Entries now open for Scottish Heritage Angel Awards 2017
Nominations have opened for the third Scottish Heritage Angels Awards in a bid to find those groups and individuals – or ‘Angels’ – from Edinburgh who have played a special part in caring for, recording and celebrating the nation’s historic environment. Continue reading Search is on to find Edinburgh’s ‘Heritage Angels’
Greater direct control of funding by schools will help improve education, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said as he called for parents, teachers and young people to have their say in revamping the way schools are funded. Continue reading Fair funding for schools: have your say
Knighthood for the Big Yin in Queen’s Birthday Honours
Recipients of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in Scotland.
In Scotland there are more than 100 recipients in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, including:
There is a Companion of Honour (CH) for:
There are Knighthoods for:
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) include:
Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) include:
Among those to be made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) are:
Among those to become a Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM) are:
Full list of UK recipients:
On track for 30,000 by 2020 target
The number of Modern Apprenticeship starts increased to 26,262 and exceeded the 2016/17 annual target, new statistics have confirmed.
Skills Development Scotland’s Modern Apprenticeship statistics for the fourth quarter of 2016/17 revealed that over the year:
Minister for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn said: “I welcome these statistics which show we are exceeding our Modern Apprenticeship targets with employers clearly recognising the value of the opportunities they bring to increase skills in our workforce and encourage new talent.
“As we work towards our 2020 target of expanding the number of Modern Apprenticeship starts to 30,000 each year, we are growing, widening and enhancing the apprenticeship programme to respond to employers’ needs. This work is paying off as we are among the countries with the lowest youth unemployment rates in the EU.
“We are continuing to enhance our Modern Apprenticeships so they bring the right balance of opportunities to suit employers and the workforce. In 2017 we are expanding the number of Graduate Level and Foundation Apprenticeships, giving more individuals the chance to take on work-based learning through universities and schools.
“We have introduced a new Rural Supplement to help support training provision in more remote areas, we are removing public sector restrictions around MA funding, increasing the opportunities for apprentices over 25, and enhancing contribution rates for disabled people and those under the age of 29 with experience of care.”
Chief Executive of Skills Development Scotland Damien Yeates said: “It is great news for young people, employers and Scotland as a whole that we now have a record number of Modern Apprentices.
“It is clear that employers are continuing to invest in their workforce and developing skills through employing Modern Apprentices.
“At SDS we will continue to work with individuals, employers, training providers and partners to widen access to apprenticeship and the opportunities that work based learning provides.”
THIS SUNDAY: 2 – 5pm
Power of Food Festival TOMORROW!
We’ll be in the Power of Food Festival this Saturday (17th June). Continue reading Power of Food Festival at North Edinburgh Arts – Garden tours plus FREE yoga session
Fund to improve and align support services
A new £2.5 million fund will improve the help delivered to people looking to access employment and training. The Employability Innovation and Integration Fund will look to join up employment support with health and social care, justice and housing services, making sure people receive the level of support they need to find sustainable employment. Continue reading More help to get into work
Super Spartans: Played 26 Won 25 Drawn 1 Lost 0
Congratulations to Spartans Under 17s, who won the Lothian Buses Division 2 title – and went through their league season unbeaten.
The only blemish – if it can be called that – over the entire 26 games was a 2-2 draw with Cramond, a game coach Jim Bryson reckons Spartans should have won!
“To go undefeated over the entire league season is a remarkable achievement and something the squad should be very proud of”, he said. “Their attitude has been first class throughout the season and I think our final game exemplifies that. We were 4-1 down to Musselburgh Windsor with just ten minutes to go, but the heads didn;t go down – quite the opposite. We came back with four goals in the last ten minutes to win 5-4. It was a tremendous fightback, a perfect finale to the league and it summed up the spirit the team has shown this season.”
More ‘happy families’ pictures on our Facebook page!
Empowerment at heart of radical reforms – but do proposals undermine local government?
Sweeping new powers for schools have been announced by Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney. Mr Swinney made his announcement following a visit to Ferryhill Primary School in Drylaw. Continue reading Sweeping new powers for school heads
More than a hundred school children and air cadets – and a Wookie ! – gathered at Leonardo aerospace engineering company at Crewe Toll to compete in the Scottish Robotic Games on Satuday. The competitors were joined by special guest Professor Sethu Vijayakumar, a Professor of Robotics at the University of Edinburgh and a Judge on BBC2’s Robot Wars, who judged the robot entries and presented prizes.
The games were the brainchild of former employee Peter Bennett, Director of the Rampaging Chariots Guild, and a former winner of the ‘Robot Wars’ competition. Peter designed the event to provide a simple, colourful introduction to the excitement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects. The children acquire valuable skills by creating customised hand-built robots, whose capabilities are then tested in a number of challenges which Most Usedinclude robot football, robotic ‘tug of war’ and robot sumo wrestling.
Leonardo organised the event to increase young people’s enjoyment and interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) subjects, so that they might consider careers in this field in the future. They were particularly delighted to welcome many girls to the event – currently only 9% of engineers in the UK are women.
Research produced by Engineering UK this year confirms that only 35% of STEM teachers feel confident about giving engineering careers advice, so the industry has an important role to play in drawing young people to this field by providing enjoyable early experiences of STEM. Events like the Robotic Games encourage young people to imagine a creative, bright future for themselves in engineering and science.
Sethu Vijayakumar, Professor of Robotics at Edinburgh University, was particularly impressed with the childrens’ creativity. He said: “I think the main thing is their willingness to understand and formalise a problem, and then solve it by taking an existing piece of kit, and putting their own ideas into it.
“I always tell people that starting is the hardest thing, so I think this initiative is great because you have a kit which lowers the barrier to entry, and once you have that then people can feel more confident that they can do stuff on their own, and build on their capabilities. It is literally giving them their first ladder up to their first step, and I think this is great for that.”
