International report

Please see the latest GGiS project report, from an international perspective, now available through the link below: http://www.ggis.org.uk/AutoIndex-2.2.4/publications/GGiS%20SFF%20international%20seminar%202012%20report.pdf

Young Scot Competition

As part of our ongoing project looking at learning in Scotland in 2025, GGiS have teamed up with Young Scot to collect the views of young people on the future of learning. By answering three short questions, young people will be entered into a competition to win an Amazon Kindle. Prizes will be awarded for the most creative, thought provoking and interesting answer to each question – meaning that there are three Kindles up for grabs! You can find out more on the Young Scot website at: http://www.youngscotsayswho.org/consultation/Life-Learning-in-2025

Parents' perspective on a Scottish learning society

'By 2025, Scotland will be regarded as a world-leading learning nation'. The penultimate project workshop session was held last night in Scottish Parliament. This time with parents. Superb session with lots of critical and creative thinking. The workshop report will follow in the coming weeks. We now look forward to the next part of the project – building the scenarios and articulating world-views for 2025, based on all we have learned during the project!

Education Scotland Audit: Most schools ready for Nationals 4 & 5

Education Scotland’s ‘deep audit’ of readiness for the new national exams has found that almost all schools and local authorities are ready for the implementation of Nationals 4 and 5. With the exception of East Renfrewshire, not a single school, department or local authority has requested a delay in introducing the new exams. Of the 367 secondary schools in Scotland, Education Scotland found just 21 departments which were making only limited progress and would require additional support. The audit has been criticised by teaching unions who claim there was a lack of consultation with teachers. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Michael Russell MSP, said today: “We will continue to work with teachers and all other partners to keep implementation under review and ensure we stay on track in every subject and in every school and get on with the task of implementing Curriculum for Excellence, as parents and school committees clearly want to see happen.” More details can be found at: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6241769

1 + 2 Languages

The Scottish Government’s Languages Working Group has released a report calling for all pupils in Scotland to start learning a second language in primary 1 and to pick up a third language by primary 5. The group argues that Scotland cannot afford to not invest in language learning and suggests that an “inability to engage with foreign business in its own language… can be measured as a cost equivalent to over £500 million to the Scottish economy” (TES Magazine). The report has called for primary 1 trials to start as early as 2012/13 with the aim of policy being rolled out by 2013/14. Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s languages said: “Introducing two additional languages is an ambitious goal, but these recommendations give us an excellent platform to deliver it.” You can read more in TESS by clicking on the link below: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6232918