by Rodger Hill

Tayside and Fife Teacher Education Partnership – Local Legacy Event
Date:      Saturday 12 September 2015
Time:      10am – 1pm
Venue:    Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee:  http://j.mp/UoDDalhousie

The Tayside and Fife Teacher Education Partnership will host this event to share information about the partnership projects (Early Phase and Masters Level Learning) that teachers have been engaged in over the past year.  There will also be an opportunity to hear about the exciting new developments planned for the coming session and how you can become involved

Angus Council have been allocated 50 places for this free event.  a hot breakfast of bacon rolls with tea and coffee will be provided to welcome you on the day.

If you would like to attend, please email Morna Duncan, Admin Assistant at DuncanMH@angus.gcsx.gov.uk.  Places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

Hope to see you there.

Rodger Hill
Service Manger, Schools and Learning

by Lesley Eaton

Cycling Scotland have confirmed that the following schools have been successful in the Cycle to School Competition that was held during Give Everyone Cycle Space.

• 1^st place goes to Williamston Primary School, West Lothian who’s P6 class took 84 journeys by bike during the week, resulting in a cycle to school rate of 62%
• 2^nd place goes to Aberdeenshire’s Ellon Primary School’s P6 class with 51%
• 3^rd place to the P6s of Fernielea Primary School in Aberdeen City with 48% of journeys by bike

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by Pauline Stephen

Hopefully most of you managed to find the sun this summer, although it wasn’t an easy task!  Those of us who work in schools can claim two New Years.  The one we all get at the end of the calendar year and the start of a new school session.  There is nothing quite like that new pencil case feeling.  Just like our children and young people who get excited (mostly!) about the start of the session, it is a time of optimism and expectation for many of our staff.  Plans are made, exciting lesson ideas are drafted and there is the fun and sometimes challenge of meeting and getting to know new and not so new young people and colleagues.  We saw some improvements in our exam results this summer and our schools will be keen to build on this success.  Our relentless focus on improving outcomes for our young people hasn’t gone away.  We know that part of ensuring this success, is supporting and developing our staff.  Keep tuned to the Angus Children and Learning Blog for updates on opportunities to learn with colleagues.  The Blog is a great way for us to share ideas and adapt them for our own settings.  There is a lot of great practice going on around Angus that is truly making a positive difference for our children, let’s share it and grow it.

by Pauline Stephen

Do you want to know more about how to turn your driver diagram actions into test of change?

Are you keen to learn more about how to measure impact more effectively?

Kirsty Ellis, the national RAFA Improvement Advisor who has been allocated as a support to Angus will be with us on Wednesday 26 August and Monday 14 September to help support and guide those schools who want to know more about implementing the improvement model outlined in RAFA.  Both sessions will be held between 9 a.m. and 12 noon at Arbroath Library.

The first session on Wednesday 26 August is an Improvement Clinic which will  focus on how we translate our driver diagram actions into tests of change.  Kirsty will give an input into the thinking behind the test of change approach and provide some examples of how to translate actions into tests of change.  Please bring along your own driver diagrams as we want this session to be about your work so that you leave having successfully managed to translate your own schools actions into tests of change.

The second session on Monday 14 September  will focus on how we measure impact and improvement.  Kirsty will show us some simple examples of how to do this and will help you begin to think about the range of ways you can do this in your own schools.  This session will help you gain confidence that data gathering and measurement can be done simply so don’t be scared!

Please confirm your attendance (stating clearly  which session/s you are attending) by email to Morna Duncan (duncanmh@angus.gov.uk) no later than Monday 24 August 2015.

We look forward to seeing you there and to working together to improve our efforts to raise attainment for all of our children and young people.

by Margo Williamson

Hello and welcome to the Angus Children and Learning Blog.

As Strategic Director,  I have been charged with writing the first post. This is a privilege and a challenge. Specifically, what aspect of learning, including mine, do I write about?

Having thought really hard, there was only one avenue to pursue for the first blog:  Angus Council staff.

As Strategic Director  – People, I have responsibility for ensuring the delivery of the highest quality services for all our citizens in Angus. In equal measure I have also to ensure the highest quality is affordable so we live within our means.  I can only do this through you.

I am only as good as my team.

The McKinsey Report 2007 and The McKinsey Report 2010 states quite clearly, no education system can exceed the quality of its teachers. Similarly, I would argue, no public service can exceed the quality of those staff who serve.

The only way to improve outcomes for our citizens is to evaluate what we do and learn from it.

I believe our biggest asset is our staff and significantly we have a staff group largely made up of people who see themselves as learners .  Since coming to Angus in 2013, I have been struck by the hard work , commitment and dedication of staff  to the children and young people of Angus. I fully acknowledge their leadership of a huge range of issues including considerable national and local change, much of it requiring new learning: : The implications of the Children and Young People’s Act; Curriculum for Excellence; Changes to Qualifications; and GIRFEC and the named person,  to select  a few.   I know it has been a challenging but commitment has been unwavering. Our staff can and do support young people in a considerable range of events beyond any ‘prescribed’  hours.

I realise the hours staff spend on Council ‘duties’. I am aware that working on these often are at the cost of the time they  would spend with their  own families and friends, yet many do this without reservation or complaint. Their example sets the tone for our young people and motivates them to equally contribute beyond expectations and I want to acknowledge that fully.

Recently, I came across this cartoon.

With this age of change, it often feels we are constantly having to recalculate, draw on our learning  and consider what our best judgement is this time. Sometimes, it can feel incredibly complex as we work through possible solutions. Sometimes, it can feel quite isolated as we seek fresh ideas or approaches to the challenge. Sometimes, we believe we, as an individual, must come up with an answer. Often, we miss the opportunity to clarify our own thinking or create a solution by working with another.

This blog is a forum for such discussion, clarification and thinking. It is to allow us to present our challenges; our learning and our communication of that learning. It is also an open forum to enable other learners and contributors to participate, adapt or build on our ideas.

Everyone is being given the opportunity to interact meaningfully with this blog. By getting involved we can all be active begetters of knowledge rather than simply the recipient of information from others. The blog is open, democratic and gives the opportunity to air ideas and opinions to an audience working at all levels.

Technology promises us snappy answers, like the satnav mouse seeking direction in the cartoon, but what is more valuable is how it offers a range of opportunities for the kinds of virtual discussion with a range of participants that we could not have in the past.

I look forward to engaging with questions or discussing some of our challenges in this blog. To get us started I thought I would share the following:

We recently asked our children and young people about what life was like living in Angus.

94% of our children and young people responded.

Out of that 94%, 40% responded with answers indicating ‘poor engagement’ with school.

These questions included:

• interest & effort with school work
• the value placed on learning
• truancy

Why is such a pattern emerging?

What activity would you try to test this hypothesis?

Given we all have to go to school for about 11 years, how do we improve engagement and participation?