MBE for top teacher Tracey and more Forthview news

Our thanks to P5 teacher Ian Holden for keeping us up to date with everything that’s going on at Forthview Primary School:

We put out an appeal for used stamps last year and the response was really good – they were able to support a local charity called Pass It On, who help disabled children with access to computers, with a big donation. We’ll continue collecting until June, when we hope to sell the stamps to collectors and give the raised funds to The Sick Kids Hospital and Pass It On. I’ve tried to up the pace of our appeal now, contacting lots of local businesses to see if they can help – United Wire have already been helpful, as have City of Edinburgh Council and I am sure others will be too in due course. If you can help please get in touch!

Forthview’s P5a appeared at the childrens’ exhibition in the Mews at The Queen’s Gallery at Holyrood last month, one of four local schools involved. I’m also pleased to say that 16 pupils from my class won the best film category in the Children and Families department’s Safer Internet Day competition, designed to increase awareness of how to work safely online.

And last but definitely not least, Forthview’s Family Support teacher Tracey Berry received an MBE in the New Years Honours List for services to education.

Head Teacher Moira Heatly said: ‘Tracey Berry has been working with families at Forthview Primary and previously at Craigmuir for 18 years. As a teacher she took on the role initially as home link teacher but over the years that followed, the value of the role was recognised and it has since evolved to being a crucial part of Forthview’s school community. Tracey sees her role being about making the sure that the children are ready to learn and to do this she reaches out to all the parents, carers and families, many of whom did not have positive experiences at school, to help them to engage in learning with their child. Tracey is highly valued by the families at Forthview, who know that she always goes above and beyond to support them. They are happy to acknowledge the impact she has had on their lives. This award of an MBE is well deserved.’

Everyone at Forthview is very proud of Tracey – congratulations!

Ian Holden, Forthview Primary School

Pass marks for city schools

A report to the city council’s Education, Children and Families Committee sets out how Edinburgh Schools have been performing in the last year – and the report shows that, in the majority of indicators, city schools are performing above the national average.

Changes of note include improvements for some of the lowest achieving pupils, who have made considerable improvement over the last three years to within one per cent of the national performance level. Overall evaluation of improvements in early years level have been classified as ‘very good’ and there has been an improvement in Maths and English by the end of S4 which now sits above the national average. This clearly demonstrates the impact a renewed focus on employability skills is having.

Across the board there has been significant improvement in PE by the end of S4 which can be linked to Health and Wellbeing education under the Curriculum for Excellence and the 2 hours of quality PE prescribed by it. In Higher exams, there has been very good performance across the city in English, Mathematics, French, Physics, Computing and German.

High Schools that achieved very good examination results include The Royal High School, Boroughmuir HS, Currie HS, Firrhill HS, James Gillespie’s HS and St Thomas of Aquin’s, with significant improvements having been made at Craigroyston HS and Wester Hailes Education Centre.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Education, Children and Families Convener said, “I would like to congratulate schools for their continued improvement, the report shows how much is being achieved across the city. It’s clear from this report that some schools are making significant improvements and I would like to congratulate them for that. We will be looking to all our schools and continuing to work closely with them to ensure the upward trend continues.”

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Outstanding Oaklands!

Local school MOVEs on up to become Centre of Excellence

Oaklands School is to become a MOVE Centre of Excellence – only the third school in Scotland to achieve that status. The special school on Ferry Road will receive the MOVE quality mark accolade at a special assembly on Monday 17 December.

MOVE (Movement for Learning and Life) helps children who have complex disabilities to:

Acquire and maintain increased independence in sitting, standing, walking and transferring,
Learn, gain and maintain more mobility through transference of skills,
Experience better health, enhanced personal dignity, improved communication skills and access to education.

The MOVE programme is shown to improve functional mobility skills and empower children and adults who have complex physical and learning disabilities to better direct their own lives. The MOVE Programme uses a family/person centred approach to develop functional mobility, based on current theory and research in education, therapy, biomechanics and motor science.

MOVE teaches functional motor skills that the child will need as he / she grows and develops and begins to access the wider world outside of school and home life. Skills taught are carefully selected and aim to help the child reach their identified goals and may include learning to walk 100 meters so they can walk from a car to the entrance of cinema, being able to sit unsupported so they can travel on a bus or being able to pivot transfer to access toilets in the community where disabled facilities can be poor.

Increased abilities in sitting, standing and walking decrease the burden of care for families and care providers. These increased abilities also bring new opportunities for greater participation and involvement in family life and for inclusion into the wider community.

