Wider Achievement in a Nutshell

Wider achievement IN A NUTSHELL SCOTLAND’S CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE

You’ll probably hear teachers use the words ‘wider achievement’ or perhaps ‘personal achievement’. This means everything that children learn from hobbies, interests, volunteering, part-time jobs and so on. The skills they gain from these are important for young people for life, and also for their future college, university and job applications. These skills are valued by employers and are an important part of your child’s learning and development. This Nutshell explains what wider achievement means so you can support your child at home and understand what’s offered at school. Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), which all children follow from age 3 to 18, isn’t all about classrooms and exam results. There’s also an emphasis on young people’s ‘achievements’ in the widest sense, and on the skills they need for life, learning and work. Young people acquire these in all sorts of different ways, in and out of school.

As a parent, one of the best ways you can help your child is to encourage them to learn new things, and to be proud of what they can do. Some young people take part in activities like swimming or drama and youth groups like guides/scouts. These aren’t available in every area, and they may be too expensive for many parents. But young people do need opportunities to learn and develop. They’ll get lots of chances at school. And what you do with them at home also counts for a huge amount. It can be as simple as involving them in cooking meals, or taking them to the swimming pool or library, exploring the local park, or visiting neighbours and family. Encourage your child to talk to you and others about their ideas. Whatever opportunities you can give them, whether it’s teaching them to ride a bike or to make a pot of soup, it helps your child learn something useful and gain confidence and a sense of satisfaction. In this way, they learn skills for life like getting on with other people, being helpful, respectful, adaptable and open to new ideas, being creative and taking responsibility.

INFO ADDED TO PUPIL PROFILE Wider achievement is about the skills for life and work that children and young people gain from hobbies and interests like sport, mentoring, voluntary work or fundraising whether at home, school, college or elsewhere. What you can do now • Encourage your child to learn new things and to value themselves, at any age • Find out what your school offers as ‘wider achievement’ • Encourage your child to take part (speak to the school if there are costs which you can’t afford) • Encourage your child to tell their teacher(s) about their achievements and to record this on their pupil profile • Check to see if their achievements are being recognised and celebrated by the school • At parents evenings ask your school how it is promoting and recognising non-academic achievement • Find out more at the links above INTERESTS AND SUCCESSES BIGGER PICTURE Wider Achievement Awards

The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) offers Wider Achievement Awards to secondary school pupils. Your child can take these alongside the National Qualifications that they study in the senior phase of secondary school (S4 to S6). To find out more, visit sqa.org.uk/widerachievement Wider Achievement Awards are flexible and they recognise volunteering skills, citizenship, leadership, employability, wellbeing, personal development and much more. You can find out more at: sqa.org.uk/awards Some secondary schools offer awards as part of the timetable, such as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award and the John Muir Award. There’s information about these and other awards at: awardsnetwork.org/ parents These awards fit with the Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and give pupils credits. You can see the SCQF at: scqf.org.uk/interactive- framework You can check to see if a programme is on the SCQF at: scqf.org.uk/the-framework/search- database

There are lots of programmes that fit with the SCQF that your child might do at school or in their spare time. Anything they do should go into their pupil profile or CV. There’s information for parents about this at: bit.ly/scqf_leaflet What schools are doing about wider achievement Schools want children and young people of all ages to value and be proud of what they learn outwith the classroom, as well as in it. They want to give credit to pupils for what they are doing and connect their wider achievement with their learning at school. The words they use for this are ‘recognising personal achievement’. Nursery, primary and secondary schools are encouraging young people to develop themselves and their abilities in and out of school. As well as formal teaching (the curriculum), schools now offer all sorts of opportunities like: School shows School newspapers Clubs Bands and orchestras

Paired reading/ buddying Eco groups

Charity/ fundraising activities

Sports

Outdoor activities Many run wider achievement days and events for different year groups. It’s worth looking at your school’s website to see if it has a page on wider achievement where you can find out more so you can talk to your child about opportunities in and out of school. What schools want to know In order to help young people value what they are learning outside school, schools need to know about their interests and successes. So, they are encouraging pupils and their parents to share this information with them. That’s where you come in. It’s good if you can encourage your child, or for you, to tell your child’s teacher(s) about any interests and successes. Your child and/or teachers can then add this information to the pupil profile which goes with your child as they move through the school. It means that teachers and, in time, colleges/universities and employers can see the bigger picture about your child. And your child can see this too.

See other NPFS Nutshells at: npfs.org.uk/downloads Curriculum for Excellence fact file www2.gov.scot/resource/doc/920/0121215.pdf Scottish Qualifications Authority: wider achievement sqa.org.uk/widerachievement Parents as partners in their children’s learning education.gov.scot/parentzone/Documents/parents -as-partners-toolkit.pdf This leaflet is part of Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence series which also includes: Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence in a Nutshell npfs.org.uk/2019/06/cfe-in-a-nutshell-2 Senior phase in a Nutshell npfs.org.uk/2019/06/senior-phase-in-a-nutshell

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