The Scottish Government

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning

Tranforming Scottish education speech at the 'All Bar None' Conference

June 10, 2008 at Celtic Park, Glasgow

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I am delighted to be here today to open this conference. It is really wonderful to see so many professionals from such a wide range of sectors and organizations working with children and young people. I would like particularly to welcome employers and representatives of employer organizations in recognition of the wider interest of community and society in Scotland's education system.

Today is about how - together - we achieve a transformational reform in Scottish education - making a difference for all of our young people, with everyone having the opportunity to flourish - to fulfill their potential.

This morning I want to set out what I expect of you and what you should expect of others - including me - as we start this journey.

Curriculum for Excellence goes to the heart of what we want to achieve when we talk about improving educational outcomes for young people. It means:

• a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 - 18, firmly focused on the needs of the child and the young person;
• a better quality of learning and teaching and increased attainment and achievement for all children and young people in Scotland.

This is a highly ambitious programme of reform - and rightly so. The Scottish Government has high ambitions for Scotland and Curriculum for Excellence has a vital role to play in preparing our young people to take their place in a modern society and economy. It provides a framework for all young people in Scotland to gain the knowledge and skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work which they will need to flourish.

Curriculum for Excellence is about providing the professional autonomy and responsibility that educational professionals need and want to enable young people to develop the four capacities - to become those successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

On page 22 of the document we set out the purpose of Curriculum for Excellence - remember what it is about. It is about thinking creatively and independently, about linking and applying different levels and kinds of learning in different situations. Being able to evaluate environmental, scientific and technical issues. Applying critical thinking problem solving and importantly self awareness and being able to communicate in different settings and using different types of communication.

This is a critical time for educational reform in Scotland. Working together - across government, local authorities, schools, colleges, early years settings and other learning establishments - we can make a real, positive difference for Scotland's young people. It will be hard work and it will be highly rewarding; we all owe it to our young people and to the future success of Scotland to play our part in Curriculum for Excellence by driving through and owning improvements of which we can all be proud.

I know I am asking a lot of all of you but I believe it is worth it. Together, we are and we can make a real, lasting difference to the lives of all young people. You will need time for reflection and opportunities to share practice and it will demand real collegiate support across children's services. You will have some time for this in your conference today - but it is just the start of the work to be done. I am passionate about what we need to achieve for our young people and I hope that each of you leaves here today excited about the future and personally committed to driving these changes forward.

Let me set out what we need to do together.

The Scottish Government has set three national outcomes specifically for our children and young people. These are our clear expectations:

• that our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed;
• that our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens; and
• that we have improved life chances for children, young people and families at risk.

The success of the education system we create will be judged on the extent to which young people's long term employability is improved, how they are enabled to move from compulsory education into positive and sustained destinations and the extent to which it contributes to our principal purpose - a more successful Scotland with opportunities for all to flourish.

As a government we are ambitious for improvement. We want people's lives to change for the better. We can achieve these outcomes and secure real transformation by working together. We in the Scottish Government, local authorities, schools, colleges, universities, employers, national bodies and the voluntary sector all need to work in partnership to deliver a better learning experience for each and every young person. We use the word 'partnership' a lot in Scotland and there is no doubt that there is excellent joint working taking place already - however, it is not always systematic and not always happening for every child and young person. We need to change that.

Over the next few minutes I would like to:

• respond to Professor Teese's thought provoking comments
• and in so doing set out my vision for Curriculum for Excellence

I am delighted today to be launching two key documents which take us significantly forward in implementing that vision: Building the Curriculum 3: A Framework for Learning and Teaching and A Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications in Scotland.

Curriculum for Excellence is about improving outcomes for all our children and young people and that is why I have chosen today's event with its particular focus on our most vulnerable young people to launch these milestone documents.

Key themes

OECD/socio-economic impact

Returning to Professor Teese's comments. I welcome the challenge and focus the OECD Review has provided for us. I see the Review very much as a catalyst for change, particularly in highlighting the gap between 'the haves and the have nots'. It is unacceptable in a modern Scotland that those children from poorer families and communities seem predetermined to underachieve. I believe the Scottish Government is providing a new kind of leadership and approach to governance to achieve the transformational development our young people have the right to expect.

