Dumbarton Academy. S1- S3 The Broad General Education. A guide for parents and carers

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1 Dumbarton Academy S1- S3 The Broad General Education A guide for parents and carers

2 Changes to the school day Following consultation with stakeholders, the Council have voted to change the structure of the school week from 30 to 32 periods. This change will support delivery of the new curriculum at both the Broad General Education (S1-3) and in the Senior Phase (S4-6). This will allowi us to create enhanced opportunities for pupil personal support; a further development of our vertical registration system. Registration will continue to be taken electronically both in the morning and each period. The 2 additional periods come from standardising all periods at 50 minutes. This standardised day across the authority will allow us to develop enhanced pupil curriculum opportunities through consortia arrangements with the local college and other schools in the council. Monday and Tuesday will have 7 periods. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will have 6 periods. Time Period 8:50-9:00 Registration 9:00-9:50 1 9:50-10: :40-10:55 Interval 10:55-11: :45-12: :35-1:20 Lunchtime 1:20-2:10 5 2:10-3:00 6 3:00-3:50 7 (Mon& Tues only)

3 Why is Scottish education changing? Curriculum for Excellence (CFE) is a major national educational reform designed to provide a richer, more flexible 3-18 curriculum which will equip children and young people for learning, life and work in the 21st century by focusing firmly on their needs. The first consultation work was undertaken in 2004 and our young people have been applying the principles behind CFE throughout their primary school years. What are the purposes of education in Scotland? The ambition of a Curriculum for Excellence is that all children and every young person will become: Successful learners learning to learn Responsible citizens learning to respect and co-operate with others Confident individuals learning to be Effective contributors to society and work - learning to do The curriculum will provide support, structure and direction to learning so that pupils can maximise their potential in each of these four areas. What do we mean by Curriculum? The curriculum is the complete range of experiences and activities planned for pupils throughout their schooling. Learning in schools will take place through a wide range of planned experiences and outcomes. Sometimes the learning experiences may be linked together through themes and projects covering several areas of the curriculum. At other times learning will take place in individual subject areas. Learning will also be developed through day to day involvement in the life and work of the school a nd the wider community. Such activities will include a variety of out of school projects and a range of school or community-based events.

4 Planned experiences will be designed to achieve specific outcomes in terms of the knowledge, skills and understanding that show how young people are progressing and developing. The Experiences and Outcomes cover eight curriculum areas, S1-3 will mainly concentrate on Level 3 and 4 outcomes. Expressive Arts Languages and Literacy Technologies Mathematics and Numeracy Religious and Moral Education Sciences Social Studies Health and Well Being When planning activities and experiences teachers will take account of the following principles: 1. Challenge and enjoyment - - Pupils should be active in their learning and have opportunities to develop and demonstrate their creativity. 2. Breadth - Pupils should have access to a broad range of activities so that they can learn and develop in a variety of ways 3. Progression- Pupils learning should build on earlier knowledge and achievement. 4. Depth- Pupils should have opportunities to learn and study in depth. As they progress they should be able to draw different strands of learning together and deepen their learning to the best of their ability. 5. Personalisation and choice - The needs of all pupils should be recognised, particular talents and skills supported and developed. Opportunities should be provided for young people to exercise responsible personal choice as they progress through the school 6. Coherence - There should be clear links between the different aspects of learning. 7. Relevance- Young people should understand the purpose of their activities and see the value of what they are learning for their present and future life.

5 What s happening in our school? Broad General Education (S1-3) A guide on Numeracy is available and another on Literacy is being developed. The departments in the school have been auditing and making changes to their courses to take into account the new Curriculum. In S1 and S2 pupils will mainly experience their learning through experiences and outcomes at levels 3 and 4. In S1 our pupils will take part in 3 main cross curricular projects titled; Clim8 Change, Games Based Learning, and Fit 4 Life. In S2 pupils will chose an elective subject, for 2 periods per week, which will seek to develop the 4 capacities. A citizenship project entitled Scotland our Nation will run throughout the year. In S3 pupils will personalise their studies in each of the 8 curricular areas shown opposite. This will take place through a curriculum personalisation exercise. Subjects chosen at this time will be followed for one year and are not certificated. (Only courses selected and studied in the Senior Phase (S4-6) are now certificated.) Vocational courses provided by Clydebank College and our other partners will now start in S4 and not as previously S3. The school is looking to develop a range of introductory vocational courses for S3 pupils. Information about all of the available courses will be available in the Course Personalisation booklet, which will be issued as part of the course personalisation process. Please note that as ever courses will only run if there is both sufficient demand and staff availability.

6 Where can parents get further information about Curriculum for Excellence? Information about CFE is available from a variety of sources, three of which are given below: Advice and Guidance for National Qualifications CfE Briefing Series Broad General Education in Secondary Schools (including parent version) Assessing Progress and Achievement Profiling and S3 Profiles Interdisciplinary Learning List of support materials and events by subject and curriculum area SQA Final documents for new National 2, National 3, National 4, National 5 and Higher Levels Assessment Overviews from National 2 to National 5 describing the Course and Unit Assessment Support Materials that SQA will produce Material to support parental involvement is available on Parentzone