Still time to respond to Education Scotland survey …
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Over 200 organisations, large and small, have now responded to the national survey of who does community learning and development in Scotland. In response to demand, we are keeping the online survey open on the Education Scotland website for one more week. The final closing date for responses will now be Friday 17 April. If you haven’t had a chance to respond yet, then please don’t miss this opportunity to contribute. |
Parents and schools need to work to together to help children achieve their best. This is just one of the findings to come from a survey of parents conducted on behalf of the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee.
The on line survey, undertaken by the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe), sought the views of parents and guardians of school age children. It asked questions about communication with schools, involvement with the Parent Teacher Council and sought ideas on how schools and parents might work together. In the survey 71% strongly agreed that it is important schools and parents work together.
The survey provides a small snapshot of parental involvement in school. The majority (56%) of parents completing the survey were from Edinburgh with 22% of those responding having children in independent schools.
The survey was commissioned to feed into the Committee’s year long work on attainment. Next week (31 March) the Committee will explore how parents and schools can work together to help children realise their potential at school.
Committee Convener Stewart Maxwell MSP said: “Parents and guardians play a crucial role in their children’s education and we wanted to hear from them about the part they play in their child’s education.
“Whilst this is clearly an Edinburgh-centric sample, it paints an important picture about the need for schools and parents to work closer together in order that children can achieve their very best at school. This is something we can all agree is desirable.
“The survey also reveals that those with children in independent schools find it easier to get information about how their child is progressing than those in state schools. Our Committee will explore whether there are lessons to be learned about keeping parents informed.”
89% of parents whose children went to independent primary school’s agreed or strongly agreed information helped them support their child’s learning. This compares to 61%of those with children at state primary school.
Other results from the survey include:
Muirhouse man and award-winning film maker Garry Fraser gives his take on his community’s current problems …
It’s kinda ironic that the police put out their chopper every night and day, costing some were like £400 grand per month. The aim of this chopper is to catch the young team in their stolen cars and bikes. A’m sure the figures are out but North Edinburgh has the highest crime rate in Scotland. They have evicted folk, jailed folk, issued community sentence orders and then cut off another generation to jail as they are too old.
None of their policies work, which leaves the System scratching its head wondering ‘what are we doing wrong?’ You have a massive college in North Edinburgh where folk from around the world come to study – but only two streets away it’s another world. They shipped everybody out of Muirhouse when knocking down the Pennywell flats. Over the years they took away most forms of economic growth: i.e. the pipes and the gas works even Granton’s fishing boats.
Every local MP & MSP & councillor get in to their comfy seats and forget about this and do nothing, apart from sit over an HIV & smack epidemic that of course lasted through the 80’s & 90’s – now comes weed & legal highs.
Its like south central Edinburgh.. How many police stay in the area were they enforce the morals? How many of those wee guys, if trained in whatever, would probably take a job or go and study but only if they were helped and supported through the college system. Every brickie or trades guy who makes it from Muirhouse, Pilton, Royston or Drylaw ends up being one of the best on the site – that’s a fact …
Most folk down there who get a real chance and opportunity in work or education grab it with both hands as they know what the alternative is … that’s robbing, stealing, dealing and living within the chains of masculinity. That is now, because there are no real opportunities.
Ye need to empower a community and let them come up wi’ their own solutions. You need to invest in education to reduce the gap in equality.
You need to have a rehab or treatment centre bang in the community to get three generations of methadone and other daft prescription drugs clean: ye can’t sell green to addicts through drugs policies then jail folk for selling weed to pay for food, power and for some their own smoke.
Ye can’t put shops with pubs chippy’s and bookies then wonder why folk get addicted to putting bets on! Fatty foods, drink then say ‘Oh, why are they dying of preventable illnesses well before their time?’
When I went to college they say I saved them £1.6 million over three years in the social return on investment – imagine what these wee guys now are costing?
See whoever gets elected for the North Edinburgh do you think they will do anything about these injustices while they say they wish to cut austerity?
I taught maself to read, taught maself to write, love ma people and these rich folk take take take & give nothing back apart from academic reports done by their pals.
The system is rigged …
Campaigners have organised a public meeting to oppose cuts to adult education classes at Craigoyston Community High School. Adult education has always been a key element of life at the local high school – indeed, it’s seen by many as the ‘community’ in ‘community high school’ – but budget cuts now see adult education classes under threat (writes Dave Pickering).
The meeting takes place at the school on Tuesday at 3.30pm.
An online petition at www.change.org has already attracted almost 200 signatures and campaigners now hope to broaden that support.
