Bo’ness Academy is a mid-sized, non-denominational school in the central belt of Scotland. We have a school roll of around 850 pupils and serve Bo’ness and its surrounding villages.

Pupils study six subjects in S4, and five subjects and a Wider Achievement Opportunity in S5. In S6, they can take up a range of opportunities, depending on the individual’s requirements.

The majority of Advanced Higher subjects are offered on consortia arrangements. We also provide numerous extra-curricular activities and opportunities for our young people.

Raising SCQF awareness

Bo’ness Academy took part in SCQF training with Donnie Wood in 2022. Since then, we have worked on embedding Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) into our school culture and began our SCQF journey.

We officially joined the SCQF Ambassador programme in 2024 and achieved our silver SCQF Ambassador Award that same year.

We have 12 SCQF Ambassadors from year groups ranging from S2 to S6. Their role is to promote the SCQF and the variety of qualifications and experiences that we have on offer at Bo’ness Academy.

They will take responsibility for training future Ambassadors to progress the programme going forward.

The Ambassador training took place in September 2024. Our Ambassadors had the opportunity to learn all about the SCQF. They then distributed roles to raise awareness within the school community.

Our plan

The initial plan included:

• Raising pupil awareness by creating videos to share during class, creating an X page and regularly updating our blog
• Increasing parental awareness by having a stall at the careers fair and parents’ evenings, and sharing our blog on X
• Collating curriculum pathways from each department and sharing the experiences on offer by conducting staff and pupil interviews
• Raising staff awareness by conducting informative talks during meetings and contributing to the DYW newsletter
• Engaging staff in the SCQF through questionnaires and reflective exercises
• Embedding SCQF levels language throughout the school by including it in course choices.

Pathways

Bo’ness Academy has had a variety of qualifications available for several years, however, our primary aim was to promote the SCQF levels language within the school.

We also wanted to ensure pupils, parents/carers and staff had a clear understanding of learner pathways and the opportunities available.

Since introducing the programme, we have been enhancing the capacity of staff, students, and parents/carers to understand how the SCQF and a wider range of qualifications can be transformative.

This shift in mind-set has led to the introduction of additional qualifications at SCQF levels 5 and 6, such as the Volunteering and Leadership Awards, CREST Award and STEM Leaders Award, as well as Barista Skills, Level 5 NPA Photography and many more.

Additionally, many students are pursuing NCs, Foundation Apprenticeships, HNCs and Apprenticeships, in partnership with Forth Valley College.

At the core of our School Improvement Plan (in-line with How Good Is Our School 4th edition) is:

• A focus on improving progression pathways to meet the needs of all learners
• To optimise opportunities for attainment
• For all curricular areas to implement and review their SCQF progression pathways plan.

The benefits of changing our curriculum

Every year at Bo’ness Academy, our curriculum is changing and adapting to our pupil needs to ensure we are getting it right for every child.

This year, we have introduced levels 5 and 6 Leadership and Volunteering Awards to all S6s to ensure they have a positive and transformative leadership role during their final year at school.

Through this qualification, seniors have led clubs, fundraising initiatives, study support sessions and teaching sessions within the secondary school and local primary schools. This has significantly improved their confidence and communication skills.

We introduced our Level 4 and 5 Preparation for Employment and National 4 Rural Skills Awards this year which are greatly supporting some of our young people in gaining invaluable life skills.

Our pupils now have the opportunity to progress from a level 5 to a level 7 in art and design, and student feedback has been hugely positive.

Additional wider achievement opportunities include:

• CREST Award
• Young STEM Leader
• John Muir Award
• Duke of Edinburgh
• Youth Philanthropy Initiative
• Dynamic Youth Award
• Saltire Award.

Our staff are keen to provide as many fantastic opportunities to our young people as possible and always willing to adapt to suit changing requirements and needs.

Promoting the SCQF

We have developed a variety of innovative ways to promote the SCQF and its benefits to our school and the wider community, including:

• Ambassadors created several promotional videos detailing what the SCQF is and its benefits, as well as how to access the website and utilise it effectively. These videos were shown whole-school during SCQF Week and subsequent videos were shown during PSE lessons in Careers Week
• We have developed a blog that is shared to pupils and parents/carers through our X account, as well as in our termly DYW newsletter
• Creating a display board in the school hub space so that pupils are reminded of the SCQF during their break and lunchtime
• Ambassadors volunteered their time to talk to pupils, parents and carers and distribute SCQF resources at their stall during parents’ evenings and the careers fair
• Conducting interviews with staff and pupils, which have been shared on the blog, about the variety of qualifications on offer and their benefits
• Each faculty has compiled a list of their qualifications and learner pathways at each level and our course choice documentation has embedded levels language. These have been shared on our blogs and to parents/carers
• Ambassadors have been speaking to their peers about the qualifications in the run up to course choice.
• We have a page on our school website about the SCQF and our progress
• Our SCQF lead and DYW depute head have attended various SCQF training sessions to enhance our understanding and provide additional support to the school community.

Next steps

Going forward, we have made plans to collaborate with another high school in the local authority for Ambassadors to work together to create engaging promotional resources and Ambassador training materials.

