PREFACE

in November 1987, the Secretary of State for Scotland published a consultation paper, Curriculum and Assessment in Scotland: A Policy for the 90s, which identified a need for:

improved assessment of pupils' progress;

better information for parents about the curriculum and about their children's performance.

Following a period of consultation, Review and Development Groups (RDGs) were set up under the auspices of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum to give advice on each area of the curriculum. Each RDG undertook a wide-ranging review of good practice in order to set out clearly the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes appropriate to its curriculum area; and then to advise on the formulation of national curriculum guidelines which would identify the aims of study, the ground to be covered, the way that learning should progress and how pupils' attainment should be monitored and recorded.

These guidelines on Personal and Social Development are based on the report of Review and Development Group 5, which was issued as a consultative document (Working Paper 14: Personal and Social Development) in August 1992. Following a period of consultation, the Secretary of State has decided to issue the guidelines as his considered advice on Personal and Social Development 5-14.