Expand your classroom – delivering CfE in your school grounds
We’re all in the business of nurturing confident, responsible young people who enjoy success in learning and can communicate effectively. School grounds offer a great opportunity on your doorstep to open up learning in a practical, fun and meaningful way where you can deliver an excellent curriculum that’s inclusive to all.

Involving learners in reviewing your curriculum
The framework for learning and teaching puts the learner firmly at the centre, actively involved in every aspect of their own learning. It is important therefore to consult and involve pupils when revising curriculum structures.  This section provides some examples of learner engagement, to generate thinking, and workshop materials to support consultation with pupils.

Outdoor Learning at the Chalkface
These short videos highlight different aspects of the ‘Outdoor Learning at the Chalkface’ event organised by Scottish Natural Heritage on 10 November 2009

Literacy across learning a variety of strategies is being developed at Fraserburgh North PS

Writing across learning at St Hilary’s PS
In 2008 HMIE highlighted St Hilary’s learning and teaching of writing as good practice. The school has since built on this success by focussing particularly on writing across learning.

Numeracy – a skill for learning, life and work
This resource reinforces numeracy as a skill for learning, life and work. It is presented in three sections: Skill for learning; Skill for life; Skill for work.

Planning health and wellbeing across the curriculum
Torbain is a primary school situated in Kirkcaldy, Fife. It has around 500 pupils and also incorporates infant/nursery accommodation for 140 children. The school has been very proactive in taking forward health and wellbeing in its widest sense over the last couple of years and has particularly focused on whole school planning, CPD and consultation with pupils and parents/carers.

A whole school approach to health and wellbeing
This video case study explores the ways in which the community of Nethermains Primary School – the staff, pupils, parents/carers and partners – has taken a whole school approach to health and wellbeing

Support materials on language progression – Gaidhlig
These examples show children developing and extending Gàidhlig language skills in active motivating and fun ways. Children are encouraged to speak to each other in Gàidhlig when participating in all activities.  This presents opportunities to reinforce their language in real, relevant contexts.

Let’s make the music and dance
North Ayrshire Council employed a professional singer and a dance teacher to work with groups of children and staff to create songs and dance. The project involved staff and children at Springvale Nursery Centre, St Luke’s Nursery Class and the P1 class and nursery class at Mayfield Primary School.

Co-operative learning activities: an active approach to teaching numeracy
The following case study was designed and produced by a mathematics teacher in Our Lady’s High School, Cumbernauld, who has been trained in the use of co-operative learning. There are five activities highlighted to promote an active approach to teaching numeracy

Using numbers to Count
Baker Street Nursery School worked in partnership with neighbouring school, Allan’s Primary. The theme was ‘Using numbers to count’. Staff from both settings held joint planning meetings to discuss the project, the way forward and how to evaluate their findings. An audit was also conducted across both settings to ensure maximum use and exchange of active learning approaches in Numeracy.

Involving learners in their learning – Science
The 2010 Scottish Science Education Conference, ‘Sustaining Science: bright ideas for the future’, was held at Dunblane on 5-6 March 2010 and was hosted by the ASE (Association for Science Education) Scotland and SSERC (Scottish Schools Equipment Research Centre). The conference aimed to support learning and teaching in the sciences through keynote addresses and workshop sessions.  Videos and information about four of the workshop sessions can be found here. All four of these workshops had a common theme running through them – the importance of involving learners and the benefits that it can bring.

Journey within Sciences to a CfE
This video shows how a school community turned their school garden into a vegetable patch. Watch teachers and pupils discuss the benefits of eco activities and how they help to develop citizenship and personal and social skills.

Creativity Portal ideas illustrating ways of learning through creativity
The Creativity Portal is a collaborative environment for practitioners. It is designed to inform, inspire and encourage debate around creativity. It aims to stimulate new approaches to learning and teaching through partnerships between education and the cultural sectors, supporting Curriculum for Excellence.

Taking a Critical Skills approach to Modern Languages in the Primary School
The trained MLPS teacher at Lainshaw Primary School, East Ayrshire, uses critical skills challenges as part of her modern languages methodology. This study and accompanying film clips demonstrate the key elements of the development of the skills for learning, life and work which underpin the aims of Curriculum for Excellence

Environment meets Enterprise – the litter police are out and about
Echline Primary is a large, suburban primary school with 322 pupils located on the outskirts of South Queensferry, near Edinburgh. The school achieved a first Eco Schools Green Flag Award in June 2004. The school has addressed a number of sustainable development issues through work on Eco School activities. In particular, the work that the school has done linking their Eco Schools work with Enterprise is exemplary. The school’s extensive grounds have been developed to provide a range of additional resources for the school for teaching and learning, play, physical exercise and to encourage wildlife

Planning for the Scottish dimension in the curriculum
This advice offers a suggested method of planning to help ensure that from the ages of 3-15, learners have a coherent and progressive experience of learning about Scottish history across a range of periods and contexts within people, past events and societies.

Chicken eggs
This project was undertaken by the children of Hermitage Park Nursery Class, who incubated and hatched 18 chicken eggs. They gathered, recorded and shared relevant information with the wider community.

Healthy Eating project at Dollar Academy Primary
Primary 4 pupils at Dollar Academy, Clackmannanshire recently undertook a project aimed at improving their understanding of healthy eating. An interdisciplinary approach to learning was employed by the teacher, bringing together experiences and outcomes from both the technologies and health and wellbeing curricular areas.