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General Curriculum for S3

Last post 12/01/12 at 19:14 by belimcfall, 10 replies
Post started by SunnyD on 21/12/11 at 11:00

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  • SunnyD avatar
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    Posted by: SunnyD 21/12/2011 at 11:00
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    I am currently doing teacher training and am trying to find out more information about the curriculum for S3.  General information is hard to come by and the school that I attended on placement has not communicated any plans to their teachers.

    I have found that Angus Council are to continue a 'broad general curriculum' into S3.  Pupils will then make course choices in S3 and specialise in S4.  This worries me as (being a Biology teacher) I have a vested interest in the numbers of pupils taking BiologyConfused.  If pupils are to take general science in S3 then this has implications for staffing levels in science. 

    If you have been informed of plans for S3 within your school or local authority please share them here Big Smile
  • jonowen avatar
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    Posted by: jonowen 21/12/2011 at 12:22
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    Hi Sunny D

    SunnyD:
    school that I attended on placement has not communicated any plans to their teachers.

    yep, that is commonplace throughout Scotland.

    SunnyD:
    This worries me

    and the rest of us too!

    Sorry to appear sarcastic, but all the National courses (ie the secondary curric.) is in draft form and has been for the last few years. We are damned if we don't embrace CfE, we are damned if we do; selfishly I'm glad I'll be able to get out in the next few years but I do feel for new teachers as there is no experience to pass on with this "don't-know-where-we-are-at-or-where-we-are-going"system. My understanding was that the new CfE would give you new, enthusiastic, full of brilliant ideas guys a breath of fresh air to enhance our education but there seems to be no such idea anywhere.

    Keep asking questions and can I suggest you write down any answers? Have a happy Christmas break!

                                          Smile
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    Posted by: mzgobi 22/12/2011 at 12:19
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    Great question. Don't think anyone has any answers but it is a bit like The Emperor's New Clothes, those in authority are telling us how wonderful they are, and we on the ground are wondering what they see that we don't.

    6 months off and we have no more to go on in my subject than 5 broad headings.

    If you ask anyone with any authority they will tell you we are professionals and it is up to us. To write the courses and do all the assessments with no extra time and cut back to the bone.

    Is there anywhere else in the world that has set up such a radical new system without giving their workforce information, development time, or money to make sure it will be successful? My workload is increasing exponentially as each year comes on stream. Like the previous poster, I am looking forward to retirement, and leaving the shambles that is Scottish education.

    Read the article in the TESS written by a former headteacher (Comment and Analysis). It's brilliant and sums it all up perfectly in my opinion.

    But what do I know compared those setting it all up..........
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    Posted by: jonowen 22/12/2011 at 12:38
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    mzgobi:
    Is there anywhere else in the world that has set up such a radical new system without giving their workforce information, development time, or money to make sure it will be successful?

     Spot on mzgobi, and that's it in a nutshell! I'd love to know who had the very, very first idea of all this and then set the wheels in motion - I'm not a gambling person but I bet a million to one that it was no teacher or anyone in education who had this mad idea.
  • braemar avatar
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    Posted by: braemar 29/12/2011 at 14:28
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    In my school the S3 draft timetable will include the following

    4 periods of Maths and English (8 periods in total)

    2 periods of Modern Languages

    4 periods of Social subjects

    4 periods of Science

    4 periods of Technologies

    4 periods of Creative/aesthetic subjects

    2 periods of PE

    1 period PSE and1 period RME

     

    Will be interesting to see how it works out in practice. There will be an element of choice in the social subjects/science/technologies/creative aesthetic subjects.

     

     
  • Frecklefeatures avatar
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    Posted by: Frecklefeatures 09/01/2012 at 21:52
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     What happens after S3, Braemar? What about kids who plan to leave at 16?  Will they only have 1 year of chosen subjects?  The whole thing makes me fearful - it's one thing wanting to encourage a wider range of teaching ideas/more group work, another thing throwing the whole lot away without having something (anything) concrete in place :(   I feel like we've done nothing but talk, talk, talk for years about HOW to make sense out of this curriculum, and we're still talking.   How can it be so difficult, or more importantly, WHY did the powers that be make it so incoherent?  

  • belimcfall avatar
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    Posted by: belimcfall 10/01/2012 at 18:41
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    My school is going along a very similar route to Braemar. Apparently (and I stress apparently!) pupils will do a broadly wide curriculum but there will be an element of choice (ie a science and a technical subject etc) so pupils can begin to specialise. If a pupil decides they want to take an NQ in S4 in a subject they haven't opted for in S3, then there will be no barriers but they will have to do National 4, whereas those who have done the subject in S3 may (if they have achieved the relevant level 4 O's & E's) be able to jump to National 5. There's still fighting to be done over how many periods etc, and it might not be timetableable (I think I made that word up). But at least we have a plan. Sort of.
  • tomison avatar
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    Posted by: tomison 10/01/2012 at 21:57
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    We are just about to change to a 33 period week, with 3 periods in the afternoon! Does anybody else have an afternoon with three 50 minute periods? I teach maths and don't look forward to teaching maths to pupils who will be on their third period after lunch- I anticipate the less academic pupils will not take well to English followed by French then maths. Does it really work- my management tell me it works for lots of schools.
  • belimcfall avatar
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    Posted by: belimcfall 11/01/2012 at 18:35
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    Sorry, we went 3 before break, then two, then two after lunch... and a lunchtime finish on Friday. I did do a placement when I was a student in a school with 3 after lunch Mon, Tues & Wed. Period 7 was hell. But a lot of that might have been to do with the fact that I was a student teacher and probably quite pants at that point. Pupils were very tired, though. I know it's not going to happen, but I want to go back to 30 periods. :(
  • tomison avatar
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    Posted by: tomison 11/01/2012 at 19:43
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    Thanks for your repy - are you at liberty to tell me which school had 3 after lunch - I would love to chat to the PT of Maths. 
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