Higher and Higher!

Scottish students achieve record number of Higher passes

Students across Scotland have achieved a record 156,000 Higher passes this year – up 5.5 per cent on 2014. Welcoming the figures, Education Secretary Angela Constance said the results are ‘very encouraging’.

Results certificates have been sent to 142,862 candidates sitting a wide range of qualifications – including new Highers for the first year and Nationals for the second year; and existing Access, Intermediates, Highers and Advanced Highers.

Figures released by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) show attainment is again high this year, with Higher English passes up 17.7 per cent to 27,902, and Higher modern languages passes increasing by 15.2 per cent to 7,419.

The pass rate for the new Maths Higher was 70.8 per cent, similar to that in previous years. The SQA awarding process continues to take into account the level of difficulty of the exam.

Advanced Higher passes have increased by 4.0 per cent to a record level of 18,899.

This year also saw significant shifts onto the new National Qualifications at other levels, as the process of transition into the new system continued. For example, there was a large increase in National 5 course entries, particularly among those taken beyond fourth year – with 229,870 A-C grades awarded.

There has also been strong performance in qualifications related to wider skills for life and work, with attainment in Awards, National Certificates and National Progression Awards up 22.8 per cent, to 33,931.

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Angela Constance said: “This is another strong performance by our young people. They have worked hard, and I congratulate each and every one of them, as well as the families and carers, and teachers and lecturers who have provided support.

“Scotland has seen record numbers of Higher and Advanced Higher passes. Students are performing particularly well in English and in modern languages.

“Despite concerns about the new Higher Maths exam, it’s clear that the system worked, that candidates have been treated fairly, and that standards have been maintained. The checks and balances in place ensure that students who would have gained a particular grade in a qualification in any previous year will still have done so at the same grade this year.

“This year we have already seen a record percentage of school leavers in employment, education or training. Today’s figures show that qualifications recognising life and work skills – such as Awards, National Certificates and National Progression Awards – are up a massive 22.8 per cent. This is very encouraging, as we support schools to do more to prepare our young people for the world of work.

“We now have a curriculum and assessment system designed to get the very best out of students and give them every possible chance of entering employment, training or further education.

“If you have not done as well as you had hoped or if you’ve done better than expected – help is on hand to discuss your future options by calling the exams results helpline on 0808 100 8000.”

Convener sets High School challenge

High school pupils are battling it out in a unique activity challenge across Edinburgh today. The Convener’s Challenge is designed to encourage teams of school pupils to develop strategies that will enable them to complete a series of activity events.

Twelve schools are taking part and each team has four S5 pupils who set off from their own school at 9am, equipped with a GPS route tracker, a map of the city and a bus ticket. The teams will then complete a number of core challenges – climbing/abseiling, cycling, canoeing, orienteering and team building/problem solving at various locations across the city.

As opposed to the traditional ‘first past the post’ format, teams will be awarded points based on their collective performance in each of the challenges. They will also be given the opportunity to undertake one of a list of 50 further challenges, situated at various locations throughout the capital.

Competing teams will be issued with a pack containing competition rules and the itinerary, a cycle map of Edinburgh, a Lothian Buses route map, and five One Day tickets for use on both buses and trams.

They will also receive a sealed envelope containing grid reference locations and the nature of each challenge, which will fall into one of three categories:

Activity Challenge, where competitors must complete a physical, outdoor challenge;
City Challenge represents a series of information-gathering challenges designed to test competitors’ navigation and observation skills and
Super Summit Challenge, where the aim is to get to the top of as many of Edinburgh’s seven hills as is possible.

Each activity will be led by a qualified member of staff, whose signature is required to guarantee completion.

Cllr Paul Godzik, Education, Children and Families Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, will present prizes at the finish line.

He said: “Last year was a fantastic year for sport in Scotland and I’m delighted this new exciting challenge has been created. After the success of last year’s City 2 City relay event, this type of model is being used to encourage senior pupils to work as a team in a range of activities.

“This will hopefully encourage increased participation in some of these outdoor pursuits and enhance the life skills of our young people. I am flattered that this will be called the Convener’s Challenge and will look forward to presenting the trophy to the winning team at the City Chambers.”

The climbing/abseiling challenge will take place at Blackford Quarry, the cycling at Holyrood Park and around Arthurs Seat, the canoeing at the Union Canal Basin, and the orienteering on Corstorphine Hill, while the team building/problem-solving activities will be held at the Bangholm Outdoor Centre.

St George’s girls fly the flag for Edinburgh

St George’s face thirty opponents in Euroquiz final

In which European city could you find the oldest amusement park in the world? Which European country has the ‘zloty’ as its currency? Do you know when the European Coal and Steel Community was founded?

These are examples of some of the tough questions that will face over 120 primary P6 from all over Scotland who will take over the Scottish Parliament’s Debating Chamber today (Monday 11 May).

Thirty schools have debated their way through a series of heats to represent their local authority areas in the Euroquiz final at Holyrood and the capital will be represented by Ravelston’s St. George’s School for Girls.

Deputy Presiding Officer and Euroquiz quizmaster Elaine Smith MSP said: “Euroquiz is a fun and engaging way for children to learn about Europe and Scotland’s place in the world. It’s wonderful that our children are growing up in Scotland so knowledgeable about our European neighbours and the level of awareness of the participants never fails to impress.

“I am delighted that the Scottish Parliament is once again hosting the final of Euroquiz and I look forward to welcoming the teams and their supporters to Holyrood.”

The Scottish European Educational Trust (SEET) has been running the quiz since 1993 and this is the eighth year the event has been held at the Scottish Parliament. The event is sponsored by the European Parliament and the Scottish Government.

Minister for Learning, Alasdair Allan MSP said: “It’s great to see so many children and young people from around Scotland participating in this year’s Euroquiz final and putting their knowledge to the test of all things European. I hope every team has enjoyed their experience this year.”

Each of the 30 Scottish schools taking part in the quiz have already won their local authority round and will be competing against the winners of all the other heats in the final. Bon chance, St George’s!

A live webcast of the event will be accessible via the Scottish Parliament’s website at – http://www.scottishparliament.tv/

Local project’s films to premiere at Filmhouse

Films produced by local young people screening at the Filmhouse this Saturday

Screen Education Edinburgh has announced that five short films -produced by an innovative new North Edinburgh partnership and made entirely by young people – will receive their premieres at the Edinburgh Filmhouse this Saturday (2 May).

The films will be shown with ten other shorts from their wider BFI Film Academy and CashBack for Creativity projects.

The North Edinburgh partnership, a joint initiative involving Screen Education Edinburgh and Total Craigroyston, with funding from CashBack for Creativity, encourages young people to get involved in filmmaking rather than crime. Five of the films to be shown during the special two hour event were made by young people who are at risk of offending or reoffending.

Irvine Welsh, Patron of Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “If you come from a disadvantaged area, the world can often seem to conspire against you, constraining your vision to the streets around you and the urgent here and now of simply getting by. Cinema is a wonderful tool in combating that horrible malaise, opening up windows into different worlds, and helping us to understand our own ones better through the broadening of our horizons. The skills you learn through being part of a committed team, working on a task that can create a little bit of magic are transferable to other areas of our life.”

The partnership works with groups of 11-19 year olds from the city’s Pilton and Muirhouse area – currently ranked the worst for crime in the whole south east of Scotland – teaching young people film making skills in the evenings. The initiative was set up to improve the lives of families living around Craigroyston Community High School and is a co-ordinated effort to encourage and stimulate young people’s interest in film when they might otherwise be out on the streets.

The short films were all written, directed, filmed and acted in by the youngsters. These films explore issues through drama and music videos including motorcycle theft, the feeling of being alienated, first love and peer pressure.

Graham Fitzpatrick, Creative Manager at Screen Education Edinburgh, said: “The Pilton and Muirhouse area experienced serious issues of crime involving youths, and sometimes children, throughout 2014.

“The aim of this scheme is to help young people engage and deal with their offending issues, whilst giving them positive activities throughout the week, particularly late evenings.”

James Riordan, Lead Youth Development Worker with the Alternative to Crime Project added; “Through being involved in diversionary activities and projects such as the film programme with Screen Education Edinburgh, Young People, who have been involved in anti-social/offending behaviour in North Edinburgh, have the opportunity to be part of something positive and to get a taste of new activities and skills they wouldn’t normally have access to.

“Through working with Screen Education Edinburgh the Group have learned to adapt to different scenarios which in turn has led to them increasing their levels of self-esteem, allowing them to develop as confident Young People”.

Screen Education Edinburgh (formerly Pilton Video) was founded in 2010 to help young people develop and express themselves through film making. Edinburgh born novelist, playwright, storyteller and screenwriter, Irvine Welsh became patron of Screen Education Edinburgh in March last year.

Screen Education Edinburgh is currently running three separate local projects. One, based at FACE North (Focussing on Alternative’s to Crime Edinburgh North) and POP (Preventative Opportunities Programme), is making film drama with groups of 14 to 19 year old males, whilst another focuses on music video production with 10-12 years olds in four local primary schools.