We are determined to ensure focus and momentum in reform across linked agendas.

Early Years/Intervention

You'll hear later today Professor Teese's sharing his views on the importance to the learning experience of our children and young people of early years, of early intervention and the integration of support across services.

We know that it is in the early years that we can do most to prevent inequalities in health, education and employment opportunities to prevent them being passed from one generation to another. Through our Framework for Early Years we are shifting away from picking up the pieces when a crisis happens, towards prevention, building resilience and providing the right level of support before problems materialise.

The Framework demands fundamental changes in the way that policymakers and practitioners think and work together at national and local level. It heralds a mature, positive relationship with local government and I am delighted that Councillor Rob Murray, Vice President of COSLA, is sharing the platform with me today.

The OECD report stressed many positives in Scottish education. It highlighted near universal and high quality pre-school education and what is described as 'the greatest strength Scottish schooling' - our primary schools. We are building on those traditional qualities and strengths - for example, by making substantial progress towards a 50% increase in pre-school entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds and by agreeing steps with COSLA to make year on year progress in reducing class sizes in Primary 1 to Primary 3.

Health Inequalities / Poverty

Of course, if we are to address the underlying issues of poverty, deprivation and health inequalities, which perpetuate poor outcomes for too many of our young people, then we all need to work together. Through the Getting It Right for Every Child Framework we are supporting services to come together at a local level to deliver a personalised, effective response to each young person. At a national level we are also working to develop a strategic approach to improving outcomes for young people. We are looking at the whole child and are aligning our key policies for children and young people with work to reduce poverty, tackle crime and improve health inequalities.

In a further illustration of our collaborative working, I am delighted that Dr Harry Burns, the Chief Medical Officer, is here today to pick up on these themes and offer his valuable perspective.

Competitiveness / Skills Strategy

The second big challenge Professor Teese points to is the need for many more of our young people to build on their experience at school with further learning. I agree - this is a vital development both to improve the outcomes they can expect in adult life but also for the competitiveness of Scotland in a rapidly changing global economy. The principal purpose which guides all of our action in the Scottish Government is to create a more successful Scotland with opportunities for all to flourish through increasing sustainable economic growth.

Through Curriculum for Excellence young people will build up essential skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work whatever learning path they choose. Our Skills Strategy, Skills for Scotland, will put in place a cohesive, lifelong learning system, - a single lifelong learning system for this country with the individual at the centre and with equal access to, and participation in, learning and skills development for everyone.

I look to colleges, universities and employers to take an active role, working with us to ensure we implement a curriculum which delivers for a modern Scotland.

MCMC

The transformational progress we aim for though Curriculum for Excellence and Skills for Scotland should ensure our young people are able to move successfully into employment, education or training. I like the way Professor Teese characterises our More Choices More Chances strategy and I think it is absolutely right that if schools have more flexibility to match what is taught - and how they teach - to the needs of young people, the exercise of that choice will create more chances for our young people.

Of course, our aspirations for Curriculum for Excellence are for all children and young people from 3-18. I have highlighted the importance of early intervention. We also need to do more to support young people to make successful transitions and to continue in learning beyond compulsory schooling. Currently our most vulnerable young people, in particular our looked after children, young people and care leavers, seem to have the most complex landscape to navigate. That is a landscape that has been constructed not by them but by the system, by government. We must provide clearer and better supported pathways for these young people.

Vision for CfE

Curriculum for Excellence provides these routes. It is not a top-down initiative. It is about far more than just the content of the curriculum and must extend well beyond schools. It is a programme of reform for our nation, that will ensure all young people have the skills and capacities they need to succeed in the 21st century.

We are building on a strong foundation of intellectual enquiry and excellence. Curriculum for Excellence maintains and extends that tradition of scholarship and rigour.

