Curriculum for Excellence

Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland’s curriculum for children and young people aged 3-18. It is an approach designed to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and attributes they need for learning, life and work in the 21st century. It aims to enable every child to be a:

  • successful learner
  • confident individual
  • responsible citizen
  • effective contributor

The curriculum is defined as all the experiences that are planned for children and young people, including activity that would previously have been thought of as extra-curricular. Curriculum for Excellence recognises four contexts for learning through:

  • curriculum areas
  • interdisciplinary learning
  • opportunities for personal achievement
  • the ethos and life of the school as a community.

The eight curriculum areas are:

Expressive Arts Health & Wellbeing Languages Numeracy and Mathematics
Religious & Moral Sciences Social Studies Technologies

These curricular areas may be taught as discreet strands but may also be part of an interdisciplinary approach when aspects of several curricular areas are taught within a common context/topic.

 

Curriculum for Excellence progression Levels

Progress in learning is indicated through curriculum levels as detailed below.

Curriculum Level Stage
Early The pre-school years and P1 or later for some
First To the end of P4 but earlier or later for some
Second To the end of P7 but earlier or later for some
Third, Fourth S1 to S3 but earlier for some
Senior phase S4-S6 and college or other means of study

 

The two key resources teachers use to plan learning, teaching and assessment are:

 

Useful websites

For additional information on the curriculum you can look at our school handbook or visit:

Education Scotland www.education.gov.scot

National Parent Forum of Scotland  www.npfs.org.uk