2012 will be an exciting year for disability sport and SDS has a new and exciting event on the calendar to coincide with this year of sport.  Scottish Disability Sport, Glasgow Caledonian Students Association and Scottish Student Sport have organised this exciting one-day event on Saturday 3rd of March, 10.30am to 15.30pm.

The day is aimed at students who attend either University or College in Scotland and have a physical disability or sensory impairment to take part in a number of sports. Participants will be offered the opportunity to demonstrate their sporting skills in the sports of Wheelchair Basketball, Badminton, Wheelchair Rugby, Table Tennis, Wheelchair Tennis and Judo with all sessions led by some of Scotland’s leading coaches.

Please click here to view the poster.

To attend please click here to register

For directions on how to find Glasgow Caledonian University please click here.

For a map of the campus please click here

The information is on the SSS website and our website under National section.

Information for teachers, lecturers and partners

This is the latest update from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on the development of the new National Qualifications that will be introduced in schools and colleges from August 2013.

This bulletin covers the publication of the latest draft documents – draft Course and Unit Support Notes for National 4 and National 5 and draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher and highlights our Controlled Assessment policy.

There’s also information on our new SQA Awards, our plans for ensuring the new qualifications continue to meet equality and accessibility legislation and an overview of the feedback we’ve received throughout the development process.  We’ve also included details of our current appointee opportunities.

We’re still welcoming comments on the new qualifications, so if you have any feedback, please submit it via the SQA or contact a member of the CfE Liaison Team.

Please circulate this information to your colleagues and feel free to include it in your own updates and publications.

National 4 and National 5 – Draft Course and Unit Support Notes

The draft Course and Unit Support Notes for National 4 and National 5 provide advice and guidance on delivering the new Courses and their component Units.

While these Support Notes are not mandatory, they are intended for teachers and lecturers and should be read in conjunction with the relevant National 4 and National 5 Course Specifications, Unit Specifications and Course Assessment Specifications.

If a Unit is being taught on a free-standing basis, these Unit Support Notes should be read alongside the relevant National 4 or National 5 Unit Specifications.

Copies of the draft Course and Unit Support Notes are available to download.

Higher – Draft Course Assessment Specifications

Draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher Courses have also been published.

Course Assessment Specifications define the mandatory assessment requirements for national Courses at Higher and ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year.  They describe the structure of the relevant Higher Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

Course Assessment Specifications follow on from the Course Specifications which provided the mandatory information on the Course and the Unit Specifications which provided mandatory information on the Units.

Use the subject drop-down menu on the CfE homepage to view the latest information for each subject.

Feedback on the latest documents can be submitted via the SQA until Wednesday 29 February 2012.

The final documents outlining the specifications of the new National Qualifications (Access to Higher) will be published in April 2012.

Controlled Assessment

The draft Course Assessment Specifications for Higher contain information about controlled assessment.

We are introducing controlled assessment for non-question paper components of the National 4 Added Value Unit and new National Courses at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

This will ensure that there are consistent approaches to developing assessments (setting), the conditions of assessment (conducting), and marking assessments (marking).

New SQA Awards

SQA is developing new Awards which embrace personalisation and choice, giving learners the chance to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work.

Schools and colleges will be able to deliver these new Awards from August 2012.

The Awards are designed to suit a wide range of learners, including pupils from S3 onwards, college students (both school leavers and adult learners), training organisations – particularly those focusing on work ready skills and voluntary and social enterprise organisations.

More information on these new Awards and how they complement our existing portfolio of qualifications is available on our website, SQA Awards.

Equality Policy

The Course and Unit Specifications for the new National Courses set out the requirements that must be met to achieve the qualifications.

Specifications have been designed to be as accessible and inclusive as possible, removing any unnecessary barriers to learners on grounds of any of the protected characteristics where these have been identified.  The approach to reasonable adjustments for disabled learners has also been considered.

We will continue to provide assessment arrangements to allow candidates who are disabled and/or who have been identified as having additional support needs with appropriate arrangements to access the assessment where we are satisfied that the integrity of the qualification is not compromised.

Feedback Summaries

We have also just published updated copies of our feedback summaries, which detail the comments we’ve received about the new qualifications.

The summaries are arranged by curriculum area and provide an overview of the feedback we’ve received from teachers, lecturers and other stakeholders from July through to November 2011.

We’ve also included comments from our Curriculum Area Update Events which were held in November and December last year.

Full copies of the feedback summaries are available from SQA feedback.

