SQA: results will be on time
The Scottish Qualifications Authority could yet stun a sceptical nation and produce certificates on August 14 that match student expectations. Last-ditch efforts are being made to tidy up unit data ahead of what indications suggest could be a surprisingly effective certification process. Henry McLeish, First Minister, promised no repeat of last year’s debacle and may yet confound critics.
Parents reject fifth Higher
More able senior pupils taking the recommended inspectorate route of five Highers in fifth year should drop a subject if they want to lessen the burden of internal assessment, according to a poll of parent opinion carried out by the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. Judith Gillespie, the council’s development manager, said the Higher Still dilemma of assessment overload could be resolved by making four subjects the norm.
Home schooling for rural areas
Pupils in far-flung rural communities who rattle around in half-empty, dilapidated classrooms could equally well be educated at home with specialist support, according to a draft code of practice on closures from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities. Authorities are considering all options as pressures increase to tighten budgets and adapt schools to the needs of the new century.
Schools take drugs crusade on board
Drug education is now the norm in primaries and secondaries, the Scottish Executive confirmed this week. Some 97 per cent of schools now run programmes on everything from controlled drugs to cigarettes, drink and solvents. Virtually all secondaries are involved, while 98 per cent of primaries and 80 per cent of special schools have active programmes.
A safe haven for Glasgow children
A Glasgow community project is winning the battle to keep children out of residential settings. Only two of the 24 children in the Shield Project have returned to a residential school since it was set up three years ago. From its base in Drumoyne Primary, the project aims to keep children in their own or a foster family and at a mainstream school.
