Since the outbreak of Covid-19 the scale of digital exclusion in the UK has been exposed and exacerbated beyond previous understanding. While new initiatives have been rapidly and successfully delivered, substantially accelerating progress and ensuring thousands of individuals now have appropriate digital access, there is still much more to be done to ensure no one in the UK is left digitally excluded.
In our new report, we set out a series of 12 recommendations calling for ambitious action from policy makers, practitioners, academia and industry.
The recommendations build on our work on digital inclusion over the past decade, and particularly draw on learning and reflections from the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown period. We look forward to discussing and pursuing these recommendations with interested individuals and organisations.
You can read the report hereand follow the hashtag #12stepsfordigital on Twitter to join the conversation.
A ground-breaking new collaboration will provide more educational opportunities for young people in areas of Edinburgh and Glasgow traditionally associated with social deprivation.
New learning centres will be established in Craigmillar and Govan, offering educational support to young people aged 7-18. The centres will provide after-school academic tuition, mentoring and programmes to enable young people achieve their ambitions.
The project is a collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, in partnership with education charity IntoUniversity.
The initiative is based upon a shared concern for children growing up in poverty and a belief in the power of education to transform young people’s lives.
Working closely with local schools, colleges and other agencies, the centres will provide invaluable long-term support for young people, their education and their journey towards employment.
The centres will complement both universities’ widening participation activities, providing community-based support to young people on their doorstep.
A total of £2.7 million has been raised by the universities to fund the two centres for a pilot period of five years.
Professor Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said: “We are proud to be part of this ambitious and important project. It is a major milestone in helping us unlock and nurture the potential of young people, regardless of their background.
“The impact will create a wider benefit not only for the individuals, but also for their families and communities, the universities or colleges they might attend, and for society as a whole.
“We are delighted that this new partnership with the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh is enabling IntoUniversity to serve young people in Scotland. The learning centres will use the power of education to lift young people out of poverty, opening up new worlds of possibility, said Dr Rachel Carr OBE, Co-Founder and CEO, IntoUniversity.
“We look forward to working in partnership with local schools, colleges, third sector organisations, businesses and councils, along with the Universities, to bring this project to fruition.”
IntoUniversity has carried out detailed feasibility work and consultation to ensure that the new centres will play a valuable role alongside other services for young people.
The centres will complement extensive work that both universities already do to widen access to higher education, by providing community-based support to young people on their doorstep. Through activities at the universities young people will develop their understanding of university life and awareness of the opportunities that higher education has to offer.
£2.7 million has been raised to fund the first two centres for a pilot period of 5 years. Further fundraising is underway to enable a third centre to open in Maryhill in Autumn next year.
Dr Rachel Carr OBE, Co-Founder and CEO IntoUniversity, said: “We are delighted that this new partnership with the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh is enabling IntoUniversity to serve young people in Scotland.
“Three new learning centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh will use the power of education to lift young people out of poverty, opening up new worlds of possibility. We look forward to working in partnership with local schools, colleges, third sector organisations, businesses and councils, along with the Universities, to bring this project to fruition.”
Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor University of Glasgow, said: “The University of Glasgow is a proudly international institution, but we have never forgotten that our first duty is to the city we serve. A key part of that is ensuring opportunities are available to talented young people across Glasgow, regardless of their background.
“For the university and the city to thrive, we need to be able to empower people across our communities to meet their full potential and this ground-breaking collaboration – delivered in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and IntoUniversity – represents the next step in realising that ambition, with the potential to transform the lives of some of our most disadvantaged young people.”
Lothian MSP Miles Briggs welcomed the initiative. He said:“This is an excellent imitative between Edinburgh and Glasgow University to improve access to higher education for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Being from a less affluent background can put up barriers for young students to go on to further education and I am pleased that this partnership is looking to even the scales.
“The grading fiasco last academic year, where pupils from less affluent backgrounds were marked down by a greater extent than pupils form more affluent backgrounds, highlights the need to improve access to higher education.
“I fully support this new partnership between Edinburgh and Glasgow University, and will support it in whatever way I can.”