Oaklands School embarked on the MOVE programme with three pupils in 2003, and now supports 23 pupils following the MOVE programme – four pupils have graduated from MOVE. The school has enthusiastically embraced the MOVE concept, and annual MOVE Day celebrations are a particular delight at Oaklands – whether that’s travelling through time and space or enjoying an unforgettable Strictly Come Dancing event!

The school was visited by MOVE Partnership’s CEO Nigel Carter in September and he was clearly hugely impressed – a subsequent glowing Quality Mark report said:

‘The MOVE Programme at Oaklands School is of high quality and is outstanding as compared against the components of the MOVE Quality Mark. The programme is outstandingly led and managed by Anke Baillie, the MOVE Programme coordinator, with outstanding support from the Head teacher, Maureen Mathieson, the leadership team and the Oaklands MOVE Group, who are ensuring that all possible time, effort and resources are being made available to ensure the success of the MOVE Programme.

‘Documentation and procedures are outstanding enabling all to understand and follow the MOVE process and procedures across the school. Students are well motivated and enthusiastic to do their best due to high expectations and a commitment and enthusiasm from all staff.

‘The superb learning environment of the school allows a creative and innovative approach to the delivery of the MOVE Programme that focuses on the key elements of individual pupil need and ensures that MOVE is integrated fully into the school systems and processes. Students make excellent progress and are keen and willing participants in their programme and are supported fully by their parents and carers.

There is a great deal of innovation taking place at the school that it is a model for excellence for the MOVE Programme.’

In short, Mr Carter described the Oaklands setup as ‘the best evidence of good practice I’ve ever seen!’

The presentation of the MOVE Quality Mark and MOVE Regional Centre of Excellence award will take place on 17 December.

Congratulations to all at Oaklands on a tremendous achievement.

Happy birthday, Rowanfield

A very happy birthday to Rowanfield Special School, which has now been part of the Drylaw community for ten years!

The school celebrated their special birthday with an extra-special party on Friday – and the children were all involved in planning the programme IN JUST A WEEK!

They did a great job – there was a piper, a video booth, a memories tree, food and refreshments (thanks to Miss Thomson, P6/7!), and videos of past events at Rowanfield.

Then there was an opportunity to sing the Rowanfield School song, a presentation to Mr Glover who’s been a volunteer at the school since it opened and three P7 pupils devised, wrote and recorded a Rowanfield Rap – all in under an hour!

You can’t really have a birthday party without a birthday cake, and Rowanfield pupils starred again – Cameron baked a lovely cake and Darren decorated it with the party’s Angry Birds theme!

Head Teacher Leanne Sharpe told guests: “I think our children have done remarkably well in organising our party – every one of them has helped in some way and they have all worked really hard to make the party a success, so it’s great to see everyone enjoying themselves”.

Senior pupils Dale and Liam helped the Head Teacher cut the birthday cake.

Celebrating Career Academies success at RHS

Nine Edinburgh schools have been taking part in Career Academies, a UK wide initiative that brings together the world of business and education to deliver an inspirational programme that includes mentoring, ‘guru lectures’ and internships.

The Royal High School in Barnton hosted an event to celebrate local achievements to date and to give all involved an opportunity to come together to share their experiences. Friday’s event brought together 86 S5/6 students involved in Career Academies, together with their 86 Partners in Business (PiBs) and inspirational Scottish mountaineer Jamie Andrew gave the keynote address.

Career Academy students follow a rigorous two-year enrichment programme alongside their school curriculum, which aims to help them progress to higher education or the world of work from a much more informed, inspired and confident base.

The targeted group of students are those that have been identified as having the potential to secure a place in higher education or employment with the support of a business mentor. They begin in 5th year at school, aged 16, studying two to three Highers, and are likely to lack informal networks but have great potential.

Career Academies forms part of the city-wide strategy, the Edinburgh Guarantee, to help pupils move into work or education following secondary school.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener, said: “Career Academies is already proving to provide an invaluable opportunity to some of our pupils. By giving them the confidence they need to take those first steps in the right direction we are increasing their chances of going on to do something they want once they finish school. I would like to thank all the businesses and mentors for their involvement to date and to encourage other local businesses to get involved.”

Mark McFall, Managing Director of Change Recruitment, said, “Our aim in supporting career Academies UK was to make a difference to young people’s lives and provide them with an insight into the working environment. What we probably didn’t expect was the impact on our business and our own people. The students made a genuine contribution and also brought something different to the working environment that had a profound effect on all of us. We now have so many more people within the business keen to play a part in supporting these terrific young people.”