We also plan to collaborate with the pupils sitting National 4 Rural Skills to plant the seeds that we received from the SCQF after achieving our Silver Award. We will plant them in our garden space alongside our SCQF plaque to showcase how deeply the SCQF is embedded within our school community.

Going for gold

To achieve our Gold SCQF Award, we will:

• Continue to promote the SCQF through more innovative approaches developed by our ambassadors
• Collaborate with Braes High School Ambassadors to create promotional and training resources to be utilised within the local authority
• Work with other schools outwith the authority who have achieved Gold and support other schools on their SCQF journey
• Build more external relationships and provide further opportunities for pupils to gain qualifications with external bodies
• Continue to develop interdisciplinary activities
• Enhance an ethos in which alternative curricular pathways are welcomed and encouraged.

SCQF Ambassadors

Our Ambassadors were selected by their teachers and members of senior management as recognition for their commitment to their education and the school community.

Senior Ambassadors gain a Level 6 leadership award for their efforts and all Ambassadors acquire Saltire Voluntary Hours for their commitment to the role.

One Ambassador said:

“I always felt there was something wrong with me until I was introduced to the NPA 5 photography, level 5 volunteering, level 6 leadership, NPA 6 Professional Theatre and NPA 6 Criminology Course at college. These qualifications were more suited to my learning style and allowed me to achieve. Until I took on this role I didn’t fully understand what ‘levels’ and ‘NPAs’ meant or why they were so important, but I’m so glad that I did because they are the best thing that happened to my educational journey.“

Former pupil Amy said:

I decided to take the Level 5 Barista Skills for Work qualification, which is at the same level as a National 5. The most important skill I learned was problem-solving because, no matter how much we planned for an event, something always came up and we had to learn to think on our feet. All the skills I learned are used daily in what I do now, which is working in customer service at a 4-star hotel. The Barista qualification solidified my ideas of what I wanted to do after school, which was to work at a high-service establishment. I don’t think I would have been considered for the position if I had not done my Barista training.

Useful links

• School Ambassador Programme
• Bo’ness Academy website and SCQF blog
• School Ambassador Padlet with resources
• More School Ambassador blogs

Kirkintilloch High School, in East Dunbartonshire, has earned its silver SCQF Ambassador status. Read all about how staff have transformed their senior phase course by introducing various alternative qualifications, including National Progression Awards (NPAs), Foundation Apprenticeships and Skills for Word Awards.

“Our aim is to help all our pupils to fulfil their potential, their ability and aptitudes to the full in each aspect of their development – academic, physical, personal, emotional and social.”

At Kirkintilloch High School, we offer a full and challenging curriculum for all pupils, taking into account their individual interests, skills, attainment and needs.

Our curriculum is designed to ensure our pupils see clear progression paths in their studies and that the transition from the broad general education (BGE) to the senior phase is a natural one. 

The first steps on Kirkintilloch High School’s SCQF journey

Kirkintilloch High School’s SCQF Ambassador journey started when we received initial Ambassador training from SCQF Lead, Donnie Wood, in February 2022.

We worked hard to meet the relevant criteria over a six-month period and achieved Bronze status in September 2022.

Our main goal at that point was to broaden out our senior phase curriculum to better meet the needs and wants of our learners and to provide more appropriate learner pathways.

As a school, we have set up an SCQF Working Group which comes together on inset days to feedback on progress and discuss possible new pathways available to our young people.

This collaborative approach has altered staff mindsets and opened our eyes to a variety of learning programmes that inspire and engage our pupils.

Each curricular area has developed pathways documents which are displayed in classrooms to help pupils understand the routes through different subject areas into further study and careers.

Our SCQF Ambassadors

Our SCQF Ambassadors present to BGE year groups through interactive workshops as part of our options choice carousel and careers events.

In the future, the Ambassadors would like to deliver lessons to the BGE where they can promote the SCQF and share their own learner journeys, helping to inspire and involve younger pupils at Kirkintilloch High School.

Some learners have also recorded their own learner journeys as a video which can be viewed in class or played at options evenings.

We also want our pupils to input to subject choice and encourage a range of different qualification types. This includes those that are not final-exam dependent, such as SCQF level 6 National Progression Awards (NPAs) and Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs), moving away from the traditional focus on Highers.

Retaining our senior phase pupils thanks to the SCQF

It is a bugbear of mine, however, that in terms of university entry requirements and attainment recorded on Insight (the benchmarking tool for analysing attainment data in the senior phase), and despite the fact that NPAs and FAs are also at SCQF level 6, Highers are still viewed as the “gold standard”.

Indeed, we have found that, by offering a wider range of qualification types and subject choices, our pupils who might have left school after S4 are staying on to S5 or S6.

We get to “keep” them for longer to develop their skills, confidence and knowledge to take them towards the next stage of their learning and career journey.

Kirkintilloch High School’s curriculum is not restricted to what we can offer in the school itself. We recognise that to provide our young people with rich learning experiences appropriate to their needs, working closely with partners is paramount.

Personalisation and choice for young people is supported by working closely with our college and business partners.

