Glossary

Searchable glossary containing hundreds of definitions and descriptions of education terms, acronyms and abbreviations used by the LTS online service and in Scottish education.

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SAAS (Student Awards Agency for Scotland)	An agency that is part of the Scottish Government and is responsible to Scottish Ministers. Its purpose is to deal with financial support and give advice to eligible Scottish students in higher education throughout the United Kingdom, together with certain related roles in connection with student loans, hardship funds and educational endowments.
Sandbox game
Scaffolding	A strategy of guided learning where the teacher continually adjusts the level of tutoring to match the pupil’s level of performance. Scaffolding derives from ideas about learning and culture put forward by Lev Vygotsky and elaborated by Jerome Bruner. They key idea is that, to learn from new experiences, young children/learners use the support of adults/teachers, who mediate to them the culture in which they live. Scaffolding is the support provided when setting pupils new, challenging work, with the intention that, in due course, they will establish independent command of the learning without the aid of the scaffolding.
Scanner	A device that converts text and images from paper, photographic prints and slides into an electronic format.
SCCC (Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum)	Merged with SCET in July 2000 to form Learning and Teaching Scotland.
SCCYP! (Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People)	In 1991 Scotland signed up to an international agreement - the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a set of promises to do certain things to make life better for children and young people. It is the job of Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People to make sure those promises are kept.
Sceptic	Someone who questions or doubts accepted opinions or information.
SCFE (Scottish Centre for Financial Education)	The professional support network for teachers of English at all levels in Scotland.
Schonell Test	A standardised reading test requiring those taking it to recognise and read aloud a series of individual words claimed to be representative of current vocabulary in regular use. Properly called the Schonell Word Reading Test.
School climate	School climate is the social atmosphere in a school that covers different aspects of its culture. These include the disciplinary culture, how well teachers and students get along, the expectations of the staff and pupils, how strongly pupils identify with their school, how motivated and dedicated the staff are.
Scottish CILT (Scottish Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research)	The centre was set up in 1991 to provide information about languages to students and teachers, opinion formers and policy makers; to promote the learning and use of all languages of relevance to Scotland; and to conduct research in support of the work of language teachers and other language professionals. It receives an annual grant from the Scottish Government Education Department to fund its core activities.
Scottish Learning Festival	The Scottish Learning Festival is a free two-day annual conference and exhibition, organised by LT Scotland for the Scottish education community. It aims to inspire and transform professional practice in teaching and learning. The Scottish Learning Festival also encourages creative and effective use of ICT in education. It combines a thought-provoking conference programme of keynote presentations, seminars and workshops with the largest education exhibition to take place in Scotland
ScotXED (Scottish Exchange of Educational Data)	ScotXchange on the web provides a publication facility, with a focus on statistics and benchmarks, for Scottish schools education. It is produced through the ScotXed programme and is owned by SEED.
SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework)	The framework is a way of making sense of the large and varied number of Scottish qualifications/training programmes. The framework has 12 levels. At any level some qualifications cover a wide range of skills and knowledge. It will change and expand over the next few years as the framework is rolled out across Scotland's education and training sectors.
SCRAN (Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network)	Scran is an online learning resource service and educational environment with 325,000 images, movies and sounds from museums, galleries, archives and the media. All Scottish local authority schools and libraries have full and free access to Scran funded by the Scottish Government. LT Scotland has a SCRAN licence.
SCRE (Scottish Council for Research in Education)	The SCRE Centre supports Scottish education through research. SCRE's functions are to conduct educational research of the highest quality and to support the use of research outcomes through the dissemination of findings.
SCROLLA (Scottish Centre for Research into Online Learning and Assessment)	The centre provides a focus for multidisciplinary research into the use of information and communication technologies in education, concentrating on online learning and assessment. It draws upon educational, psychological, socio-cultural and computing science research traditions to provide a strong infrastructure to support development and practice across the Scottish educational community and beyond.
SCSSA	The Scottish Centre for Studies in School Administration which provides a broad range of courses on school leadership, management and administration.
Search engine	A website designed specifically to allow users to search the web by entering words, which the engine then uses to locate matching sites.
Sect	Any definable sub-group in a religion, although often used with a negative connotation.
