Latest news with #KenMuir
Glasgow Times
30-06-2025
- General
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow pupils recognised for achievements beyond grades
The students from across Glasgow have been honoured with the inaugural Ken Muir Award for Exceptional Achievement. This award celebrates personal growth, resilience, and workplace readiness, highlighting the value of skills that extend beyond exams. Dominic Rogers, William Brand Armstrong, Adam Marchbank, Greta Fraser, Euan Ward, Mark Vassie, Sarthak Gupta, and MacKenzie Carss were among 86 recipients across Scotland. Read more: Glasgow pupils save 12kg of food waste per day in new school pilot Professor Ken Muir with Dominic Rogers from Bishopbriggs Academy (Image: Supplied) The students are all S5 and S6 pupils from Bishopbriggs Academy, Drumchapel High School, Eastbank Academy, Hillhead High School, Jordanhill School, King's Park Secondary School, and Shawlands Academy. Eilidh Richmond, a teacher at Shawlands Academy, said: "We're incredibly proud of our pupils for receiving the Ken Muir Award. "What's been most rewarding isn't just seeing them earn a qualification, but witnessing the confidence, maturity, and resilience they've developed along the way. "They've learned to communicate more effectively, work collaboratively under pressure, and reflect meaningfully on their own growth. "These are life skills that will stay with them far beyond school and into the world of work. "This recognition is truly well deserved." Professor Ken Muir with MacKenzie Carss from Shawlands Academy (Image: Supplied) The award is named in honour of Professor Ken Muir, a key advisor to the Scottish Government on education reform and a contributor to the 2023 report It's Our Future – Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment. He has called for reforms to Scotland's education system to better prepare students for the future. Professor Muir said: "We need a culture shift in Scotland's education system. "Of course, grades are important – but so is working hard, reflecting on progress, and growing as a person. "These awards are symbolic of this shift. "They celebrate personal development, resilience, communication, and teamwork. "These are all critical attributes that help young people thrive in life and in work." Read more: MSPs pass legislation to abolish Scotland's exams body All award recipients completed the Powering Futures Challenge Programme, a nationally delivered course equivalent to a Higher qualification focused on preparing senior pupils for the workplace. More than 1000 pupils across Scotland earned an SCQF Level 6 qualification through the programme. However, the award winners stood out for their exceptional personal development, including growth in confidence, teamwork, and communication skills. Now in its fourth year, the Powering Futures Schools Programme challenges pupils to tackle real-life business and industry problems in teams, in order to develop essential meta-skills while building valuable connections with employers. Jennifer Tempany, co-founder of Powering Futures, said: "These awards highlight the often-overlooked achievements that sit beyond academic results, but which can inspire confidence and purpose in young people as they go into the world of work. "We are proud to play our part in helping young people see their potential, and congratulate every recipient, including those from Glasgow, for their well-earned achievement."
