June 4, 2015
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Cross-authority writing Group (Secondary) update

Our 12^th NQ cross-authority writing group event took place on the 18^th May in Stirling. Around 60 secondary colleagues attended with the focus being on the transition from Higher to Advanced Higher. This included supporting the transition from traditional Higher to CfE Advanced Higher. New resources have been developed for biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science and are now available on our Glow science site. Details on the resources developed and plans for future events are listed below.

In addition, we’d like to express our thanks to all those who have uploaded sciences resources they have developed. We now have 3000+ resources on the Glow sciences site and, at the start of the year have on average 1000 teachers accessing the site each month making it one of the most successful communities on the new Glow platform. Thanks to everyone for helping to build such a vibrant and active community. Without a doubt, learners across Scotland will benefit hugely from this.

In the next few weeks the new Glow video channel will be launched as well as the new Yammer app which will enhance the functionality of the Glow newsfeed. We’ll bring you news of these at the start of next session.

If you want to access the Glow sciences site then visit: http://bit.ly/glowsciences

Every teacher in Scotland should have access to Glow including those in the independent sector. If you don’t have a password then please speak to the Glow coordinator in your school in the first instance or your Glow key contact in your authority.

At the most recent event in May participants were developing resources and working on the following areas:

Biology

Experimental guide for outcome 1
Guide for starting the course with learners
Practical guides for all units
I can statements for Organisms and Evolution

Focus for upcoming events

Support for projects in rural communities
Opportunity to work with partner agencies
Higher assignments

Chemistry

Mapping knowledge and understanding from any Chemistry Higher
Research unit resources – past paper questions linking to knowledge and understanding and skills
Synthesis Unit resources
Candidate project checklist

Focus for upcoming events

Higher assignment feedback
Open-ended questions

Environmental Science

Working on Forestry Commission materials
Added Value Unit – data handling

Focus for upcoming events

Higher assignment feedback
Opportunity to work with partner agencies
Continue populating resource guide for N4 /5 / Higher

Physics

Learner friendly outcome statements and success criteria
Learner resources for knowledge based units
Teacher support notes for astrophysics
Support guide for learners moving from traditional Higher to CfE Advanced Higher

Focus for upcoming events

Stellar evolution
Quantum Mechanics
Mechanics
Prompts for working with partners in schools
Opportunity to work with partner agencies

June 4, 2015
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SCHOLAR – Development of CfE National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Materials

SCHOLAR provides access to high quality learning and teaching materials on the web. The content is written by teachers for teachers strictly aligned with the new SQA CfE curriculum. Subject authors and the SCHOLAR educational development team create effective e-learning content to support individual and classroom learning. The materials are highly interactive with engaging interactivities, simulations, graphics, practice and formative assessments. Audio resources have also been integrated into some courses to help provide a diverse range of media suitable for all types of learner.

End of topic and unit tests provide valuable feedback for the learners. For teachers, we provide detailed feedback on their students’ results for the end of topic and unit tests. This allows teachers to identify individual strengths and weaknesses to aid attainment.

Recently, the SCHOLAR team has been hard at work developing the CfE Higher and CfE Advanced Higher courses – including STEM. The available STEM subjects are as follows:

Subject	CfE Higher	CfE Advanced Higher
Biology	Complete	Unit 1 available – remainder to follow throughout 2015
Chemistry	Complete	Unit 1 available – remainder to follow throughout 2015
Computing Science	Complete	Unit 1 available – remainder to follow throughout 2015
Human Biology	Complete	Not applicable
Mathematics*	Complete	Unit 1 available – remainder to follow throughout 2015
Physics	Complete	Unit 1 available – remainder to follow throughout 2015

*Additionally, SCHOLAR provides complete CfE National 5 materials in Mathematics

Navigation through the online materials is straightforward and easy to learn and is the same for all the STEM subjects. The PDFs of the content are available for download by teachers as Study Guides and corresponding Teacher Notes.

Every secondary school in Scotland has access to SCHOLAR – contact the SCHOLAR coordinator in your school if you have not received your account details. Access is given to teachers and pupils (S4-S6) who are studying a SCHOLAR subject.

Keep up to date with our developments and learn more about our available materials by visiting our website www.scholar.hw.ac.uk .