Sectarianism (cultural)	This refers to the range of sub-cultures that are around within communities, workplaces and society. Certain norms, behaviours and attitudes are expected and those following such norms are positively endorsed. Those that do not or are seen as 'not belonging' are treated negatively and often perceived as inferior. Therefore cultural sectarianism will develop its own values and markers as to who is included and who is excluded based on your faith and belief. Cultural sectarianism takes place when the powerful or majority faith/denomination or belief group imposes its patterns, assumptions and values on others often in a manner that many do not even notice. This becomes the 'common-sense culture' taken for granted as part of everyday life. An example would be a workplace that is predominantly one denomination, which organises activities and develops banter/chat which draws from that denomination.
Sectarianism (institutional)	The term 'institutional sectarianism' has never really been defined. It might be helpful to reflect on the definition of 'institutional racism' now used across the UK derived from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. They defined it as: 'Institutional racism is the collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people. It persists because of the failure of the organisation openly and adequately to recognise and address its existence and causes by policy, example and leadership.' Therefore it could be said that 'institutional sectarianism' is when an organization fails to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their beliefs and faiths. This can be evidenced through institutional attitudes, behaviour and practices. For example, An example of institutional sectarianism would be an organisation that refuses to acknowledge that sectarianism can occur within it's workplace and takes no action to address the issue.
Sectarianism (personal)	This refers to the negative/antagonistic thoughts, feelings and actions which occur at an individual level. Personal forms of sectarianism can have a significant effect on reproducing inequalities particularly if the individual concerned is in a position of power e.g. employer, police, teacher, youth worker, social worker, parent. Personal sectarianism can be open and explicit or covert and implicit. Examples of personal sectarianism can include: (a) being abusive, using sectarian slang and words (b) chanting sectarian songs (c) engaging in physical attacks based on religious / belief differences (d) allowing personal assumptions, prejudices or stereotypes on religious / belief issues to influence decisions e.g. regarding recruitment and selection of staff or students, condoning a culture which tolerates sectarian language and jokes in the workplace. An example of open and explicit personal sectarianism is a teacher who does not like pupils from particular beliefs, faiths or denominations, viewing them as problems in society and treating these pupils with less respect. Most people engage in personal sectarianism without realising that they are doing so. For example, dismissing using sectarian slang at football matches as being acceptable provided it is done within match time only.
Sectarianism (religious)	A narrow-minded following of a particular belief by members of a denomination that leads to prejudice, bigotry, discrimination, malice and ill-will towards members, or presumed members, of another denomination. Sectarianism can occur in different ways, either at an individual, group, cultural or institutional level.
Sectarianism (structural)	This is the broadest level and refers to political and economic processes at play. There is often no deliberate policy to discriminate but actions at public policy, political or economic level but affect one denominational grouping more than another. For example, housing in a particular area is demolished to pave the way for a new supermarket. Most of the people living in that area are of lower income levels. It is also the case that those who are on lower income levels in that part of the town tended to belong to one denominational group and would therefore be affected in greater numbers. A local council planning committee unaware of this or unheeding of this will have contributed to structural sectarianism.
Secularism	The word secular means "of this world" in Latin and is the opposite of religious. As a doctrine, secularism is usually used in reference to any philosophy which forms its ethics without reference to religious dogmas and which promotes the development of human art and science separate from religion.
SEED	Scottish Executive Education Department. Now known as Scottish Government Schools Division.
SEED (Scottish Executive Education Department)	The government department within the Scottish Executive which is responsible for pre-school and school education in Scotland, as well as other portfolios such as children, young people, social care, social work services, tourism, culture and sport.
Self-assessment	Pupils are involved in self-assessment when they look at their own work in a reflective way and identify aspects that are good and others which need to be improved. Black and Wiliam highlighted this as an important part of learning. One way of doing this is by traffic lighting, where pupils are asked to assign red, amber and green colours to their work to indicate their level of confidence. Like peer assessment, self-assessment benefits if teachers explain and demonstrate it and ensure pupils have a clear understanding of learning objectives and criteria of success.