The Herald Scotland
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Teaching union, MSPs and expert condemn new Education Bill
The bill changes some of the internal structures of Scotland's only exam board – the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) – as part of a process to transform it into a body known as Qualifications Scotland. The new organisation will retain the same powers as its predecessor. including the dual function of awarding and certifying qualifications that has previously led to accusations that the SQA is permitted to 'mark its own homework'. The government's own review of the SQA explicitly called for the functions of the exam board to be split into two entirely distinct organisations, but this recommendation has been rejected. Instead, the government has committed to carry out another review, but is not required to accept its findings or implement recommended changes. The bill also introduces changes to way in which school inspection is organised, removing this responsibility from the national body known as Education Scotland. Speaking exclusively to The Herald, Professor Ken Muir of the University of the West of Scotland, who was commissioned to carry out the original review, described the Bill as 'disappointing.' He criticised the failure to split the functions of the SQA and locate them in entirely distinct bodies, and said that significant 'monitoring and scrutiny' would be required to determine whether progress was being made. However, he noted that the Bill as passed 'doesn't bring about the cultural and mindset shift that is required' in order to address long-standing problems with the exam board. Professor Muir added that 'questions remain as to the independence of the Chief Inspector' following the passage of the Bill, and that this will also require further scrutiny. Andrea Bradley, General Secretary of the EIS teaching union, said that the new bill is 'an opportunity missed' after 'a considerable investment both of time and public resource.' 'Teachers have been clear that their professional voice must be central to decision making in the new national agencies, particularly Qualifications Scotland. We are less than persuaded that the Bill will deliver this, and the meaningful culture change, that is so urgently required. 'Teachers, lecturers, learners and their families need to be convinced through the actions of the new agency that the Bill amounts to more than a rebranding exercise. The retention of the accreditation function within Qualifications Scotland has done nothing to change this perception and the prospect of yet another review two years down the line simply prolongs the process, postponing implementation of essential reforms and adding to the frustrations of teachers, lecturers and other stakeholders who have made their views clear in this respect.' 'Whilst the EIS noted the stated intent that the Chief Inspector's Office should be independent of government, in reality the provisions of the Bill do not provide this assurance or indeed, any real clarity about governance and the role of teachers in this new inspectorate. With Scottish Ministers having power over key reporting functions, staffing and funding arrangements, we are not confident that the legislative changes enable the requisite meaningful change for inspection outlined in the Muir Review. ' Scottish Conservative education spokesperson Miles Briggs MSP said that the failure to split the functions of the SQA, as recommended by the Muir Review, 'completely undermines the purpose and credibility of the bill', and that the Scottish Government has 'fumbled an opportunity to deliver real improvements to Scotland's schools.' 'The Scottish Conservatives called for an independent inspector who would be directly responsible to Parliament and we stressed the crucial importance of dividing the SQA's accreditation and regulating roles. 'But apart from a minor change to the CEO's job description, the qualifications authority will continue to mark its own homework – exactly what the Muir report said would have to change. 'Jenny Gilruth has delivered a set of minor tweaks that are merely cosmetic, and left many of the people who have created this mess in post. Unfortunately, this trivial rebrand will do nothing to repair the damage the SNP's education policies have created in Scottish schools.' Scottish Labour Education spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP also condemned the new bill, which she said offers 'a review not reform': 'Years of SQA scandals and failures has left teachers and parents with no trust in our education system, but the SNP has wasted the chance to truly scrap the body. 'Experts and teachers have been clear that the real reform is needed and the new qualifications body shouldn't be responsible for accreditation, but the SNP refused to listen. 'The truth is this Bill amounts to little more than a rebrand of the SQA and offers a review not reform. Scottish Labour has been clear that we could not vote to continue a broken status quo. 'Young people are Scotland's greatest asset and they deserve an education system that helps them thrive.' READ MORE Commenting for the Scottish Greens, who backed the SNP in order to ensure the passage of the Bill, Ross Greer MSP defended the structural changes to management roles at the exam board, one of which, he argued, means that the functions of the SQA have 'effectively' been split: 'I'm pleased that MSPs agreed to my amendments to split the Chief Executive's role into those of a Chief Examiner, Chief Accreditation Officer and Chief Executive. The Chief Examiner must be an experienced educator and they will be supported by an external Expert Group on Qualification Standards, whilst the Chief Accreditation Officer will be supported by an external Accreditation Committee. 'In addition, Parliament agreed to another amendment I tabled which requires the Chief Examiner and Chief Accreditation Officer to discharge their duties independently of each other, building another important safeguard into the system and effectively splitting those functions. 'Combined with Willie Rennie's amendments to review the scope of the accreditation function, the final draft of the bill as approved by Parliament includes a strong package of measures to address the problems seen at the SQA. That review will be critical, because school-based qualifications like Nat 5s and Highers are not currently accredited. 'Despite some recent suggestions, incidents like last year's Higher History controversy wouldn't have been prevented by the accreditation function sitting somewhere else, because Highers are not accredited. I personally think that should change, thus the importance of the review.' Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP argued that the bill gives a new qualifications body the opportunity to change: 'The accreditation function at the SQA does not cover national qualifications like Highers and National 5s so moving it to another body would not have improved the oversight and regulation for those qualifications. I was determined to respond to the Higher History problems with a change to the existing quality assurance arrangements that proved to be wholly inadequate. 'That's why I put forward amendments that were agreed by parliament to establish reviews of the quality assurance, the scope of the existing accreditation and also the eventual location of any new accreditation function. There will also be immediate improvements to the quality assurance arrangements. This will all mean an orderly process towards a new accreditation and regulation function.' The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.
