Annual Report and Accounts Year to 01 April 2013

Driving forward professional standards for teachers

Registered Charity: SC006187

Enter

Contents

Vision GTC Scotland, as the independent professional body which promotes and regulates the teaching profession in Scotland, aspires to:

Convener’s report

• be a world leader in professional education issues;





02





04

What does GTC Scotland do for you?

06

Performance - Year to 01 April 2013

10

Plans for the future







12

Statistics









14









19



Chief Executive’s statement

• maintain and enhance standards of teaching and of teacher professionalism; and • maintain the confidence of the public by always working in the public interest.



Financial review

Clerwood House, the headquarters of GTC Scotland



PrevIous

CONTENTS

Next

Statements

Convener’s report

What does GTC Scotland do for you?

2

This Report details the work undertaken in the twelve months that marked our first year as a fully independent Teaching Council. Prior to the launch of the reformatted Council in April 2012, we worked hard to ensure that the transition to new structures, and a revised range of responsibilities, would be smooth and without detriment to the existing high quality of service provided by GTC Scotland.

“I hope the examples of the new Professional Standards and Professional Update are useful indicators of the success of our work over the past year.”

I hope the examples of the new Professional Standards and Professional Update are useful indicators of the success of our work over the past year. They, and the wider work of GTC Scotland, are supported by our staff, our Council members, and the varied stakeholders within Scottish Education. I am happy to record thanks to all who have contributed to that success.

Financial Review

2

A similar approach has marked the development of Professional Update over the past year. The first pilots of the programme were completed and successfully evaluated by June 2013 and there will be a further, more extensive pilot in the coming year. The logistical planning, servicing and evaluation of Professional Update is undertaken by staff in Clerwood House who are advised and guided by a broad based Working Group that comprises all the major stakeholders within the Scottish educational community. This group is led by myself as Council Convener and advises on issues practical, pedagogical and political. Working collegiately, it seeks to develop a programme that will benefit pupils and students; meet the aspirations of teachers and lecturers; and provide the accountability demanded of a vital profession in Scottish civic society. The final decisions on the Professional Update programme are debated and agreed by GTC Scotland Council.

David Drever Convener

PrevIous

CONTENTS

Next

Statistics

Intensive work on developing the new Standards within an ambitious timescale took place through writing groups and an advisory panel. Thereafter, consultation on the draft within the wider profession was followed by

collegiate and trust building discussions with stakeholders prior to the proposals being subjected to final discussion and amendment by Council before approval. This process acknowledged the importance of articulating and then benchmarking the Standards that define what it means professionally to be a teacher, wh