Episodes

Feb 26, 2026
Feb 26, 2026
11 min
Education Scotland is leading a systematic review of the Scottish curriculum called the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. The focus of this podcast episode is the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Social Studies. Courtney Dow and Sharon Kean are both seconded to help co-lead the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Social Studies nationally. Here they discuss the progress of the work so far and what’s next with Education Scotland’s Andrew Creamer. Read more about this on our Curriculum Improvement Cycle blog.

Feb 12, 2026
Feb 12, 2026
9 min
This short podcast features practitioners from across Scotland who have been involved in developing the context of Ethos and Life in Scotland’s Curriculum. They discuss their experience of using a service design approach for this work and share what they have gained from the process, what challenges they have faced, and what they think the impact of this work will be for Scotland’s children and young people - and those who work with and for them.

Feb 12, 2026
Feb 12, 2026
28 min
Education Scotland is leading a systematic review of the Scottish curriculum called the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. The focus of this podcast episode is the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Mathematics. Ollie Bray, Strategic Director at Education Scotland, is joined by Robert McCallum, Quality Improvement Officer, East Ayrshire Council, to discuss the progress of the work so far and what’s next. Read more about this on our Curriculum Improvement Cycle blog.

Jan 29, 2026
Jan 29, 2026
15 min
Education Scotland is leading a systematic review of the Scottish curriculum called the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. This podcast episode is all about science. Lise McCaffery, Interim Head of Learning, Teaching and Assessment at Education Scotland, is joined by Fiona Shaw, from Education Scotland’s Science team, to discuss the progress so far in the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Science.

Jan 21, 2026
Jan 21, 2026
22 min
Education Scotland is leading a systematic review of the Scottish curriculum called the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. The focus of this podcast episode is the Curriculum Improvement Cycle for Gaelic. Graeme Wallace from Education Scotland’s Curriculum team is joined by National Advisors for Literacy and Gàidhlig - Marina MacLeod and Seonaidh Charity to discuss the progress of the work so far and what’s next.

Oct 29, 2025

Oct 28, 2025

Oct 15, 2025
Oct 15, 2025
24 min
This podcast features Alyson Young, PGDE (Primary) Programme Director from the School of Education at the University of Aberdeen. Alyson and her team were involved in a pilot programme which placed student teachers in a Local Authority Family Learning Team. She talks about their experiences of working with Education Scotland Parents and Families Team and Aberdeen City Council’s Family Learning Team to place their student teachers within an environment to support an increased understanding of parents and families and gain a deeper knowledge of different demographics.

Sep 5, 2025
Sep 5, 2025
29 min
In this podcast episode, Education Scotland Strategic Director Ollie Bray is joined by Health and Wellbeing National Advisors Amy McDonnell and Stuart McCracken to talk about moving forward with an evolved Health and Wellbeing curriculum that is grounded in evidence.

Aug 27, 2025
Aug 27, 2025
40 min
In this episode of The Learning Conversations Gillian Hamilton discusses shaping life chances in the early years with Lucy Morton, Scotland Development Lead, from the Parent-Infant Foundation. The Parent-Infant Foundation supports the development, growth and quality of specialised parent-infant relationship teams.
This is the last episode of The Learning Conversations for the time being as Gillian Hamilton has now left the organisation. Education Scotland is changing and we’ll be pausing The Learning Conversations for now to work on new and engaging content. Watch this space!

Education Scotland
Education Scotland is the national body for supporting quality and improvement of learning and teaching in Scottish education.
We are driven by the shared ambitions of supporting the development and wellbeing of all those who work in education and ensuring positive experiences and outcomes for all learners.



