Curriculum, Learning, Teaching & Assessment

Curriculum, Learning,
Teaching & Assessment

The Curriculum, Learning, Teaching & Assessment Workstream aims to grow an empowered learning system which provides the best possible curriculum for children and young people. It also aims to ensure this learning system delivers excellent approaches to learning, teaching and assessment for all.

It aims to:

support improvements in learning, teaching and assessment
support schools and ELC settings across the region to ensure they are designing and delivering a curriculum which has a range of pathways to meet the needs of all children and young people
improve outcomes for all children and young people
make equity core to all aspects of the learning system

Outcomes:

Through engaging in specialist networks, there is an increase in the number of collaborative activities being undertaken in the West Partnership which improve the learning experience for children and young people by June 2022
On completion of their collaborative action research, all participants are able to demonstrate an improvement in their practice which enhances the learning experience for children and young people by June 2022.
improve outcomes for all children and young people

We are working to achieve this through a wide variety of activities including:

ongoing professional learning activity and through the online moderation portal to ensure a consistent approach to the moderation cycle across the West Partnership.
building on the West Partnership Online School (West OS) to ensure high quality learning videos and associated resources are available for all children and young people. West OS enables children, young people, teachers and families to access effective learning and teaching in the classroom or at home at any time of the day.
hosting learning events (virtual or in person as appropriate) to support practitioners to collaborate and share effective approaches.
hosting and facilitating curricular networks to ensure practitioners are empowered to share evidence based and effective practice.

Secondary Curriculum — Critical Collaborative Professional Enquiry (CCPE)

Senior leaders from across the West Partnership have recently completed the CCPE process with Professors Mark Priestly and Valerie Drew. These senior leaders are now looking at how they can share their learning and the impact of the CCPE with Head Teachers and Depute Head Teachers responsible for Curriculum Development across the West Partnership.

The programme will model School Based-Curriculum Development through Critical Collaborative Professional Enquiry (CCPE). The programme will be suitable for senior leaders with responsibility for curriculum making in their schools.

Curriculum is firmly on the agenda of the Scottish education system. The OECD review provides an opportunity to think about what matters in schools, and will raise uncomfortable questions about current thinking and practices. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has also thrown these questions into sharp relief, both disrupting existing patterns of practice while simultaneously opening up opportunities to explore new ways of doing. One caveat here is that systematic and conceptually informed thinking about the curriculum becomes more rather than less important, if we are to avoid knee-jerk reactions to the pandemic. Furthermore, Curriculum has assumed a more prominent position in the new draft GTCS standards than was the case previously. For these reasons, exploration of the relevant issues raised in this programme are especially important at present.

The aims of the programme will be to:

develop enhanced understandings of curriculum concepts and practices amongst senior/middle leaders across the West Partnership;
raise the capacity of leaders responsible for curriculum making in their schools/clusters, through the CCPE process;
produce accessible resources to support senior/middle leaders; and
explain the process of school-based curriculum development through professional enquiry.

If you would like more information please contact Carol McArdle.

West OS

Download The West Partnership Improvement Plan 2021–22

Specialist Networks

List of specialist networks

Specialist networks are where groups of representatives collaborate to share experience and expertise. This can result in the development of resources, events or professional learning opportunities. The Specialist Networks promote the sharing of knowledge and expertise across local authorities promoting cross-sector collaboration.

The Assessment & Moderation Co-ordinators network aims to further develop practitioner confidence when making CFE level judgements when benchmarked using National standards.

The ASN Assessment & Moderation network aims to give ASN practitioners the opportunity across the West Partnership to come together and engage in moderation which will have been created, developing consistency in knowledge and understanding around the moderation of planning, assessment and achievement of a level.

The Senior Phase Assessment & Moderation network aims to further develop practitioner confidence when making professional judgements in line with national standards.

Coming soon

The Digital Officers network aims to increase the awareness of interesting and innovative practice around digital pedagogy in the West Partnership for practitioners which improve the learning experience for children and young people.

The Literacy Officers network aims to further develop practitioner confidence in 'reading for pleasure' pedagogy.

The Maths Officers network aims to share effective practice across the West Partnership through appropriate workshops and information sessions.

These include: