Don Ledingham’s Learning Log

32 Responses to “Any Questions?”

1. on 06 Mar 2007 at 8:46 pm1 Debbie

   Standard Grade/Intermediate/Highers

   My daughter’s school is taking the traditional route of Standard Grades in 4th year, Highers in 5th (with a smattering of Intermediates but I’m really not sure what these are yet!) I see from guineapigmum that Ross High are doing Standard Grades in 3rd year, giving students 2 years to study for Highers. Are decisions such as these left to individual schools, or do you, as a local authority give any guidance. Must admit I liked it when it was a level playing field - I feel different schools doing different things can be better/worse for individuals depending on how bright(or not) they are. Is a flexible system the best when to a large extent your secondary school is dictated by where you live, not when you’d prefer to sit the exams?

   
   
2. on 07 Mar 2007 at 2:25 pm2 guineapigmum

   Can I add a couple of questions:-

   How many Highers do children generally take and are Maths and English usually compulsory in East Lothian schools? (I know the number of Highers will vary with the individual - just looking for a ball park answer.)

   How many East Lothian schools do SVS as a compulsory Standard Grade?

   Thanks!

   
   
3. on 07 Mar 2007 at 7:32 pm3 Don

   Reply to Debbie and Guineapigmum

   As you know we are working towards our 5Cs - of which Consistency is number 1. It’s a fine balance between leaving schools enough autonomy to make decisions appropriate to their own context and providing enough guidance to ensure parents and pupils are not compromised by a wide variety of disparate practice.

   I think we’ve learned from experience that issues such as the curriculum and presentation policies that there is a need for consistency - that’s why we we will be holding a major conference in May for head teachers, other senior school managers, parents, pupils, teachers, councillors and local business people to shape our curriculum policy for A Curriculum for Excellence.

   Maths and English in S5 are not compulsory across all of our schools. Only Ross High make SVS compulsory. The average number of Highers is more difficult as you need to take into account how many pupils stay on at school from S4 - however, I’d guess 3.5 (if that’s any help?)

   
   
4. on 09 Mar 2007 at 3:44 pm4 Lillian McMahon

   I’ve been in contact with Lynne Lewis and she said that you would be interested to know more about our new Teaching Expertise website at ww.teachingexpertise.com
   There are 100s of free articles available for teachers and we are following Phil Avery’s exciting expedition to Antartica: http:/www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/teachers-expedition-to-antarctica-1185
   There will be new and free resources available soon at ww.teachingexpertise.com - like assemblies for primary schools, worksheets, blogs etc.
   Please take a look and let me know what you think.
   Kind regards,
   Lillian

   
   
5. on 13 Mar 2007 at 8:06 am5 Don Ledingham

   Lillian

   Thanks for the link to your new website. It looks to be a useful source of information for teachers - although it doesn’t seem to be particularly different from the growing number of such sites.

   I’d be looking for that something which would keep bringing me back to the site again and again.

   I wish you all the best with its development.

   Don

   
   
6. on 28 Jun 2007 at 11:41 am6 Anonymous

   how do you have the time to blog!!

   
   
7. on 28 Jun 2007 at 7:52 pm7 Don Ledingham

   Time to blog?

   Firstly I enjoy it and it enables me to make sense of my job.

   I try to finish up my work at home every evening by spending 12-30 minutes completing my log. It’s better than watching telly!!

   Longer posts have probably been taking shape in my mind for a few days - so it comes quite quickly.

   I suppose it’s become a habit which I really miss if I don’t get chance to post.

   
   
8. on 21 Oct 2007 at 5:13 pm8 Dorothy Coe

   Don,
   Have you now developed templates for your Extreme Learning Project? If so, are they available to look at online?
   Thanks
   Dorothy

   
   
9. on 21 Oct 2007 at 5:34 pm9 Don Ledingham

   Dorothy

   We are working on them at the moment. I’ll post something soon when we have a concrete example.

   
   
10. on 21 Oct 2007 at 9:20 pm10 Dorothy Coe

    Great thanks. Any idea of timescale?

    
    
11. on 06 Nov 2007 at 1:23 pm11 Paul D Smith

    What can you tell me about the “predictable needs formula”? There seems to be almost nothing on the web so start at the basics and work up please.

    Thanks,
    Paul D Smith.

    
    
12. on 06 Nov 2007 at 1:53 pm12 Don Ledingham

    Paul

    You can access the reports which describe the Devolved School Management policy which includes the predictable need formula here - http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=3555

    Don’t hesitate to come back to me for clarification or queries.

    
    
13. on 13 Jan 2008 at 1:35 am13 Gill Robertson

    Hello Don

    My daughter who I held back a year ( so will be 5 and 8 months when she starts school) starts East Linton primary this year. As the Primary 1 intake is too large she will probably go straight into a P1/2 composite class. If the information is correct she will go into a class of mainly P2s and 3-5 P1s. I feel saddened by this news and frustrated that the education authorities can support composite classes at the start of a child’s experience of school. I have no problem with composite classes further up the school but having a child begin school with a handful of others and joining an established class makes no sense to me.

