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St Margaret's Academy, Livingston

Core Skills and a Curriculum for Excellence

St Margaret's AcademyThe following is based on a presentation to the Scottish Learning Festival in September 2008.

St Margaret's Academy is a denominational school serving a number of communities in West Lothian. The school population is made up of 1,050 pupils from a wide range of backgrounds both academically, economically, and socially. The school is committed to improving learning and teaching and embarked on this Action Research Project to develop the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence through learning activities matched to the specific skills of the refreshed Core Skills Framework.

To create the capacity for change and improvement to meet the needs of all learners required changes in the structure of the curriculum and the school day. Technical changes to the timetable and subsequent changes to the configuration of the school day were negotiated with all partners. These changes were necessary so that learners could have opportunities to develop their transferable skills. More time has been created in the curriculum through the introduction of rotations in S1 and a focused course choice at the end of S1 for pupils moving into S2 which improves progression into S3 leading to better preparation for the senior phase. These changes are designed to improve the pace of learning in S1–S3 and enhance the quality of the learning experience.

St Margaret's AcademyAn audit of S1–S3 courses using the draft Core Skills Framework has clearly shown that Core Skills are being delivered on a consistent and regular basis across the curriculum. The creation of more time for subjects in the curriculum has provided the opportunity for Faculties to review and adapt their courses in line with the seven principles of curriculum design: challenge and enjoyment; breadth; depth; progression; personalisation; choice; coherence and relevance to provide improved learning experiences for all pupils. This is an ongoing development which has to be managed.

St Margaret's AcademyAn important part of learning and teaching is recording, assessing, and reporting on pupils' progress — and it is the gathering of this evidence to allow for accreditation in Core Skills for pupils that provides challenge. New approaches in building the curriculum state that assessment should support the curriculum and not lead it. Assessment in Core Skills is no longer paper-driven and assessment is based as far as possible on everyday activities. We are currently developing an electronic assessment capture linked to current reporting procedures.

At St Margaret's, Core Skills have been the catalyst to enrich the learning experience and to develop the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence.