Review of qualifications and assessments by Connect https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5 Share your thoughts on proposals for a Scottish Diploma of Achievement en-us 2023-03-29 17:08:09 UTC 2026-01-09 06:40:33 UTC hello@padlet.com Patrick is presenting this change as a fait accompli, in which case, what is the point of consulting? https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537179119 2023-03-29 18:36:09 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537179119 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537196215 Personally I disagree with the CBI on the balance between exams and teacher assessment.]]> 2023-03-29 18:50:44 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537196215 50% did not feel that project assessment was important but you have picked up on the 50% who felt it was. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537197865 2023-03-29 18:52:11 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537197865 Employers https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537199621 How many employers and what percentage of Scottish jobs covered?]]> 2023-03-29 18:53:40 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537199621 Be important that this is certificate is useful/adopted by employers as part of their recruitment processes to ensure candidates for their jobs don't have to replicate this through similar type application requirements. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537202665 2023-03-29 18:56:30 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537202665 It is more important to raise academic achievement rather than broaden the curriculum. What is the problem that this review is trying to address? https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537208499 2023-03-29 19:01:45 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537208499 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537209172 Has the review considered the potential for personal pathways to discriminate against those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and others such as young carers or care experienced young people, who may have fewer opportunities for wider achievement? ]]> 2023-03-29 19:02:26 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537209172 The future lies in the digital age so the delivery of education as well as the assessments needs to embrace and harness this. As hybrid working becomes the norm perhaps so too should learning, particularly at the upper end. The diversity offers opportunities for additional skills. Also as the teaching numbers and other constraints affect staffing numbers (and learning) new ways of delivering learning, equally and fairly, to all students across the country need to be considered. Especially when the constraints include housing teachers in rural areas where housing is v hard to find, esp affordable housing! Plus digital skills are invaluable for all given the pervasive nature of digital in our daily lives. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537216767 2023-03-29 19:08:52 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537216767 Would like to see moved to continuous assessment which reflects the university models today. 10 weeks of the s5 year is preparing for exam pass paper and learning essay format rather than depth of knowledge. Would prefer to see a project based approach to demonstrate ability to apply knowledge https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537223175 2023-03-29 19:14:20 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537223175 Cross subject learning allowing learners to under stand the need for a broad understanding https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537224541 2023-03-29 19:15:36 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537224541 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537224607 "Academic" subjects shouldn't be viewed as impractical, but viewed/taught as transferrable skills (because they usually are).  These subjects keep options open, whereas vocational subjects are useful for a pupil who is definite about their career path, but might find themselves boxed in if/when they change their mind (either whilst still in school or some years later).  i.e. please don't go down a vocational-heavy subject choice.
The main problem with the current system is that many schools don't offer a very big range of subjects (e.g. my child's school doesn't teach or offer computer science... in 2023), so relying on a broad range of subjects offered doesn't carry through to the pupils.]]> 2023-03-29 19:15:39 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537224607 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537225533 Agree that assessments every year for 3 years seems unnecessary and two terms of learning each time seems insufficient. However, how would young people make decisions about how long they are going to take a subject for, if you only get a qualification when you exit? When would a decision be taken and what happens if someone changes their mind? ]]> 2023-03-29 19:16:27 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537225533 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537228368 Some form of examination must be a key element for those who want to go on further education. 
Formal assessment and  project work are key.
But exams only on exit give you only one chance and you never get exam practice.

We must retain the quality of our assessment compared to other countries. Particularly our near neighbours.

The old O levels had practical and examination and worked well.


]]> 2023-03-29 19:18:57 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537228368 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537234890 How are you going to compare someone with neurodiverse issues to a neurotypical candidate. How do you mark this, is it just pass or fail. It is very subjective and therefore open to being unfair.]]> 2023-03-29 19:24:57 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537234890 Surely we can add assessment such as portfolio work to the existing system without throwing out the baby with the bath water. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537242608 2023-03-29 19:32:27 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537242608 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537249670 Remember we only have 3 years of exams as the highers are not see as equivalent to A levels.
Highers can be taken over 2years, except medicine applicants.