June 2, 2015
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Accessing GLOW in Edinburgh and other authorities using SharePoint

Colleagues in Edinburgh and other authorities using Microsoft SharePoint sometimes have issues accessing GLOW. Below is some advice from the Digital Learning and Teaching team at Scottish Government. User names and passwords are a school/ authority issue, sorry but we can’t help there.

Accessing more than one O365 Tenancy

In some local authority areas in Scotland individuals may have access to more than one Microsoft O365 platform. Everyone in Scotland has Glow but there may also be a Microsoft O365 platform in use that has been provided locally. In these cases, it is still possible for you to use more than one Microsoft O365 platform should you wish i.e. use Glow as well as the local authority Microsoft O365 platform, however there are some points you should be aware of. If you want to be in both platforms at the one time: You must use separate browsers e.g. Internet Explorer for the local platform, Google Chrome for Glow (or any other browser available). This is because when you are logged in to Microsoft O365, the browser will use a cookie to ensure you stay logged in, because of this you cannot be logged in twice using the same browser to different platforms. If you only have access to one browser: If your machine is restricted to one browser then you must fully log out of one platform before you log in to another. When logging out of Glow:

Go to the Launchpad (RM Unify) and in the top right of the screen, next to your name, click on the downward arrow and choose sign out.
You will then be updated as you are logged out of all services you are currently using.
Close your browser completely then open again for a new session.

There will be a different process to log out of your own local authority platform but this would be required if moving to use Glow from the same browser. The above situation is not caused by either of the platforms in use in particular but rather is an expected behaviour of being authenticated in to a cloud based service being used for more than one purpose.

May 29, 2015
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FREE event: The David Elder Lecture, 10th June Imax Glasgow Science Centre

The next David Elder Lecture on The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence to be delivered on 10th June 2015 at the Glasgow Science Centre’s IMAX by Prof Tim O’Brien of BBC Stargazing Live fame and a Director of the Jodrell Bank Radio-Telescope Observatory.

This will be an exciting visual lecture and would be suitable to inspire secondary students in S4 – S6.

Ticketing for this free event is on-line or via telephone for group bookings – details on poster.

David Elder Flyer PRINT

For any other enquiries regarding this event please contact us at study@phys.strath.ac.uk

May 28, 2015
by I. Menzies
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Vacancies – Sciences Development Officers

Secondment opportunities
Duration: 23 months

Education Scotland seeks to appoint Development Officers to work in partnership with colleagues from across the education system, Scottish Government and other national organisations to develop, promote and support effective and innovative approaches within their specialist areas.

Working in teams led by Senior Education Officers, we are seeking Development Officers in the following areas:

Expressive arts
Health and wellbeing
Literacy and English
Science
Technologies

Candidates should possess a relevant degree in teaching and be registered with the GTCS. You should also have excellent knowledge of Curriculum for Excellence and be able to contribute to its continued development and implementation. Demonstrable experience in the relevant discipline is required with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

The Development Officer posts are being offered on a 23 month secondment basis and can be based out of any of the Education Scotland offices subject to local availability.

See further details on our vacancies page>>

Closing date for applications: Midnight, 7 June 2015
Completed applications should be submitted by email to edshr@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk
Education Scotland is committed to Equal Opportunities.

May 25, 2015
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Rocket Science lifts off!

RHS boldly goes where none have gone before, turning half a million UK children into space biologists.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening has partnered with the UK Space Agency to embark on an innovative educational project, to be launched at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (19 – 23 May 2015). The project, Rocket Science, will give around half a million children the chance to learn how investment in human space exploration contributes to our knowledge of life on Earth, using the invaluable expertise of the European Space Agency (ESA) and RHS Science team.

Rocket Science will involve 2kg of rocket seeds being sent to the International Space Station as part of British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principia mission. After several months on board, orbiting the planet at 17,000mph, the seeds will be returned to Earth and sent to thousands of UK schools, alongside a batch of seeds that have stayed on Earth. Pupils will grow and compare the seeds as they embark on a voyage of discovery to see whether we can sustain human life in space through the production of our own food. The results of the nationwide citizen science experiment will then be analysed to discover whether space travel has impacted on the growth of the seeds.