Self-esteem	The inner perception people have as being more or less valuable, worthy and important in the world.
self evaluation	The process by which individual teachers critically reflect on their knowledge and skills with the aim of identifying their professional development needs
SELMAS (Scottish Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society)	An association interested in the development of practice, teaching, training and research in educational leadership, management and administration at all levels. It is associated with the British Educational Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS).
Semantic memory	Semantic memory relates to our knowledge and concepts about the world we live in, and involves the ability to store and recall information in the form of numbers, words, facts and rules. Semantic memories are not formed automatically - they require motivation and they are easy to lose.
Semiotic languages	The use of signs and symbols to replace words.
SEN (Special educational needs)	The term applies to pupils whose learning, for a range of reasons, such as due to a disability or learning difficulties, is significantly behind their peers. Special educational needs are part of a wider additional support needs framework under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act. The framework will cover the needs of all children who require some additional help with learning.
SERA (Scottish Educational Research Association)	SERA aims to promote educational research and debate about the contribution research can make to enhanced practice. SERA membership brings the opportunity to join an active community of teachers, policy makers, teacher-researchers, professional researchers, research funders and other educational professionals.
Server	A computer or device that holds information that other computers have access to.
Set class	Where pupils are allocated to subject classes or groups on the basis of their previous attainment in the subject. This is different from streaming, in which pupils of the same perceived ability are grouped together for all lessons.
SETT	Another name for the Scottish Learning Festival.
SETT (Scottish Education and Teaching with Technology) The Scottish Learning Festival	SETT is a free two-day annual conference and exhibition, organised by LT Scotland for the Scottish education community. It aims to inspire and transform professional practice in teaching and learning. SETT also encourages creative and effective use of ICT in education. It combines a thought-provoking conference programme of keynote presentations, seminars and workshops with the largest education exhibition to take place in Scotland.
SFEFC (Scottish Further Education Funding Council)	A non-departmental public body established in 1999 which is responsible to the Scottish Government. It provides financial support for teaching, and associated activities for Scottish further education colleges.
SFEU (Scottish Further Education Unit)	SFEU works in partnership with Scotland's 46 colleges - as well as other key national agencies - supporting the development of learning and teaching in Scotland, through support of staff and the curriculum in further education in Scotland.
SG (Standard Grade)	Standard Grades are National Qualifications and are generally taken over two years of study in third and fourth year at secondary school with an exam at the end of fourth year. There are three levels of study: Credit, General and Foundation. The awards are graded by performance in national examinations.
SGA (Scottish Group Awards)	An arrangement whereby passes in examinations administrated by SQA are grouped in order to provide entry qualifications to further courses of study or training.
Shareware	Shareware software is typically obtained free of charge, often by downloading from the internet, allowing users to try the program before buying. A shareware program can be downloaded on the understanding that the user will pay for it if they continue to use it.
Sharing criteria	When pupils are made aware of the standard of work expected at a particular level. It is important to ensure that criteria are expressed in language that is accessible to the learner. It is helpful also if pupils are able to discuss examples of work which does / does not meet the criteria.
SHEFC (Scottish Higher Education Funding Council)	A non-departmental public body responsible to the Scottish Executive which was established in June 1992. it provides financial support for teaching, research and associated activities in Scottish higher education institutions.
Short term memory	Memory is generally defined as the processes of encoding, storing and retrieving information in our brains. It is thought to begin with the encoding or converting of information into a form that can be stored by the brain and this system is usually referred to as short-term memory.
Sikhism	Sikhism was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak and is a monotheistic religion. Sikhs think religion should be practiced by living in the world and coping with life's everyday problems. Sikhism is the youngest of the great world faiths. There are 20 million Sikhs in the world, most living in India. Sikhism is Britain's third most popular religion, with about half a million Sikhs living in the UK.
SLRC (Scots Language Resource Centre)	The centre was founded in 1991 to do everything possible to promote the Scots language. It has a collection of books and other material; provides information about Scots to enquirers from around the world; holds conferences and meetings; helps a great variety of people to find out more about Scots, and establishes contacts between activists, academics and others with the intention of encouraging discussion about Scots and the development of plans for its future.
SLS (School Leaders Scotland)	An organisation to which most secondary headteachers in Scotland belong. It deals with national issues as they affect schools and headteachers and also discusses issues directly with the Scottish Government.
