Response to Consultation on Prescribing the minimum annual number of learning hours
The Scottish Government are seeking views on the prescribed minimum learning hours for primary and secondary pupils in local authority schools in Scotland.
Sadly, for many pupils the number of hours prescribed will be largely irrelevant as the statutory exemptions provided will allow education authorities to provide reduced learning hours based on broad criteria at their say-so alone.
The concerns outlined below were discussed with Scottish Government officials over a period from the passing of the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 to August 2018.
The Law
As the consultation…
The New Brunswick Department of Education came out with eight recommendations Wednesday for the Anglophone education system’s upcoming school year.
“One of the things we’re going to do is hire teachers under contract,” said N.B. Education Minister, Bill Hogan.
“So that we know in certain areas and districts will help identify those schools that teacher X will be available on any given day to replace the first teacher that’s absent,” Hogan said.
“If there’s no teacher that’s absent then we’ll have that teacher available to work with individual students,” he said.
Some of those recommendations…
Ontario education minister Stephen Lecce made a trip to Sudbury, Ont. on Thursday to announce a new investment with Science North.
However Lecce toured the brand new Lasalle Elementary School first, which is set to open this September for students from kindergarten to Grade 6.
Lasalle Elementary will be the Rainbow District School Board’s (RDSB) latest French immersion school.
Lecce participated in a ribbon cutting as part of his tour, which showcased some of the 19 additional classrooms, a gymnasium and new library.
“Alot of small communities, rural communities, northern communities over many years have faced school closures, so it’s…
The Education, Children and Young People Committee is the lead committee for the Disabled Children and Young People (Transitions to Adulthood) (Scotland) Bill, a private member’s Bill, introduced by Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP.
The period for interested parties to submit their views on the Bill to the Committee has recently ended. Here is a summary of my submissions.
The aims of the Bill are to improve both the process and outcomes of the post-school transition for disabled children and young people. This is much needed, and does require serious and considered attention.
The Bill, as set out covers three main big…
Recently, the Scottish Government issued a consultation on national school uniform guidance that they are planning to issue. The main stated aims of the new guidance will be to reduce costs for families, and to comply with equal obligations.
The guidance is to apply to all schools in Scotland, whether local authority schools, independent schools, or grant-aided schools.
For a consultation document, it already has some very clear ideas about what the proposed guidance will, and will not contain.
So, we know that the guidance will not:
require the adoption of specific school uniform items;
…
Premier Doug Ford’s government is pushing Ontario schools to focus on what it calls “getting back to the basics of education.”
The 2023-24 school year brings fresh momentum to that push from Ford and Education Minister Stephen Lecce.
The government is now armed with new powers to set provincial priorities for student achievement, and school boards face new requirements to report publicly on their progress.
Here are some highlights:
Student achievement plans
Each school board is required to post what’s called its Student Achievement Plan, a document that lays out how the board intends to work on the education priorities…
This week has been Anti-Bullying Week 2022, so it seems appropriate to take a quick look at a recent decision of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). On the one hand, it is a complaint about a complaint about a complaint – and those that can end up being very focused on the procedural side of things. On the other hand, it does raise some issues which I do hear a lot from parents who are involved with schools when their child is being bullied.
Read more: Listen Up!
Child A was being bullied at school. The parents in question…
The Yukon government has introduced a new online student financial assistance application portal, according to an Aug. 1 statement.
With the launch of the portal, the statement said post-secondary students from the territory can apply for grants and loans online, check the status of their applications and view funding decision letters, all on one platform.
“The transition from traditional paper-based systems to an online format has been a comprehensive and a long-awaited transformation, involving upgrades and enhancements across the entire system for many years. These efforts work towards fulfilling the Minister of Education’s mandate letter commitment to improve access to…