Schools

Speech delivered on Thu 1st Dec 2005

The Deputy Minister for Education and Young People (Robert Brown)

This has been an interesting debate, which has been shot through with insights from all sides of the chamber. As I think Adam Ingram indicated at the start of his closing speech, the truth is that there has been no substantial attack on the central themes of the Executive's education programme by any of the Opposition parties.

Presiding Officer, let me introduce you to Flat Stanley. This Flat Stanley in my hand belongs to Mark at Abbeyhill Primary School in Edinburgh, where I went on Tuesday to launch a global citizenship pack that has been developed by classroom teachers in association with the Scottish development education centre—Scotdec. At Abbeyhill, we were treated to musical performance of a high order, which had clearly been stimulated by the presence of a regular music specialist. Dare I point out to Fiona Hyslop that that has enhanced the activities of the ordinary teachers in that particular primary school? We were also entertained by dancing, stories and drama—in the best Scottish bardic tradition—from different classes.

There will obviously be different positions around the country when it comes to the immediate availability of teachers but, having said that, there is no doubt about the general thrust, which is that there are increasing numbers of teachers. That is moving us towards our target of 53,000, not least in the subjects of drama, arts, music and PE, which we have been hearing about throughout the debate.

At the school that I visited—and this is echoed at many schools that both I and the Minister for Education and Young People have visited throughout Scotland—the children were clearly proud of their school. They were motivated, well-mannered and caring. They were a credit to themselves, to their parents and to their teachers.

Flat Stanleys—along with Horace the bear—were sent off by the schoolchildren to Africa, India and other parts of Asia, Australia, North America, South America and different parts of Europe. Flat Stanley met children in those countries there. Mark's Flat Stanley here, who is actually called Ken, has come to the Scottish Parliament today having been to Toronto; he has also been scuba diving in Egypt. He came back with a new suit of clothes and photographs of his travels. Flat Stanleys offer a brilliant way to establish links with other countries and to develop some understanding of the lives of children there, as is happening in many schools in Scotland using increasingly innovative practices.

The SNP's position in the debate is substantially founded on myth. Every nationalist party has to have myth. The main myth today is that the Scottish Executive is about to abolish history as a separate discipline. Making history history would no doubt be a good soundbite for the party that was meant to be "free by 93". However, it is simply not true. What is true is that the curriculum review might well produce opportunities to consider how history, and indeed other subjects, are delivered, not least in S1 and S2, where most people agree that it is a challenge to continue to motivate and interest young people. That is what the curriculum review is about. It is not about trying to harness people to a narrow, nationalist approach; it is about having the widest possible curriculum for the future of Scotland's children.

This is not about a lack of knowledge of who we are. Young people in Scotland are not swallowing a particular view of Scotland's history and position. That is what is bothering the SNP.

Peter Peacock quoted the curriculum review document, describing how

"knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it"

is central to our young people becoming

"successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens ... and effective contributors".

That clearly made the point about what the objectives are. Things are happening successfully across the system, as Frank McAveety told us. The curriculum is about engaging with people from throughout Scotland on the themes that I have been discussing. It is about significantly improving young people's experience so that they can succeed in life. It is about making space for arts, culture, drama, music and sport. Robin Harper was right to give significance to that point.

Young people are one of Scotland's greatest resources. As Peter Peacock said in opening the debate, we are in the top international education league for many of our young people, with all the significance that that has for the Executive's top priority of growing the economy. That did not happen by accident; it happened because of the dedicated, professional and highly motivated work of teachers and other staff in our schools and because of the work of the young people themselves. That is in contrast to the position in the past, to which the Conservatives want to take us back, when teachers felt embittered, embattled, hard done to and hard done by. Those days are gone, thanks to our investment in the profession following the McCrone inquiry and thanks to the sense of purpose, the leadership, the investment in the school estate and the care that has gone into nurturing the best professional practice of innovation and motivation in schools.

In the visits that I and many members throughout the chamber make around Scotland, it is clear that the atmosphere in schools has changed dramatically. They are bright, exciting and dynamic places that are brimming with ideas and innovation. They are filled with enthusiastic staff: head teachers, teachers, classroom assistants and auxiliary personnel, of whom there are more. They are better—they are better trained than they have ever been—and they are proud to work in schools. The increased dynamism from the major increase in new young and enthusiastic teachers who are being trained and recruited into schools gives us the opportunity to provide a much-enriched experience by reducing class sizes, supplying specialist teachers and helping those with specific support needs.

A key part of our vision is to empower teachers to reach new heights of professional excellence. Hundreds of teachers and head teachers have been involved in early discussion on the curriculum review and thousands more will be involved as the review develops. An empowered profession that helps to shape the future for our schools—that is what devolved school management means.

We are sailing with a fair wind and teachers like what they have heard so far. They are being asked questions and they like being involved. Excitement is felt about the idea, which has not been mentioned today, of liberating science teachers to discuss what makes science interesting, thrilling and important in the world. Teachers in the expressive arts are captivated by the prospect of working creatively across the curriculum. Thinking about good learning and teaching is just as important as considering structures and guidelines, so our plan for the immediate future is to stimulate debate about why change is needed, the extent of that change and how it might happen.

We heard from the Conservatives the familiar mantra of support for the changes that the Labour Government in London proposes. Far be it from me to defend those changes; Iain Smith did a

good job on them and Frank McAveety also commented on them. The point is that the system in England is different. What is appropriate there may or may not be appropriate in the different Scottish context. It is slightly bizarre that the Conservative party's main contribution was to advocate adopting the approach of the Labour Government in London. That was undershot by Alex Johnstone's comments, which have been touched on, about the effects that those proposals might have on rural schools in Scotland.

Robin Harper was right to talk about modern studies. I share with him a commitment to the future of modern studies in our schools. The subject is available in almost every school, with only the occasional exception. It is important and is a separate discipline from history. There is no suggestion of amalgamating the subjects.

Iain Smith talked about the aim that every school in Scotland should achieve excellence. The Conservatives fall short on that, because they concentrate on some schools and forget the effect on other schools in the vicinity of such concentration. We want excellence for all schools and we are very much going along the lines of achieving that.

A report that we received from the Office for Standards in Education contained the interesting statistic that teaching in one in four schools in England was only satisfactory or poor, whereas the quality of teaching in Scotland was poor or unsatisfactory in only about one in 14 schools in the past seven years. That point is significant. We must deal with the schools that are not as successful as others, but there is a difference of kind between the position in Scotland and that in England.

Other interesting points were made by Gordon Jackson about the importance of pre-school provision; by Ken Macintosh about leadership, as emphasised by the position at Barrhead High School; and by Donald Gorrie about informal education against the background of the youth work strategy, which we will adopt shortly.

As I have said before, we have a great generation of children and young people who will do great things in the world and will make the world and their local communities better places for their presence. Our challenge, on which we are increasingly focused, is to ensure that all our young people have the opportunities, notwithstanding sometimes difficult family backgrounds, to develop their personalities, their talents and their abilities to their fullest potential, to realise their ambitions for themselves and Scotland and to contribute to Scotland's success in the challenging world of the 21st century. I urge support for the Executive's motion.

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