How to help your child find emotional intelligence
The global pandemic and lockdowns on top of all the usual life challenges can affect children just as much as adults. To mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, former primary school teacher CATHERINE LYNCH of education resources experts PlanBeeprovides six stepping stones, and free downloadable resources, to help parents support youngsters to develop good mental health:
Name emotions and feelings
Until someone has the vocabulary associated with emotions and feelings, they will not be able to explain how they feel or identify how others are feeling. Name emotions when your child experiences them, it might feel like you are stating the obvious, but you are giving your child an important tool to becoming emotionally intelligent.
Explain the physical sensations linked to emotions and feelings
Help children to recognise how different emotions present in their bodies. Do they normally feel a bit sick when they are anxious? Do their shoulders feel tight when they are stressed? Do they become very busy when they are avoiding something? By helping them notice these physical representations of emotions they will begin to recognise when they are starting to feel something and might be able to react before their brains get flooded with the stress hormone cortisol.
Understand when and why a feeling or emotion is felt
The better children become at naming and spotting their emotions the easier it will become for them to notice the triggers for their emotions. If they always get a knot in their stomach on the way to school and know it is because they feel anxious you can start to explore where the anxiety comes from. Are they worried about the moment of goodbye, is it walking into a formed group of people or is it something else? By pinpointing the cause of the feeling, you and your child will be able to understand it better.
When you and your child are able to notice, name and understand the source of a feeling or emotion you can begin to work out ways to help them regulate. Is a big calming and focusing breath needed? Or maybe a few star jumps? There isn’t one route to regulating the child’s emotions, what works best for your child will be something you need to figure out together.
Rules that maintain safety should be non-negotiable. These will vary depending on the age and developmental stage of a child. When a child is feeling a big emotion, their brain will not be working in the same way it does when the child is calm. Expectations and language may need to be adjusted to help the child stay safe. Rather than seeing a rule as something that a child should be punished for breaking, work with your child to help them succeed in staying safe and maintaining the boundary.
Relate with your child
Once they have calmed down and are able to listen, empathise with your child. Talk to them about a time you felt the same way and what happened. This will help them to understand their own feelings and feel like you understand and care about them.
“I am wondering if you are excited about seeing your friend.”
“Take a deep breath with me.”
“I can see you are finding it tricky to stay close by. Hold my hand as we cross the road to keep us safe.”
“One time I was so excited I had so much energy that I thought I might be able to fly.”
Angry
“I can see you are really angry.”
“Your face is scrunched up and your fists are clenched.”
“I am wondering if you are angry because someone didn’t let you play.”
“Take a deep breath with me.”
“I cannot let you hit me. If you need to get your angry out try hitting this cushion or blowing away the clouds in the sky.”
“Once I was so angry I wanted to throw everything I could see but your grandad helped me calm down by giving me play dough to squeeze.”
Sad
“I can see you are really sad.”
“Your eyes are hidden and your shoulders are hunched.”
“I am wondering if you are sad because it is time to leave.”
“Would you like a hug?”
“It is ok to feel sad. We need to go home now to have dinner.”
“I sometimes feel really sad about things ending too. Shall we make a plan to come back here again?”
As the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup, so make sure you are getting the support you need to help you support the people around you.
Catherine Lynch is an experienced teacher, play therapist and senior manager at PlanBee, which creates teaching resources for primary school aged children (aged five-11). The resources have been created to meet the English National Curriculum objectives.
Education Scotland wants to celebrate the fantastic work we know has taken place right across the country over the last few months – and we need your help!
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the sudden closure of school buildings and other learning sites. There were many examples of extraordinary work across the entire education system to support learners and communities.
For many learners, this was through distance and online platforms, with different forms of on-going contact with their teachers, childcare workers, youth workers, tutors and others. Of course, for children and young people, support from parents and carers continued to be key to their learning.
We’d like you to share your stories with us and we’ll use as many as we can to create a book of celebration to showcase the important work carried out by educators, learners, parents and communities at this unprecedented time.
