Scottish schools will be provided with an additional £1 million to buy musical instruments for their pupils, the Scottish Government has announced. The move has been made by Minister for Learning Alasdair Allan who has also formed a new group to address the issue of how music tuition is delivered, including the question of charges for pupils sitting SQA music exams.
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An inquiry into the teaching of foreign languages in primary schools was launched on Friday 14 December by the European and External Relations Committee of the Scottish Parliament.
Earlier this year, the Government recommended that children should learn a second language from Primary 1 and that learning of a third language should start no later than Primary 5. The Committee has determined that it wants to look at this policy aim, the capacity within the curriculum for this, and the role of languages in supporting the economy.
The Committee would welcome views from parents, teachers and pupils for its inquiry.
A call for views has been published at the Committee’s website here.
Issues to be explored in the Committee’s investigations include funding (including use of EU funds); the skills base and teaching resources available for language tuition; the capacity within the curriculum to accommodate greater language study; the choice of languages for teaching; and the role of languages in economic development.
The Scottish Government has announced funding to offer both PE and classroom teachers across Scotland access to training which will provide them with the knowledge, skills and experience to fully include disabled young people in PE and sports.
Legislation will be considered to ensure that communities across Scotland have access to learning opportunities needed to develop skills and help people into jobs.
Education Secretary Michael Russell has indicated legislation for local authorities will be explored as part of the Post-16 Education Bill to support the government’s commitment to provide access across the country to crucial services such as youth clubs, parenting classes, English language tuition and groups starting up social enterprises.
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The National Records of Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Parliament, is mounting an exhibition in the Parliament from Wednesday 15 August to Saturday 8 September 2012 featuring two surviving original documents with a direct link to William Wallace. Many visitors to the exhibition are unlikely to know much about this turbulent period of Scottish history so primary and secondary pupils are invited to provide text, artwork or short films to help tell the story in a modern way.
Contributions for the exhibition must be submitted to the Scottish Parliament Education Service by Friday 15 June. Full details about this and the Education
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Programme during the exhibition are available on the Scottish Parliament website (www.scottish.parliament.uk/education/wallace).
http://www.swgfl.org.uk/News/E-Safety-Live-2012/Edinburgh-Workshops.
The Scottish Government and the UK Safer Internet Centre are running an E-safety live event on 22 March with a choice of 12 workshops.
One of the workshops is ‘Social Media in Schools: Opportunities and Challenges’. Hosted by Ollie Bray of Education Scotland the workshop will examine the opportunities and challenges presented to schools and school leaders regarding social media. It will include advice for schools on social media policy and ICT policy as well as curriculum progression.
The event will be of interest to teachers, e-safety leads, headteachers, organisations working with children, social workers, local authorities and trainers. For enquiries, please email esafetylive@saferinternet.org.uk.
Scottish school pupils are set to broaden their knowledge on aspects of Scottish life and culture across all areas of learning.
Learning Minister Alasdair Allan yesterday confirmed the award in Scottish Studies is among a number of recommendations made by the Scottish Studies Working Group that will be taken forward.
Linda Donnelly, a member of the Working Group and head teacher at Carleton Primary School in Glenrothes added:
“Curriculum for Excellence encourages relevance and coherence. Its aim is to provide a flexible and enriched curriculum. The idea of using Scottish studies as a vehicle to achieve this is both exciting and challenging. Learning about Scotland in Carleton Primary school is taught, not a discrete subject but rather as a whole school themed approach. Staff and pupils are encouraged to take the opportunity to learn about Scotland when and wherever possible.
“Exploring Scotland’s rich cultural diversity and understanding Scotland’s role in the wider world are two of the key principles in developing global citizens. I would therefore encourage everyone to embrace the recommendations from the group and help embed learning about Scotland across the curriculum.”
