Informed Scotland July/August 2018 – Plans, pilots, policy & practice
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It was pretty much business as usual throughout the summer, with little respite from policy developments, plans, pilots, research studies, surveys and statistics.
The Scottish Government’s first national action plan for parental involvement and family learning was one of the big items. Learning Together is not a quick read, however, with 13 goals and 52 (yes, 52!) actions spread over 51 pages. We’ve provided our subscribers with a helpful Annex containing the full list of goals and actions for ease of reference.
One of the most hotly debated issues over recent months has been the Scottish National Standardised Assessments, with the campaign to drop them in primary 1, led by Upstart, continuing to grow. The Scottish Government published a User Review of the assessments a year after they were introduced, including detail of some changes for 2018/19.
There are numerous other publications worth delving into
- Reports analysing skills shortages and gaps, including The Open University’s Business Barometer and the latest UK Employer Skills Survey, both with plenty of detail for Scotland
- Nesta’s report on the digital skills sought by employers, plus their fascinating ‘skills taxonomy’ tool to help with measuring the demand and supply of skills for the UK
- An evaluation of the first year of the Flexible Workforce Development Fund set up for apprenticeship levy paying organisations
- Reports examining the imbalance of men in nursing by NHS Education Scotland, and of women in engineering by EngineeringUK
- An inspection review of Personal & Social Education by Education Scotland
- And a Career Readiness Survey of first-year university students by the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.
The word ‘new’ appears over 60 times in our latest issue
Creative Scotland launched Screen Scotland, with its focus including skills & talent development and film education.
A new Google Digital Garage was opened in Edinburgh’s West End offering digital skills training and advice. Marks & Spencer is creating a new data skills academy for its staff with the help of Decoded. Young Enterprise Scotland launched a new Circular Economy Challenge for primary and secondary pupils.
SCEL created a new Evolving Systems Thinking teacher leadership programme with the Ontario Principals Council. And several new courses were created, including for teacher education.
Feedback that made us smile this month from Ken Muir, Chief Executive of GTCS: Another really excellent edition. This is such a great publication – one to which every organisation and public body in Scotland should subscribe. It provides such a helpful summary of all the ‘goings on’ across Scotland. A real one-stop read for busy people.
Become an Informed Scotland subscriber so you can keep on top of all the developments. Email [email protected] to request a sample copy.