Pledge to recruit 433 more teachers in Edinburgh and the Lothians
Six yeas ago today Scotland voted to stay in the UK. We must spend the next six years rebuilding Scotland’s education system, say the Scottish Conservatives.
They say they will hire 3000 new teachers over the next parliament to restore local schools to where they were before the SNP came to power.
Today, the Scottish Conservatives unveiled proposals to recruit 3,000 more teachers over the next Parliament.
The plans which would cost £550 million, would end teacher shortages that have arisen since the SNP came into power in 2007.
The paper also calls for a dedicated STEM teacher to be available in every Primary school, increased opportunities for career switchers to move into teaching and a new campaign to encourage the best and brightest to take up teaching.
Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said:“Education has to be a top priority in Scotland to invest in the future, however under this SNP Government education standards have slipped.
“Recruiting more teachers would allow each pupils to have a larger choice of subjects, as well as increased one on one learning.
“It is well established that smaller class sizes are better for student learning, so having a smaller teacher to pupil ratio can only be a good thing.
“Edinburgh and the Lothians have the fastest growing population in Scotland so it is important more teachers are recruited in advance, rather than after there is a shortage.”
To celebrate Maths Week Scotland, 28th September to the 4th October , students across Scotland will be competing in the M-Fluencer Maths Week Quest learning challenge to boost engagement in maths, improve attainment and win prizes for their school.
Now open for entries for schools with students from any year group, ranging from Reception to S6. Participants will be tasked with completing a series of online maths challenges, with each challenge adding to the school’s total score. Amazon vouchers and digital certificates will be awarded to the top 10 schools.
All learning activities included in the competition are aligned to Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence and support the Government’s commitment to ‘making maths count’; an initiative that is becoming increasingly important to increase Scotland’s maths attainment.
The competition, run by maths mastery resource provider Mangahigh, is open to all schools across Scotland, both existing users and non-users. From 28th September all schools registered for the competition can access Mangahigh math’s resource free of charge.
Mohit Midha, CEO and co-founder of Mangahigh, said, “Each student from early years to upper secondary school age can take part free of charge. The maths activities on Mangahigh are designed in a fun ‘game’ format to really engage the students and encourage them to return for more while developing their conceptual knowledge of key maths topics.”
With the re-opening of schools, many children are facing two significant challenges. Firstly, the need to adapt to a new physical and social environment, to ensure their complete safety and protection against the continued threat of Coronavirus. Secondly many children have been out of full-time education for months, and now need to play catch up as they enter the next academic year.
However, some educational focused organisations have not put their pupils through the challenge of playing catch up; ensuring safe, continued and full-time education for their children throughout the last few months.
Once such organisation is the charity World Villages for Children. Their focus is on educating the world’s poorest children; ensuring they have the necessary skills to get out of, and remain out of poverty.
With education being the only means for thousands of the charity’s children to permanently escape their lives of poverty; it was absolutely crucial that the schools remained capable of continuing to educate the children and keep them safe.
During the last few months, the charity has achieved a remarkable feat by ensuring that over 20,000 of its children in over 13 schools have continued to have a full-time education in a 100% safe environment.
Not a single child or staff member during this time has been affected by Covid nor taken ill and this is completely down to the environment that has been created within the schools. As a result, all the children from the ages of11-18 have been able to carry on with their full-time studies and recreational activities safely.
Measures that World Villages for Children havesupported at the Sisters of Mary schools include:
The use of efficient technology and proficient co-ordination to ensure that all 20,000 children have continued their lessons via conference call with their teachers
Utilising the skills of the most senior students as ‘student teachers’ to not only boost their skills but also keep the younger year groups on track with the curriculum
Running exams as usual with the help of exam texts set by the teachers remotely and marked by them remotely
The few teachers who have come back into the schools (mainly in the Philippines) have been temperature checked daily to check the state of their health
Regular temperature testing of children within the school
Family grouping of the children at school and comprehensive mask use over the last five months so children have had a chance to get used to the process
If you are interested to find out more, the Head of the U.K. World Villages for Children, Nicola Lawson is able to discuss with you:
Why it is crucial that the charity keeps its schools open – as this is the children’s only means of getting themselves educated and out of poverty
How they have continued to run all 13 schools with zero risk during this crisis
How they will continue to ensure the children’s education is not disrupted moving forwards (should we have another significant global outbreak)
How they have minimised disruption to the children’s social and physical interactions
How the pupils themselves have rallied together within the schools to make hundreds of face masks for their community members at large
A survey of EIS union Reps in schools has confirmed that there is still a considerable amount of work to be done to ensure that schools are COVID-secure environments.
