Informed Scotland Learning & Skills Hottest Topics 2017

We’re delighted to present the fifth annual list of Learning & Skills ‘Hot Topics’ that made it onto the cover of Informed Scotland over the past year: 1. Digital skills & inclusion (1 in 2016) =2. Teacher education, development, shortages & recruitment (=3) =2. Widening access (=3) 4. Future skills, learning & work (-) =5. […]

Merry Christmas and many thanks!

Time to reflect on another busy year for AJ Enterprises and to say a bunch of thank yous to clients, associates and coworkers! With education remaining at the heart of Scottish Government priorities, we’ve had to work harder than ever to keep Informed Scotland subscribers up to date with learning & skills in 2017. In […]

Informed Scotland November 2017 – Keeping pace with change in learning & skills

The latest issue is so packed with items it’s hard to believe it only covers one month! The main publication was the Scottish Government’s consultation on the Education (Scotland) Bill, Empowering Schools, open until 30 January 2018. The proposals are far-reaching and somewhat controversial – we’ve included all 24 questions in an Annex for ease […]

Looking beyond the classroom to tackle the achievement gap

by Neil Mathers, Chief Executive, Children’s University Scotland. Continuing our guest blog series featuring Informed Scotland subscribers writing on the theme Making connections across the learning & skills landscape. In Scotland today almost a quarter of children are growing up in poverty, and many lack even the most basic essentials to help them thrive. Low […]

Informed Scotland October 2017 – Plans, aims, gains & change

October is usually a little less hectic for Scottish learning & skills – but not this year… The main items this month were the Scottish Government’s Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths [STEM] – Education & Training Strategy, accompanied by an announcement for £20k STEM teacher bursaries; and publication of their Expansion of Early Learning & […]

Informed Scotland September 2017 – Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration

September was another hectic month of high profile, high level activity, particularly – but not exclusively – involving schools. The Scottish Government has once again put education centre stage in its plans for the year, in what it describes as a programme of ‘radical reform’. One of the hottest topics for school governance is the […]

Informed Scotland July/August 2017 – Shortages, statistics, participation & perceptions

We’ve become used to holiday season being as busy as the rest of the year for learning & skills. 2017 was no different, with teacher shortages and recruitment one of the hottest topics making the headlines. As usual at this time of year the digest is packed with statistics, research studies, surveys and exam results. […]

Who’s where in Scottish learning & skills?

The fifth annual Informed Scotland Organisations & People Special has just been published to coincide with the start of the 2017–18 academic session. It provides a snapshot of a busy and ever-changing learning & skills landscape. Each year we add more items – this year there are links to over 330 organisations, up from 280 […]

Informed Scotland June 2017 – Reforms, statistics & a few surprises

The most significant learning & skills item in June was the Scottish Government’s Education Governance report, setting out major changes for the school sector. The plans made media and political headlines and prompted extremes of reaction. COSLA described the shift from the current local authority role as ‘concerning in every way’. The General Teaching Council for Scotland […]

Informed Scotland May 2017 – Examining, exploring, reviewing & reporting

The general election might have restricted government business, but it didn’t stop the publication of a raft of learning & skills reports. The May digest is stuffed full of those worth reading and sharing on a range of topics. In particular look out for: the final Scottish Survey of Literacy & Numeracy, examining literacy attainment […]

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