school session dates 2014-15: invitation for comment
Please find here a draft copy of the School session dates for 2014/15. These have been agreed provisionally by the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers ( LNCT) and are now being sent to Head Teachers and Parent Councils for comment. (One note: since many Primary Schools are used as polling stations, the In-service Day on the 7th May 2015 has been set to coincide with the date for the UK General Election.)
The Council do invite comment from all of us. Please send any query or observation you may have directly to Wendy.Gray@edinburgh.gov.uk by Wednesday 6th March.
It would be helpful when replying if you would specify for her which school you are with.
update from Steve McMahon
We just got an update note from Steve McMahon, our Broughton alumnus who has been fundraising for drama training in New York. He has deferred to studying this September and has now raised a good deal of the funds. He’s running a double marathon in April with Robbie Todd, who was Head Boy the year after him, to raise more: there is a donations page set up here. He’s almost on his way!
January update from the SQA
Here is the latest, on a variety of things, direct from the Scottish Qualifications Authority!
‘Refreshed CfE Web Pages
SQA’s website is one of the main channels we use to communicate and engage with all of our audience groups on the development and implementation of the new National Qualifications. We want to ensure that it meets their needs and allows them to access relevant information.
We have recently undertaken user testing of the web pages with each of our main audience groups. As a result of this work and the feedback we received, we have redesigned and restructured the pages to make them clearer and easier for them to understand and navigate their way around – allowing them to find the information they are looking for.
The new web pages are now available to view online at www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence
Please let us know what you think of them by sending your comments to web.team@sqa.org.uk
CfE Leaflets
In addition to the CfE website, our CfE audience group leaflets have become a key communication channel for engaging with our audience groups and ensuring that they are prepared for when the new National Qualifications will be implemented in schools and colleges. Our CfE audience leaflets have recently been updated. We have introduced a new leaflet for Universities and our Centres leaflet has been expanded into two separate publications for Schools and Colleges. Copies of the new leaflets are available on SQA’s website and can be downloaded as pdf files:
Draft Course Assessment Specifications for Advanced Higher
SQA has published draft Course Assessment Specifications for Advanced Higher.
These documents define the mandatory assessment requirements for Advanced Higher. The documents describe the structure of the Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed and state which aspects of added value will be used to address the purposes and aims of the Course.
Course Assessment Specifications will support practitioners and centres, enabling them to help learners prepare for Course Assessment. They can be accessed using the subject drop-down menu at www.sqa.org.uk/curriculumforexcellence
You can give us your feedback on the draft Advanced Higher Course Assessment Specifications via ‘Have Your Say’ at www.sqa.org.uk/haveyoursay
Final documents for Advanced Higher will be published at the end of April 2013.
You can also view this update online at www.sqa.org.uk/cfenews’
Edinburgh Council’s education budget meeting on 22 January: The Outcomes
Harald Tobermann, BhsPC chair, attended the Council’s education budget meeting on 22 January along with some. 60 other PC chairs, two finance councillors, Paul Godzik, the education committee convenor, and a number of senior officials from both departments.
While presentations could have been a bit shorter (or better still: replaced by advance papers), it brought everyone present onto the same page.
Perhaps the most productive part of the evening was the informal opportunity to chat with Cclr Rankin (finance convenor) Cclr Cook (LAB, vice-chair), Hugh Dunn (senior CEC finance official), and Lindsay Law (the new parent rep on the Education Committee). An early version of our budget paper was shared with a number of PC chairs – their feedback helped us to improve the paper further (latest revision is still open for online comments here, before it was sent to our eight local councillors.
In summary: this year’s budget is unlikley to change much from the framework we looked at our special budget MSG meeting on 18 January before it is adopted on 7 February.
Our plans is to persuade everyone who needs to be persuaded of our “free” quick gains; and to follow up with finance councillors after the current budget to look at get the Council to look at our medium term gains.
The 200 Club pays off — for everyone!
Just a reminder — you can help Broughton High School and give yourself a chance to win cash at the same time! The 200 Club paid off for a happy lady today, in fact. She says, ‘As a granny to 3 boys at the school I am pleased to add to your funds but very pleased to take my winnings!’
You can register to win in this monthly drawing, too. It’s easy! Just e-mail 200club@broughtonhighpc.org and learn how.
Broughton High School Parent Council 