Category Archives: Recommened reading

What are the Scottish Government doing to close the attainment gap?

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Attainment levels in Scotland are a major issue, there are many issues which affect attainment levels such as social class, gender and ethnicity. Reading performance has decreased from 2012 to 2014. However, the Scottish Government are trying to close the attainment gap using different techniques.

  • The Scottish Attainment Challenge which has been set up to aide the learning of children and young people in the most deprived areas of Scotland. The Scottish Attainment challenge consists of two sections, attainment Scotland fund and universal support. Attainment Scotland fund is a new £100 million initiative which focuses on supporting children from extremely deprived areas, focussing mainly on literacy, numeracy and health and well-being in primary schools. Universal support is improving upon previous initiatives to try and close the attainment gap. These initiatives include raising attainment for all programme and early years collaborative, P1-3 read, write, count campaign and access to education fund.
  • The Education (Scotland) Bill which was passed in March 2015, the bill has a strong focus on improving attainment level. The Bill enhances children’s rights and requires councils and Scottish ministers to report about progress within attainment. The Bill works alongside the Scottish Governments existing efforts to improve attainment levels and education standards.

 

Study Skills Book.

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From reading the study skills book I have learnt to prepare myself prior to lectures- reading power points or by doing background reading/research into the topic. University is mainly self study which I had perceived it to be, however there are various resources the university provide to help with this. University does not monitor you as closely as school or college would and you are not chased up if tasks are not completed. From the book I understand that through my 4 years of university I will use various different skills such as development skills, interpersonal skills and communication skills. These are skills that throughout my 4 years I will improve upon and when it comes to obtaining a job employers will look for these skills. I understand that a big part of university involves a personal development plan which will help me with numerous things from making and achieving goals both personal and academic, understanding my course in more depth and taking responsibility for my own development.