British ESA astronaut Tim Peake said “It’s a huge privilege to be the first British ESA astronaut flying to the International Space Station. During my six-month tour, I’ll be conducting a number of experiments on the International Space Station. I hope that Rocket Science will inspire the next generation to think scientifically, and to consider the fulfilling careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).”

Minister for Universities and Science Jo Johnson added: “Britain’s space industry is going from strength to strength, and for this to continue it’s right we inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. ‘Rocket Science’ is doing just that by giving thousands of schoolchildren the opportunity to play a part in Tim’s mission to the International Space Station, while learning new skills in a fun and unique way.”

To introduce the project, an inspiring exhibition will be on show in the Discovery Zone at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, complete with a real-life Mars Rover and a team of ESA’s leading scientists on hand to talk about their work in this field. Set across four zones, interactive displays will take the visitor through the past, present and future of plants in space, discovering the important role scientists play in helping plants to thrive in inhospitable conditions, how space exploration helps solve problems on Earth and even the plants astronauts need to survive long-term missions.

Claire Custance, RHS Skills Development Manager – Education & Learning, said: “Rocket Science is a really exciting project for us, and a unique chance to get even more schools engaging with horticulture and science. Working with a partner like the UK Space Agency brings a fresh and exciting perspective on horticulture in the National Curriculum. We look forward to discovering the results of the nationwide experiment.”

Schools will be able to apply for seeds from September 2015 via the RHS Campaign for School Gardening website.

For more information on how you can get your school involved with astronaut Tim Peake’s mission to the International Space Station, visit the dedicated website.

May 25, 2015
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Monitoring Climate from Space

Explore our planet from space and learn how Earth observation is used to monitor climate change, with this free online course.

About the course

It is increasingly essential for us to study climate change across the planet at the highest level of detail possible. But how can we achieve such a comprehensive worldwide view?

Introducing Earth observation

Seeing the Earth from space allows us to gain this global perspective. By using Earth observation techniques, we can now monitor global environmental change on a scale that has never before been possible.

Earth observation has not only revolutionised the way we perceive our home, but changed the way we understand our profound impact on the environment. This technology has brought on a transformation in the way we observe, monitor and study our planet.

Learn with experts from ESA and leading European research centres

In this free online course, you will join leading experts and scientists from ESA and key European research centres, to explore the science that underpins Earth observation.

We will look at recent and current satellite missions that are providing an archive of essential data; and find out how this data is used in local and international policy and planning.

The course consists of five themed weeks:

Week 1 – Observing Climate Change from Space

What is Earth observation? How do we observe the Earth with satellites? And what role does Earth observation play in climate policy and planning?

Weeks 2 & 3 – Earth Observation Techniques and Technology

How do we use different types of mission, instrumentation and data to study changes to our atmosphere, land, oceans and ice?

Week 4 – Earth Observation in Action

How does Earth observation help us set policy; plan for climate risk, resilience and adaptation; and manage resources and biodiversity?

Week 5 – Managing Earth Observation Data

How do we make sense of the large amount of data produced by Earth observation? Can crowdsourcing and citizen science play a role in developing climate change models?

The lead presenters on this course are: Professor Martin Wooster, King’s College London; Dr Matias Disney, University College London; Dr Emily Shuckburgh, British Antarctic Survey; Professor Andy Shepherd, University of Leeds. Further expert insight is provided by Professor Alan O’Neill, University of Reading.

Other contributors for the course include: Dr Pierre-Philippe Mathieu, ESA; Dr Stephen Briggs, ESA; Dr Angela Benedetti, ECMWF; Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, ZSL; Professor Chris Merchant, University of Reading; Dr Melanie Ades, University of Reading; Dr Helen Snaith, BODC (NOC); Dr Stephanie Henson, NOC; Dr Simon Boxall, University of Southampton; Dr Paolo Cipollini, NOC; Professor Chris Lintott, University of Oxford; Dr Kirsten Barrett, University of Leicester.

Requirements

This course is designed for people who want to learn more about Earth observation, climate change and monitoring climate from space. The course can also help decision makers, policy makers, educators and communicators, to gain a better insight into how satellite data can help them assess the state of our climate and its changes, in order to support climate science, and adaptation and mitigation decisions.

May 22, 2015
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Recruitment – Sciences Development Officers

Education Scotland is looking to recruit two DOs to help us take forward our ambitious programme of support for 3-18 sciences.