The change.org petition reads:
‘Day Time Adult Education classes are under threat across the City of Edinburgh. We at Craigroyston Community High School are campaigning to save our day time classes.
There has been a change in the way money raised through lets and classes is allocated. Rather than the money going to the school it will now go directly to The City of Edinburgh Council.
This undermines the incentive for schools to run Adult Day Time classes and this will have a profound impact on Adult Learners.
Please support our Campaign to save Adult Education Day Time classes not only at Craigroyston Community High School but city wide as well.’
Vanessa Cousins, who initiated the local campaign, said: “Thank you everyone for signing up to our campaign – the response has been really encouraging. I am also setting up a Facebook page called Adult Learners Unite and I hope that this and our public meeting at the school will highlight our concerns even more. It’s important that we get the message about as widely as possible – we are short of time as changes could be taking effect as soon as April.”
Dave Pickering
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Hi
I am a parent at Granton Primary School and unfortunately the school has cancelled the traditional ‘qually’ leavers dance: we parents are now having to put this on all at at our own cost as the school is not willing to help.
We are looking for:
Annie Lamb
Mark Lazarowicz MP has welcomed the plan announced at the Scottish Labour conference to use funding from Labour’s cut in pension tax relief for highest earners to set aside £125m extra for the Scottish education budget to close the educational attainment gap between children from rich and poor backgrounds.
The cut in pension tax relief will also provide funding for school leavers to ensure more students from the most deprived backgrounds have the chance to go to university and all young people start their working lives on a secure footing.
The extra £125m is only part of the plan which would also:
Labour also plans to introduce
Mark Lazarowicz said: “This funding from taxing highest earners will enable us to really tackle the gap in attainment between children from the richest and poorest backgrounds which has been too often neglected.
“It will also ensure young people who don’t go on to study at a college or university or gain an apprenticeship are not forgotten by helping them with the cost of training or other expenses as they start their working lives.
“Educational opportunity at every level should be our aim and we must do much more to make that a reality to give all our young people the chance they deserve.”
The Scottish Labour leader, Jim Murphy, has reaffirmed that there will be no tuition fees at Scottish universities if Labour wins the next Scottish Parliament elections but he also went on to highlight the need to widen access so that students from the most deprived backgrounds have the chance to study at university in much greater numbers.
Independent studies show that Scotland currently has the lowest proportion of university students from the most deprived backgrounds in the UK.
The funding would come from the funding that the Scottish Government would receive from Labour’s cut in pension tax relief for highest earners. That would cut
Major event at Holyrood this month
Inspiring young women to be the best that they can be is the key focus of a major event being held at Holyrood on Monday 23 March, hosted by the Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer, the Rt Hon Tricia Marwick MSP.
Announced as part of the Presiding Officer’s Time for Reflection address to the Scottish Parliament on 23 September 2014, the event will bring together 128 young women from across Scotland. It has been designed to encourage young women to develop the confidence and leadership skills needed to help them to achieve.
The Presiding Officer said: “The referendum demonstrated to the world that young people can and should play a full role in determining the future of their countries. This is right and proper. As the Scottish Parliament is led by its first female Presiding Officer with women in key political positions, we have a golden moment now to encourage this generation of young women.
“On 23 March, I have invited young women from schools across Scotland to come to Holyrood. We will explore what it means to be a young woman in Scotland today, what inspires them, what holds them back and what their hopes are for the future.”
Exploring themes of confidence, leadership and barriers that hold young women back from being the best they can be, the young women will meet with and have the opportunity to question female MSPs who are playing leading roles in their parties.
MSPs joining the Presiding Officer on the day are: Leader of Scottish Labour in the Scottish Parliament Kezia Dugdale MSP, Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson MSP, Business Manager and Spokesperson for Justice for the Scottish Liberal Democrats Alison McInnes MSP and Scottish Greens’ spokesperson on sport, rural affairs, environment, culture and education Alison Johnstone MSP. Also participating in the day will be key figures in the fields of arts, industry, sport and public life.
Speaking of her own personal commitment, Mrs Marwick MSP said: “All young women should have the confidence to achieve whatever it is they want to achieve. I am determined to play my role in making sure the Scottish Parliament is a place that encourages them and positively impacts on how they see themselves.”
Thirty-two schools across Scotland (one in each local authority area) will each send four young women to attend the Inspiring Young Women event at Holyrood Scottish Parliament staff are working closely with the S4 and S5 year group pupils ahead of the event to ensure they get the best from their time on the day.
Schools taking part are:
‘Law enforcement agencies and governments can only take things so far. The way to change attitudes is to identify and build on the assets you have in your communities. You guys – the students and young people – are the assets’ – Justice Secretary Michael Matheson
Craigroyston Community High School pupils who have learned how to tackle violence and bullying through a training initiatve shared their experiences with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson yesterday.
