can be more involved in the inspection of their child’s school. They have also placed more emphasis on how a school encourages the involvement of parents in their children’s learning and in parents supporting improvement in the school.

The role of the Chairperson of the Parent Council (CPPC) has been extended. After publication of the report letter, the CPPC (along with the headteacher and the Director of Education) will receive a password protected copy of the detailed Record of Inspection Findings, (RIF). This is designed to allow the CPPC, in close consultation with the headteacher, to share the main messages from inspection findings with the parent body to assist in supporting improvement in the school.

This seminar looked at the main features of the new inspections, focusing particularly on the role of parents in inspection. It also gave participants an opportunity to look at an example of a RIF and explored the ways in which parents might use the main messages in it to support school improvement following an inspection.

More information on the School Inspection Framework Review.

School Supporting Parents Supporting Pupils

Perth Grammar School

This year, Perth Grammar School Support Faculty is proud to have won the award for Lifetime Achievement and to receive the runner-up prize in the category Aiming High. Perth Grammar is a truly inclusive school and prides itself on providing every child with the support that he or she needs to reach their potential. This can only be achieved by involving parents in the process and this is something that Perth Grammar is very good at.

The seminar allowed delegates to hear of the school's good practice and to join in a discussion with other parents about how this is taken forward in their children's schools.

Setting High Professional Standards

General Teaching Council

The workshop explored current issues in teacher professionalism, including: What standards should we require of a teacher in the 21st Century? And how can we ensure that teachers keep their skills up to date?

What does Curriculum for Excellence look like in Primary School?

Mossneuk Primary School

Parental engagement makes a significant difference to children’s learning. At Mossneuk Primary and Nursery, staff build on best practice in the school to raise standards of teaching and learning.

Pupils are involved in monitoring their own progress through Learning Logs. Learning targets are set for individual pupils and parents are actively involved in this. Celebration of pupil success and ongoing communication with parents helps to motivate pupils to make good progress in their learning. Parents gain a better understanding of what their child is learning and an insight into the experiences and outcomes of Curriculum for Excellence through the school website, Parentmail, classroom communications and through being one of the forty or more volunteers who support learning and teaching at Mossneuk every week.

Cultivating Citizenship - a whole nursery approach

Brucehill Nursery

This seminar looked at how staff, parents and children worked towards improving the learning environment for all children.