The EIS issued the survey last month following the re-opening of schools and received responses from almost 600 schools across the country.
Amongst the key issues of concern identified by school reps were:
92% of Reps reported no reductions in class sizes to enable effective physical distancing
30% of Reps reported that physical distancing between staff and pupils was not in place in their school
49% of Secondary school Reps reported no change to timetables or class groups to support physical distancing measures
10% of Reps reported that physical distancing between staff is not in place in their school
43% of Reps reported deficiencies in the delivery of agreed COVID mitigations in schools
31% of Reps reported that face coverings were not being worn where physical distancing was not possible
7% of Reps reported that teachers in more at-risk groups (such as those previously shielding, those who were pregnant, teachers from BAME groups) had not received support in requesting individual risk assessments to ensure their safety.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Larry Flanagan said, “The results of our survey of school Reps make for worrying reading. While local authorities have taken numerous steps to make schools safer, there is still much to be done to ensure that all schools are as COVID-safe as they can possibly be.
“It is clear from the results of our survey that class groups are still too large to facilitate effective physical distancing measures, potentially placing staff and pupils alike at greater risk of COVID infection. While this is an issue in all schools, it is a particularly acute concern in the secondary sector where older pupils are at a greater risk of developing symptoms and of spreading the virus.”
Mr Flanagan added: “Teachers and pupils have a right to work in a safe and secure environment, so all possible steps must be taken to ensure that our schools are COVID-secure.
“The most effective means to ensure this is through physical distancing, which will require smaller classes and an increased number of teaching staff. Local authorities and the Scottish Government must act urgently to step up the deployment of the additional teaching staff required to ensure that all schools can operate safely in the weeks and months ahead.”
A copy of the report on the EIS national Reps’ survey is available here, for information.
It seems parents may be erring on the side of caution as over 100,000 pupils were marked absent from school last Friday, many suffering from cold-like symptoms.
Earlier this week national clinical director Dr Jason Leitch wrote an open letter to parents, offering advice and guidance on what parents and carers should do if their children are suffering from bugs and colds.
Universities must scrap plans to reopen campuses next month in order to prevent a major public health crisis, the University and College Union said yesterday.
The union fears that the migration of over a million students across the UK risks doing untold damage to people’s health and exacerbating the worst health crisis of our lifetimes.
UCU said that the prospect of mass student migration was already challenging enough, but the A-levels fiasco and the removal of the cap on the number of students universities can recruitrisked overwhelming some institutions and turning universities into the care homes of a second wave.
UCU said that demanding over a million young people move around the UK to attend university made no sense. The union highlighted there is no functioning track and trace system in place, nor any UK-wide plans to regularly test students or staff. UCU said the push to get students back on campus was being driven by a dangerous desire to get back to business as usual, before it was safe to do so.
UCU said that, rather than allowing universities to reopen precipitously, the government had to step in and underwrite any lost funding for the higher education sector. The union said universities that rely on tuition and accommodation fees feared lost income and the government had to make it clear now that they will not suffer financially for doing the right thing in terms of public health.
The union accepted that there would be challenges switching from blended learning to online, but that the move outweighed the health risks for students and the wider population. UCU added that it was highly likely that reopening campuses would result in local lockdowns and courses being moved online. The union said it was best to make that call now instead of a U-turn that would be too late even by this government’s standards.
The union said that if campuses reopen and cases rise then blaming students, instead of doing everything to mitigate against it happening, would be a denial of responsibility by government and universities.
The union said that although recorded cases were on the rise, the government has not provided systems for testing and tracing that could cope with campuses reopening and universities have failed to step into the breach.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Moving a million plus students around the country is a recipe for disaster and risks leaving ill-prepared universities as the care homes of a second wave.
“The recent fiasco over exam results and their fallout has left universities under even greater pressure. It is time for the government to finally take some decisive and responsible action in this crisis and tell universities to abandon plans for face-to-face teaching.
‘Refusing to act now will only store up problems further down the line as courses are forced to move online and students forced into lockdown. It is no good blaming students later on for a problem that could have been avoided by government action. We need to move all teaching online for the first term of the new academic year, as recommended by Independent Sage, and the government needs to underwrite any lost funding for the sector.
