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        TES Scotland Curriculum - Forum

        Debate the Curriculum for Excellence and all aspects of the Scottish curriculum in this Group. This is also the place to get advice from your peers on the most effective way to implement the curriculum

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        imbalanced curricular structure

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          musky

          Member since 20-11-2002
          My school is piloting a system where at the end of 1st year pupils select Science and Technology subjects which they receive extra periods for with the idea that they might be presented early. Then in S3 the non science/technology subjects are offered on a taster basis with 5 subjects being offered initially then six months later they get to choose another 5 taster subjects. They then move to an S456 curriculum with normal timetabling We have been told taster courses are supposed to give the pupils a feel for the subject but not to include anything they may need in S456 so as not to disadvantage others it was also suggested that we use this time to complete Es and Os.??? The school is about to start this process with up to 15 subjects in S3. I am alone in thinking this is insane. I would appreciate your thoughts on this, as I am worried not only about the school but also about how taster subjects will be seen by pupils.
          Posted 3-3-2012 20:58
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          absolutezero

          Member since 23-2-2012

          A nightmare indeed. 

          I wonder what you mean by being 'presented early' - are the pupils going to be presented for Nat 4 or 5 at the end of S3? 

          Posted 4-3-2012 17:57
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          musky

          Member since 20-11-2002
          Yes that is what I meant, although I am not looking forward to it I have to say some others schools plans for cross curricular/combined subjects S1-S3 sound worse !
          Posted 5-3-2012 19:12
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          absolutezero

          Member since 23-2-2012

          Thanks - Very intersting - I wasn't aware we would be allowed to present pupils for National exams at the end of S3 since pupils are supposed to be doing BGE till end of S3. 

          Posted 5-3-2012 22:02
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          musky

          Member since 20-11-2002
          It seems to be another grey area. CFE is very clear you should not present whole cohorts however this suggests it may be approriate to present a select few individuals. If they blanket ban early presentation then they might be accused of restricting the most able, However they are pushing for BGE s1-s3. So the response seems to be, keep quiet let schools do massively different things then when the mess is terminal start telling schools oohh! you shouldn't have done it like that.Sorry if that sounds cynical and I hope I am wrong.
          Posted 5-3-2012 22:41
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          rosered27

          Member since 19-11-2010

          CfE has allowed schools/headteachers to experiment. I think this has been noticed and I am sure there will be some clarity and guidance provided soon. In the meantime, teachers have to cope which - I agree - is difficult given the fact that CfE is about progression and coherence. As an MFL teacher I feel that CfE has been a devolution rather than a revolution. There is light at the end of the tunnel though and hopefully the MFL working group of the Scottish government will be able to improve the situation. At the moment the curriculum is indeed a playground for headteachers. Early presentation of cohorts is not an option anymore in CfE. Early presentation for individual pupils is stil possible though.

          Posted 9-3-2012 13:22
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          gnulinux

          Member since 28-1-2004
          CfE, MFL, BGE - a TLA (Three Letter Acronym) too far?? Instead of BGE, how about ABodGE - a little more appropriate no?? Re: imbalanced curricular structure, some headteachers have clearly taken this too far to the extent that subjects like Computing have either been wiped out or are under severe threat. This is not in the best interests of pupils or the economy. HT's need to be reminded that they are a) public servants and b) just another employee. Computing Science provides pupils with high level skills that travel well. Other countries have been doing this for years - think of the BRIC economies. Our pupils need to be given the chance to acquire high level Computing skills - without that, well - there are only so many jobs stacking shelves in Te5co5.
          Posted 10-3-2012 14:45
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