scottish teachers - coukd you give me your opinions on the curriculum for excellence please

[snowmummy]

We are considering relocating to Scotland with our 3 children and so I'm researching the education system. I would really like to know what the teacher and parent view on of the curriculum for excellence is?

Poorly thought out and incoherent. There are opportunities for things to be great but also, the lack of detail makes it possible for things to be skimmed over. You can read all of the experiences and outcomes on the education scotland website.

It allows individual schools to tailor teaching to their own circumstances which is hood in theory but means that there will be huge variations in what is taught in different schools, local authorities etc.

For the new exams, there has been very little guidance available to schools and I am concerned that only the highest levels of exam s will be externally assessed. National 4 will be completely assessed in school with school produced materials. I feel this could lead to a lack of confidence from employers about the credibility of the qualification.

Terrible. It has not been given enough funding for schools to be confident in implementing it.
It has a lot of potential as an idea but in practice is too vague. There are huge differences in the ways different schools are tackling it and teachers are unsure of what is best.
It is interesting that CfE is based on a system that Australia has now abandoned.

Thanks for your replies. What's your opinion on how it compares to the English system?

Bump

I was involved very early on in implementing it in an educational /non school context.

It seems pretty comprehensive (I'm sure it's online if you want a read). The issue for some is that while there are themes that should be covered it is very much up to the educator on how it is delivered.

The Scottish education system is very different to the English one, and not just because of the C of E.

Education with the curriculum starts at 3 in preschool. P1 at age 5ish, to P7 then S1-S6

No sats.
No free schools.
No academies.
No grammars..
No OFSTED.

If you live in catchment you are guaranteed a place, most people go to their local schools.

in reply to snowbunny.............I teach Chemistry in the Scottish state system. It is fair to say there are significant issues with the implementation of CfE and the assessment is a bit of a dog's dinner. However, I remain a fan....at the end of the day my fourth year Chemists are way ahead of any standard grade cohort I have taught ...... they know more Chemistry, they have greater independence of learning, are able to think for themselves and have a far greater understanding of the scientific method than their predecessors. National 5 is, in my view, considerably more demanding than standard grade or GCSE and my only disappointment, is that the SQA failed to follow through with the new CfE Higher Chemistry. Having said this, the new CfE Higher Physics and Biology are considerably more demanding than the old Highers....Physics because of the sophisticated content (the SQA have added the standard model + relativity) and Biology because of the sheer depth and breadth of coverage. National 5 is a credible and demanding standard, but I think National 4, which is internally assessed, will end up not being worth the paper it is written on. If your children are on the National 5 stream leading onto Higher, then you should have no concerns.

May I ask the ages of your children?

Although not a school teacher, I am an EYECO (nursery nurse in old language) and have been involved with CfE for a number of years in a number of different capacities.

I think that the potential for CfE in Early Years and Primary School is tremendous, however it is poorly funded in places.

As a parent of ds1 (aged 10) and ds2 (ages 7 and with ASN) I feel that ds1 has not learnt some of the basics as well as he should have. For example I don't think that the chanting of times tables is always a bad thing, but I realise that there are other ways to learn that may suit other children better.

For ds2 I think that CfE has been excellent. He is in mainstream but is able to learn at his own pace and is not under pressure to keep up with the rest of the class and is judged on his own merits.

Overall, I believe that the Scottish education system is better than the English system, religious segregation apart.