National Improvement Framework in a Nutshell

The National Improvement Framework An Ambitious Agenda for All THE NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK IN A NUTSHELL The National Parent Forum of Scotland Guide to the National Improvement Framework What is the National Improvement Framework? What improves children’s learning and their health and wellbeing? Research shows that several factors (or ‘drivers for improvement’) make a difference (see diagram to the right). These drivers for improvement are: • parental engagement (your involvement in your child’s learning and school-life) • assessment of children’s progress (how are children doing?) • school leadership (headteacher training) • school improvement (what else can schools do to help children?) • teacher professionalism (teachers’ ongoing learning and development) • performance information (qualifications, awards, achievements). 2017 NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR SCOTTISH EDUCATION 3 Drivers of improvement Key drivers of improvement will build on much of the positive work already underway in Scottish education. They provide a focus and structure for gathering evidence, which can then be analysed to identify where we can make further improvements. These areas have been identified to ensure that we have the right type of evidence sources to contribute to our priorities and minimise unintended consequences. They are all equally important. The links and connections across these key areas are essential to enable continuous improvement. The following sections set out the detail of those new actions we are taking, where appropriate, as well as bringing together all of the improvement activity from the Delivery Plan published in June and the Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Plan published in September. National Local School Parents Child Assessment of children’s progress Parental engagement Teacher professionalism School leadership Our priorities School improvement Performance information The key priorities of the National Improvement Framework are: to improve attainment for all, particularly in literacy and numeracy to close the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children

to improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing to improve employability skills and sustained positive school leaver destinations for all young people. The National Improvement Framework (NIF) sets out what needs to be done to improve Scottish education so that every child can achieve their full potential. It uses accurate information, gathered from schools, local authorities and national organisations, to find out what makes a positive difference to children’s learning and to their health and wellbeing. Children, young people and parents/carers are asked about their experiences of Scottish education and these are taken into account too. All of this information is presented each year in the National Improvement Evidence Report and it leads to recommendations in the annual National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan. 1 RESEARCH Information is gathered from children, parents, schools, local authorities, national organisations 2 REVIEW Information is analysed to understand what is going well and what still needs to be done 3 PLANNING FOR IMPROVEMENT The National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan is published each year

The National Parent Forum of Scotland is grateful for the support of the Scottish Government in the preparation of this guide. www.parentforumscotland.org enquiries@parentforumscotland.org

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parentforumscot DEC 2017 What does this mean for me and my child? Parental Engagement

Research has proven that children are motivated at school when we show interest in our children’s learning and when we support their school. When families learn together and value education, children want to try hard and do well. They also understand that we can all learn and improve throughout our lives.

The role of parents in schools, as helpers or as representatives of other parents on parent councils, is also crucial. Everyone benefits when parents work with school staff to enhance and improve the school. Parents, teachers and children all need to know how the school is doing, in order to be able to build on strengths, fill any gaps and to plan for improvement. Open and honest discussion and the sharing of information make improvement possible and help to build a strong school community. Assessment of Children’s Progress Teachers use formal and informal methods of understanding how children and young people are doing. For example, in the Broad General Education (from P1 to S3) teachers may gather information from talks, projects, tests, group work and displays so that schools, children and parents know when each curricular level has been achieved. Then the next steps in learning can be planned for every child. Each school then shares general information about the achievement of curricular levels with parents councils, the local authority and the Scottish Government. As part of ongoing class assessments, children also undertake the Scottish Government’s online standardised assessments in P1, P4, P7 and S3. Teachers and children can immediately use the findings of these to track progress and consider next steps. The leaflet Assessing Children’s Progress: A Guide for Parents and Carers explains more about this. In the Senior Phase, information about qualifications, awards and what young people do when they leave school is fed into the annual National Improvement Evidence Report. Progress with meeting targets to improve health and wellbeing is also reported on. This way, we can all see how Scottish education is doing and what needs to be done next, which is set out in the National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan. Useful Information