]]> 2023-03-29 19:39:38 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537249670 Need to ensure if subjects aren't available in school e.g. not offered or no teacher that there is another channel for this to be delivered e.g. digitally from another school. There is no computing in my daughters high school, not even digitally!! https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537249757 2023-03-29 19:39:44 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537249757 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537250517 As a parent of 3 very different children I certainly don’t feel that the current system is ‘Getting it right for every child’ and hope this process will go some way to bring fair and equitable for all learners]]> 2023-03-29 19:40:34 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537250517 I think it's very important to consider what these qualifications are called. Nat 4 and Nat 5 are terrible names with so little meaning for anyone externally as well as parents. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537251013 2023-03-29 19:41:08 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537251013 Better interaction and integration on how subjects work with career choices and why they are important. The career path needs to be better managed. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537251234 2023-03-29 19:41:21 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537251234 Important to help young people are given opportunities to learn in different contexts. Some can access these more easily than others, for a variety or reasons but system should be fair for all and help offered if required. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537253686 2023-03-29 19:43:51 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537253686 I would worry that this puts a pathway, career or otherwise, too much in stone. Personal statements made to e.g. colleges, employers, universities, can be tailored for that specific path. This makes a generic pathway trying to cater for all visible to all. Given a change of mind in career, perhaps early on, an irrelevant statement here might put prospective employees off. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537254034 2023-03-29 19:44:14 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537254034 I think this is crucial. Young people in my family do not feel that they fit into the education system. They dont feel valued or recognised for their talents or achievements and it's so difficult to watch. As family we feel quite powerless. Therefore a systemic change in the system that views learning, development and education as widely as possibly will not only keep young people engaged and involved in education but will empower and motivate them to take the next steps as they move onto adulthood. My family members all left school in despair and not walking into the pathway that they should have. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537258267 2023-03-29 19:48:50 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537258267 I would not want a digital profile being built on my child. Would I be able to opt out or forced into home learning? https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537258907 2023-03-29 19:49:30 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537258907 As pointed out in chat important to include parents/guardians in these discussions to help ensure challenges and opportunities which learners may have are understood and embraced. Learning begins at home and we all have a role to play in this. Education and non education learning shouldn't be disparate. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537259123 2023-03-29 19:49:41 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537259123 Education needs to move away from focusing those sitting in the bell curve. Supporting a young person not as their parent but as a carer/ adult in their life it is soul destroying sitting on the sidelines watching young peoples mental health deteriorating year on year because the system are not meeting their needs and in some ways not really interested in them because they are not 'academic' https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537259894 2023-03-29 19:50:30 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537259894 I am trying to feel hopeful that Scotland will be brave enough to make the changes needed to be more inclusive regarding education. Our system currently excludes many children and young people solely on the basis that they dont fit in. There are not enough teachers, education staff or resources to meet the needs and demands within schools now a days. Constantly assessing young people is not the answer. Adults rarely are expected to engage in exam like conditions as they move into adulthood. Further education dont do these types of exams and even scenarios like applying for jobs allows for some information to be shared (i.e. competences, job descriptions, info about the job etc). We need a modern system that realistically reflects the reality of life on the ground for families. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537262423 2023-03-29 19:53:03 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537262423 the young people in my life hate exams. they say they are a memory test and they are not good at remembering information. it causes so much stress that they just disengage. they disengage and then people view that they are not interested so they disengage more. then they are told not to sit the exams because they cannot pass them. then they give up https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537265708 2023-03-29 19:56:14 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537265708 The distance between parents, their child and the school grows as their child moves through the different educational stages/ years. The system needs to be better at bringing parents right into the school to be supported to understand what children are doing. If you dont have a background in education all of this is so difficult to understand. How can we support our children during some of the most difficult and challenging points of their life when we don't understand what is happening. Again this is not a criticism of individual teachers it's about the system. It needs to change https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537271257 2023-03-29 20:01:07 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537271257 I agree this is an important part of our wider lives, but I wonder if schools have the capacity to deliver this more than they do at present? Where parents are able, they provide this as much as they can. I don't know if this review can enable schools to set up systems to provide opportunities for children when parents can't provide for whatever reason. