Targeting Excellence - Modernising Scotland's Schools Page :2

Targeting Excellence - Modernising Scotland's Schools

Introduction - A Radical Programme for Improvement

"We must place children and young people at the heart of our approach; it is their needs we are striving to meet."

The challenge of a fast changing world requires a culture of continuous improvement. This paper describes how we will foster that culture in Scotland's schools. Improvement cannot be imposed; schools must each be empowered and motivated to take responsibility for their own continuous improvement and to target excellence. This requires an active partnership of teachers, parents, pupils and communities. That partnership will be supported and enabled by education authorities and the Scottish Parliament.

Our schools must focus single-mindedly on realising the potential of all our children and young people. We must place children and young people at the heart of our approach; it is their needs we are all striving to meet. We must target excellence for every child whatever his or her ability or background. The able child must be stretched and stimulated, the diffident helped to develop self-confidence, the child with special needs must have provision tailored as far as possible to those needs.

Education is central to the Government's fundamental objective of promoting social inclusion. While educational attainment by itself cannot right all wrongs associated with poverty and deprivation, it can make a major difference. Our radical programme for improvement will raise the expectations and meet the needs of vulnerable groups - often in areas of multiple deprivation - who all too often in the past have been condemned to underachievement and failure.

A commitment to excellence has always been central to Scotland's educational tradition. That tradition is based upon

Celebrating achievement and excellence
Respecting learning and its importance to community and individual
Widening opportunity
Balancing practical and academic skills
Promoting schools as special places, capable of making a difference and creating opportunity and challenge for every child
Developing citizenship and positive values.

These values are as relevant to modern devolved Scotland as they have been in the past. In many areas, Scotland's educational performance remains good - 48% of young people leaving school go on to further or higher education. We have many areas of excellence on which to build. However, one of the greatest threats to continuing improvement is complacency as a result of our strong educational heritage; the strengths of the past will quickly diminish if our schools do not welcome change.

The world is not standing still. International studies give cause for concern that our relative standing in key areas may be falling. HM Inspectors' reviews of evidence from inspection also give no grounds for complacency.

In their triennial Standards and Quality Reports, Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools summarise the findings of the programme of inspections undertaken in the preceding 3 year period. The Report presents a detailed picture of the situation in Scotland's schools. Key conclusions from their most recent report covering inspections undertaken in the years between 1995-1998 areIn primary schools

Pupils were attaining best in reading, listening, talking and some aspects of mathematics
Interventions were starting to be made to rescue the youngest pupils from failure
A broad curriculum was offered in a safe and secure learning environment
There were many strengths in teaching and learning
Relationships with parents were sound.

Areas which needed improvement were

Pupils' performance in writing, problem-solving, science and information and communications technology
Assessment and meeting pupils' individual learning needs, particularly the higher achievers
Accommodation and resources for computers, science and technology
Self-evaluation and development planning focused on raising attainment
Leadership in one in five schools.

In secondary schools

Pupils attained best in S3-S6
There were continuing rises in examination success at Standard Grade
A broad curriculum was offered
There were many strengths in learning and teaching, especially in S5/S6.

Areas which needed improvement were

Pupils' performance in S1 and S2, especially in English, mathematics and science
Completion of the introduction of the 5-14 curriculum
Accommodation and the number of computers available
The transition from P7 to S1
Self-evaluation and development planning, to focus on raising attainment
Leadership in one in six schools.

The Government's commitment is to have a world class schools system, where children and young people will

Be confident, motivated and well-rounded
Be literate and numerate - to a level at or above that of their peers in the rest of the world
Fully understand and be able to play their part as citizens of a modern democratic society
Seize opportunities open to them regardless of their background
Be able to work flexibly and to embrace change on a continuing basis.

Targeting Excellence describes how the Government will further this objective by inviting teachers, parents and pupils to act together to

Develop a school system which is fully inclusive and offers opportunity for all
Place children and young people at the centre of all developments
Celebrate and reward achievement and excellence at all levels
Identify and rectify underperformance
Focus on improvement through raising standards at all levels
Support, develop and value our teaching profession who are the key to improved standards
Invite the full participation of parents, informing them fully of all that matters to their child's education
Ensure that schools act as a focus for (and in) the community they serve
Set out a transparent framework of public accountability for schools
Make the best use of increased resources available in schools - allocated in accordance with need and defined outcomes.

This White Paper is in 2 sections.

The first section - Action for Improvement - describes the many strands of the programme showing how they complement each other to support improvement in all schools.
The second section - An Approach to Modernisation - invites discussion of proposals which would modernise the teaching profession and the framework within which schools operate.

