Private schools boycott new curriculum

Published on Monday 12 May 2008 22:11

IT HAS been hailed as a revolution in Scottish education, with the power to enable every child to fulfil their potential. However, pupils at two of Scotland's most prestigious independent schools will not be following the new curriculum due to land on teachers' desks in August.

David Gray, the headteacher of Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville in Edinburgh, along with many others working in education, is unhappy with the new blueprint for children's education, saying it is still unclear and simply not ready for implementation.

Critics claim that pupils across Scotland will not benefit from the new curriculum until more detailed guidance emerges, while the 2009 deadline for implementation will be "traumatic" for teachers.

Mr Gray said: "Teachers, on the whole, will continue doing what they have always done with the curriculum that is currently in place, until the new curriculum is ready – whenever that will be.

"Our schools will not be implementing current proposals for Curriculum for Excellence because they are, in our view, incomplete and still unclear. But we certainly will cherry-pick good ideas and integrate them into our own curriculum."

His secondary schools have already stopped offering Standard grades because they were considered to be poor preparation for Higher exams.

Although he backed the announcement by Fiona Hyslop, the education minister, on the scrapping of the Standard grade exam, it was too little, too late for Mr Gray.

He said: "You cannot devise a curriculum without knowing where it's going and we still don't really know. But at least we have some points of reference and can work towards fleshing out the proposals made in subject areas. However, there is a very long way to go before the new education curriculum as envisaged is ready to be implemented."

He is not a lone voice. Concern from the teaching profession is gathering momentum. And, unlike Mr Gray, the headteachers of state schools will not have the option of being able to wait.

At the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) annual conference on Friday, members will be discussing concerns that the curriculum will fail to deliver on its aims to create pupils who are "successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors".

The SSTA said its members were alarmed by the lack of information and direction from successive Scottish governments, and it warned that more money, books and training are needed.

RICHARD Goring, the deputy headteacher at Hamilton Grammar in South Lanarkshire and a member of the SSTA executive, said the deadline of full implementation by 2009 could prove difficult for teachers.

"We are beginning to become concerned there isn't enough time for people to prepare for it. There's a lack of clarity and certainty as to what's happening," he said.

"Potentially, there are some good ideas there and we really do need a big shake-up, but it's all happening very quickly. One year's preparation at a time when there are widespread budget cuts will be quite traumatic."

Duncan Toms had mixed emotions as he read through the new guidelines on how he should teach history. As president of the Scottish Association of Teachers of History (Sath) and head of history at Bearsden Academy, Glasgow, he was delighted to see Scottish history at the heart of the document. But his delight quickly disappeared at the lack of detail or guidance on the actual topics pupils should be studying.

Sath had already published a comprehensive document outlining how history should be taught in schools, which said the subject should be delivered in a less piecemeal and more chronological way.

Mr Toms said: "I think most teachers are feeling that they still need more of a lead on how to actually do these outcomes and how to incorporate them into what they are doing.

"Also, I'm not sure that on their own they address this ongoing problem of the lack of time available for giving our pupils a coherent idea of history."

However, others have been reassured to some extent by the announcement by Ms Hyslop on consultation, which is to begin next month.

David Cameron, the director of education at Stirling Council, said: "I think she's been taking account of comments made and taken appropriate action on the basis of that."

HE AGREED that more resources would be needed, but refused to be too pessimistic. "There remains a lot of detail to be sorted out, so there are a lot of unanswered questions at this stage, but I think there's a willingness to try to find answers," he said.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it was committed to consultation and to engaging with teachers. "At present, over 300 schools are actively involved in trialling aspects of the new curriculum," she said.

"Feedback to date on the draft experiences and outcomes suggests support from the profession."