Key messages
This document sets out key messages about how children and young people develop and apply skills as part of Curriculum for Excellence. It aims to help all those who are involved in planning and delivering young people's learning across all sectors and settings to reflect on and develop their current practice, so as to bring about the transformational changes needed to improve the life chances of young people in Scotland.
1. The development of skills is essential to learning and education to help young people to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. The skills and attributes which children and young people 4 develop should provide them with a sound basis for their development as lifelong learners in their adult, social and working lives, enabling them to reach their full potential.
2. All children and young people are entitled to opportunities for developing skills for learning, life and work. The skills are relevant from the early years right through to the senior phase of learning and beyond.
3. The skills should be developed across all curriculum areas, in interdisciplinary studies and in all the contexts and settings where young people are learning. They have been embedded into the Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes. As such they are the responsibility of all pre-school, school and college staff, professionals and adults working with children and young people. It will be important to recognise and reflect the important role of parents and carers in influencing young people.
4. Progression in skills is signposted in the Experiences and Outcomes. This will help practitioners to ensure that as they progress through the levels, learners build on, extend and apply similar skills developed at previous levels.
5. Curriculum for Excellence is firmly focused on the learner. Opportunities to develop skills may be offered in different ways appropriate to learners' needs. The opportunity to engage in active learning, interdisciplinary tasks and to experience learning in practical contexts is important in enabling all children and young people to develop, demonstrate and apply a wide range of skills.
6. It is important that children and young people are aware of, and understand, the value of the skills that they are developing. Adults, practitioners and learners should reflect together on their progress in the range of skills that they consider to be important in their learning, lives and work.
7. The assessment process should help children and young people to understand why skills are important, reflect on how they are developing their skills, identify the next steps in their skills development and understand how the skills they have acquired can be used across the curriculum and in their lives in and outside the classroom or establishment.
8. Every child and young person is entitled to support to enable them to gain as much as possible from the opportunities to develop their skills which Curriculum for Excellence can provide. Timely provision of support to meet individuals' needs will enable children and young people to effectively engage with opportunities for skills development.
9. Curriculum for Excellence can best be delivered through partnership working. All establishments should work with partners and share a common understanding and language around skills development and application. Together, they should plan and deliver learning and other experiences which meet the needs of individual children and young people.
Riverside Primary School Nursery Class, West Lothian
Skills development through active, outdoor learning in the nursery
Parents had indicated that they would like their children to experience more outdoor activities. With the co-operation and active involvement of many parents and primary school children, the school had developed an attractive, secure and stimulating outdoor learning area. This was referred to as the nursery's third classroom.
Staff gave children frequent opportunities for spontaneous, planned and purposeful activity in the stimulating outdoor space. The children engaged with enthusiasm in physical, sensory, imaginative and investigative play in natural, attractive surroundings. Areas included a planting and digging area, a pond, a sensory garden and a house to enhance imaginative play. A log pile and hibernation station were used to develop children's knowledge and understanding of mini-beasts and their life cycles. Children's activities in this area were an integral part of the school's Eco programme. In the composting area, children learnt about recycling and waste minimisation. The cycle track and climbing frame, plus a grassed area, provided opportunities for children to develop their gross motor skills and enjoy energetic physical activity.
Staff also made very good use of the outdoor area to develop early literacy skills through the labelling of plants, herbs and play areas. A wide variety of graphic materials was always available. Number awareness was developed through play contexts; bikes, tricycles and scooters were numbered and matched to the numbering of their parking areas. Children used large scales to weigh themselves or to weigh various natural materials in the garden. They used the language of mathematics when using a pulley in co-operative play.
The regular use of the outdoor area was very successful in providing motivating and varied opportunities for learning. Staff emphasised aspects such as sharing and co-operating during outdoor play and the importance of safe behaviour. Children were benefiting from the many relevant and appropriate links between their indoor and outdoor learning experiences.
Skills focus: literacy, numeracy, physical skills, investigative skills and interpersonal skills.
Potential links to the Experiences and Outcomes:
- I am enjoying daily opportunities to participate in different kinds of energetic play, both outdoors and indoors.
HWB 0-25a - I have observed living things in the environment over time and am becoming aware of how they depend on each other.
SCN 0-01a - Within real and imaginary situations, I share experiences and feelings, ideas and information in a way that communicates my message.
LIT 0-26a