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537277616 2023-03-29 20:07:47 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537277616 Gaining a body of knowledge is essential. How can we ever assess information if there's no baseline of knowledge to compare against. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537278303 2023-03-29 20:08:38 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537278303 Exams teach lots of soft skills. Time management, meeting several competing or tight deadlines, organising information, presenting information, retrieving information under pressure. These aren't abstract skills, they are used all the time in the workplace. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537279910 2023-03-29 20:10:30 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537279910 This is more what I had in mind, if you don't mind my very autistic approach (here's one I prepared earlier!) which is a sliding scale that can be completely individualised. This could also apply to play pedagogy in the younger years, and would essentially span the full 3-18+curriculum. Scottish citizenship as opposed to culture, because cultural expectations shouldn't be normative to the majority. External qualifications are included to access further and higher education at earlier stages. elisestirling https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537282830 2023-03-29 20:14:00 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537282830 There may be standardised assessment in primary and early secondary school, but parents are completely excluded from that. Parents are fobbed off and have very little idea of how their child is progressing. Exams shine a light on what is actually happening in schools. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537284863 2023-03-29 20:16:04 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537284863 I have a child with ASNs. But I don't want a system that is all about making his life easier. I want ambition, rigour, expectations and boundaries. He finds life stressful but he benefits from clear expectations. The current system would be very happy to give up on my child and present him with a wooden spoon diploma. I am concerned that this proposal is yet more dumbing down of Scottish education. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537287784 2023-03-29 20:19:24 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537287784 Handled well, assessment is empowering and exciting measurement of progress. Gaining mastery of a subject or skill brings confidence and success breeds success. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537288943 2023-03-29 20:20:53 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537288943 Please ensure changes have a substantial transition plan in place, which parents are aware of. So move to new model doesn't trap children and their parents in the middle of 2 systems which leads to catastrophic, long term, consequences for our young learners!! https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537300309 2023-03-29 20:34:24 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537300309 Project based work https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537301376 I worry about teamwork projects in school/college as this is not the same as in the workplace. Who designs the projects who appoints the team leader etc, who is ensuring all the kids get a voice. Your are being assessed on how well the particular group collaborate, not on how well you can collaborate with others. In north lanarkshire, the formal teaching finishes at lunch time so you would think Future Fridays would be an ideal place to develop teamwork etc but the offering is sparse and varies dramatically from school to school.]]> 2023-03-29 20:35:42 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537301376 This seems like a solution looking for a problem. Is it a reaction to what happened during covid? Who says external examinations are a problem? There needs to be more clarity about who contributed to the first two stages. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537332657 2023-03-29 21:14:56 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537332657 Concerned that this is being rushed through without scrutiny. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537340473 2023-03-29 21:26:24 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537340473 People on here saying how stressed their child is about exams. Maybe that's because the school has been useless in preparing them, rather than a problem with the child. Also some schools are not good at including parents in their child's education. Parents are busy, they need clear instructions too. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537347941 2023-03-29 21:38:00 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2537347941 Useful link, bit old but still looks valid - The Beginners' Guide to Connecting Home and School | Edutopia - https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.edutopia.org%2Fblog%2Fbeginners-guide-connecting-home-school-tabitha-dellangelo%23%3A~%3Atext%3D%2520The%2520Beginners%2527%2520Guide%2520to%2520Connecting%2520Home%2520and%2Csites%252C%2520churches%252C%2520and%2520parks%2520in%2520your...%2520More%2520%3Fazure-portal%3Dtrue&data=05%7C01%7C%7C41628fedf63e43d29fc808db30f115f2%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638157584242550342%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=iNr22ah5Uy%2B5lTYGDc4yLRqPea7OEKxi5dNziIa7kjc%3D&reserved=0 https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2538275555 2023-03-30 12:02:17 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2538275555 The children and young people that I work with/ have contact with are very clear. They hate the current exam system and this is consistent across all levels of ability. They see the system for what it is. It needs to change. Are the Scottish Government bold enough to take the steps forward to to reduce inequalities and increase health and wellbeing for its citizens. https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2543715877 2023-04-04 14:00:23 UTC https://padlet.com/Connectscot/nwryax7hpve8gkw5/wish/2543715877