David Hiddleston’s Blog

I will be attending the 2nd Annual Computing Conference on the 25 June 2009.

Speaking at the conference will be Iain Lowson of HMIe on Ungood
Practice: 10 Things We Shouldn’t Be Doing!, Bobby Elliot of the SQA on
the latest awards, James Stanger on the CIW qualification, Jenny
Kilgore of the OU on retention and attainment in Computing, Mark
Brownrigg of the LTS on the Curriculum for Excellence, Colin Maxwell
of Adobe on a range of support materials available and Tony Gurney of
Scotland’s Colleges on the programme for next year. In addition there
is an exhibition area with your chance to chat to the speakers and
explore what’s available from several other vendors.

This is also a chance to network, share practice, and start to address
issues that concern everyone involved with delivering Computing and IT in Scotland’s colleges.

Well done to all students involved with the following Final shows -

HND Creative Industries: Television

HND Photography

HND Visual Communication: Graphic Design

Over the last 4 weeks we have received Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) External Verification(EV)visits from 4 different verifiers looking at different areas of Design, Media and Computing.

Course Units verified: 

• HND Creative Industries: Television
• HND Visual Communication: Graphic design
• HND Visual Communication: New Media
• HND Computing: Software Development
• HND Computing: Technical Support

All EV visits proved to be successful for the team - Well done to all.

Her Majesty Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) concluded the two day Aspect report visit on the 19 May 2009.

Here’s some comments from the report -

Highly productive partnership working with employers and representatives of higher education help staff to design programmes which prepare learners well for different progression routes

There is a strong focus throughout the department on promoting awareness of industry working practices

The Industry Mentoring Scheme represents an innovative and effective way of harnessing the views and expertise of local practitioners for the benefit of learners. It includes the setting and evaluating of briefs by practitioners, one-to-one mentoring from practitioners to learners, portfolio advice and an industry night, during which learners showcase and discuss their work.

The department represents a creative community, with both staff and learners focused on success

etc-art-and-design-aspect-task-summary-of-findings.doc

So little time recently to update the blog …..very busy with the following -

• HMIe
• SQA - External Verification Visits
• Graphic Design Industry Night
• Photography Exhibition
• HND Film Show
• Graphic Design Final Show

Quite a few postings will take place over the next 24hrs

-DH