Scottish Government
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Curriculum for Excellence
Every teacher in Scotland will receive their own personal copy of the guidelines for Curriculum for Excellence, Scotland's new approach to learning and teaching to bring about change in the classroom.
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop has told teachers to expect the new guidance to be delivered next week, as teachers and schools look ahead to the new approach being fully implemented from August 2010.
Ms Hyslop said:
"The Scottish Government is determined to bring in this new approach so that young people are fully prepared for life in the 21st Century through teaching and learning that meets their needs in a modern, dynamic world.
"However, for this to be effective and long-lasting, the role of the teaching profession is central to its success. That's why we have developed new guidance to support the changes that Curriculum for Excellence will bring and we are providing every teacher across Scotland with their own personal copy.
"While Scotland performs well on the world stage, these changes give us a unique opportunity to make sure we do even better. We are absolutely committed to this new approach and have agreed Curriculum for Excellence as a key shared commitment with local government, supported by record levels of funding for councils.
"To ensure we are fully ready for the new reforms, we have put in place an additional implementation year, brought in three extra teacher in-service days and provided funding for 100 extra teachers to support implementation activity. However, Curriculum for Excellence is not a one-off event and many teachers are already bringing in changes in classroom approaches, building on existing good practice to provide a solid foundation to make these changes real in the classroom.
"This is not a top down initiative, but one that is teacher-led and gives teachers the professional autonomy they have asked us for, while also ensuring learning in the classroom is engaging, relevant and exciting for pupils. "
The Curriculum for Excellence guidance, known as Experiences and Outcomes, was published on April 2. The new approach puts literacy and numeracy at its heart with all teachers equally responsible for teaching and an emphasis on cross-curricular teaching.
The teaching guidance outlines from the perspective of a child or young person what they expect to have learned at appropriate stages in their education. These will guide teachers in their lesson planning.
The Scottish Government has provided local authorities with £17.8 million to prepare for Curriculum for Excellence: £2.8 million in 2005-6, £5.4 million in 2006-7 and £5.6 million in 2007-8 to prepare for Curriculum for Excellence and £4 million for 100 extra teachers.
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