‘The limited, piecemeal funding measures announced by the government so far are nothing compared with the security and the stimulus that would be provided by a comprehensive funding guarantee. Students will also need financial support to ensure that they can participate fully in online learning .’
The union has issued new guidance that also calls for greater testing on campus and better and more cleaning.
UCU said it wanted colleges and universities to work with the union on risk assessments to ensure staff and students could be confident their health and welfare was institutions’ number one concern. Earlier this week, the union called for face coverings to be worn in colleges and universities.
At 4pm on Tuesday Jo Grady will be joined by guests including Independent Sage members Professor Ann Phoenix and Professor Elizabeth Stokoe, and president of the National Union of Students Larissa Kennedy to consider how campuses could reopen safely. The event will be live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
The UK Government has published detailed guidance for England’s schools on contingency planning for areas with local lockdowns in place.
The guidance sets out that all possible measures should be taken before any restrictions are imposed on schools to maintain consistent education for children and young people.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “Our primary focus remains supporting all schools to welcome back all pupils for the start of term and we thank teachers and staff for their hard work in preparations.
“We hope that we won’t have to implement the guidance set out today because the local lockdown measures we have introduced so far are working. Changes to school attendance will only ever be an absolute last resort.
“However, it is important that both government and schools prepare for a worst case scenario, so this framework represents the sensible contingency planning any responsible government would put in place.”
The updated CONTAIN guidance sets out four tiers of restrictions for education settings, for use as an absolute last resort in areas subject to local restrictions.
All schools, colleges and other education settings are opening for the start of term, with all those in areas subject to local restrictions currently at Tier 1 – fully open to all pupils full time, with face coverings required in corridors and communal areas for pupils in Year 7 and above.
Local authority leaders and directors of public health, alongside national government, would be at the centre of any decision making to move out of Tier 1 for education settings.
They would take all other possible measures, including implementing restrictions on other sectors, before considering restricting attendance in education.
If all other measures have been exhausted, Tier 2 would advise secondary schools and colleges in a restricted area to use rotas to help break chains of transmission of coronavirus, while primary schools remain open to all pupils.
Tiers 3 and 4 introduce remote learning full time for wider groups of pupils, with vulnerable children and children of critical workers continuing to attend.
The government asked schools in July to ensure they were able to provide high quality remote education that mirrors in-school education, in case any pupils were required to self-isolate or local restrictions were needed. These plans should extend to rotas if ever required.
All children are due to return to school for the autumn term and schools have been putting in place protective measures to reduce the risk of transmission.
School staff have been working to implement increased hygiene and handwashing with children remaining in consistent groups, using measures such as staggered break times to keep groups apart.
To further reassure parents and teachers that all proportionate measures are being taken to make schools as safe as possible, the government has announced that in areas of the country currently subject to enhanced restrictions, staff and pupils in secondary schools should wear face coverings in communal areas where social distancing cannot be maintained.
From this week, schools and colleges have begun receiving home testing kits, each receiving a pack of 10 tests, with more available to be ordered if needed. The home testing kits are to be used in exceptional circumstances such an individual with symptoms who may have barriers to accessing a test elsewhere and the home kit would significantly increase their chance of getting tested. This will enable schools and colleges to take swift action to protect others if the test result is positive.
Schools are also receiving packs of PPE to use in the very limited circumstances it may be required, such as when it is not possible for a staff member to maintain 2m distance from a pupil with a suspected case of coronavirus.
This week the Chief Medical Officers from all four nations in the United Kingdom made it clear that the risks to children contracting Covid-19 in school or college is extremely low and that the risks associated with not being in school or college outweighs that of not being there.
The Department for Education has also published further guidance to help schools plan for potential Tier 2 restrictions, which will involve secondary year groups operating a rota system in order to reduce pupil numbers on-site.
Education leaders have expressed frustration that the latest guidance was published on Friday evening at the start of a Bank Holiday weekend, giving them little time to prepare and organise for schools returning next week.
A Granton Primary School pupil has tested positive for COVID-19, it has been confirmed.
The information was revealed to councillors at a full council meeting this morning.
Local North and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson said: “I am in touch with the Head Teacher and the Council, and will continue to monitor this situation.
“The Council have said that they are working closely with NHS Lothian’s Health Protection Team to provide parents and the wider school community with information and reassurance.”