We provide strong, purposeful courses that complement our pupils’ subject choices and will prove beneficial in their progression from school into higher education, further education or employment.

Partnerships supporting our senior phase

Kirkintilloch High School’s senior phase is supported by our partnership working with:

• Tigers Training Ltd – FA level 4 in Construction, FA level 6 in Social Services, Children & Young People and FA level 6 in Business Skills
• City of Glasgow College – NPA level 4 Bakery/Level 5 Cabin Crew
• New College Lanarkshire – NPA level 4 City & Guilds Hair & Beauty Awards/SfW levels 4/5 Hairdressing
• Glasgow Kelvin College
• City of Glasgow College
• Glasgow Clyde College
• Speakers for Schools, Automotive, Mechanical Engineering, level 4 Emergency Services
• DYW East Dunbartonshire – various work experience opportunities
• Glasgow University Top Up programme

We also offer a range of other alternative qualifications, including:

• Personal Development, level 6 First Aid training
• Leadership awards at level 6
• NPA levels 5 and 6 Psychology
• NPA Criminology
• NPA Exercise & Fitness Leadership
• NPA Acting & Performance
• NPA Photography
• Skills for Work Travel & Tourism
• SfW Sports & Recreation
• SfW Energy
• SfW Health Sector, level 6 Literature/Communication
• Level 4 Mental Health and Wellbeing award

We hope to introduce more NPAs such as Level 3 and 4 Climate Change & Sustainability and Professional Theatre Practice next session.

Promoting the SCQF at Kirkintilloch High School

Kirkintilloch High School values parental partnerships and our SCQF Ambassadors attend parents’ nights and careers and subject choice events to inform parents/carers about the opportunities being offered to their young people.

We have developed a Thinglink which is on our website and has been shared with parents/carers. It explains the SCQF and includes senior pupils’ learner journeys, links to SCQF-produced videos and an in-house narrated presentation comparing old v new qualifications, using the Old V New leaflet created by the SCQF.

Next steps in Kirkintilloch High School’s SCQF journey

We achieved our Silver SCQF Ambassador status in June 2024 and are working towards Gold.

Useful SCQF Ambassador links and more

Stirling High signed up for the SCQF Partnership School Ambassador Programme in early 2019 following an Insight meeting with Lewis and the Senior Leadership Team.

The SCQF Partnership visited and presented to our middle and senior leadership teams and shared the benefits and opportunities of the SCQF.

Stirling High is a growing school – our S1 intake increases year on year and an increasing number of seniors stay to complete all 6 years. For this reason, we knew we needed to improve our senior phase offer to make it relevant to all young people.

Joining the SCQF School Ambassador programme was the catalyst for looking outwards to other schools. This, alongside the SCQF Register, has transformed the senior phase offering in recent years.

Spreading the SCQF word

In 2019, armed with our new knowledge, we started to talk up the benefits of the SCQF with young people, parents and staff. Principal teachers led discussions with their teams and our first Pupil Ambassadors spoke to parents and peers about the Framework.

Over time, the culture in the school changed – we used the language of the SCQF in our interactions and made simple changes to the course choice information to provide parity between the existing National, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications, and the new National Progression Awards (NPAs) and Foundation Apprenticeships (FAs) that were being introduced.

In 2020, the school appointed five new Pupil Ambassadors to lead the charge. The team produced resources for the school website and made effective use of the school’s social media platforms to spread the message.

Lily, one of the S6 Pupil Ambassadors, said: “Being an SCQF Ambassador has been a great opportunity to learn about different educational pathways and promote them to pupils, parents, carers and employers. I wish to pursue a career in palliative care nursing and I believe my time as an Ambassador has helped me develop my teamwork and communication skills which I will be able to carry throughout my future.”

Silver Award

The school was recently awarded Silver Ambassador status.

Alan Hamilton, Depute Head Teacher, said: “The tiered framework provided our Pupil Ambassadors with a clear focus for getting the most out of the SCQF. It allowed them to plan and take ownership of their plans. As a result, the SCQF is embedded across the school and they have clear ideas for their next steps.”

 As well as developing a plan for raising awareness of the SCQF with peers, staff, parents and carers, the Ambassadors are working towards their SCQF level 6 leadership award.

SCQF impact

The biggest impact of the SCQF programme in Stirling High can be seen in the changes to our curriculum offer. A total of 52 learners currently benefit from a range of FAs at SCQF levels 5 and 6, in addition to the 12 different NPAs on offer. Young people also benefit from the school’s strong partnership with Forth Valley College.

Liam, an S5 Ambassador, said: “I have loved learning about the SCQF and sharing my knowledge with others. As we are drawing near the end of the year many of the S5 pupils are beginning to think more about their future careers. Our plans to develop and share learner pathways will help all pupils make the most of the opportunities the school offers.”

Going for Gold

The team were recently presented with the Silver Ambassador status for their work in developing and promoting the Framework and already have an action plan for Gold.

They are developing learner pathway exemplars and will use what they have learned this year to feed into next year’s pupil led improvement plan.

Useful links

Course choice form: Course Choice Form S5 into S6

Best practice presentation: SCQF Best Practice Stirling High