The OECD report tells us of the importance of reform coming from schools and teachers rather than 'waiting for central direction'. What I would add to that, and indeed Professor Teese does so in his interview, is the essential role of colleges and other partners. Curriculum for Excellence presents a challenge to all those working with children and young people and that is why we are all here today. The experiences and outcomes offer opportunities for young people to learn in exciting and engaging ways, within and beyond schools. They also offer opportunities for teachers and other professionals to teach and work in new and engaging ways.

Professor Teese also makes important points about the freedom needed to encourage innovation, creativity and confidence in our education system. If we are going to have an economy built on innovation, creativity and confidence, our young people have to experience that day in day out in their classrooms not just in what they do but in what they see their teachers do. Creativity, innovation and confidence for our education system and for our country as well. Our aim is to create that freedom and power for individual learners, teachers, other professionals and communities. I want us all to rediscover the excitement of helping young people to learn and to develop into successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. I am confident in the capacity of our education system and all of you within it to meet and exceed our aspirations. Graham Donaldson, our Senior Chief Inspector of Education, will talk to you later about how HMIE will help to realise the aspirations of Curriculum for Excellence.

Building the Curriculum 3

Today I am launching Building the Curriculum 3: A Framework for Learning and Teaching. The document is relevant for all those involved in promoting effective learning for children and young people from 3 to 18. It will in time replace existing guidance on the 3-5 curriculum, 5-14 curriculum and curriculum design in the secondary sector. It is an ambitious document whose implications are far reaching. It does not prescribe inputs, but provides the framework for all of those involved to plan a curriculum which meets the needs of all children and young people 3-18, ensuring a focus on the four capacities at every stage.

Many schools and centres have already begun to work on this and it will be important to draw on their work as we move forward. The introduction of Curriculum for Excellence will not be a 'big bang', as some papers have suggested but will be built up gradually over the next three years. Planning should proceed on the basis that the school year 2008-09 will be spent on preparation for the introduction of approaches based on this guidance from school year 2009-10. The children going into P7 later this summer will be the first to sit the new qualifications and we expect that they will increasingly have a school experience based on Curriculum for Excellence.

I have asked the Management Board for Curriculum for Excellence to set out a road map signposting steps on the journey towards implementation. It will describe how national agencies and education authorities will provide support along the way and will indicate how schools can build on their current work on Curriculum for Excellence to achieve its aspirations in time for the introduction of new qualifications.

In Building the Curriculum 3, I am setting out a framework which provides:

• a coherent and inclusive curriculum from 3-18 wherever learning is taking place, whether in early years centres, schools, colleges or other settings
• a focus on outcomes
• a broad general education (which provides a strong platform and motivates young people to continue in learning)
• that Scottish tradition of a broad curriculum, a beliefin lifelong learning is at the centre and the heart of Curriculum for Excellence
• time to take qualifications in ways best suited to the young person so it will not be driven by the system, the qualification system can be suited to the individual.
• more opportunities for all young people to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work at every stage
• a focus throughout on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing: and
• importantly appropriate pace and challenge for every child

Meeting these ambitions involves early years centres and schools working in learning partnerships with colleges, universities, employers, partner agencies, youth work and the voluntary sector.

The publication of this document marks a major step forward. Taken alongside the draft experiences and outcomes (which are now all released), it provides a sound foundation for planning better outcomes for our young people.

I understand the nature of the challenges to be faced if Curriculum for Excellence is to realise its full potential. Of course there needs to be more guidance and support - for example particularly on assessment. However, the key to success will be the creativity and ingenuity of teachers across Scotland. Much good work is already underway. The further advice which is coming is designed to enhance what is happening and so you do not need to wait for it: it is essential that you start planning further improvements to learning and teaching now.

Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications in Scotland

Today I am, also launching the Consultation on the Next Generation of National Qualifications.

If we want to improve outcomes for all our young people our qualifications must reflect the revised curriculum.