    Of course I understand the pressures of school budgets and changing school roles but I think that we are not giving children the best start in education by offering this as a solution.

    What do you think and have I got any alternatives?

    All the best

    Gill

    
    
14. on 13 Jan 2008 at 11:14 am14 Don Ledingham

    Hi Gill

    I understand your concerns but over the last year I’ve been spending a day and half a week visiting schools to observe teaching. I’ve learned a huge amount, particularly about early years. In East Lothian we have many schools which have composite P1/2 classes. The quality of learning which takes place in a P1/P2 composite class is of exactly the same quality in a straight P1 class.

    I’ve copied links to some of the observations I’ve undertaken. In addition I can throw in my experience as a parent where both my own children were taught in composite classes - to no detriment to their development.

    http://edubuzz.org/blogs/donsblog/2007/12/13/reading-jotters/

    http://edubuzz.org/blogs/donsblog/2007/10/15/storybags/

    http://edubuzz.org/blogs/donsblog/2007/09/27/independence-continuity-and-confidence/

    http://edubuzz.org/blogs/donsblog/2007/09/05/school-visit-dirleton-primary-school-differentiation-in-action/

    http://edubuzz.org/blogs/donsblog/2007/12/12/active-learning-and-high-standards/

    
    
15. on 14 Jan 2008 at 10:30 am15 Gill Robertson

    Hello Don

    Wondering if the school could create a larger P1 class ( as they could have before the number’s changed from 30 to 25 for P1s) and use a classroom assistance to support the teacher. This would mean that every child who started P1 this year would have the same experience instead of a handful of kids who have to join a P2 class and thus do not have the opportunity to start school afresh with their peers.

    Best

    Gill

    
    
16. on 05 Feb 2008 at 10:56 pm16 Bryan Gregg

    Hello don,

    Always intriguing to read your blog. Just wondered if you might be interested in one I’ve recently started - all around “evidence gathering” in AiFL and ACfE. Very much “in beta” as the techies might say but I’m trying to link “We are learning to” type work with evidence of the cross-curricular and generally “unseen” bits of ACE.

    http://aceinaction.blogspot.com

    Thoughts and comments appreciated…

    Thanks,

    Bryan Gregg

    
    
17. on 16 Feb 2008 at 11:38 pm17 MG

    To Whom it May Concern,

    I am currently taking an entrepreneurship course and I wanted to ask permission to use the image that is posted under the article titled “Entrepreneurial Leadership in schools”.

    Thank you.

    Sincerely,

    MG

    
    
18. on 04 May 2008 at 1:16 pm18 Alison

    Hello Don
    Am busy writing an article on ‘engaging creativity’. Busy writing has involved making numerous phone calls, gardening, food shopping at the local supermarket etc, etc, all wonderful displacement activities!! Anyway have just watched a brilliant talk from Sir Ken Robinson online. Here’s the link http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66. Maybe you have already watched this but I thought it seemed like something you would enjoy. Any tips on completing the task at hand would be welcomed!

    
    
19. on 14 Jul 2008 at 8:38 am19 Shirley

    Hello Don

    Having read through your blogs, I wonder if you might be interested to help our family with a question on sixth form education?

    The short question is ‘In England, can a sixth form college withdraw a pupil’s place, half way through a course, for not being well enough to attend over 50% of the time, if the pupil has medical reports to back up his absences from his specialist and if the college did not tell the pupil, before starting the course, that this rule existed and could be applied at any time? If not, then to whom and how should we appeal?’

    Our son’s college is threatening dropping his place if he cannot attend more than 50% of his course hours. Unfortunately he suffers from ME/CFS and, although in attendance for 100% when well, he suffered a relapse at Christmas, resulting in low attendance for the rest of the year. It seems very unfair to me that this could be allowed. Surely the college are not acting lawfully or morally?

    
    
20. on 14 Jul 2008 at 9:23 pm20 Don

    Shirley

    I’d love to be able to help you but I’m afraid any answer I gave would be guess work as the system in England is very different from Scotland.

    My advice, as it would be to any parent, is to communicate - face-to-face with the school about your concerns and try to agree some form of compromise.

    All the best

    Don

    
    
21. on 23 Sep 2008 at 10:02 pm21 Jason Bain

    Hi Don,

    I follow your blog with great interest - I think we can learn a lot and also self reflect along the way also.

    I am a probationer in Computing at Alloa Academy and find that your blog is a great source of leadership especially on issues such as aCfE.

    I look forward to following your blogs in the future!

    Jason

    
    
22. on 25 Sep 2008 at 9:20 pm22 Andrea Reid

    Don, would it be an issue for you if I was to print out and distribute some of your imagining a curriculum ideas for the HTs in the area I work?

    
    
23. on 25 Sep 2008 at 10:35 pm23 Don Ledingham

    Andrea

    No problem. As long as people accept it in the manner in which it was written - i.e. an attempt to stimulate discussion with a view to jointly shaping our future.

