2 Curriculum and assessment

Introduction

Curriculum for Excellence is designed to achieve a transformation in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18 year olds. The term curriculum is understood to mean - everything that is planned for children and young people throughout their education, not just what happens in the classroom.

Curriculum for Excellence includes four contexts for learning:

• Curriculum areas and subjects
• Interdisciplinary learning
• Ethos and life of the school
• Opportunities for personal achievement.

The Building the Curriculum document series [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] provides advice, guidance and policy for different aspects of Curriculum for Excellence.

The purposes of assessment are to:

• Support learning that develops the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and capabilities which contribute to the four capacities
• Give assurance to parents, children themselves, and others, that children and young people are progressing in their learning and developing in line with expectations
• Provide a summary of what learners have achieved, including through qualifications and awards
• Contribute to planning the next stages of learning and help learners progress to further education, higher education and employment
• Inform future improvements in learning and teaching.

High quality interactions between learners and staff lie at the heart of assessment as part of learning and teaching. Section 1.1 highlighted that ‘pupil support’ begins with the classroom teacher and not the support for learning teacher. Class teachers assess constantly, as part of daily learning and teaching and are involved and responsible for the continuing assessment, monitoring and planning for their pupils, following the principles and purpose of assessment information. They do this, for example, by watching and listening to learners carrying out tasks, by looking at what they write and make and by considering how they answer questions. They get to know their learners well, build up a profile of their progress, strengths and needs and involve them in planning what they need to learn next. Effective ongoing assessment is about establishing where children and young people are in their learning, where they are going and how best to get there. It is important that teachers use and share the evidence about learning to provide useful feedback to learners, to adapt learning and teaching approaches to meet their needs and to revisit areas where learning is not yet secure.

Sources of assessment evidence that class teachers can share with support staff include:

• observations of learners carrying out tasks and activities, including practical investigations, performances, oral presentations and discussions
• records (oral, written, audio-visual) created by children and young people which may include self-assessment and/or peer assessment or may be assessed by the teacher
• information obtained through questioning in high quality interactions and dialogue
• written responses
• a product, for example, a piece of artwork, report, project
• accounts provided by others (parents, other children or young people, or other staff) about what learners have done

Ongoing assessment, including in the senior phase, will include assessing progress across the breadth of learning, in challenging aspects and when applying learning in different and unfamiliar contexts. A class teacher’s valuable insight and observations contribute significantly to the provision of appropriate curriculum planning, assessment and supporting learners with additional support needs. Assessment within the context of Curriculum for Excellence is also assessment for additional support needs. They are not two different types of assessment.

There is no expectation that class teachers will or need to be ‘experts’ in any area of additional support. They must be able to access specialist advice and guidance from support for learning/pupil support /specialist teachers or inclusion officers. (Local authorities use different terminology for staff). This advice or consultation can be either through face to face meetings or by phone, email or a medium such as Skype. Section 6 outlines in further detail the roles of staff within the school community.

Ensuring appropriate support

Building the Curriculum 3 details the entitlement of all children and young people to

Assessment has to be fair and inclusive and must allow every learner to show what they have achieved and how well they are progressing. Staff can ensure that assessment meets all learners’ needs by providing each child and young person with the most appropriate support. In doing so, they will ensure that every learner has the best chance of success. For monitoring and tracking to be successful, records of children’s and young people’s achievements and progress need to be manageable. Staff should use assessment information from a wide range of sources to monitor learners’ progress and plan next steps in learning. Assessment information should be shared and discussed with the learner, parents, other staff as appropriate, and partners involved in supporting learning. All can contribute at appropriate times to setting targets for learning and ensuring appropriate support for each child and young person.