I have attended two markers’ meetings this year; The National 5 Assignment and the Question paper.  These have without doubt been two of the most useful CPD sessions I have attended.  Understanding the national standards in our subject areas is vital and both the markers meeting and the experience of marking papers to a consistently high standard is a challenge which has undoubtedly had a positive impact on my teaching practice over the last few weeks.  Additionally, being exposed to candidate responses from across the country has the advantage of expanding subject knowledge.  While the time commitment for SQA marking is an issue, in terms of CPD I would highly recommend it.

Steven MacKenzie