Scotland’s traditional ally may be France but in these post-devolution days the Scots now feel that that they have a great deal in common with the Welsh, too.
Hence the appearance of Scotland’s newest educational body at next week’s exhibition. Learning and Teaching Scotland, the agency that will be created tomorrow by the merger of the Scottish Council for Educational Technology and the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum, is bringing a range of “tartan” education products to Cardiff next week.
The Scots are promoting some successful literacy and maths software for pimary and secondary pupils such as Writer’s Toolkit and Let’s Go With Katy. They will also be exhibiting new software titles (Smart Spender and Time and Money) that aim to develop the lifeskills of children with special educational needs.
But will the Welsh really be able to use the materials? “Of course,” says Heidi Eckert, spokeswoman for the new body. “The Scots and Welsh systems now have more in common with one another than with the English education system. Many of our products are as relevant to the Welsh as to the Scots.”
Learning and Teaching Scotland: stand 85