In my statement to the Scottish Parliament on 24th April I explained my intention to hold a consultation on a number of proposals for the next generation of qualifications for Scotland's young people. These are:

• the introduction of new awards in literacy and numeracy
• the introduction of a new qualification to replace Standard Grade and Intermediate qualifications at SCQF levels 4 and 5
• making clear we shall build on the success of the present system by retaining Access, Higher and Advanced Higher as valued qualifications and points of stability, but highlights we shall be reviewing the content of National Qualifications at all levels to ensure that they reinforce the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence.

The consultation will also investigate views on ways to increase flexibility, in order to meet the needs of young people more effectively, for example we are asking respondents to comment on the prospect of Winter Diets.

The consultation will run until the end of October and it is important that the proposals are considered carefully by the education and wider community. I would urge you to debate the proposals and to respond. Yes here today but in every classroom in every school in this county.

Just before I leave the subject of qualifications. Last week I announced details of another new development in Scottish qualifications - namely our plans for Scottish Baccalaureates in Science and a Scottish Baccalaureate in Language. These will be based on a collection of Highers and Advanced Highers plus, importantly, an interdisciplinary study, these awards are designed to encourage more young people to study science and languages in the later stages of secondary school.

They will raise the status of S6 and help schools to develop greater links with universities, colleges and employers. I am delighted at the support that our proposals have received from prominent figures in education, including the college sector, Universities Scotland and industry, particularly the Scottish Council of Development and Industry, Life Sciences Industry Advisory Group and Scottish Science Advisory Committee. I look forward to building on their support as work is taken forward.

Developing these links will be crucial in other areas too. Whilst we are consulting on the next generation of National Qualifications, I propose to announce details of our new 16+ Learning Choices model to encourage all young people to stay in learning after 16. The 16+ Learning Choices model will ensure that, regardless of where they are in learning, all young people completing compulsory education have an offer of a suitable place in a post 16 learning environment.It forms part of a coherent and inclusive curriculum for all young people from 3-18 and will ensure that all young people have clear pathways into a positive destination on leaving compulsory education. Choices rather than compulsion.

Next steps

So where do we go from here? The documents launched today are just part of a process of transformation.

The responsibility for bringing Curriculum for Excellence to life is a shared one. I accept the responsibility to provide a framework for reform which will ensure that Scotland's education system delivers the most it can for every one of our young people. COSLA and local government in Scotland have done so through our historic Concordat.

I have accepted personal responsibility to provide leadership at a national level by engaging Scotland more widely and leading a Scotland wide campaign. I am engaging with scientists, academics, employers, sector skills councils, colleges and universities to build that community of support for Curriculum for Excellence. However, I have also made clear my belief that the key to the success of Curriculum for Excellence is the role and leadership from within the education community.

So what do I expect from you?

There is a great deal of excellent practice in Scotland and the OECD were eager to stress this. However, effective reform must come from local authorities taking ownership and working with schools, teachers and other partners. Teachers and others working directly with young people are best placed to meet the needs of individual learners but they need time to reflect and to share new ideas and practice. Headteachers and local authorities have a responsibility to provide that support, to ensure strategic leadership and to build collegiate environments. National bodies need to provide stimulus and catalysts for change, high quality exemplification and support strong networks to share and promote good practice and discussion across Scotland. So whether you are from an early years centre, a school, a local authority, a college or any of the key stakeholder groups, I am now challenging each of you individually, as well as together in communities, to become fully engaged champions of Curriculum for Excellence and continue to work with us on how to best implement these changes. Some of you are already doing that - for example in supporting the trialling of outcomes. Over 300 centres, schools and colleges are trialling Curriculum for Excellence - fantastic support.

We are on the threshold of an exciting future for Scottish education. Curriculum for Excellence is ambitious - and it needs to be. This country needs to be innovative and creative. We can only achieve this ambition if every one of us contributes fully and creatively.

That includes each and every one of us in this room. Improving outcomes for all our young people. The new Framework for Learning and Teaching gives you the freedom to be innovative, creative and confident, individually and in partnership. If we want our children to be that we all have to be that. Let's grasp this unique opportunity and work together to ensure that in Scotland all of our young people can flourish and face the future with confidence.