Appointee Vacancies: Principal Verifiers

We are currently recruiting teaching professionals to join our new appointee teams to develop and quality assure Course assessments for the new National Qualifications.  We are now recruiting Principal Verifiers.

Principal Verifiers are responsible for communicating and maintaining national standards for the qualifications within their remit.

Additionally, Principal Verifiers must ensure that all tasks associated with the quality assurance of internally assessed Units and components of Course assessments within their remit are carried out within the conditions, timescales and arrangements set by SQA.

For more information on this exciting opportunity, and to download an application form, visit SQA vacancies.  Applications must be received by Friday 16 March.

• Health
• Education
• Communities
• Justice

New for 2012

Back due to popular demand

The National Careers Guidance Show North, 23 February 2012 Saviles Hall, Leeds

The National Careers Guidance Show South, 7 & 8 March 2012 Wembley Stadium, London

The National Career Guidance Shows are the perfect forum for you to network and share best practice. You can make key contacts and develop relationships for future opportunities.

A full programme of stimulating and free to attend seminars on the latest developments and changes to the structure of career guidance also takes place throughout the shows with prestigious keynote speakers.

Select which show you want to attend and book your place here.  The shows are organised by Prospects Events in partnership with the Institute of Career Guidance.  If you work for a large organisation or for yourself; with adults or young people; client facing or strategically; you will benefit from coming along to these informal yet informative events.

The National Career Guidance Shows are open to anyone working in career guidance.  Email your contacts to come along and enjoy networking and gaining relevant and up-to-date industry information with you.

Following the amazing success of WorldSkills London 2011, the brand new cycle of national competitions for 2011/12 has opened for entries.

Competitions bring together the best young talent to battle it out in a bid to be the national champion in their skill.  Exceptional national competitors of the right age and within the right skills may be invited to join the team representing the UK at future WorldSkills Competitions, the world’s biggest and most important skills event.

This year, 55 WorldSkills UK national competitions are being hosted by a range of organisations across the UK.  Entrants can showcase a wide range of skills from automobile technology and caring to stonemasonry and floristry.

Find out how you can get your students involved by visiting the WorldSkills UK website.

Course Assessment Specifications

More detail about how each new National 5 Course will be assessed is now available.

Draft Course Assessment Specifications for National 5 have been published on our website and define the mandatory assessment requirements for Courses at National 5.

The purpose of the Course Assessment Specification is to ensure consistent and transparent assessment year on year. It describes the structure of the Course assessment and the mandatory skills, knowledge and understanding that will be assessed.

The Course Assessment Specifications follow on from the Course Specifications which provided the mandatory information relating to the Course and the Unit Specifications which provided mandatory information on the Units.

These documents will be followed by the draft Course Support Notes and Unit Support Notes (in January 2012) and Exemplification (April 2013). These will give more information and examples to help to teach and assess the new National 5 qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications development stages.

Use the subject drop-down menu on the Curriculum for Excellence homepage to view the latest information for each subject.

Draft Unit Specifications are also now available for new Higher Courses.

Feedback on these documents can be given via Have Your Say until 31 January 2012.

Draft Unit Specifications for Access 2 and Access 3 will be published by 31 December 2011.

The final versions of all of our draft documents will be published in April 2012.

Controlled Assessment

The draft Course Assessment Specifications contain information about controlled assessment.

SQA is introducing controlled assessment for non-question paper components of the National 4 Added Value Unit and new National Courses at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher.

This will ensure that there are consistent approaches to developing assessments (setting), the conditions of assessment (conducting), and marking assessments (marking). Find out more on our website.

Support

We have a jargon buster and a definitions page to help explain the terms we are using in our draft documents.

Our new mythbuster videos are now available and give more information about the new qualifications and answer some of the most common questions. Sign up for MyAlerts to receive e-mail updates.

Curriculum Area Events

SQA, in partnership with Education Scotland, are holding a series of curriculum area events to discuss the new national qualifications and give practical support on their implementation. The events are also an opportunity for practitioners to give their views on the new qualifications. Places have been allocated to local authorities and their schools, independent schools and colleges. The events are part of a range of support to help local authorities and individual centres prepare for implementing the new qualifications.

The events will take place on 29 November, and 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 December. Each event will be streamed live on Glow via the SQA Glow Group.

A number of resources will be available following each event, including opportunities to hear some of the discussions from the day.

NAR Update

The National Assessment Resource (NAR) has been enhanced and many new features added. Support materials are available including a user guide and demonstration videos showing step-by-step guides to many of the new features.