Evidence submitted by Govan High School
There are a number of points that we would like to formally bring to the Committee's attention:
— the notion of a target of 55% school leavers entering Higher Education is flawed in a country where it is almost impossible to get a skilled plumber or electrician when you need one;
— the changes in the school curriculum as embodied in A Curriculum for Excellence are welcome and should help, but employers have to be specific about the skills that they would like to see developed and schools must respond by working with pupils to develop these;
— young people only know that they are developing skills successfully when the intent and success criteria are shared with them during the educational process in school—you do not know that you have a skill unless you have this sort of experience;
— most schools will only be encouraged to increase their focus on skills development when the success of a school is determined by more than attainment as indicated by exam results eg by wider pupil achievements and leaver destination statistics;
— such attainment measures are around five or more subject passes and yet there are few, if any, craft apprenticeships where any more than three SQA certificates are required; and
— Her Majesty's Inspectors are not "walking the walk" in inspecting schools—they may pay lip service to curricular changes in schools to provide more vocational experiences, but their narrow focus on traditional, academic attainment has not changed.
Iain White
Head Teacher, Govan High School, Glasgow
April 2008
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