Informed Scotland – preparing for issue 5

While the October issue of Informed Scotland is being written for publication next week, there’s chance to reflect on what’s been happening in addition to the desk-based information gathering.

Enterprise and financial capability have been common threads running through a number of the meetings and discussions held over the last month, including those with contacts from NACUE, ‘stimulating and supporting student enterprise’; pedagoo.org, the forward-thinking community of teachers; and leadership development organisation Common Purpose.

At the Scottish Financial Education Forum in Glasgow, run by Education Scotland’s financial education champion Jim Lally, these two themes were brought together. Fantastic to hear Mick Jackson, creator of the Wild Hearts Micro-Tyco enterprise business challenge, deliver an inspirational presentation. Through WildHearts’ ‘compassionate entrepreneurial revolution’, Mick is addressing what he describes as the different kind of poverty that exists in Scotland – a ‘poverty of ambition, of role models’. We also heard about the successes of On the Money  and Skint!, books that tackle financial capability for young and older learners, produced by Scottish Book Trust, Education Scotland and Standard Life.

In recent weeks, pfeg has been doing much to drive the case for financial education to be a core part of the curriculum across the UK. With the energy demonstrated at the Glasgow gathering, and financial education already part of Curriculum for Excellence, it’s probably fair to say that Scotland is ahead of the game. Though there’s never room for complacency…

Informed Scotland issue 5 October 2012 is due to be published 7 November. Click here to find out how you can subscribe.