Dr Duncan McCormick, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, NHS Lothian and Chair of the Incident Management Team (IMT), said: “NHS Lothian is investigating after a child at Granton Primary School in Edinburgh tested positive for COVID-19. The pupil is self-isolating at home with their family.
“A multi-disciplinary Incident Management Team (IMT) has been established to assess the situation and decide any next steps required.
“Enhanced cleaning measures are in place in schools in line with national guidance. The Health Protection Team has traced close contacts of the case.
“Following a robust risk assessment by the expert group, the school will remain open and pupils should continue to attend as normal. Appropriate advice has been provided and anyone who came into close contact with the case has been told to self-isolate for 14 days. The situation will continue to be closely monitored.
“For anyone else, the risk to their health is extremely low, but they should continue to be vigilant and aware of the symptoms.
“If you experience a high fever, persistent cough or loss of taste or smell, you must self isolate and book a test via the national COVID-19 helpline on 0800 028 2816 or go to www.nhsinform.scot”.
ClickView announces partnership with City of Edinburgh’s Local Education Authority, highlighting commitment to inclusive, innovative, and transformational digital learning:
It has been a big month for many families across Scotland, as most pupils returned to school for the first time in nearly five months.
With schools staff, students, parents and care givers adjusting to a new normal and tackling ongoing uncertainty, some positive news to start the term has been announced, with staff and students across all City of Edinburgh schools returning with access to world-class video resources.
ClickView are delighted to have partnered with City of Edinburgh’s Digital Learning Team to provide all Primary, Secondary and Special schools with access to 1000s of high-quality teaching and learning videos and resources, all mapped to the Curriculum for Excellence.
Already in motion pre-school closures following positive feedback from Edinburgh schools, the roll out of the ClickView platform across all City of Edinburgh schools has been accelerated, given the undeniable pressure felt by staff, students, parents and care givers throughout lockdown and need for digital learning resources.
Councillor Ian Perry, Education Convener for City of Edinburgh Council explained: “As demand for digital learning resources has increased, ClickView fulfills what has been a growing need, guaranteeing our schools staff and students have access to world-class digital resources.
“The launch of ClickView is another step in our journey to bridge the educational equity gap, ensuring every student and teacher in Edinburgh has our commitment and support for an inclusive, innovative, and transformational education, which can be sustained inside and outside of the school gates.”
Following months of disruption and an uncertain school year ahead, the access to ClickView is a huge step forward for City of Edinburgh’s education system, providing schools with resources to complement and enhance their teaching and learning strategies; supporting a reduction in teacher workload, increasing engagement and ultimately supporting the best possible outcomes for students.
Putting world-class teaching and learning resources at the fingertips of educators and students, the introduction of ClickView will also give parents and care givers peace of mind that schooling for the year ahead is safeguarded; with unrestricted access for schools to curriculum-aligned video content, teaching resources and the best of broadcast TV for educational purposes.
UK Managing Director of ClickView, Michael Wilkinson, commented: “For a number of years, ClickView have proudly supported teaching and learning across many schools and colleges in Scotland.
“It is fantastic to see Edinburgh’s leadership in this space, with a systemic approach to ensure the highest possible standards of teaching and learning, supporting their passionate educators and improving the life chances of so many young people.”
The world’s leading video content resource for primary schools, secondary schools and further education settings, ClickView supports over 4500 schools, colleges, and universities around the world.
On a mission to transform and revolutionise how video can be utilised to increase student engagement and boost student outcomes; the roll out in schools across Edinburgh follows the recent decision by ClickView to extend access to the free platform, which was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A diluted version of the main platform, the free site enables teachers to access hundreds of ClickView’s most popular videos and learning resources.
To find out more about the curriculum-aligned video content or to explore the free version of the site, visit Clickview.co.uk.
BREAKING NEWS: Secondary school pupils to wear face coverings from Monday
GMB has this morning (Tuesday 25 August) called on the Scottish Government to bring forward a COVID testing regime for every school across Scotland, after a survey of its members found that two-thirds of support staff in schools and nurseries do not feel safe at work.
The union has written to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education John Swinney MSP, urging him to follow the interventions made in the social care sector by giving workers the opportunity to access COVID testing in their workplace.
