National 4/5 Practical Woodworking

National 4/5 Practical Woodworking Issues

There are, and have been, several serious issues regarding the National 4/5 Practical Woodworking course since its launch in 2013.

Various teachers of Technical Education have attempted to plead their case to the SQA with sound rational, logical reasoning for changes to be made but have had either no response or responses like, for example- “No changes will be made”

The issues have been recognised by numerous teachers after the experience of teaching the course for over two years now and their professional opinions should be given consideration to effect changes as required asap.

A summary of the main vital concerns are as follows-
(further detailed justification of the concerns have been omitted for easy reading but are readily available from many teachers’ rationales) ·        

  • Sizes on the National 5 Assignment/ National 4 AVU tasks need to be altered.
    Timber costs, storage, quality of learning and aesthetics all justify these changes and the Learning Outcomes need not be affected. 

        

  • Pupils need to be allowed to take their Unit work home immediately after the teacher has assessed it.
    Holding these unit models for months (e.g. corner unit, toolbox) uses valuable storage space and means the pupils have lost interest in their artefact resulting in shameful masses of scrap wood.

 

The above points are having a detrimental effect on the professional standing of Technical Teachers and Practical Woodworking throughout Scotland where hands-on practical subjects are at the heart of Technical Departments and are one of the few vital subjects that can support the recommendations of the recent Wood Report.

Consequently, this is a National situation that the SQA chooses to ignore therefore it must be dealt with at a National level.

Positive, effective action has to be taken now to fully implement these changes for the academic year 2016/17.

We hope to gather enough support for the SQA to realise the strength of feeling here and make the changes requested, so

Please sign this petition if you agree.

 

Thank you very much for your time.

PS- please pass to as many colleagues as possible.