Welcome to Emma

A new administrator started today. Emma Bannerman replaces Tamsin Rae as administrator to the Care and Computing teams (we share her). Emma is just back from touring various parts of the world and is new to SQA so it will take her a little while to become familiar with our processes and procedures. But she’s willing to learn! So contact her if you have any queries relating to HN/SVQ Computing/IT.

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HNC/D IT seminar

I attended a seminar today at Stirling Management Centre to discuss developments relating to the new HNC/D Information Technology. Robert Quinn (SQA) and George Johnson (Reid Kerr College) led the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was the update everyone about progress to date and also to seek feedback on certain key issues. It was a good meeting [ASF] and there was a lot of agreement. Around forty people attended. We’re hoping to have the new awards (HNC IT and…

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HNC/D IT Qualification Design Team

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Computing team

I updated the team’s organisation chart today to show who does what. Please note that this diagram does not include the NQ team.

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Oracle developments

I met with Jane Richardson of Oracle this morning to discuss the links between SQA and Oracle. Jane has recruited 14 new Scottish teachers to the Oracle Academy programme. The teachers come from various Scottish schools and colleges. They head to California for training this summer. The training takes place in July at UCLA and lasts for eight days (including a free weekend she pointed out!). We’re hoping to jointly develop a hybrid Higher – a single curriculum that covers…

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Business Development Manager

You might hear another new name in the coming months. Bob Marren has been attached to the Computing team as Business Development Manager (BDM). Many of you will know Bob from his days as External Moderator (aka Moderator) for Computing. He also taught at Falkirk College for many years. I met with Bob this morning to discuss his new role. The BDM role is pretty varied but, as Bob put it, “I’m here to help”. More specifically, he’s here to…

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Caroline, Bobby and Angela

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Welcome to Angela

Angela Orr is about to join the Computing team within SQA as Qualifications Officer. Angela is currently an administrator with the National Qualifications team but has previously worked with HN/SVQ awards. She will have particular involvement with HN awards (including Computing, Networking and Multimedia) and some PDAs (such as the Library awards). Angela is due to begin on Monday 9 May.

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Vendor qualifications

We decided today to develop five new Professional Development Awards (PDAs) linked to vendor qualifications. The awards are: Certificate in Computing Concepts (ComptTIA A+, Network+ and Server+) Certificate in Desktop Support (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support) Advanced Cert. in Systems Administration (MS Certified Systems Administrator) Advanced Cert. in Network Administration (CISCO Certified Network Administrator) Diploma in Systems Engineering (MS Certified Systems Engineer). We’re also planning on producing a database qualification linked to Oracle. The qualifications will consist of units selected from…

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New qualifications for librarians

I met with Rhona Arthur of SLIC this morning to discuss progress with the development of new qualifications for librarians. Ted Hastings is leading a team of writers to develop two Professional Development Awards: Certificate in Applications of ICT in Libraries and Advanced Certificate in Applications of ICT in Libraries. The first award is SCQF level 7 and the second one is a mix of level 7 and level 8. The qualifications are designed for practising librarians – either to…

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