Josh McLeish, an S6 pupil at Tynecastle High School, said: “I have found the Career Academies UK experience extremely helpful and beneficial over the past year. My internship over the summer was fantastic and has helped me gain valuable experience in the workplace which is normally very difficult to obtain. The people I worked with were brilliant and very helpful. Not only was the internship great but so is having a mentor who helps me out and points me in the right direction.”

Anne Wexelstein, Career Academies UK Manager for Scotland, commented: “In the current economic climate, it’s vital that opportunities like this are on offer to young people to help them make the transition from school into the word of work. The vast majority of us are in greater need of the right pre conditions and introductions with which to find our way to work. We would like to say a big thank you to all the people who are making our partnership with Edinburgh City Council, its schools and the Capital’s employers such a great success. ”

Three of the nine schools involved have completed their first year and six new schools embarked on the scheme in August.

Businesses who have participated in Career Academies to date represented at the Royal High School conference include: AK Stoddart, BNY Mellon, BT, Cairn Energy, Capital Solutions, Citi Bank, Clydesdale Bank, Davidson Chalmers, DHL, Diageo, City of Edinburgh Council, Edutrain, Ernst & Young, Franklin Templeton, Hotel Missoni, JP Morgan, Lloyds Banking Group, Logica, Penna Right Management, Royal Bank of Scotland, RSM Tenon, Santander, Scottish Gas, Scottish Government, Scottish Widows, Sopra Group, The Big Partnership, The Scottish Government, The Witchery, Transport Scotland, Visit Scotland, Yorkshire Bank and Tree of Knowledge.

Extended hours for student living support helpline

The opening hours of the Student Award Agency for Scotland’s helpline will be extended to provide answers for students concerned about the progress of their application, Education Secretary Michael Russell has announced. The news comes after it was revealed yesterday that thousands of students are still awaiting grants and loans for basic living expenses weeks into the new term.

The government has reacted to student leaders’ concerns over delays. Speaking yesterday Robin Parker, president of National Union of Students Scotland, said: “The agency’s staff are no doubt working hard in difficult circumstances, but the Scottish government needs to investigate why students will still be waiting for their support payments in November, and look very closely at providing the additional resources SAAS would need to process applications quicker.

“Students who have not received support funding have every right to be upset, and are absolutely right to expect a better level of service. Many students rely on this funding to afford their education, and could struggle to remain at university without this much-needed support.”

Experienced staff from other teams have now been drafted in to work with contact centre staff to boost the helpline and to provide a weekday service from 8am. The helpline will also open this weekend to make sure the applications backlog is cleared as quickly as possible.

The government has said that all current outstanding applications will be cleared by next week. Education Secretary Michael Russell said: “I understand how vital living support is to students and the uncertainty outstanding applications can cause. That is why I have asked SAAS to pull out all the stops and ensure the remaining four per cent of late applications are dealt with urgently.

“These increased opening hours will ensure students can get access to help and information when it is most convenient. We also have confirmation that current outstanding applications will be processed by the end of next week.

“A further 1,000 applications have been cleared since yesterday alone. We will continue to work with the agency to ensure progress is sustained and the applications that continue to be received are dealt with as quickly as possible.”

For further information contact:

Student Awards Agency for Scotland or call the SAAS Helpline on 0300 555 0505

Flora’s pupils take the active option

Flora Stevenson Primary School’s approach to physical education has attracted the attention of university researchers. Pupils at the Comely Bank school have opted for daily physical activity – with ‘remarkable’ results – and the successful initiative will now be rolled out to more local schools.

Over the past two years extra training has been provided for teachers and pupils have been given opportunities to be active daily. This approach has made a significant impact on pupils who are showing an increase in confidence, motivation and self-esteem, as well as physical ability.

Since 2011 the school has been working with Winning Scotland Foundation and The City of Edinburgh Council who have provided a variety of support and funding for the initiative.

Pupils receive PE lessons three days a week and an active class challenge for their ‘non-PE’ day. The week culminates with the opportunity for them to participate in an optional hour of physical activity on a Friday – incredibly nearly 80% of all pupils now choose to participate in active options which include a wide variety of activities from fencing to football and hip-hop to tae kwon do.

Edinburgh University has been so impressed with this approach it is studying the impact it is having on training teachers within their own school.

Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener said, “This project has really had remarkable results so far. Alongside the great uptake of activities at school and the positive impact this is having on pupils, many are now choosing to partake in sports outwith school time. This means they are more likely to be physically active regularly and continue to be so in the long-run; this is an invaluable lifestyle change for them. This is a great example of how working with other organisations can lead to positive change.”

The project has allowed Flora’s to work closely with parents and other schools within the local community, one of which is Broughton High School (one of three school based Community Sports Hubs in Edinburgh). Sport can play an extremely important role in assisting children’s transition from Primary School to Secondary school.

Angela Hutt, PE Specialist at the school is delighted that her initial idea was developed and came to fruition thanks to the support and commitment of Shelagh Dow, Depute Head Teacher and her fellow teachers. Angela said; “The Curriculum for Excellence had given us the flexibility to provide pupils with opportunities to be active daily. As Friday’s activities are a reward for good behaviour we are seeing a positive impact on behaviour throughout the week. This is an ambitious project and wouldn’t be possible without support. A big thanks to everyone who has worked with us on this.”

Morag Arnot of Winning Scotland Foundation said, “This project has had a remarkable affect on the children involved and believe it could act as a blueprint for getting every child in Scotland active every day. We have been pleased to be able to support the project since its inception. We look forward to seeing how the project continues to develop across other schools and the impact it can have on more children.”

Cath Morrison, Senior Health Policy Officer, NHS Lothian said, “The advantages of children being physically active are well known but what Flora’s has done is package it up in such a way that it becomes part of their everyday life and influences behaviour outwith that time also. We are proud to be able to fund this programme and look forward to working with new schools on future projects also.”

Additional funding from Winning Scotland Foundation & the NHS has allowed the project to continue this year at Flora’s and to be introduced to Stockbridge Primary. It is hoped to further extend it to the remaining two cluster schools in August next year.

Primary care – Travel Safe Charter launched

A new resource to help improve road safety education has been launched in primary schools across Edinburgh, the Lothians and Scottish Borders. The Travel Safe Charter is a unique approach to promoting safe road practises to young people, seeking a commitment from schools and other agencies to develop curricular activities and partnership working.

Scotland’s national Road Safety Framework aims to reduce road deaths by 50 per cent through 2020 and the Travel Safe Charter has been designed to promote these key visions to all Pl – P7 year groups within our schools. The Charter provides advice and guidance on a range of policies, practices and procedures while encouraging and rewarding individual efforts. It will fit within the existing Curriculum for Excellence framework.

Travel Safe will reinforce and consolidate current good practices, whilst highlighting partnership working, parental input and involvement from the local community. All schools will submit evidence demonstrating that they have achieved the goals set within the Travel Charter framework and will be acknowledged accordingly through the award of a Charter certificate. The schools adjudged to be meeting these criteria will be given Travel Safe accreditation, which will be reviewed after three years.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill showed his support and helped launch the campaign at Duddingston Primary School yesterday.

Police believe Travel Safe will be a very useful tool to ensure a more sustainable approach to road safety education in primary schools. Chief Inspector Jim Royan from Lothian and Borders Police Safer Communities said: “As part of the Edinburgh Road Safety Partnership’s commitment to education, the Travel Safe Charter has been introduced to assist primary schools developing road safety education as a more vital part of the curriculum. Too many lives are lost needlessly on our roads each year and the earlier we can educate young people on road safety issues the better.

” School is where children receive the vast majority of their education and it’s appropriate for schools to play a key role in promoting road safety to their pupils. However, they are not alone in this project and police and partner agencies will provide all the necessary support and guidance schools require when adapting their curricular programme. We are also keen to get parents more involved and would encourage anyone who would like to assist with road safety education to respond to local school appeals for volunteers.”

Duddingston Depute Head Teacher Sara Webster said: “We are very excited about being part of the new Travel Safe Charter. Road safety is a skill for life which we feel is part of our responsibility asking children to assess and manage risk to protect themselves in the 21st century.”

Goodbye, Telford – hello, Edinburgh!

Telford no more, but new College is a class apart!

The vision to create a bigger, better and stronger college that will serve Edinburgh and the Lothians long into the future became a reality today with the launch of Edinburgh College. The new College is set on a clear path to provide improved opportunities and outcomes to everyone who walks through its door – and in turn help to kick-start the regional and national economy by delivering skilled people to those industry sectors where Scotland enjoys a competitive advantage.

