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The 11th Annual Summer School
The Attainment Challenge: From Rhetoric to Reality
6th & 7th August 2015
The Marine Hotel, North Berwick
On behalf of ADES, the Virtual Staff College Scotland ran the first Summer School in 2005. Since then, it has
taken place every year at The Marine Hotel, North Berwick and provides a unique opportunity for local
authority and partner colleagues to come together in advance of the new school year and focus on a theme
of national importance, learn from each other and meet interesting and stimulating contributors from the
public and private sectors.
The launch of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, the Raising Attainment for All programme; the School
Improvement Partnership programme and the draft legislation to impose new duties on local authorities in
relation to reducing pupils’ inequalities of outcomes, clearly demonstrate that there is no shortage of
Government initiatives designed to raise attainment and reduce inequality in our schools. Given this, the
focus for this year’s summer school is on the role of schools and schooling in reducing inequality and
improving the life chances of children and young people. We will consider what makes a difference to
improving pupil outcomes, reflect on what lessons can be learnt from “attainment challenges” elsewhere
and examine the current and future role of the education authority in this field of practice.
As usual we will take a look at what is happening in Scotland, reflect on the rest of the UK and invite those
who have participated in attainment challenges elsewhere to share the lessons they have learned. We will
also look seriously at what role a reduced and reducing middle tier can contribute to addressing a challenge
with is not new but which remains a stubborn impediment to progress.
The 2015 Summer School will aim to provide the opportunity for those in senior leadership positions in
education and children’s services to consider how they might develop new and innovative approaches to
addressing the challenges above and, in doing so, reflect with peers on how the local authority can develop
a meaningful and useful role with fewer resources.
As always at the summer school, it will be the sharing amongst colleagues and reciprocal peer learning that
will be the most important element of the programme, with ample time for swapping stories and the sharing
of ideas, initiatives and resources.
The numbers are necessarily limited to allow effective discussion and participation so it is important to
reserve places quickly.
The fee is £360 (+ VAT) for ADES members and £395 (+ VAT) for non-members.
To reserve your place please, return the attached booking form to ruth.lloyd@virtualstaffcollege.co.uk
www.vscs.org.uk