Curriculum for Excellence | Bargeddie Primary

What is Curriculum for Excellence?

Curriculum for Excellence is Scotland’s national curriculum. It provides a coherent and inclusive curriculum from 3 – 18 years, wherever learning is taking place, including early learning childhood centres, schools, colleges and community learning. It places children and young people at the heart of Scottish Education.

The purpose of Curriculum for Excellence is encapsulated in the four capacities – to enable each child or young person to be

a successful learner
a confident individual
a responsible citizen and
an effective contributor

These four capacities govern the entire curriculum from age 3 to 18 and aim to raise the standards of achievement for all learners. Curriculum for Excellence is underpinned by the values inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament – wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity.

Throughout Curriculum for Excellence there is a strong focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing across all aspects of learning and every teacher will support learners with the development of these, including digital literacy skills. Curriculum for Excellence is defined as:

‘The totality of all that is planned for children and young people throughout their education.’

The opportunities for learning and teaching are governed by the Four Contexts for Learning, which ensure that the education your child receives is informative, interesting, relevant and fun.

These contexts are:

Ethos and life of the school as a community
Curriculum areas and subjects
Interdisciplinary learning
Opportunities for personal achievement

Curriculum for Excellence Levels

There are five levels and these are flexible depending on pupils’ needs and abilities (some children and young people may achieve these levels earlier or later, dependent on ability).

Early Level – pre-school to P1

First Level – to the end of P4

Second Level – to the end of P7

Third and Fourth Levels – S1 to S3

Senior Phase – S4 to S6 and other forms of study

What is the Broad General Education?

The Broad General Education (BGE) is the first phase of two closely connected phases of education. The BGE phase stretches from age 3 until the end of S3 after which, learners move into the Senior Phase which starts in S4.

Curriculum Areas and Subjects

The BGE is delivered via eight curricular areas which, in secondary school, cover years S1 to S3 and may be subdivided further into individual subjects. The eight curricular areas are

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

The Senior Phase

The senior phase curriculum, from S4 to S6, follows a young person’s broad general education, building firmly on the experiences and outcomes they will have experienced and achieved by the end of S3. It enables them to extend and deepen their learning and continue to develop skills for learning, life and work, through qualifications and also through a range of opportunities for personal development such as awards and wider achievements. It is designed to support young people in moving on to positive, sustained destinations, whether that is college, university, training or employment. In the Senior Phase, schools and their partners (such as colleges, employers or community learning and development providers) now have flexibility to offer a range of pathways that meet the needs and raise the attainment levels of all learners – including pupils who might previously have become disengaged from education.

Schools are taking a range of approaches to the senior phase and are able to offer greater personalisation and choice for young people in a variety of ways, for example by:

designing the senior phase as a three-year experience rather than planning each year separately
delivering qualifications over different timescales in response to young people’s needs and prior achievements
developing pathways for able learners, which bypass qualifications at lower levels to allow more time to be spent on more challenging learning at higher levels
providing specific and appropriate programmes that maximise achievement and attainment for young people planning to leave after S4.

Personal Support / Career Planning

From 3-18 years, learners are supported to achieve their full potential and, as they progress through the broad general education into the senior phase, to plan and prepare for further learning, training or employment. All schools and nurseries in North Lanarkshire are working hard to raise standards so that children and young people will develop all of the skills necessary to continue to be successful when leaving school and entering the world of higher education, training or work. As part of developing skills for learning, life and work, young people will be offered careers information advice and guidance to ensure they leave school and enter a positive post-school destination of higher education, further education, pre-employment training, employment (including modern apprenticeships), activity agreement or volunteering.