SLS (School Leaders Scotland)	An organisation to which most secondary headteachers in Scotland belong. It deals with national issues as they affect schools and headteachers and also discusses issues directly with the Scottish Government.
Small steps learning intentions	For younger pupils and those with ASN these may be the first point of reference in planning and beginning a lesson. They are useful in focusing pupils, motivating them and helping the learning process to be more effective. They are related to the 'Big Picture' learning intention – the teacher encourages learners to say what is entailed. Suggestions form a list of smaller learning intentions; the teacher and pupils then discuss possible success criteria for each of these small step learning intentions. For example, OURSELVES - Body Parts/Senses/Keeping Healthy - keeping clean/taking exercise/balanced diet. (For more information, see 'Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom' Clarke S., 2003, page 17)
SMART(ER) targets	An acronym used for targets which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-related (and enjoyable and rewarding). The Department for Education and skills states that good performance targets should be SMART, in other words, ‘specific: clear, unambiguous and easy to understand by those who are required to achieve them’. Targets must also be gauged against specific measures. They should be achievable in ways that are realistic yet challenging but not out of reach. They should also be relevant to those required to meet these targets; and learners should have sufficient control over their work to be able to meet them. Targets should also function within a set timescale otherwise they may become unfocused. In addition, targets are more efficient of they are also enjoyable and rewarding for the learner.
SMT	An acronym for Senior Management Team. This will typically consist of the headteacher and depute headteachers responsible for the strategic management of a school.
Social Media	Websites and services that are built around participation and user-generated content for example Facebook and youtube
Sociology	The scientific study of the human mind and mental states, and of human and animal behaviour.
Software	The part of a computer that consists of encoded information (operating instructions) as opposed to the actual physical computer equipment.
SOHCAHTOA	A mnemonic for remembering trigonometry ratios. SOH stands for sine equals opposite over hypotenuse. CAH stands for cosine equals adjacent over hypotenuse. TOA stands for tangent equals opposite over adjacent.
Solution procedures	Problem solving technique that begins with defining and analysing the problem, investigating possible solutions, selecting a solution then evaluating.
Spam	Unsolicited or junk email. Usually caused by leaving your email address on untrustworthy websites. Never reply to spam emails as you’ll only receive more.
Specific duties	A series of steps that help public authorities better meet their legislative requirements and promote race equality. In many respects these duties can be viewed as an action plan.
Specific learning difficulties	Describes an individual who is as able as any other, except in one or two areas such as in reading or writing, or with numbers. Difficulties may take many forms; however the best known of these is dyslexia, which involves difficulty with written symbols. Pupils with this difficulty may have reading and writing attainments significantly below standards they achieve in other areas.
Spirituality	The state, quality, manner, or fact of being spiritual.
SPTC (Scottish Parent Teacher Council)	The national organisation for PTAs and PAs in Scotland. Its aim is to advance education by encouraging the fullest cooperation between home and school, education authorities, central government and all those concerned with education in Scotland. SPTC has recognition as a national body for parents. It currently has around 1200 member PTAs/PAs.
SQA	Scottish Qualifications Authority.
SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority)	An executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Scottish Government. It is the national body in Scotland responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees.
SQH	Scottish Qualification for Headship, a development programme through a university for aspiring headteachers.
SQH (Scottish Qualification for Headship)	The Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH) is intended to help potential headteachers prepare themselves for taking up a headteachers' post. The qualification is based on the Standard for Headship in Scotland, which is the subject of a review through the Curriculum for Excellence programme.
SSA (Scottish Survey of Achievement)	The annual national survey of pupils' attainment in the Scottish 5-14 curriculum at P3, P5, P7 and S2.
SSDN (Scottish Schools Digital Network)	Now renamed as Glow - see separate entry.
SSERC (Scottish Schools Equipment Research Centre)	The Scottish Schools Equipment Research Centre covers science, technology and safety (STS) in schools.
SSO (Scottish Schools Online)	A searchable directory of all schools in Scotland, including local authority and independent schools. It provides contact details, links to school websites where available, and statistical and other information for every school.
SSTA (Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association)	Scotland's second largest teachers' union, set up to focus on secondary issues, initially as a reaction to the undue influence exercised on national education issues at that time by the primary sector. Nowadays this has developed into a commitment to ensure that the secondary view is properly represented.
