How does Jordanhill’s in-service work strike the recipients? Three teachers from nursery and primary schools give their responses: Margaret Ferguson, headteacher, St Denis’ Primary School, Glasgow: “They did some workshops on raising awareness of the 5-14 curriculum. Rather than sending their staff out, we agreed what we were going to do beforehand.
“We looked at the attainment targets for environmental studies. We were given envelopes and we had to match the attainment target with the area of the curriculum that we thought it would be.
“They then broke down the components of the curriculum and we then re-arranged them in the order we thought they went. It was all very informal but it was very useful.”
Claire Gemmell, headteacher, Dalgety Bay Primary School, Fife: “We have been focusing on the environmental studies part of the 5-14 curriculum, which people had been finding difficult because it is so complex. They put us into teams of two and taught us as if we were a class.
“What it showed us was that we were good teachers and that we had to think about the progression of the subject. We were treated as people. It also showed that teaching could still be fun.”
Lynne Docherty, teacher of the nursery class, Busby Primary School, Renfrewshire: “We are looking at the transition between nursery and primary. Previously, if a child showed some interest in writing, then that was left until P1, but we’re working on developing that. We were also shown how to use software to help us.
“It was a chance to talk to primary teachers. In the past there’s not been much liaison between primary and nursery. We’re finding out what information about a child would be useful to primaries.
“We have also been shown videos dealing with things like asking questions. We’re now trying to ask more open questions rather than those that would get a straight ‘yes’ or ‘no’.”
