CfE Times Comment
Keir Bloomer, an architect of Curriculum for Excellence, said other urban schools could replicate Jordanhill’s success by closer collaboration.
Ironic that the promoted solution relies on going against the spirit of CfE which is about adapting to local circumstances. An effectively 3–18 co-located campus might work in densely populated Glasgow but Scotland elsewhere is a bit more spread out. Up north scattered Primary’s feed into a hub secondary and are for practical reasons part of their communities — the Area School Group. There used to be at least one 3–18 school in Aberdeen — St Peter’s but according to some alumni one problem was that it was a little too cosy; the same teachers knew the kids all the way through their school lives. The Local Authority maybe agreed an opportunity was taken to abolish the Secondary aspect of Catholic education a while back. St Peter’s is now just a thriving Primary. “The break between primary and secondary is purely arbitrary. It takes place at a different stage in England. It can also be very disruptive,” he said. I am not sure that the comparison to England is correct. Clearly the 11plus drove the break at a similar age to Scotland — and in some parts (Kent) the Grammar schools continue to exist. There are scholarship programs in Aberdeen for 8 yr olds where the best Primary kids are creamed off to the Private sector where they are financially supported and raise the academic standard there.