Following a survey conducted between Thursday 20th and Monday 24th August of over 1,400 members employed in support staff roles, including cleaners, janitors, caterers and pupil support assistants, the union learned that:
The vast majority (96 per cent) believe regular testing should be offered at work;
Two-thirds (63 per cent) do not feel safe at their work;
Over one-fifth (23 per cent) have confirmed a suspected or positive case of COVID at work; and
Just under half (46 per cent) would not know what to do if there was a suspect or confirmed case of COVID at their work.
The results are published against the backdrop of increasing concerns over COVID 19 infection and transmission in Scotland’s schools.
GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum said:“Over a week since the return of Scotland’s schools, it’s clear that many support staff do not feel safe at their work and overwhelming majority of them want to be able to access a COVID test at work.
“If support staff need to book a test, they must absorb the financial costs and time implications to do so, and for a chronically low-paid workforce with many employed on multiple contracts across multiple workplaces, that’s just not credible.
“The failure over the summer months to listen to the voices of school support staff echoes what we witnessed in care earlier this year, and in this case the political focus has been on teachers and pupils while support staff have been forgotten.
“You cannot have a safe return to full-time education if a significant chunk of the workforce needed do not feel sufficiently safe, valued or heard by our decision-makers, and that’s why we urged the Deputy First Minister to intervene now.”
A school in Dundee has been closed with pupils and staff asked to self-isolate after it was linked to 27 new cases in the city.
JUST ANNOUNCED:
Scottish secondary school pupils will have to wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas from next Monday, Education Secretary John Swinney has confirmed.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has today made a direct appeal to parents to return their children to the classroom when schools reopen in England next week.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I have previously spoken about the moral duty to reopen schools to all pupils safely, and I would like to thank the school staff who have spent the summer months making classrooms Covid-secure in preparation for a full return in September.
“We have always been guided by our scientific and medical experts, and we now know far more about coronavirus than we did earlier this year.
“As the Chief Medical Officer has said, the risk of contracting Covid-19 in school is very small and it is far more damaging for a child’s development and their health and well-being to be away from school any longer.
“This is why it’s vitally important that we get our children back into the classroom to learn and to be with their friends. Nothing will have a greater effect on the life chances of our children than returning to school.”
Chief Medical Officers and Deputy Chief Medical Officers of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales made a weekend statement on the evidence of risks and benefits to health from schools and childcare settings reopening, which says:
We are confident in the extensive evidence that there is an exceptionally small risk of children of primary or secondary school age dying from COVID-19. The infection fatality rate (proportion of those who are infected who die) for those aged 5 to 14 is estimated at 14 per million, lower than for most seasonal flu infections.
We are confident that there is clear evidence of a very low rate of severe disease in children of primary and secondary school ages compared to adults, even if they catch COVID-19. The percentage of symptomatic cases requiring hospitalisation is estimated to be 0.1% for children aged 0 to 9 and 0.3% among those aged 10 to 19, compared to a hospitalisation rate of over 4% in the UK for the general population. Most of these children make a rapid recovery.
We are confident that there is clear evidence from many studies that the great majority of children and teenagers who catch COVID-19 have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Control measures such as hand and surface hygiene, cohorting to reduce number of daily contacts, and directional controls to reduce face-to-face contact remain key elements of maintaining COVID-19 secure school environments and minimising risk.
Children return to school in Northern Ireland this morning, while Welsh children go back next month.
Pupils in Scotland start their second full week of school this morning, and parents are reminded to observe guidelines on social distancing.
Steps include:
Limiting the number of family members at drop off and pick ups where possible
Following the specific guidance issued to them from their schools
Following national advice on keeping two metres apart.
Edinburgh’s Education Convener Cllr Ian Perry said: “We realise it will take time for parents and pupils to get used to the new arrangements around our schools and I want to thank everyone who has been following the advice such as dropping children off away from schools gates so there is no overcrowding.
“We would urge everyone to remember the physical distancing guidelines they have been following so well for the past few months as these also apply outside our schools. Please take on board these simple steps so we can keep everyone safe.”
Education Vice Convener Cllr Alson Dickie said: “Each school is different so specific advice has been issued to parents about the best ways to help with physical distancing at drop off and pick up times.
“Discussions between parents and schools will continue as we find solutions that best support each school. In addition a number of temporary measures have also been put in place as part of our Spaces for People programme to give pupils and their families safer access so they can physically distance using buggies, wheelchairs and other mobility aids.
“We are continuing to encourage parents/carers to travel to school by walking, cycling and scooting where possible so please follow the national guidance so we can keep the virus suppressed.”
