Child at the Centre 2

This afternoon saw me at a seminar organised by HMIE to start to raise awareness of the new version of Child at the Centre (CATC). The afternoon covered a presentation of the changes and similarities between this version and previous versions along with workshop activities and thoughts about how we can continue to raise awareness within our own local authorities.
The presentation covered some of these points which I thought were of particular importance.

• 97% of all 3 and 4 year olds in Scotland take up the free provision paid for by the Scottish Executive.
• Research (except the most recent from Durham University) gives very clear indication of the benefits of good early years education in preparing children for the next stage.
• There is continuing improvement in the qualifications of staff in the early years sector leading to increased engagement with the self evaluation process.
• There needs to be more work done in relation to transition. This is not just an issue for early years to primary school but within each stage of progression. QI 5.1 looks at this theme in particular.
• Self evaluation does not exist in a vacuum. It is there in order to improve outcomes for children. Action must follow self evaluation.
• There will still need to be links across ftrom CATC to the national care standards implemented by the Care Commission.
• The overall framework of CATC and HGIOS is based on the EQFM.
• CATC now has illustrations at level 5 and level 2 as well as examples of sources of evidence for each indicator.
• Each QI cannot be seen in isolation. Instead it is noted that QIS from one section have dependencies with others. Outcome and impact is dependent on the processes within the establishment which are dependent on high quality leadership.
• With the focus on active learning in the early years of primary, it is anticipated that primary schools will use CATC in order to evaluate the quality of provision in this stages. This will involve head teachers working across both CATC and HGIOS. This will provide both opportunity and challenge.

The next steps involve considering how we can raise this level of awareness beyond the QIO team to head teachers of early years centres and primary schools.

GLOW Group Structures

This meeting in Glasgow today provided the three local authorities who are adopting GLOW in the first stage (Renfrewshire, Dundee and South Lanarkshire). The day started with an overview of GLOW and the importance of the GLOW group structure. This was followed with a fairly in-depth discussion about the structure of GLOW groups. Trying to get a handle on the structures and how to think about school, local authority and national groups is quite challenging and will give both school and local authority administrators a lot to think about. Some of the points discussed:

• Groups can be short life so can be very useful for things such as short life working groups.
  
• The national structure needs to allow teachers to feel an affinity for the groups they are part of but there also needs to be a space for newer curriculum for excellence areas.
  
• All groups will work on an opt-in principle so staff will only join the national groups they want to be involved in.
  
• A group may only be used as a front page which would allow the use of targeted news to a large group of people.
  
• It is possible that a single user could become the member of a large number of groups. This may well result in confusion on the part of individual teachers.
  
• A national group could be managed and administered by someone at a local level. For example groups for looked after children or the STEPS programme for staff who work with travelling children. This would increase participation but may cause management issues at a local level.
  
• If a GLOW group is created but is then not used then LTS need to ensure that the group is shut down.
  
• The individual user profile can have extra field data added with interests which will allow searching using the national directory so that group administrators can find other people with similar interests. Local authorities need to be raising awareness of the benefits of adding this information.
  
• Work needs to be done to encourage current national groups to moved over from their current public sites and forums over to GLOW.

There is a lot to think about and plan as we implement GLOW in our local authority.

Early Years not working?

Ouch! This was reported on the radio this morning and I read a bit more about it on the BBC website this evening. Basically, the outcome of a study done by the Durham University CEM Centre is that the money invested in early years over the past ten years has had no discernible impact on children when they reach school. The study was based on data gathered through the PIPS baseline assessments that many schools and local authorities buy into. I have not managed to get a proper look at the report as the Durham University site does not appear to be working just now. I shall try again later and then add some more notes here.

With our focus on early years and the need to give all our kids a good start, this research is a real blow. It will be interesting to watch to see how this falls out over the next wee while. There is a debate to be had, I think.

Implementing GLOW

We are cracking on with getting GLOW implemented in Renfrewshire in the first phase early this autumn. Thanks to the hard work of the folk at LTS and RM we now have dates set for operational training and mentor training. The operational training will be key to making sure we are able to allow schools to get access.

This week we will be meeting to plan the structure of the local authority GLOW groups. This will take a fair amount of thought to try and make sure that we don't make too many mistakes first time round.

Our technical folk are working hard at the moment to make sure that all the firewall issues that we had during the planning phases. Hopefully we will get all these sorted out within the next week or two.

Another important part of our planning will be a launch event which we are planning for an evening in early October. This is aimed at teachers in Renfrewshire. If you are not from Renfrewshire and are interested in coming along then please drop me a note and we can see what we can do.