New Principal Mandy Exley said the potential of Edinburgh College, both for students and for Edinburgh and Lothians, is limitless. She said: “This is a significant landmark in the history of education provision in Edinburgh and the Lothians. By being bigger and better, we can combine strengths and resources to give our students high quality skills that will allow them seize life-changing opportunities. Equally we will work hand in hand with businesses to ensure we are not just providing a curriculum of varied courses – but are actually focused on training future staff to work in those key industry sectors where there is high demand or in those sectors which have been identified as growth areas for Scotland. We want to be an economic powerhouse for the Edinburgh and Lothian region – helping to drive growth and prosperity to benefit both the local and national economy.”

The creation of Edinburgh College also marks the end of an era for three of Edinburgh’s most recognisable educational institutions – the College being a product of the merger of Edinburgh’s Telford College, Jewel & Esk College and Stevenson College.

Edinburgh College, which as a £60m business makes it the biggest FE college in Scotland, will accommodate more than 35,000 students – the biggest student body in Edinburgh. The College will employ around 1300 staff operate from four main campuses; Granton, Sighthill, Milton Road and Midlothian.

Mandy added: “In many respects today’s launch is just a start of a journey. We know there is a lot of hard work ahead to deliver our vision for the college. However, the depth and breadth of our staff talent and resources is enormous. By working together and ensuring staff and students play a key role in the decision-making, we can make Edinburgh College a real success story; a college that is inclusive, innovative and excellent. We know that this is a sad day for some as three institutions from Edinburgh’s educational landscape disappear. However, as Edinburgh College starts to deliver on its aims, I am confident it will become a name that will have real resonance across Scotland, the UK and internationally.”

The college in particular will look to focus on developing and promoting ‘centres of excellence’ in key learning fields; including engineering and construction (particularly renewables), hospitality and tourism services, creative industries, service industries, care professions and performing arts.

Ian McKay, Chair (Elect) of Edinburgh College, said the new Board will be looking to set the management team some tough targets both in the first year, and more crucially, in 2013-14, which will see the new college’s first full curriculum being rolled out.

He said: “Edinburgh College will be challenged to support economic growth by delivering the right people for real jobs through a high quality and evolving curriculum. It has an enormous role to play in offering hope and opportunity to our young people and providing the skills needed to benefit the regional and national economy. To achieve that, we will be looking to agree a series of objectives matched against positive outcomes that the college team can be measured against to ultimately demonstrate that Edinburgh College can deliver on its promises.”

Education Secretary Michael Russell said: “As one of Scotland’s largest colleges, Edinburgh College will have a key role to play across the country and particularly in Edinburgh and the Lothians. I believe it will offer new and greater opportunities for students and help make sure they have the skills and knowledge they need for jobs in the area. I know a lot of work has been required to deliver the new college and I am confident the college, staff and students will reap the rewards of this.”

Named after one of Scotland’s finest civil engineers, Telford College opened on Crewe Road South in 1968. The former Ainslie Park Secondary School was added as an annexe as the College population grew and space became an issue, and the College moved to it’s present – and final – custom-built home on Granton’s waterfront in September 2006.

Minister visits Gaelic school site

Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages has visited Bonnington Primary, the site of the new Gaelic School, in advance of works beginning. On Tuesday, Dr Allan met with Councillor David Key, Vice Convener of Education, Children and Families to tour the school which will see extensive work carried out to the tune of £3.53million in order to prepare the school for its new role.

Councillor Key, said; “This time next year we will be into the first term of our new dedicated Gaelic Primary and Nursery School. We are working with the Scottish Government to help deliver a modern educational facility that will nurture our young Gaelic speakers and help protect the future of the language. Pupils, parents and staff are currently being consulted on the name for the new school and I am pleased to say we should be in a position to make an announcement about it in the coming weeks.”

Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages Alasdair Allan said: “The Scottish Government has been clear on the benefits of funding this exciting development and I am delighted to visit the site to see for myself the scale of work that needs to be carried out over the next year. Edinburgh will soon have its first dedicated Gaelic Primary and Nursery School and I would encourage parents, whether or not they themselves speak Gaelic to consider the great opportunity this now presents for their children. I look forward to returning next summer to a newly refurbished facility ready for its first pupils.”

The school will replace the existing Gaelic Medium Unit (GME) based within Tollcross Primary School which was established in the 1980s – the GME unit has steadily seen its roll rise over the years as demand for GME education has grown.

The new school is due to open in August next year. Parent representatives are involved in a working group taking forward the development of the new school and the new Head Teacher will be appointed before Christmas.

Does Edinburgh really need a dedicated Gaelic school – isn’t Gaelic a dying language?

Can we afford this new school – shouldn’t that money be spent improving our existing schools? Let us know!