Action for Improvement

Every school should be excellent or improving, or both. The actions of the Government, HM Inspectors, education authorities and everyone in and concerned with schools should be at all times consistent with the continuous search for improvement. Our approach is to support excellence through a series of complementary initiatives and activities. The Excellence Fund is bringing significant additional resources - £377m over 3 years - to schools to support targeted action to raise standards. These are summarised in the table below. Many of them build on existing good practice. They will make a direct impact where it matters, in the classroom and in the day to day experience of children. Together they amount to a radical programme for improvement.

Targeting Excellence - The Radical Programme for Improvement
Ensuring pre-school and primary school provide a strong foundation for future attainment. Target for excellence - ensure a quality, part-time pre-school education place for every 3 and 4 year old whose parents want it by 2002	Investing an extra £138m over 3 years to expand pre-school education provision Investing £52m to reduce class sizes in P1-P3 to 30 or less by 2001 Investing £66m to recruit 5000 extra classroom assistants to reduce the average ratio of children to adults in primary schools to 15:1

A national strategy for literacy and numeracy Target for excellence - 75% of Scottish children to achieve the appropriate standard for their age in each of reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave primary school by 2003	Investing £60m over 5 years in the Early Intervention Programme to target reading, writing and number in primary 1 and 2 Investing £15m to support family literacy schemes Assisting teachers to improve their skills in teaching literacy and numeracy Setting targets for improvement in reading, writing and number

Raising Attainment at all levels Targets for excellence - to reduce by half the numbers leaving school with no certification in English and maths By 2003 every pupil will have a Statement of Achievement at the end of S2 which will record progress in the subjects studied during the 5-14 programme.	Improving S1/S2 All schools setting challenging targets for improving performance in the period to 2001. Benchmarking attainment in science across Scotland every two years from 2001 Stretching the most able by introducing level F in the 5-14 programme Reviewing testing and assessment to strengthen reliability and consistency Improving the teaching of modern languages and science Investing over £24m in schools and colleges to support implementation of Higher Still and providing an unprecedented range of national support materials and training for teachers.

Supporting children's learning to build on and support learning in the classroom Target for excellence -every child in Scotland should have access to an after-school club; all schools to have a clear, published, policy on homework showing how it will be used to raise pupils' attainment, by 2003.	Investing £27m in Study Support from the Excellence Fund. Investing £23m Lottery money from the New Opportunities Fund for out of school hours learning activities Promoting the Education for Work agenda Reviewing and strengthening existing guidelines on homework Introducing personal learning plans for each child Improving information and advice for parents

New Community Schools - a model for schools in the future Target for excellence - 60 pilot projects will be supported across Scotland and the lessons learned will be applied in all schools	Investing £26m over three years in a pilot programme throughout Scotland Attacking barriers to learning through the integrated delivery of services required by parents, children and families

Implementing the National Grid for Learning Targets for excellence - most Scottish school leavers to have a good understanding of information and communication technology with measures in place for assessing their level of competence by 2002. Every Scottish child will have an e-mail address.	Investing over £62m to ensure the equipment and services are available to schools Investing £23m of Lottery money from the New Opportunities fund in training teachers in IT skills.

A Plan for Modernisation

The radical programme for improvement is underway - many initiatives are already making an impact, others are in the process of being implemented. However it is necessary to look more closely and critically at aspects of our schools system to ensure that the environment in which schools have to operate are fully in line with modern requirements and expectations.

The paper contains a fundamental examination of our school system, based on a reassertion of the values which have underpinned education in Scotland. It builds on strengths to ensure schools are in the best possible position to be the centres of improvement necessary for excellence throughout Scotland. This paper puts forward a plan for modernisation. If we target excellence, schools, teachers, parents and pupils will be able to play their full part in a world class schools system.

Each chapter of this White Paper describes a set of actions already underway as part of the radical programme of improvement. Each chapter also describes the next steps that the Government propose to build on the momentum that these actions have established.

The Government would welcome views and further discussion of this White Paper. Please send any comments by 23 April 1999 to
Miss Nicola Williams
The Scottish Office Education and Industry Department
Area 2A
Victoria Quay
EDINBURGH
EH6 6QQ
Email address: nicola.williams@scotland.gov.uk

Alternatively you may lodge your comments on the Targetting Excellence online discussion forum available on the Scottish Virtual Teachers' Centre website at
http://www.svtc.org.uk

Further copies of the summary of the Government's White Paper can be obtained from
Mr Neil Corrie at the above address,
Tel: 0131 244 0951,
Fax: 0131 244 0957.