Carers Trust Scotland and College Development Network (CDN) have joined forces to help improve support to over 12,000 student carers in Scotland, who are studying alongside providing unpaid care for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
Supporting Student Carers at College is a new innovative free digital training module which has been developed by Carers Trust Scotland and CDN from funding received by The Scottish Funding Council. The module will help college practitioners to better understand the challenges faced by many student carers and provides guidance on how to improve support for these students at college.
Research by Carers Trust found that student carers are four times more likely to drop out of college and university than those who are not carers. Together, Carers Trust Scotland and CDN are calling on all college practitioners working in Scotland’s colleges to use this free resource. Engaging with the digital training module will help college staff to better identify, support and report on their student carers.
This new resource compliments existing work being undertaken by both organisations to raise awareness, improve identification and ensure adequate support is in place to give student carers a fair chance to be successful in their own education. Last year Carers Trust Scotland launched Going Further for Student Carers Recognition Award, a scheme to assist and encourage all 27 of Scotland’s colleges to develop their policies and practices to improve support for student carers, and award good practice.
While the number of student carer enrolments at college across Scotland has increased from 3,413 in 2013-14 to 11,965 in 2018-19, many student carers continue to be unidentified and unsupported, and continue to be a hidden group.
There are student carers in every college trying to successfully complete their course to the best of their ability just like their peers, but they often experience additional challenges because of their unpaid caring responsibilities and do not always receive the support they need to successfully complete college; therefore, stopping students with caring responsibilities from reaching their full potential, maintaining good health and wellbeing, and having equal access to the opportunities open to other students.
Additionally, due to the impact of the current Coronavirus pandemic, we know that many student carers are taking on additional caring responsibilities, therefore increasing the need for support at college.
Student carers can greatly benefit from dedicated support from their college and the Supporting Student Carers at College digital training module should help improve outcomes for student carers to reach positive destinations after study.
Scott Lafferty, Development Manager for Carers Trust Scotland, said: “Carers Trust Scotland is delighted to have worked with College Development Network to launch Supporting Student Carers at College, a digital training module for college professionals.
“It aims to raise awareness to the challenges that many student carers face and offers guidance on how colleges in Scotland can provide improved support to the over 12,000 student carers in Scotland, so that they have a fair chance to be successful in their own education and achieve their true potential in all aspects of their lives.”
Andree Carruthers, Access and Inclusion Consultant for CDN, said: “The Supporting Carers module is the first of its kind in the UK. We know that there are over 12,000 declared student carers studying in our colleges, and that they are four times more likely to withdraw from their course.
“College offers carers a break from caring and new opportunities for the future, and we owe it to them to support them to make the most of their time at college. This new resource, developed in partnership with Carers Trust Scotland, offers colleges a flexible and engaging professional development tool.
“The module is brought to life by the voices of the carers that courageously and selflessly shared their experiences and the challenges of combining their caring duties and studying.”
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.”
Edinburgh Napier’s ground-breaking Get on Board programme has been honoured with a prestigious Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE).
The programme – which places students with the boards of charities, voluntary organisations and public bodies, and gives them opportunities to network with professionals and help make decisions which impact their community – is one of 15 winning projects from universities across the UK.
The CATE awards, announced yesterday by Advance HE, the body dedicated to helping higher education shape its future, recognise collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning, highlighting the key role of teamwork.
Get on Board was established in 2015, with academics Miles Weaver and Jacqueline Brodie working with the University’s careers service to deliver an extra-curriculum programme to support employability of students and address the key Scottish national outcome of improving board diversity. The pilot project won a Herald HE Award for Enhancing Student Learning.
The programme’s development was supported by a student steering group called Young Trustees in Scotland led by Elena Pershina, who was a fourth year undergraduate at the time and President of Young Trustees in Scotland.
The Get on Board team later joined forces with RSM and Santander, and further organisations and universities became involved as the competency pathway was developed as an opportunity to bolster trustee skills among students in Scotland, each partner bringing their own capabilities, training and networking opportunities.
Dr Brodie, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Edinburgh Napier’s Business School, said: “The Get on Board team are honoured to be awarded an Advance HE CATE. It has been a privilege to empower students to make a positive difference in their communities and support the development of their employability and enterprise skills in the process.”
