How is CfE changing St John’s RC Academy?

We have been developing plans to ensure that the transition to new qualifications is smooth.  We have been discussing our ideas and draft plans with staff, pupils and the parents’ council; we have held special presentations for parents (click here to view the latest presentation); we have highlighted key changes in our newsletters (see 'News' on this site), and we have listened carefully to advice coming from Perth and Kinross Education Service, Education Scotland, the SQA and Scottish Government.

Changes are taking place in St John’s RC Academy to deliver CfE, including:

Learning and teaching – the new curriculum encourages teachers and pupils to work in new ways to promote deeper learning.  Based on the findings of educational research from around the world, our teachers are supporting our young people to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work.  The skills include literacy, numeracy and associated thinking skills; skills for health and wellbeing, including personal learning planning, career management skills, working with others, leadership and physical co-ordination and movement skills; and skills for enterprise and employability.

The school – with support from Perth and Kinross Education Service – has invested in training our teachers in cooperative learning and in embedding the key features of ‘Assessment is for Learning’ across the school.  While traditional teaching methodologies remain important, we encourage active learning at every opportunity, with the children and young people assessing themselves and their peers against agreed success criteria.  Our teachers discuss the evidence of learning with one another, identifying the strengths and next steps of learners, and reflect on the quality of the learning experiences so these can be improved.  This process – called moderation – is crucial in agreeing and raising standards and expectations.

Tutor Groups – every young person is entitled to have a named person who knows them well as a learner.  This is achieved in our nursery through our early years practitioners and in primary school through each child’s class teacher.  Our tutor system in the secondary school has been put in place to ensure that every young person is known as an individual and their learning needs are considered.  We propose to develop this much further in 2012/13 by extending tutor time to 30 minutes per day.  This will provide pupils with quality learning time with one another and their tutor, developing skills for learning, life and work through building positive relationships, discussing and reflecting on learning and achievements, identifying and asking for support, supporting peers, and preparing for the many choices and changes in life.

Portfolios and Profiles – every young person has been compiling a portfolio of their learning with support from their class teacher or tutor.  This tracks achievement across every aspect of the curriculum – in classes, in interdisciplinary learning, in the extended curriculum, and outside school.  Portfolios are a key way for our young people to recognise their achievements and their developing skills and, crucially, to be able to talk about these confidently.  Profiles, which are strengths based documents, will be compiled for every P7 pupil in 2011/12 and for every S3 pupil from 2012/13.  The profiles will record achievements in learning at the end of the primary school (P7 profile) and at the end of the broad, general education, i.e. before the qualifications, or senior, phase of school (S3 profile).

Recognising achievement – Curriculum for Excellence challenges schools to recognise the achievements of all our learners, and to support learners in recognising their own achievements so that they can build on them.  A great deal of this recognition takes places informally in class or tutor group on a day to day basis.  We also recognise the achievements of pupils (in and out of school) through assemblies, newsletters, bulletins, PBM awards, Year Head awards, this website, noticeboards, the house points system, and through nominating pupils for external awards such as the Spirit of Youth Awards.  Our academic year culminates in our achievement ceremonies where a wide range of awards are presented for an array of achievements.  (We are always looking for large and small sponsors to help us make these events special - if you can help, please contact the school.)

At St John's RC Academy we also acknowledge the importance of others recognising our achievements as a community.  We recently achieved Fairtrade School status from the Fairtrade Foundation as an all through school; the primary school achieved its first Green Flag for its environmental work; the joint sports comprehensive with Perth Grammar gained the Sunday Mail/sportscotland Sports School of the Year award, and we are also recognised as a Health Promoting School.  These achievements help us to recognise the wealth of talent which exists across our pupils, parents, partners and staff and help us to foster an ethos of success through working together.

S3 is changing – under CfE the end of S3 marks the end of the broad, general education.  Therefore the qualifications phase (or senior phase) will not begin until S4.  This means that pupils in St John’s RC Academy will choose up to 15 subjects in S3 – including a wide variety of ‘masterclasses’ – before choosing 6 or 7 subjects to study in S4 for national qualifications.  This approach gives greater personalisation and choice, without having to narrow their curriculum at too young an age. The small reduction in the number of qualifications in S4 (from 8 to 6/7) means that more learning time is given to each subject – thus providing opportunities for greater depth of learning as well as sound preparation for external assessments.

After S4 – pupils will continue to have the opportunity to take up to 5 Highers, or a combination of Highers, other national qualifications, and other learning opportunities.