School buildings: frequently asked questions (SPICe briefing; 11/11)

"This briefing gives an overview of key facts relating to school buildings, based on enquiries frequently received in SPICe. This updates SPICe briefing 09/72." - Cover

Scotland and Ulster connections in the seventeenth century : Sir Robert Adair of Kinhilt and the Scottish Parliament under the covenanters

It has long been recognized that a culture of mobility has existed in Scottish society. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the main destinations for Scottish migrants were Poland, Scandinavia, and Ulster, although there were many other destinations too

Not much ado about quite a lot? The German election of September 2013

The German election of 22 September 2013 saw Angela Merkel’s CDU/CSU return triumphantly to office. Merkel’s party won as she is widely admired and, most importantly, she is widely trusted to lead Germany through potentially challenging times. So, all much as was. Yet beneath the surface the tectonic plates of German party politics are shifting. The Social Democrats appear to be stuck in an electoral trough, whilst the number of politically relevant smaller parties is increasing. Although the liberal FDP failed to re-enter parliament for the first time in post-war history, and both the Pirates and Alternative for Germany (AfG) also fell at the final (5%) hurdle, the era of multi-party politics is now well and truly with us. The CDU/CSU and SPD will lead Germany until 2017, but the story of what happens then really is anyone’s guess

Teacher training and employment

This briefing gives an overview of developments relating to teacher education and career long learning stemming from the 2010 Donaldson review of teacher education. It also looks at the changes to terms and conditions originating in the 2010 spending review agreement between COSLA and the Scottish Government, the 2011 McCormac review of teachers’ terms and conditions and public sector pension reform

Changes in urban and environmental governance in Canterbury from 2010 to 2015: comparing Environment Canterbury and Christchurch City Council

This article compares the proximate but not parallel trajectories of Canterbury Regional Council’s (ECan) and the Christchurch City Council’s changing authority to manage the urban and natural environment from 2010 to 2015. We ask why the trajectories are so far from parallel, and speculate as to why the central government interventions were so different. The apparent mismatch between the justifications for the interventions and the interventions themselves reveals important implications on the national and local levels. Nationally, the mismatch speaks to the current debate over an overhaul of the Resource Management Act. Locally, it informs current discussions in Wellington, Nelson, Gisborne and elsewhere about amalgamating district and regional councils. • Ann Brower is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Policy at Lincoln University. She holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s from Yale. Ike Kleynbos holds a Bachelor of Environmental Management and Planning degree from Lincoln University and is currently doing postgraduate studies at Lincoln

Consultation on (1) the draft Order making foreign languages statutory for key stage 2; and (2) a proposal to require schools teach one or more of seven languages at key stage 2

The Government has confirmed its intention to make the study of a foreign language compulsory at Key Stage 2 and now seeks views on: The draft of the Order necessary to make foreign languages a statutory subject at Key Stage 2 from September 2014 A new proposal to require primary schools to teach one or more of French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish or a classical language (Latin or Ancient Greek) to pupils at Key Stage 2