Thursday 24 November 10am – 2pm at North Edinburgh Childcare
Tag: education
Explore your local Primary School tomorrow
Parents and carers are being urged to find out more about the exciting education on offer at their local primary school as part of the annual open day event this week. Every primary school in Edinburgh will be opening their doors to prospective parents and carers with pre-school age children on Wednesday. Continue reading Explore your local Primary School tomorrow
Secondary schoolgirls inspired to get active
An innovative project to encourage girls at city high schools to become more active is being launched by the City of Edinburgh Council today.
The first ‘Girls Day Out’ conference has been organised by the Council’s Active Schools team and aims to inspire, encourage and support girls to become more active, raise the profile of successful girls and their achievements and educate girls on the power of sport.
The event, which has been organised in partnership with Youth Scotland and sportscotland, will involve more than 150 girls from S1 to S5 year groups across the city who will gather at Wester Hailes Education Centre, from 10am until 2pm.
It will be an interactive, fun packed day where the girls will hear from inspiring female role-models and learn about the power of sport. The day will be made up of a number of workshops including nutrition, a mental wellbeing and alternative physical activity sessions including jump rope, trampolining and PiYo (cross between Pilates and Yoga).
Partners Youth Scotland, who will support the delivery of some of the workshops on the day, have also funded for the girls who attend the conference to be put through the Dynamic Youth Awards which is a peer-assessed awards recognising the contributions and achievements of young people in the 10+ age group.
Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener for Education, Children & Families at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “Often girls give up sport when they start at high school so ‘Girls Day Out’ is a great way to encourage them to become more active and discover the different and fun ways to achieve this.
“I am sure that the great programme of activities at Wester Hailes today will show the girls the benefits of taking part in PE, sport and physical activity.”
Stewart Harris, Chief Executive, sportscotland, said: “Our aim with Active Girls is to work with our partners to increase participation in PE, sport and physical activity amongst girls and young women. ‘Girls Day Out’ is a terrific way for schools, clubs and hubs to showcase the opportunities available both locally and nationally.
“The Active Schools team here in Edinburgh has put together a very comprehensive and innovative programme to highlight the benefits of an active lifestyle in a fun and interactive way. I’m sure it will be a great success.”
Screen Education showcase at The Filmhouse
Screen Education Edinburgh is hosting a screening event to showcase films made by our young people on their BFI Film Academy, Cashback for Creativity, Princes Trust: Get Started with Media and SEE It Make It (Into Film) programmes.
This event will take place on Saturday 22 October at The Filmhouse.
For further information email admin@screen-ed.org
Lingotot to star in The Mummy Diaries
Mum’s The Word for Lingotot in North Edinburgh
Mum’s the Word for Giselle Dominguez, whose Lingotot business in North Edinburgh is set to star in ITV’s Sam Faiers; The Mummy Diaries. The six week series, which follows the day to day life of the reality TV star as she finds her feet as a mother to baby Paul, will feature a Spanish Lingotot class inside the young mum’s home. Continue reading Lingotot to star in The Mummy Diaries
Cash for schools to close attainment gap
More than a hundred secondary schools will receive up to £11.5 million for projects to close the attainment gap, Deputy First Minister John Swinney confirmed yesterday. In Edinburgh Castlebrae Community High School, Wester Hailes Education Centre, Holyrood High School and Craigroyston Community High School will benefit from the funding. Continue reading Cash for schools to close attainment gap
Young people to help shape the future of their schools
The review into the way schools are run is seeking direct input from those most affected by Scotland’s education system – children and young people themselves, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said during a visit to Broughton High School yesterday.
In September, Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced the start of a major governance review, with the presumption that decisions will be devolved to school level. Underlining the commitment to involve and listen to pupils, the Scottish Government is funding work to gather their perspectives.
Young Scot, in partnership with Children in Scotland and Scottish Youth Parliament, is taking forward the engagement programme, which will secure input from a diverse range of young people with different life experiences – including those from urban and rural settings, in the care system, and who have a disability.
Announcing £60,000 to support this work over the next three months, Mr Swinney met today with some of the 90 pupils taking part in the first engagement session at Broughton High School in Edinburgh. He said: “Our review is about ensuring schools deliver the best outcomes for children and young people, with teachers empowered to make decisions about learning within schools, supported by parents and the local community.
“I’ve committed to listening to teachers, practitioners and partners. It’s also crucial that we seek the views of children and young people – on what works well with their learning and in their schools and where improvements can be made.
“The feedback gathered by Young Scot, Children in Scotland and the Scottish Youth Parliament will make a valuable contribution to the review process, shaping our mission to deliver excellence and equity throughout our education system.”
Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive of Young Scot, said: “Any conversation about the future of schools, education and learning needs to have children and young people at the heart. They are experts of their own experience, and it is vital they are given the opportunity to share their insight and their views about what matters so much for them today and in the future.”
Children in Scotland Chief Executive Jackie Brock said: “We believe that children and young people have the right to influence policy and legislation that has an impact on their lives. Hearing from school pupils about how their experience of education could be improved is a key part of this and we are delighted to be partners in a project with such a strong emphasis on consultation and engagement with our young people.”
Amy Lee Farioli, Vice Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, said: “Empowering children and young people to have their say in decisions that affect them is a fundamental right that all children and young people have. It is essential that they are involved in making decisions about their learning and the learning environment. We see activities like today’s event as vital for shaping the positive involvement of young people as equal, meaningful partners in decisions for the future.”
Education reforms: Putting teachers in charge
Decentralisation drives improvement plan
“Decision-making must rest with schools” – John Swinney
Empowering schools to take the decisions necessary to improve children’s attainment will be at the heart of reforms being consulted on in the Scottish Government’s governance review, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said today.
Mr Swinney will formally launch the review on Tuesday, setting out the goal of making schools the key decision makers on children’s education and consulting on how to make that a reality. The review will consider how to best decentralise management to schools and how best to support teachers and headteachers in exercising their new responsibilities.
The Deputy First Minister said: “Our relentless focus will be on how we can build on the many strengths in Scottish education to close the attainment gap and deliver excellence and equity in our schools. We believe that the key to achieving this for all children depends on the quality of teaching and the relationship between teachers and children. That is why we are taking forward our commitment to make schools, their teachers and parents, the key decision makers in a child’s education.
“We have already initiated a range of targeted actions to close the equity gap and reduce classroom workload, but we want to go further. We want to ensure that the whole education system in Scotland is focused on supporting teachers do what they do best – teaching our young people.
“Our starting point is schools must have the flexibility to take the decisions that matter for children’s education. The governance review I will publish this week will begin with the presumption that decision-making must rest with schools. This approach poses the question of how the rest of the system can support teachers, headteachers and parents in that extended role.
“It will also consider how we can involve parents and the wider community better in the life of schools, because we know that there is strong global evidence that greater parental and community involvement promotes children’s attainment and achievement.”
Congratulations! Exams success for Scotland’s school students
Scotland’s young people have recorded another highly successful set of results for this year’s SQA qualifications with more pupils getting a university place on exams results day than ever before. This was the second highest number of Higher passes on record, despite a fall in the size of the year-groups involved. Continue reading Congratulations! Exams success for Scotland’s school students
College courses: help to make the right choices
Edinburgh College is holding a course drop-in surgery on Friday (12 August) to help school students receiving their exam results this week make the right study choices for their future. Continue reading College courses: help to make the right choices