Why is this National Outcome important?
From an early age children and young people are developing the four 'capacities' listed in the Outcome. When they make the transition into adulthood, these capacities should be well established. The ambition is universal: to raise attainment and achievement across the population and for the gap between those who are the most and least successful to be reduced. Possession of these capacities enables children, young people and (subsequently) adults to thrive from an early age, and make a positive contribution to society in the 21st century.
What will influence this National Outcome?
Implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) which is designed to focus all planned learning (in and outside schools) for all children and young people aged 3-18 on achievement of the four capacities.
- Curriculum for Excellence is central to raising standards of educational achievement, with increases in overall standards which improve life chances for all, increase attainment and improve ambition of and for all young people. It is about preparing children and young people for the challenges of life in the 21st century while building on the strengths of Scotland's education system
- Our teachers - They must build on existing excellent practices and improve the quality of learning and teaching to bring learning to life
- Improving literacy and numeracy - Raising literacy and numeracy standards is central to Curriculum for Excellence and the Literacy Action Plan has a goal of eradicating illiteracy. Knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy unlock access to the wider curriculum, increase opportunities for young people in all aspects of life and lay the foundations for lifelong learning and work
- Support for All - All children and young people are entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities that Curriculum for Excellence provides. This offers a vitally important opportunity to address significant challenges facing children and young people. Most children and young people are served well by the Scottish education system, but some need additional support to enable them to reach their full potential. We need to place the learner at the centre and ensure that the support provided is appropriate, proportionate and timely
- Health & Wellbeing - We need to create a learning environment which enables children and young people to develop the knowledge and understanding, skills, capabilities and attributes which they need for mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing now and in the future. This learning promotes confidence, independent thinking, positive attitudes and dispositions
In addition, implementation of other Government frameworks designed to improve equality and life chances of all Scotland's people such as Getting it Right for Every Child, the Early Years Framework, Equally Well and the Anti-poverty framework 'Achieving Our Potential' will all have a key impact. As will maintaining the recent improvement before continuing with progressive reductions in class sizes and improved pupil-teacher ratios.
What is the Government's role?
It is important to recognise that standards of educational achievement are increasing rapidly across the world and Scotland needs to more than match the educational improvements achieved by our competitors. Government needs to set high ambitions for the education system.
Most of the activity that leads to improved outcomes for children and young people is delivered by local authorities and their community planning partners. The normal approach to delivery is for Scottish Government and national bodies to work with representatives of local delivery partners to agree policy and then to ensure its effective delivery. In every case, we work with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) or their nominated representatives (often ADES - the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland) with other partners engaging depending on the specific context. Increasingly, national policy provides a broad framework but does not stipulate how the service is to be delivered. Responsibility for making detailed decisions about service delivery rests with local bodies and increasingly with front line professionals because they are best placed to decide how to achieve outcomes in particular local circumstances.
Government provides the leadership and investment required to ensure that learning in Scotland supports children and young people to be ambitious and able to contribute to Scotland's future prosperity as members of a creative workforce. We are building the right foundations by ensuring the availability of the necessary staff, buildings and other resources, quality assurance and other systems, processes and relationships. We are doing this by targeting Education Scotland scrutiny and capacity building effort on curriculum for excellence, implementing the school estate strategy, establishing an effective parental engagement strategy and National Parent Body, building strong relationships with local government, teacher representative organisations and ensuring there is a high quality teacher workforce.
Curriculum for Excellence Management Board, chaired and supported by Scottish Government officials, has overall responsibility for the delivery of the national elements of CfE. It includes representation from local authorities, teacher and head teacher associations, national bodies (such as Education Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority and Skills Development Scotland) and Colleges and Universities. These stakeholders will also be well represented in the CfE Implementation Group, to be chaired by Education Scotland. ADES convene a network of local delivery partners that coordinates delivery activity across all 32 councils.
Related Strategic Objectives
Smarter
Healthier
Wealthier and Fairer
Related National Indicators
Improve knowledge exchange from university research
Improve the skill profile of the population
Increase the proportion of pre-school centres receiving positive inspection reports
Increase the proportion of schools receiving positive inspection reports
Improve levels of educational attainment
Increase the proportion of young people in learning, training or work
Increase the proportion of graduates in positive destinations
Improve children's Services
Improve children's dental health
Increase the proportion of healthy weight children
Improve mental wellbeing
Improve people's perceptions about the crime rate in their area
Reduce the proportion of individuals living in poverty
Reduce children's deprivation
Improve people's perceptions of their neighbourhood