Transcript Slide 1

Eliot Stark
Chief Executive
Volunteer Development East Lothian
VAS Board Member
With responsibility for
Youth and Youth Volunteering
Pebble in the Pond
Opportunity and the
Curriculum for Excellence
Policy Context
The Christie Commission
The Commission believes Scotland's public services are in
need of urgent and sustained reform to meet unprecedented
challenges.
The pressure on budgets is intense and public spending is
not expected to return to 2010 levels in real terms for 16
years.
In addition, new demographic and social pressures will entail
a huge increase in the demand for public services.
The economic downturn will also intensify and prolong
demand.
Unless Scotland embraces a radical, new, collaborative
culture throughout our public services, both budgets and
provision will buckle under the strain.
Service Design Context
Co-production
Social Capital
Co-production
Co-production essentially describes a relationship between service
provider and service user that draws on the knowledge, ability and
resources of both to develop solutions to issues that are claimed to be
successful, sustainable and cost-effective, changing the balance of
power from the professional towards the service user. The approach is
used in work with both individuals and communities.
Social Capital
The central thesis of social capital theory is that 'relationships matter'. The
central idea is that 'social networks are a valuable asset'. Interaction enables
people to build communities, to commit themselves to each other, and to knit
the social fabric. A sense of belonging and the concrete experience of social
networks (and the relationships of trust and tolerance that can be involved)
can, it is argued, bring great benefits to people.
Trust between individuals thus becomes trust between strangers and trust of
a broad fabric of social institutions; ultimately, it becomes a shared set of
values, virtues, and expectations within society as a whole. Without this
interaction, on the other hand, trust decays; at a certain point, this decay
begins to manifest itself in serious social problems… The concept of social
capital contends that building or rebuilding community and trust requires faceto-face encounters.
Why social capital is important
First, social capital allows citizens to resolve collective problems more
easily… People often might be better off if they cooperate, with each doing
her share. ...
Second, social capital greases the wheels that allow communities to advance
smoothly. Where people are trusting and trustworthy, and where they are
subject to repeated interactions with fellow citizens, everyday business and
social transactions are less costly….
A third way is which social capital improves our lot is by widening our
awareness of the many ways in which our fates are linked... When people
lack connection to others, they are unable to test the veracity of their own
views, whether in the give or take of casual conversation or in more formal
deliberation. Without such an opportunity, people are more likely to be
swayed by their worse impulses….
The networks that constitute social capital also serve as conduits for the flow
of helpful information that facilitates achieving our goals
Curriculum for Excellence
The early years of a child's life lay the foundations of skills for learning, life and
work and have a major bearing on wider outcomes, including employment.
Adults working with Scotland's youngest children should recognise the impact
and importance their work has, now and indeed for the rest of children's lives.
In order for staff to be confident that they are providing the best experiences for
babies and children, they need to know why it is essential that they get it right for
every child in these most critical years.
Curriculum for Excellence
Curriculum for Excellence aims to achieve a transformation
in education in Scotland by providing a coherent, more
flexible and enriched curriculum from 3 to 18.
The curriculum includes the totality of experiences which are
planned for children and young people through their
education, wherever they are being educated
The curriculum 3-18
Curriculum for Excellence provides the framework for learning
for all children and young people in Scotland aged 3 to 18. It
includes all of the experiences which are planned for learners,
wherever they are being educated.
Developing skills and attributes
The curriculum aims to ensure that all children and young
people in Scotland develop the attributes, knowledge and skills
they will need to flourish in life, learning and work. This is
encapsulated in the four capacities – to enable each child or
young person to be a successful learner, a confident individual,
a responsible citizen and an effective contributor.
Achievement through learning for young people
Young people have an ongoing entitlement to develop
their skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work
in the setting that is best suited to their needs and
aspirations.
For some young people, this will mean staying in
school for S5 and S6; for others it will mean further or
higher education, work-based learning, volunteering,
or learning in a community or third sector setting.
Youth workers play an important role in identifying and
supporting the needs of individual learners, to ensure
they are given the right opportunities to learn and
develop.
The totality of experiences
The curriculum includes all of the experiences
which are planned for children and young people
through their education, wherever they are being
educated. These experiences are grouped into four
categories.
Curriculum areas and subjects
The curriculum areas are the organisers for setting out the
experiences and outcomes. Each area contributes to the four
capacities.
Interdisciplinary learning
How the curriculum should include space for learning beyond
subject boundaries.
Ethos and life of the school
The starting point for learning is a positive ethos and climate of
respect and trust based upon shared values across the school
community.
Opportunities for personal achievement
Pupils need opportunities for achievements both in the
classroom and beyond, giving them a sense of satisfaction and
building motivation, resilience and confidence.
Added to this, because children learn through all of their
experiences - in the family and community, pre-school centre,
nursery and school - the curriculum aims to recognise and
complement the contributions that these experiences can
make
Supporting learning throughout our lives
Learning begins at birth and continues throughout our lives.
Scottish Government education strategy, and the curriculum
frameworks that deliver it, recognise that learning is lifelong,
and are designed to help learners develop the skills they need
for learning, life and work.
The pre-birth to three framework, 3-18 curriculum, and the
national guidance and frameworks which support adult learning
and community learning and development, which together form
the curriculum in Scotland.
East Lothian Saltire Work
Senior Phase Saltire Projects
Wednesday Group – 8 period curriculum
Thursday Group - – 8 period curriculum
S6 Volunteering Programme – 6 High Schools
Leadership with Young Women Group - Haddington and Dunbar clusters
Environmental Volunteering -Know Yourself Grow Your Own
Change Fund for Older People - Intergenerational project
Saltire Ambassadors
Universal service for 12 -25 year old volunteers
Current Funders of VDEL in Youth
BIG in Scotland
Rank Foundation
Robertson Trust
Paul Hamlyn Foundation
ELC Education and Children's Services
ELC Community Wellbeing
East Lothian Change Fund for Older People
Group Work
Q1
Identify opportunities for developing volunteering work
with children and young people in your LA
Group Work
Q2
What barriers might need to be overcome to achieve this?
Group Work
Q3
What support and training would enable the above?
Q and A
Partners in Co-production and Social Capital in East
Lothian
Children, Young People and Communities in East Lothian
Elvon
Social Enterprise in East Lothian
East Lothian and National Enterprising Voluntary Sector
East Lothian Council – Education and Children's Services,
Adult Social Care, Economic Development, CLD,
Community Wellbeing, Local Schools
East Lothian Learning Partnership
Edinburgh College (formerly Jewel and Esk College
Queen Margaret University
Scottish Government
SCVO
NHS Lothian
East Lothian Independent Sector
Local Business Sector
Job Centre +
SDS
Lothian and Borders Police
Pebbles in the Pond