Supporting our children’s learning at home is a struggle for many families.
It’s important that we don’t put ourselves, or our children, under too much pressure and no one expects parents and carers to replace the role of a classroom teacher.

Many of us will be juggling working from home, childcare and supporting our children’s learning. A lot depends on the age and stage of our children, and their learning needs. The most important thing is to remember we are not a teacher and our role is to make sure that our children are safe and supported.  Working in partnership with our schools is key for learning that is realistic and appropriate to our family circumstances.

This Nutshell helps with resources for learning at home,

What can parents expect?

Staying safe online and online platforms to support learning at home,

Supporting your child’s learning at home.

This Nutshell explains, generally, how blended learning will work if it’s required in Scottish schools.

There may be some instances when all children can’t go to their school or early learning and childcare (ELC) setting because it’s not safe (for example because of local lockdown). If so, your child’s school or ELC setting will use blended learning.

There may be some differences between how local councils and schools organise blended learning. For more information about what will happen in your school or council area, it’s best to contact your school or ELC setting direct.

 

This Nutshell explains what STEM is and why STEM skills are important.

STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects give all young people important skills for their future lives and work. Employers are looking for young people with these skills, but there’s a big shortage.

How we, as parents, talk about these subjects is very important as it can make all the difference in encouraging our children to believe in their ability to understand and enjoy STEM subjects.

This Nutshell was created in partnership with Skills Development Scotland (SDS).

We’re living more of our life online. There are countless benefits of using the internet and social media, but there are also risks. The more we time we spend online, the greater our exposure, but there is a lot we can do to protect ourselves.

This Online Safety Nutshell gives you information and advice about online behaviour, and helping to keep your child safe on social media and gaming.

You can also find information and advice for protecting your technology in our helpsheet: Securing your devices.

 

We’re living more of our life online. There are countless benefits of using the internet and social media, but there are also risks. The more we time we spend online, the greater our exposure, but there is a lot we can do to protect ourselves.

This helpsheet, Securing your devices, gives you some points to think about and links to organisations that offer practical, step-by-step, advice.

You can also find information and advice about online behaviour, and helping to keep your child safe on social media and gaming, in our Online Safety Nutshell.

Supporting our children’s learning at home can be a struggle for many parents and families, and we do not yet know when, or how, our children will be able to return to school.

This Nutshell gives you some hints and tips for supporting learning at home, and links to organisations that offer advice and support for looking after your family’s wellbeing.

National Parent Forum for Scotland (NPFS) and Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland (CPAG) are delighted to launch a national Cost of the School Day toolkit resource for Parent Councils across Scotland.

Insufficient household income can mean that some children and young people don’t have the resources needed for school and can’t easily afford to take part in school activities which cost money. Parent Councils have a key role to play in highlighting to schools how costs affect families and in working with the school to ensure that costs do not act as a barrier to children’s learning or participation.

This toolkit is designed to help Parent Councils:

This toolkit was initially developed by CPAG in Scotland with the Glasgow Parent Council Forum, support by Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. NPFS has worked with parents in South Lanarkshire, Shetland and the Western Isles to add a national perspective to this work.

An electronic copy is available here but we are happy to post out hard copies. Please email office@npfs.org.uk to order.

CPAG in Scotland contact http://www.cpag.org.uk/cost-school-day

The National Parent Forum of Scotland is pleased to publish “Sharing Learning, Sharing Assessment – A Report for Parents“.

This Working Group was established by the NPFS to give particular consideration to the needs and views of parents as assessment in Curriculum for Excellence moves forward. We formed this working group because we were aware of a common theme coming from parents about lack of clarity on new assessment levels and approaches. Following on from the changes introduced by CfE, many parents were feeling that they did not understand the new system.

We hope that this report helps parents start to understand the changes taking place within their child’s classroom and also to give them confidence to ask questions to complete their knowledge…

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Children and young people progress in their learning in different ways. Progression in learning is built into the learning levels of the Broad General Education (early years to S3) and into the qualifications and awards of the Senior Phase (S4 to S6/ college). Assessment will ensure that children and young people are building on what they already know and can do, in order to gain more knowledge and skills. Progression is built into the learning levels of the Broad General Education and continues into the qualifications and awards of the Senior Phase.No Url Found

Our new and updated pointers for parents and pupils, to help support learning and revision.No Url Found

NPFS has developed a publication for parents which provides a helpful overview of the National Improvement Framework, launched by the First Minister on 6 January 2016.  The Framework is intended to drive both excellence and equity in Scottish education. Priorities will evolve over time to reflect emerging trends and will be reviewed annually.

NPFS welcomes the publication of the National Improvement Framework.   We have been closely involved in its development, including hosting events for parents to feed in their views. We are pleased that it shows that the Scottish Government have listened to the views of parents and see it as a positive step forward to support greater parental partnerships with schools, and improvements for children.No Url Found

A learning pathways is a learner’s journey through education and learning. Courses, qualifications and learning experiences can be chosen at any age or stage of learners’ lives. These learning choices are steps along the learning pathway.No Url Found

Careers in Digital Technology’  explains why young people should consider a career in digital technology in Scotland.  It looks at what skills are needed and the wealth of opportunity the industry in Scotland offers.  The guide recognises the digital technology industry might be relatively unknown for many parents, and tackles common myths about working in digital tech.

There’s also more on coding and next steps for young people interested in a digital tech career.No Url Found

NPFS has developed a publication for parents which provides a helpful introduction to the new programme of career education starting in the 2015/16 school year.

Career education will deliver key entitlements to all of our children and young people. These will ensure that Scotland’s children acquire the skills and knowledge they need so that they can reach the futures that are right for them. Have a look at our leaflet for further details of how this will work and how parents can support their children.No Url Found

We know that talking to your child about their future career can be tricky. That’s why The National Parent Forum of Scotland has joined forces again with Skills Development Scotland to help parents and carers talk about career decisions with their children.No Url Found

A visual explanation of the CfE Learner Journey through BGE, National Qualifications and beyond.No Url Found

What does a welcoming school look like? How do we support our children’s learning? How best can we work together to benefit our children? We are inviting everyone’s answers to the questions above – and we will continue to add to this resource. We have been asking teachers, parents, carers and families for their ideas and their experiences over the last few months. This has resulted in the checklist of pointers below for parents and schools to develop. We hope that, with your input, this list can grow and that it can inspire innovation along the way!

This resource supports dialogue and discussion to improve home-school partnerships.No Url Found

Our new Publications Guide features links to all of NPFS’ resources for parents and learners. It provides a useful overview of the range of leaflets that we have produced, including summaries of Nationals 1-5 and new Highers and guides to topics such as skills, assessment, learner pathways and much more NPFS Publications GuideNo Url Found