Addicted to Blogging

I came across this link when I was scanning through my Bloglines aggergator at one of Euan's latest posts. Despite the fact that he has just become a father he still seems to be finding enough time to spend on silly web sites such as this one which tests your addiction to blogging.

67%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I don't feel too bad about my own score of 67% addiction! I am interested in the area and have spent a fair amount on the subject in the last couple of years but I am not too obsessed!

How Good is Our School 3

Day 239 - HGIOS3
Originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay

I have already written briefly about the new version of the self evaluation toolkit published by HMIE in Scotland. This new version was published at Easter time but today was the first real opportunity I had to get to grips with it. We had a briefing session with our district inspector. This was very useful as it gave us the chance to start to ask the questions that we need to ask as we plan our own procedures and processes across our local authority.

The new version of HGIOS has built on the previous versions but has now remodelled the structure within an overarching framework to which all inspection models now comply. The new version of Child at the Centre (CATC2), follows the same model which is useful.

The focus is now much less on process and much more on outcome and impact. The leadership of the establishment is key to ensuring that the systems and processes are all in place so that the outcomes and impact on children continue to improve. The strap line "How Good Can We Be?" is very telling.

As far as implementation of the new version is concerned, HMIE will start to use the new indicator set in January 2008. The core set of indicators has just about been finalised and will look very like what is being used just now. Where there is a nursery class in the school, the new Child at the Centre indicators will be used to evaluate the nuirsery at the same time.

As a result of the meeting this afternoon we are now able to set up training for our QIO team and for all our head teachers over the next few weeks. The planned workshops will encourage head teachers to get into the new set of indicators so that they can start to use them for their own self evaluation.

It is interesting to note that HGIOS 3 has been issued to every teacher in Scotland. The language within the document is all about "we" and "our". The aim is to try to engage with all teachers more fully in the self evaluation process.

Later in the week I will be involved in some training in the use of the new version of CATC. I will supplement this post with my thoughts after that seminar.

The calm before the opening

The calm before the opening
Originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay

We were in Glasgow last night for meal to celebrate my son's seventeenth birthday. We walked up Buchanan St at about 10:30pm. The picture shows the new Apple Store which is due to open at 09:00 on Saturday morning. The queue was already starting to form. Clearly there are people out there willing to sit all night in the cold and damp in the hope of getting a free Apple t-shirt. We went home to a nice warm bed!

GPS in Learning

Those who have been keeping an eye in things will have spotted that I have recently started on another geeky hobby, namely geocaching. I was starting to muse about whether GPS and Geocaching could have a useful place in the classroom.

I know that there have been some examples of the use GPS enabled PDAs. Kids go out on a field trip and when they reach a particular location then a video or audio clip is played relevant to what the kids are meant to be looking at.

There is some growing interest in the US about the use of geocaching in areas such as environmental studies. This forum gives a bit of a hint about some of the work being done there. What I am not aware of is of anyone using this sort of thing over here. If you are working in education and using GPS then I would love to hear from you.

The right person for the job

Day 229 - close up
Originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay

I spent yesterday interviewing for a post in the department. I seem to spend a fair amount of my time interviewing people (and occasionally being interviewed). I was reflecting with the rest of the panel at the end of the process yesterday about the effectiveness of our recruitment procedures and comparing them to some of the techniques used in the private sector. I am not convinced that an application form followed by a 45 minute interview (presentation and six questions) actually gives a clear idea as to whether someone will be able to do the job you want them to do or not. However, I am equally unconvinced by psychometric testing, personality surveys, and other highly expensive assessment approaches.

When my eldest daughter applied to work with the Abernethy Trust she had to go and work there for a weekend. They were able to see her in a variety of situations and observe her responses to all sorts of different circumstances.

I am not suggesting that we should be doing that with senior appointments in a public sector organisation but I can't help feeling that there must be a better way than we do it currently.

Have you got any ideas as to how we can make the appointments process better? I would love to hear your ideas.

Starting Secondary School

My youngest child starts secondary school tomorrow. Now that the older two having left, she is the only McKinlay left in the school system. They both left after fifth year. Both were good kids who worked hard and did well. By the time they got to fifth year, however, they hated school. My son has got in to Strathclyde University to do an MSci in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering deferred until next session. He is away to work at the Abernethy Trust at Ardeonaig for a year first. This will probably be far more use than a sixth year at school. He was desperate to leave school. My youngest has just gone to bed and told me that she was scared about starting school tomorrow.