Standard	A term that defines the criteria for success at a particular level. 'Sharing the standard' happens at moderation meetings, when teachers within and across schools/departments ensure they assess pupils' work in the same way.
Standard for Chartered Teacher	A framework of professional standards for Scottish teachers who have achieved chartered status. See Chartered Teacher.
Standard for Full Registration	A framework of professional standards for Scottish teachers. Full registration is required to teach in Scottish educational establishments beyond the probationary period.
Standard for Headship	A framework of professional standards for Scottish headteachers.
Standard for Initial Teacher Education	A framework of professional standards for initial teachers. Full registration is required to teach in Scottish educational establishments beyond the probationary period.
Standard Grade	A two-year course generally taken over the third and fourth years at secondary school, with an exam at the end of the fourth year. There are three levels: Credit, General, and Foundation. Students generally take exams at two – Credit and General, or General and Foundation. This makes sure that students have the best chance of achieving as high a grade as possible. Coursework is also assessed and projects, or folios, count towards the final mark along with the exam.
Standardised test	A formal, norm-referenced test, for example in mathematics, reading, 'general intelligence' and so on. In a test that has been 'standardised', a mean score and typical pattern of performance has been established by setting it to a large random sample of the population. When the test is subsequently taken by groups or individual pupils, their performance is reported in relation to the mean and/or distribution of scores in the standardising sample.
Starter quiz	A non-threatening way of establishing prior knowledge at the start of a lesson or series of lessons.
Stem	In multiple choice test items/tasks, this is the introductory question or the unfinished statement which pupils complete by selecting from the options provided.
Stereotype / Stereotyping	A pre-conceived and usually oversimplified conception of a characteristic(s), which typify a person/group of people / thing. Presuming that a group of people will share a specific characteristic.
STNE	Scottish Teachers for a New Era (STNE) is investigating and developing a new model for teacher education. This includes engaging with other university faculties to allow education students to gain a broader and deeper curriculum knowledge, developing teaching as a ‘clinical’ practice profession and providing research-based evidence for proposed changes.
Strategy	A strategy is the means by which objectives can be achieved. It is often broken down into discrete tasks or small steps.
Streaming video	A means of delivering video or multimedia over the internet.
Success criteria	Statements of standards from which success in an activity, for example a test/examination or a development plan, can be measured. They specify the acceptable evidence that the aim(s) of the enterprise has/have been achieved.
SULP (Social Use of Language Programme)	This uses a multi-sensory, metacognitive approach, to enable children and adolescents to understand fully the skills being learned, before practising and using them in real-life situations. SULP was developed by Dr Wendy Rinaldi, a Speech and Language therapist, to address pragmatic or social communication skills, and/or those with moderate learning difficulties or specific language and communication disorders.
Summative assessment	This type of assessment is designed to establish the extent to which pupils have achieved the learning aims of a programme of work. It can take various forms: an end-of-unit test to check whether key points have been understood or whether key skills have been acquired; a pass/fail criterion-referenced test or examination in which the pupil demonstrates whether she/he can meet the success criteria for a longer period of work (for example a term or a year); or an examination which samples a representative range of a large programme of work and grades pupils' performance, either in relation to grade-related criteria or on a norm-referenced basis, in terms of their place in the rank order of all those taking the examination. Feedback is usually in the form of a mark or a pass/fail or achieved/not achieved statement, without comment on strengths and future learning needs or next steps. However, it is often possible to use summative assessments formatively - for example, to identify areas of understanding or skill which need more attention.
Support for learning	Specialist provision in schools and education authorities to help groups of pupils, typically those who have learning difficulties or exceptional abilities, to deal effectively with learning challenges. Support for Learning staff may plan and teach collaboratively with class teachers, work with individual pupils or groups within the classroom or in tutorials, and offer advice and staff development to class teachers.
Supporting learning / support of learning	Teachers often need to recognise a range of factors which can affect pupils' learning. These have to be considered when planning how to provide the right kind of support that will help pupils make progress.
SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification)	SVQs are qualifications which relate to an individual's ability to do a job and which are based on actual working practices in workplace conditions. They are similar to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) awarded in other parts of the UK.