Scottish Learning Festival 2011

The team attended this year's SLF, at the SECC in Glasgow, at various times during the two day event. It was the 11th Festival.

I managed to catch a couple of keynotes and some workshops. The Cabinet Secretary for Education, Mike Russell, gave an interesting talk on the future of Scottish education. He placed particular emphasis on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), describing it as "the most important education reform for a generation", which was taking place "at one of the most exciting times for Scottish education". He reminded the audience that CfE began in 2002, with the "national debate", which was instigated by the Scottish government of the time. He asked everyone to get involved in the current consultation on the new qualifications coming as a result of CfE.

His wide-ranging talk included CfE, Glow, and the recent report on post-16 education, Putting Learners at the Centre, which proposes a guaranteed learning or training place for every young person between 16-19.

One of the workshops I attended was the NC/NPA workshop presented by Elda Fleck of SQA. Elda and her team gave a presentation on the range of National Certificates (NCs) and National Progression Awards (NPAs) now available to centres. She pointed out that there are 87 NCs and 197 NPAs either available or currently in development (40). The full list is available on the NQGA website. A college lecturer provided a case study on the development and implementation of the NPA in Geographical Information Systems at SCQF Level 6, which was validated in June 2011. The team emphasised their potential to broaden the curriculum in schools and colleges, engage learners, and raise attainment.



There are lots of Computing/IT NCs and NPAs, with more on the way, ranging from PC Passport to Computer Games. Contact Hilary for more information.