I worry a bit about our secondary schools. What happens to kids that means that by the end of fifth year they are desperate to leave? Why are some kids scared of starting secondary despite all the work that is done relating to transition? Will curriculum for excellence help to alleviate some of hese concerns? As someone who did all his teaching in secondary school, these questions bother me a bit.

My older two are doing well and my youngest will get over her fear by the end of tomorrow I am sure. So why do I still have a niggle?

Geocaching

Today has been my last day of leave. I return to my desk in the morning to a million emails, thousands of ridiculous requests and countless phone messages. You can tell that I am looking forward to it.

I have already mentioned geocaching in this blog, but today was the fist time I had the real chance to try out my etrex gps device and see how many caches I could find. Geocaching is a global treasure hunt based on using a GPS device to locate the treasure. I managed to get hold of a simple GPS device for under £50 which allows me to get to the point where the treasure should be found. The treasure sites are listed on the web site and hunters log their finds and other related comments there. Each cache has a story to tell. One of the ones I found today was an old ammo box which had been placed at the site where Rudolf Hesss crash landed in 1941.

Some of the caches contain little trinkets which can be swapped and moved around the world. Examples include badges, keyrings and little models. Some of the caches are tiny and only contain a little log book to record you visit.

It's great fun. The whole family were dead keen to join me today as we managed to search for and find four caches in the local area. The next time I get a bit of free time I shall need to go a bit further afield.

So Much Media

Day 225 - media
Originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay

I have been spending some time since we got home from SU camp at the weekend sorting out all the photographs we took, the video footage we shot and the digital animation we did. There is so much that the whole lot won't fit on a single DVD! I am aiming to send out a disc to all the discs so I am having to go through everything and be a bit more selective about what is included as well as reducing the quality of the video footage. All very time consuming.

What we do with all the digital content we gather at events such as these is a question that I don't feel that I have fully addressed as yet.

Catching Up - TeachMeet 07

I have been catching up on my RSS feeds tonight. Having been away leading an SU holiday at Scoughall in East Lothian for a week it has taken a bit of time to get my head working correctly again. I have joined the Facebook group and had a look at the wiki. I have not contributed anything as yet. I will reserve that for a wee bit yet. This year the event it at the end of day one of the Scottish Learning Festival on the 19th of September. Last year the event was superb although it was too tight for time (and space!). This year is looking good. I will certainly be making every effort to attend. If you are at the festival and have the time then I highly recommend that you are there as well.

Amazon Heartbeat

This is a bit of unashamed advertising for the Vine Trust. It's not got a whole lot to with what I usually write about. If that offends you, then I am sorry. Please ignore the post and wait for the next one. Perhaps it will have something to do with ICT or education or both.

Anyway, I have just been watching episode 3 in a series on STV entitled Amazon Heartbeat. The programmes are on Mondays and Fridays at 8pm throughout August. Basically, the trust aims to support SU Peru meet the needs of street children and the medical needs of those in need in Amazonia. In 2001 a boat, Amazon Hope crossed the Atlantic to work in the Amazon. In 2007 Amazon Hope 2 covered the same route in order to add additional support in the region.

This summer the children and young people attending SU holidays in Scotland will be given the opportunity to support the work of the trust as part of their holiday.

You can find out more about the TV series on the STV website. There is information and interviews with Willie McPherson, executive director of the Vine Trust and an old friend of SU Scotland.

If you want to donate to the project then you can do so online at the Vine Trust website. Thanks for indulging me.

Schmap Guides

I have just had a couple of photographs included in the latest Schmap guide for Glasgow. One is of Buchanan Galleries and the other of the St Enoch Centre. I don't reckon they are my best photos but they seemed to like them! I have been using Flickr for a while now and love being able to share photos. I don't think I ever thought that someone might want to use them for anything!

Back to Broadband

Day 222 - The team @ S5
Originally uploaded by Gordon McKinlay

I have just returned from the Scripture Union campsite at Scoughall in East Lothian between North Berwick and Dunbar. I have been leading a team of people with a group of 50 children. We have had a fantastic week. The kids have had a fantastic holiday. We are all completely exhausted. Thankfully I have taken another couple of days off work so I don't have to worry about that until Thursday.

As the SU campsite at Scoughall is right on the beach in the middle of nowhere, the electricity is provided by a generator. The phone line is a bit ropey but it does allow me dial up access to check email, etc. Not great, but at least it worked.

It would be fair to say that I am glad to have the broadband access back. The speed with which everything works online is great and I have missed it. Anyway, I am back. Time to clear up and catch up on some sleep.