EDUCATION
DEALING WITH THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
Dr Grace Clifton is a lecturer in Childhood studies at the Open University and is involved in promoting and advising on Service children’s educational issues. Here Dr Clifton looks at the Scottish and English educational systems and some of the issues Service families face in moving from one to the other.
C
an you remember your child’s first day at school? For most of us, it is a time of celebration and
something that we prepare our child for for several months. Now consider Sally and her son, John. Sally’s husband was posted to Scotland a few months after John started primary school in England. Owing to the different age requirements in Scotland, John effectively had to go back a year and return to a nursery class. Although John had started to learn to read in his primary school in England, his new nursery school would not support this and Sally had to help John to continue with his reading at home as best as she could.
The different age requirements in Scotland are just one of three main differences between the Scottish and English education systems. Although these differences may cause difficulties for some, there are many positive points about the Scottish education system which could benefit service children.
The age difference
In Scotland, children start primary school between the ages of four and a half and five and a half. Unlike England, where entry is open to children whose fifth birthday falls within the academic year (calculated from 1 September), in Scotland, entry is calculated from March. In other words, if your child is ‘young’ for their year in England, it is highly likely that they would not be offered a place at school in Scotland. If your child has not already started school, they may well profit from this additional time in a more informal and flexible setting. However, for children already in formal education in England, being required to go back to nursery, like John, might be a very difficult experience. Given that the age requirements for all children at schools in Scotland are standard, this issue
26 Envoy Summer 2011
may also present itself to service parents with a child returning to schools in England.
The study plan
Unlike schools in England, schools in Scotland do not follow a set national curriculum. The Scottish curriculum, called Curriculum for Excellence, is renowned for the way that it celebrates breadth across a range of subjects. It aims to develop four key areas within each child – the successful learner, the confident individual, the responsible citizen and the effective contributor. As children in Scotland do not sit national examinations until they reach the end of their time in senior school, children’s progress through the Curriculum for Excellence is assessed on an individual basis so that they can move through the various levels at their own pace. For a service parent moving to Scotland, the curriculum differences might be viewed as a huge benefit as Scotland’s education system is highly thought of throughout the world (OECD, 2007). In order to make sure that your child is able to profit from this different approach to education, make sure that you take as much information as you can to your child’s new school about the sort of things that your child has already studied. In this way, your child’s new school will be able to quickly assess what they have done and where they can help your child to build on that learning.
Requiring a little extra help In Scotland, nobody uses the term ‘special needs’. Scottish schools talk about ‘additional support needs’ because all learners will, at some point in their time at school, require additional support in order to help them to achieve to their full potential. Moving between schools, for example, might mean that a child needs a little extra help at first. As a result, each child’s need for additional support is assessed regularly and parents are entitled to ask for an assessment if they feel that their child’s needs are not being met in the classroom.
Children moving between any local authority within the United Kingdom are likely to experience some degree of difficulty getting their needs re-assessed and recognised by a new education authority – and this is the case whether your child’s new school is in Scotland or in England. If your child has special educational needs, it is advisable to get in touch with your child’s new school as early as possible to discuss your child’s support needs and gather together as much documentation as you can regarding the particular issues that your child has. Be aware that there is likely to be a period of re-assessment when your child starts at their new school. Although this might be annoying for you and your child, it does, at least, mean that your child’s needs will be correctly met.
The Royal Caledonian Schools Trust, also known as The Caley, is helping to bring practitioners in Scotland together in order to improve the experiences of education of service children. At a recent conference organised by The Caley (Dunblane, November 8th) representatives of local authorities, service agencies and education professionals met to discuss issues specific to Scotland. As a result, various education issues have been identified and work is being done to help to address them.
For further advice and information go to: Learning and Teaching Scotland is an agency set up to support education in Scotland
www.ltsscotland.org.uk Scottish schools online, including exam results, inspection reports and contact information
http://www.ltscotland.org. uk/scottishschoolsonline/
index.asp HMI Education Scotland (library of inspection reports for all schools in Scotland which will allow you find out more about your child’s new school)
www.hmie.gov.uk The Royal Caledonian Schools Trust
www.rcst.org.uk Dr Grace Clifton
g.e.clifton@
open.ac.uk
www.raf-ff.org.uk
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