Development Officer (DO)
Dates: Apply by 07/06/2015
Location: Any Education Scotland Office
Contract type: Full Time
Contract term: 23 month secondment
Education Scotland is Scotland’s national improvement agency for education. Our role is to promote improvement through innovation and change in the education system, from the early years to adult learning. We are committed to embedding our values of excellence, creativity, integrity and respect in everything we do.
To help us drive our ambitious agenda for improving outcomes for Scottish learners, we are now recruiting secondees to work within key areas of the organisation.
Development Officers work in partnership with colleagues from across the education system, Scottish Government and other national organisations to develop, promote and support effective and innovative approaches within their specialist areas. Working in teams led by Senior Education Officers, we are seeking Development Officers in the following areas:
Expressive Arts
Science
Health & Wellbeing
Technologies
Candidates should possess a relevant degree in teaching and be registered with the GTCS. You should also have excellent knowledge of Curriculum for Excellence and be able to contribute to its continued development and implementation. Demonstrable experience in the relevant discipline is required with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
The Development Officer posts are being offered on a 23 month secondment basis and can be based out of any of the Education Scotland offices subject to local availability.
For further information and to download an application form, please visit our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk/vacancies
Closing date for application: Midnight on Sunday 7 June 2015
Applications should be returned electronically to edshr@educationscotland.gsi.gov.uk

May 20, 2015
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Sciences Sharing Practice Network- Meeting Learners Needs (2)

Sharing Practice Network – Meeting learner’s needs in the NQ Classroom
Mercure Hotel, Glasgow – 8th June 2015

This network was set up to investigate strategies for learning and teaching in classroom where more than one NQ level is being taught at the same time. Our first Meeting learner’s needs network event was on October 31st. At that event, delegates chose a strategy to develop and trial over the next few months. At the follow up event on June 8th, as well as some examples of interesting practice, returning delegates will give a short presentations on their findings. We are still welcoming practitioners to the group. Could previous and new delegates and please register for this event at the following survey monkey link. Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P5WSPSB

May 13, 2015
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National Primary and Early Years Science Network 1st 2nd June 2015

Education Scotland held a series of conversation days with the Scottish education community throughout 2013/2014 to develop a shared, partnership approach to improving 3-18 science education. We also hosted a dedicated primary and early years science conversation day in August 2014.

One of the key themes to emerge was the importance of supporting learning and teaching of the sciences in the primary and early learning and childcare sectors, a theme also identified in the Sciences 3-18 Curriculum Impact Report.

Education Scotland provides support for practitioners in a variety of ways which have been very positively received:
Primary and Early Years Glow 365 site
Glow meets: 900 participants
Professional learning twilight events: 300 participants
STEM Central website
Giant Panda website, launched January 2015

In addition to this support, we are now looking to establish a National Primary and Early Years Science Network.

The purpose of this network is to create a cross-authority sharing practice group to:

develop a common understanding of standards and progression in the sciences
create a national model for moderation
build capacity in understanding the sciences curriculum
produce resources to support the planning, teaching, assessment and moderation of the sciences curriculum within the Broad General Education.

To contribute effectively to the national network we are looking for individuals with skills and expertise across the following areas:

excellent knowledge of CfE and the sciences curriculum and contributes to its development and implementation
experience of leading and/or contributing to effective change, development and improvement in sciences education at local and/or national level
proven experience of planning and delivery of high quality learning experiences for children and young people
excellent written communication and IT skills
knowledge of current thinking regarding pedagogy and assessment methodology

Individuals should ideally be an early learning and childcare/primary practitioner, school or setting leader, network leader or development officer. We are seeking an appropriate balance of representation from the early learning childcare and primary sectors.

The network will be launched at a two day residential event at the Thistle Hotel, Cambridge Street, Glasgow on Monday 1^st / Tuesday 2^nd June. Accommodation costs will be provided for those opting to stay overnight but unfortunately cover and transport costs cannot be provided.

To register your interest please contact either your Local Authority Science QIO/Coordinator or Louise Morton, Development Officer Primary Science and STEM Louise.morton@educationScotland.gsi.gov.uk

Representatives should also complete the online registration form at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8899KFC

It is anticipated that the network will meet a further two times through to March 2016. These will be one-day events.