Making Curriculum for Excellence happen in Early Years

Tim Wallace, Professional Adviser, Scottish Government, shares his views on the next stages to deliver Curriculum for Excellence.

We are now entering a really important phase when all establishments should be moving forward with the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. Most of the guidance is now in place to support this implementation: the values, purposes and principles have been shared, 'Building the Curriculum 1, 2 and 3' have been published, and, in June of this year, the final set of experiences and outcomes for each of the eight curriculum areas were distributed to all practitioners. Further guidance on skills development and assessment will be published over the coming months.

From August 2010, all learners should be experiencing learning and teaching based on the guidance provided. Central to this is a description of the curriculum that encompasses the experiences and outcomes, interdisciplinary learning, opportunities for personal achievement and the ethos and life of the school as a community.

This is certainly not about 'throwing the baby out with the bath water' but is about building on current good practice. The journey that each practitioner, pre-school establishment and school takes is a local decision based around their identified development needs.

Additional support

There are, however, some additional sources of support available to help Early Years practitioners on this journey:

• Curriculum for Excellence website – Learning and Teaching Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence website has been updated to provide specific support in building the curriculum. It also links to a section called Sharing Practice, which demonstrates how establishments and local authorities are approaching Curriculum for Excellence in their local contexts.

• A video clip that provides a flavour of the new DVD resource, 'Curriculum for Excellence: supporting the Early Level', is available on the Curriculum for Excellence website.  

These materials aim to support practitioners as they implement the early level. As Early Years Matters goes to press, the design and production of the resource is being finalised, so that every pre-school and primary setting can receive their materials in the autumn.

Innovative practice

This is an exciting time for Scottish education. Across the country, we continue to see examples of innovative and creative practice, building on the values, purposes and principles as outlined in 'Building the Curriculum 3' and earlier guidance. There is a clear focus on the child at the centre and a real understanding that change is necessary when striving for an education system fit for the challenges of the 21st century.

Curriculum for Excellence offers a real opportunity to ensure that our young learners really do become:

• successful learners with enthusiasm and motivation for learning, an openness to new ideas and a determination to reach high standards

• confident individuals with physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, self respect and ambition

• responsible citizens with respect for others and a commitment to participate responsibly in society while developing a knowledge of the world and Scotland's place in it

• effective contributors with resilience and self-reliance, who can communicate in different ways with an enterprising attitude.