The Herald Scotland
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Why is The Herald trying to reimagine secondary schools?
Indeed, the demands became so loud and insistent that the SNP decided they couldn't be ignored. Instead, the government decided that it would be best to take control of the narrative. We got a promise that the SQA would be scrapped, and an expert review that recommended fundamental changes to the organisations that help run the Scottish education system. In particular, Professor Ken Muir and his team explicitly advised the government to split the functions of the exam board so that it could no longer mark its own homework by being its own regulator. We got something called a 'National Discussion' that was going to 'inform a renewed vision for the future of Scottish education'. And we got something that many had demanded for a very, very long time: a review of qualifications and our approach to certifying school leavers. This report offered some genuinely radical ideas, including bringing Scotland into line with other countries by reducing the number of years that students spend working through exam cycles. Some people were hugely optimistic about all of this, but few remain so. The government has already rejected meaningful changes to the exam system, and the much-vaunted National Discussion – which was never anything of the sort – has disappeared with barely a trace. As for scrapping the SQA, the government wants the 'new' body that replaces it to have all the same powers, and for it to be run by all the same people who were behind years of failure. If you suggest to people in Scottish education that the Muir and Hayward reforms are effectively dead, they rarely dispute the point. Many just offer a resigned shrug, as if there was no point in ever hoping for anything else anyway. They may well be right. But the goal of reforming Scottish education, and making it truly fit for the 21st Century, cannot simply be abandoned. The stakes are too high, and the failures too great, for us to simply accept that things have aye been this way and move on. Which is why The Herald has decided to ask what it might look like if we really did reimagine secondary schooling in Scotland. But 18 pages are not enough space for The Herald to explain why education reform matters, what options are available to Scotland, and who needs to be watched closely to ensure accountability. Getting into all of this properly would require tens of thousands of words and even then it could never be exhaustive. There are just too many ideas – too many options. That has not stopped us from trying, however, and we hope that size of the task does not stop our readers from picking up our marker and filling in the gaps we leave in these pages. And there are gaps. We've only really been able to look at one major possible change in each of the two stages of secondary. For the first three years, known as Broad General Education, a teaching approach that blends the knowledge and skills developed across discrete subjects shows promise, but we've only been able to show you a snapshot. In S4-6, the most obvious changes involve altering qualifications, so we've explored the current landscape and also considered one option – Foundation Apprenticeships – in a bit more detail. Either of these areas could fill a book on their own, but our articles can, we hope, be a useful starting point for further discussion. We have also examined a few examples from beyond our borders – three in Europe, and one from across the Atlantic. Once again, these are snapshots of the systems in place in other countries, but they also illustrate an important point: that completely different approaches to education are, in the end, just about the choices we make and the factors (or people) we decide to prioritise. A lot of ink in these pages is also dedicated to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and details about not only its legal transition to Qualifications Scotland, but also its – to many – more important cultural transformation. There's no escaping the fact that the exam board will have impact on what reforms might be achieved in future, so the outcome of these ongoing reforms really matters. Trust between teachers and the SQA has broken down over the years, and a series of events post-Covid have accelerated the breakdown of that relationship. This is something the SQA has admitted, and the current, interim SQA leadership has put 'resetting relationships' as a top priority in its transformation process. Outside circumstances have created a situation where the only people capable of changing the SQA are within the SQA. And this in turn creates a situation where the only choice for stakeholders who are desperate for change is to trust the name that they feel does not deserve it. That means the conversation around education reform must continue beyond this special edition of The Herald. We hope this spotlight not only sparks some ideas, but encourages readers and decision-makers to go further.