National Parent Forum of Scotland Our Curriculum for Excellence in a Nutshell guides for parents/carers will give you more information about assessment, progression, qualifications and awards. www.parentforumscotland.org National Improvement Framework and Improvement Plan www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/ NationalImprovementFramework National Improvement Framework Evidence Report 2016 www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/12/2207 Education Scotland’s Parentzone Information on the National Improvement Framework http://bit.ly/National_Improvement_Framework Assessing Children’s Progress: A Guide for Parents and Carers www.education.gov.scot/parentzone/ Documents/parent-leaflet-assessing- progress.pdf Curriculum for Excellence in a Nutshell https://wp.me/p8ouZV-25X 2017 NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR SCOTTISH EDUCATION 9 Parental engagement Assessment of children’s progress Parental engagement School leadership Our priorities School improvement Performance information Teacher professionalism PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT What is this? Parental engagement focuses on ways in which parents and carers, families and professionals work together to support children’s learning. Schools involve parents and carers by enabling ongoing, two-way communications between home and school; providing parents and carers with opportunities to contribute to leading improvements and making decisions that affect the school; and using the skills of parents and carers to enrich the curriculum. Why is this important? The available international evidence confirms that parental involvement and engagement in children’s learning supports improved attainment and achievement. Research shows that when parents and carers support their children’s learning, and when children live in a stimulating home learning environment, it improves children’s attainment and achievement. Family learning encourages family members to learn together, fostering positive attitudes to lifelong learning. We want to improve and increase the ways in which parents, carers and families can engage with teachers and partners to support their children and increase the voice of parents and carers in leading improvements within schools. How will this help to achieve excellence and equity for all children? Parental and family engagement is a key factor in helping all children achieve the highest standards whilst reducing inequity and closing the attainment gap. The information that we gather will inform our knowledge of where parental engagement is strong and where it requires further attention. This will include monitoring levels of parental engagement, and involvement in, and satisfaction with, learning provision in different communities. 2017 NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT FRAMEWORK AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR SCOTTISH EDUCATION 11 Assessment of children’s progress Assessment of childrens progress Parental engagement School leadership Our priorities School improvement Performance information Teacher professionalism ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN’S PROGRESS What is this? Assessment of children’s progress includes a range of evidence on what children learn and achieve throughout their education and how well this prepares them for life beyond school. This includes Curriculum for Excellence levels, skills, qualifications and other awards, and achievement of positive and sustained destinations. Progress in learning for children with complex additional support needs will be evaluated at an individual level, through agreed plans and next steps, which will be personalised. Why is this important? We all need more robust and consistent evidence which will help us in improving health and wellbeing, raising attainment and closing the poverty-related attainment gap. We need to know the size of the attainment gap at different ages and stages, across Scotland, in order to take the right action to close it and we need to know whether the attainment gap is narrowing over time in order to know that the actions we are taking are the right ones. The annual collection of teacher professional judgement data on the achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels and, from August 2017, the use of national standardised assessments, will lead to more consistent assessment approaches within the broad general education. Other important measures within this driver include positive destinations and the quality of career information and guidance available to young people. How will this help to achieve excellence and equity for all children? Data gathered on children’s progress is essential to achieving excellence and equity. Improved data on children’s progress at key stages, including differences between those from the least and most deprived areas, will allow for planning further interventions to ensure that all children achieve as well as they can. The quality of career information, advice and guidance and monitoring positive destinations will tell us about how successful young people are when they leave school. This will also tell us about the choices young people make and the difference in the levels of positive destinations for young people from the most and least disadvantaged backgrounds. This data will help teachers to identify areas where good practice exists and which high-impact interventions should be shared. This is equally important for children who experience barriers to learning caused by additional support needs. As parents, we are able to be informed and engaged when schools share information with us about what our children are learning, about how they are doing and about the school. Good communication between schools and families ensures that children feel supported and encouraged.