The Justice Secretary watched a presentation on the Mentors in Violence Prevention(MVP) initiative and listened to the experiences of participants before chatting informally with students about their participation in the groundbreaking project.
Craigroyston staff and students explained that the Mentors in Violence Prevention(MVP) scheme is already having some success in changing unacceptable behaviour – early feedback suggests improved attitudes amongst those who have taken part.
MVP Scotland trains senior pupils to become mentors who, in turn, equip younger students in ways in which to intervene and prevent incidents that could lead to gender violence, which can be domestic abuse, sexting, assault or homophobia. Pupils are taught to challenge their own friends and peers about their behaviour if and when it’s appropriate.
It was first piloted in Portobello High by the Violence Reduction Unit in 2011 and has since been rolled out to 11 secondary schools in the Capital. The unit’s Chief Inspector Graham Goulden spoke to pupils during the morning’s visit about its work.
Chief Inspector Goulden (above) said: “The MVP programme is emerging as a great way to continue to safely discuss many issues that contribute towards abuse and violence in Scotland. It provides schools with an approach that supports learning, as young people are faced with a range of external influences that impact on their resilience, such as online media. Bullying is still an issue in our schools and also strips young people of control.
“At the heart of violence and abuse is a breakdown in relationships. Let’s use relationships in the form of friendships to counter all of these issues allowing young people to do their best at an important time in their academic lives.”
Forth Councillor Cammy Day – who is also Edinburgh’s Community Safety Convener – also attended the event and spoke about how MVP is an important part of the local anti-crime #StrongerNorth campaign.
He said: “MVP is a key feature of the #StrongerNorth initiative as it really engages young people by helping them to recognise unacceptable behaviour, and gives them the power to face up to it. These skills are helping them to change attitudes whether it’s in school, in their homes or when they’re with their friends.
“Most school children have a great attitude and are involved in many positive schemes, but we know that the bad attitude of even just a few can have a real impact on communities.
“#StrongerNorth and projects like MVP and Total Craigroyston are aimed at nipping unacceptable behaviour in the bud before it escalates into something worse, and it was fantastic to hear first hand today about how these schemes are really working.”
Justice Secretary Michael Matheson (above) said: “I was delighted to be invited along to Craigroyston Community High School to see the excellent work ongoing to tackle the issues of violence and bullying in schools.
“Since 2008, incidents of violence among young people have halved across Scotland, but it is crucial we are not complacent and education is key to ensuring our young people change the culture of violence in our society.
“The work being done through the Mentors in Violence programme by the Violence Reduction Unit to train these young people to deliver their own training is having a huge impact not only within the school but also throughout the wider community.
“The programme empowers young people by bringing issues such as bullying and violence out into the open to allow for full, frank and informed discussions around the risks and consequences.
“Most importantly, it’s giving our young people a confidence and sense of responsibility that will benefit them throughout their lives.”
Some images from the Craigroyston event (also on Facebook):
Education Secretary Angela Constance has called on all Scottish schools to make the most of opportunities offered by digital learning, as National Digital Learning Week continues.
Ms Constance was speaking as she visited Mauricewood Primary School in Penicuik to see how technology is being used to support learning in the school.
National Digital Learning Week (2-6 March) highlights how learners and teachers are using digital technologies in schools across Scotland.
At Mauricewood, Ms Constance saw a presentation about ‘The Moscars’, a project where groups of pupils used technology to develop a short film. She also chatted to pupils who are using technology in a variety of ways to find out more about other countries and their cultures.
She said: “We want learners and teachers in Scotland to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by technology in order to raise attainment, ambition and opportunities for all. Technology is all around us and we want all of our schools to tap into its rich potential for learning.
“There’s exciting events going on every day throughout National Digital Learning Week and I am delighted to see some great examples for myself at Mauricewood.
“At Mauricewood and in other schools across Scotland, there’s great examples of technology being woven into day-to-day learning, bringing subjects to life and opening up opportunities for research, collaboration, communication and creativity.
“This week also marks the start of a National Digital Learning Community, where we want teachers and educators across Scotland to continue conversations and reflections about digital learning, and we want this conversation to continue long beyond this week of activity.”
Activities are ongoing throughout the week, including TeachMeets in a number of authorities for teachers to share good practice, practical innovations and personal insights in teaching with technology, GlowTV events and daily blog updates at
:https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/ndlf/
Conversation are also continuing all week on Twitter using the hashtag #digilearnscot.
A video message from Ms Constance, marking the start of Digital Learning Week, can be accessed at