Alison Johns, Advance HE CEO, said: “I am sure I am joined by the entire sector in congratulating the 2020 CATE awardees. All of the winners should be extremely proud of their achievement.
“Their work epitomises the outstanding commitment to teaching in the UK higher education sector, which this year has been more demanding than ever before.”
The Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence scheme was introduced in 2016, and is open to members of staff from all providers of higher education across the UK.
LOVE Gorgie Farm (formerly Gorgie City Farm) has opened its facilities to schools across Edinburgh and the Lothians looking for outdoor spaces for educating pupils.
Operated by education and social care charity LOVE Learning, the urban farm will host a range of programmes for schools to embrace outdoor learning, reducing physical interactions, amid their return to full time classes on 12th August.
The outdoor services range from learning workshops featuring sport and other activities, to outdoor space for classrooms, as well as different environmental programmes within LOVE Learning’s Earth School that combine nature and educational practices.
The Earth School will help develop an informal learning setting for children of all ages by focusing on projects where natural spaces are used for pupils to learn through outdoor experiences.
Through their learning programmes, LOVE Learning aims to assist in these changing times at the same time as enhancing all-inclusive practices involving nature and expanding these to mainstream activities for pupils of all ages.
LOVE Learning’s portfolio of programmes has already been welcomed by councils as a suitable alternative for school-based teaching. It not only provides safe spaces where physical interaction is reduced, but also engages them in more outdoor learning activities.
The LOVE Gorgie Farm site will cater to requirements of all types of schools, such as primary and secondary schools as well as special schools.
As a Scottish Qualifications Authority accredited centre, LOVE Learning will also offer training opportunities for teachers and facilitators looking to become skilled and confident in leading children through their learning process in outdoor experiences.
Lynn Bell, CEO of LOVE Learning said: “Due to the effects of this pandemic we have seen a rise in the demand of outdoor learning spaces and services. LOVE Gorgie Farm will assist in the provision of spaces to make it easier for schools to cope with the challenges presented by Covid.
“Our Earth School aims to bring pupils from all ages closer to nature, encouraging new generations into seeking to care about all living beings. At the same time, our provision of learning that reduces physical interactions will ensure both teachers and pupils are in a safe environment.
“We will also train educators into being confident with outdoor learning techniques and help schools and teachers embrace alternative teaching styles through our accredited training hub”
Edinburgh Napier honorary graduates and alumni create tribute videos
TV presenter and journalist Lorraine Kelly has sent a special message of congratulations to more than 2000 new Edinburgh Napier University graduates.
The six graduation ceremonies due to be held at the Usher Hall at the start of July were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Lorraine and other proud honorary graduates and alumni of the University have created video messages to pay tribute to the Class of 2020 and highlight their achievements.
Lorraine, who started her career as a local newspaper reporter in East Kilbride before progressing to national television and fronting a series of programmes for ITV, received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University in 2018.
Two years earlier, Lorraine, who herself trained as a journalist at the then Napier College, was at the Usher Hall to see her daughter Rosie Smith graduate from the University with a BA (Hons) in journalism.
In her video, shared on the University’s social media platforms, Lorraine told the 2150 new graduates: “Congratulations to every single one of you.
“I will never forget my daughter’s graduation. It was such a special day, and I am lucky enough to be an honorary graduate as well so I know what a big deal this is.
“You have worked so, so hard, and I am really proud of you, and I wish you all the very best for the future. Huge congratulations to the Edinburgh Napier University Class of 2020!”
Other well-known faces who will offer congratulations by video this week include chef Tom Kitchin, TV weather presenter Carol Kirkwood, former Disney executive Duncan Wardle and political journalist Brian Taylor.
Professor Andrea Nolan, Principal at Edinburgh Napier, and University Chancellor David Eustace also appeared in a short film that looked at what it means to be an Edinburgh Napier graduate and a member of the University’s alumni community.
Professor Nolan told the graduating students: “Achieving your degree is fantastic for everybody at any time. To have done so under such particularly difficult and challenging circumstances makes it even more special.
“You will remain in my mind as a very special cohort – the cohort of 2020.”