    
    
24. on 25 Sep 2008 at 10:38 pm24 Don Ledingham

    Jason

    Much obliged.

    
    
25. on 30 Sep 2008 at 5:18 pm25 Elizabeth Davitt

    is that pictur of you and a giant monkey taken at that Burgh Primary school because that is my old school?

    Elizabeth

    
    
26. on 17 Nov 2008 at 6:48 pm26 Scott Sharkey

    Hi Don,

    hope you are well?
    As promised, I am having a look at your blog! Have to say, very impressive. Just wanted to touch base so you know you are in my thoughts and hope you are making progress.

    regards

    Scott

    
    
27. on 17 Nov 2008 at 7:38 pm27 TinTin

    Don

    Can you advise if there is a legal minimum age that a pupil can sit standard grade credit, highers and advanced highers regardless if their academic ability and achievements prove they are ready before the normal year they are scheduled for?

    T

    
    
28. on 04 Dec 2008 at 12:46 am28 Jackie Archibald

    Hi

    I am a parent of 4 children and am really astoinished and amazed at how many times my children have came home and reported to me that their teacher is off sick once again. Teachers being off sick has a detremental effect on the education of young children and more often than not the bank teachers who cover sickness are not up to speed with the needs of children within these classes.

    If the building blocks are not secure in the early stages of education due to teachers being persistenly off sick then how are our children going to achieve moving forward into higher education .

    Perhaps the curriculium for excellence should measure sickness abscence of teachers practicing within our schools, as i think a clearer picture might emerge regarding why children in Scotland are not making the grade educationally

    Regards

    Jackie Archibald

    
    
29. on 04 Jan 2009 at 8:11 pm29 samuel smiles

    (From someone outside the teaching profession)

    Don

    Given that a principal focus of education should presumably be about inspiring individuals to want to learn for themselves, I was trying to think of ways you could assess how successful a school or a teacher was in encouraging this process, rather than (I suspect) by the most commonly used measure of exam results (outputs rather than outcomes ?!). Do East Lothian schools allow for the issue of regular confidential pupil and parental questionnaires, in which they can anonymously vote as to how inspiring (separately from how useful for exam purposes), they have found a specific set of classes? Is there any way a teacher’s remuneration might be linked in part to the results of such surveys, or would this be a non starter; if so, please why?

    When discussing the social return on investment, it must be very hard to ascribe value to many of the projected outcomes. If a project is put forward for after class activities for instance, the cost of investment can be easily assessed, eg more teacher attendance might well be required. But how can anyone put a value on the benefits resulting, especially those defined as of long-term impact — eg someone prone to getting bored and causing trouble finding a hobby that completely changes his/her whole outlook on life? The danger must be that those which can have a value ascribed to them will find funding much easier than those that do not?

    
    
30. on 04 Jan 2009 at 10:15 pm30 Don Ledingham

    Hi Samuel

    We do use an on-line questionnaire with pupils to allow them to provide feedback on their educational experience. The Student Evaluation of Learning System - which was develped by an East Lothian School was quoted in the recent OECD Review of Scottish Education as an aspect of good practice. We will be using its successor as a key element in measuring educational outcomes.

    Your second point is a difficult one but just because its difficult doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to capture something of the value which children gain from such participation.

    Thanks again.

    Don

    
    
31. on 20 Jan 2009 at 12:12 am31 Samuel Smiles

    Hello Don

    Thanks for reply .

    I have been looking at ways of promoting the teaching of financial education in schools and what role local authorities should play in this. It seems to me that when it comes to curriculum matters, there is really a very small role for local authorities to play?
    Cooperation between schools within a cluster is important to avoid duplication at primary and secondary level. Equally important is the Scottish Government determining a desirable outcome in terms of awareness of matters such as debt, mortgages and so on; presumably HMIE will have a responsibility too, ensuring that schools are working effectively to this end. After that it might best be left to individual headteachers (perhaps by nominating a principal teacher of business studies as cluster coordinator for financial education and enterprise in addition to his/her existing responsibilities) to decide how the desired outcome can be best achieved. [These subject champions would hopefully have a shared blog to exchange ideas and experiences but would be free to decide along with their headteachers what materials would be used, how teaching should be organised in each school etc].
    In short do we need separate full time LEA Financial Awareness Officers, Enterprise Coordinators and so on (I suspect East Lothian has sensibly not gone down this route), but would better be using a bottom up, schools driven approach? Or is this the recipe for anarchy?

    Regards

    Samuel

    
    
32. on 23 May 2009 at 11:11 am32 Nigel Goodrich

    Hi Don

    Read your posts on Program Logic Model theory as applied to Curriculum for Excellence. They provide a most useful overview of this Amercian approach to implementing change, together with useful hints as to how it might be employed here in Scotland. I was just wondering whether you plan to pick up that seris of posts in the future? Have you delivered any CPD on it? Are school in East Lothian using it?

    I ask this as an interested party; I will be using PLM theory to develop and implement CfE in my school. I’d be happy to share with colleagues in a similar situation.

    Thanks for your inspiring blog - it is always encouraging!

    
    

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