The third supports children and youth workers based out of the Muirhouse Millennium Centre, providing film skills training to the workers, helping them to support large groups of young people in their first forays into film production.

This partnership was funded through the CashBack for Creativity scheme, part of a wider £45 million Scottish Government initiative which reinvests the proceeds recovered from criminals for the benefit of young people.

Saturday’s event at the Filmhouse will showcase the films to parents, friends, the community, councillors and guests.

The screening will also incorporate films from all Screen Education Edinburgh’s CashBack for Creativity projects, including; Score Scotland, Panmure School, MYPAS Dalkeith, Bridges Project Musselburgh, Edinburgh Young Carers and from the advanced BFI Film Academy South East of Scotland initiative.

Exam time: good luck to all candidates

Learning Minister praises hard work ahead of exams

Minister for Learning Dr Alasdair Allan has wished all pupils and students well ahead of this year’s national exam period.

Today sees the start of the exams, with Drama and Economics the first subjects to be taken. There’s then 28 days of exams – administered by the Scottish Qualifications Authority – that finish on Friday 5 June.

Dr Allan praised pupils and students for their hard work so far this year, supported by their parents and the commitment of teachers, headteachers, colleges and local authorities.

In addition to National 5s, Intermediates, existing Highers and Advanced Highers, this year’s exam process will see new Highers examined for the first time.

Dr Allan said: “The exams are the culmination of a lot of hard work over the school year and I know that across Scotland, pupils, parents, teachers, headteachers, colleges and local authorities have been preparing intensively to get to this point.

“Scottish education now offers more flexible learning opportunities for our young people. I offer my best wishes to candidates preparing to sit an exam and to those completing SQA courses that do not involve a final exam.

“This year marks an important milestone in the ongoing implementation of Curriculum for Excellence with the introduction of the new Higher.

“Curriculum for Excellence has been designed to equip our young people with the skills they need to succeed both in Scotland and in the global workplace, with local authorities having the freedom to shape education to meet the needs of our pupils, whatever their background.”

And Good Luck to all students from NEN too!

A sporting first at Trinity Academy

TRINITY ACADEMY SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR AWARDS

The inaugural Trinity Academy Sports Awards that took place on 25 March can be labelled a resounding success with over 170 pupils and parents turning out to celebrate sporting achievements at Trinity (writes S6 student Ryan Crombie).

Guests enjoyed a captivating evening during which a whole range of sports were recognised, ranging from Tae Kwon Do to Sailing! Those who attended were also treated to musical performances from Hayley Scott and Charlie West throughout the night.

A special thanks has to go to our guest, former boxer Alex Arthur MBE, (above) who was kind enough to present all of the awards to the respective winners and made what was already a great night that bit more special.

Carol Graham, Depute Head Teacher and Allan Spencer, Curriculum Leader for PE were also individually rewarded on the night for their many years of hard work and dedication to Hockey and Rugby respectively.

Congratulations goes to all of the winners for the various awards, the nominees and of course the winner of the Trinity Academy Sports Personality of the Year, Eartha Cummings for her achievements with the U-17 Scotland Football team (pictured top).

Article by Ryan Crombie (S6)

Schools and parents must work together, says survey

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:

78% of respondents are confident the school will help them with their child’s learning.
Around a third of respondents with children in state school’s are actively involved in the parent council compared with only 6% of independent school parents.
Communication was a key theme with parents seeking good communication about how their children were progressing.

Help Granton leavers have their ‘quali’

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:

Businesses to sponsor us for the food in return for advertising
A piper
Any decor that fits in with Hollywood glamour theme
And any other help would be appreciated

Annie Lamb

You need friends: Montgomery Street Park to be transformed

‘Improving the facility in this way will undoubtedly enhance our school, and wider community’ – Jackie Reid, Head Teacher at Leith Walk Primary School

The Friends of Montgomery Street Park are celebrating a £40,000 grant from Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.

Montgomery Street Park will get a major upgrade after a group of local residents were successful in their funding bid. The grant from Biffa Award means that the hard-surface sports area, which is currently cracked, uneven and pot-holed, will be completely refurbished. The area will be levelled and resurfaced with rubber, then painted with lines for both football and basketball. New goal posts and basketball hoops will be installed and new seating added, in the form of long-lasting and low-maintenance recycled plastic benches.

The work will start in mid-March and should be finished by the end of April.

The application was the result of a public consultation exercise and several local groups, including schools, churches and youth organisations, wrote letters of support.

Jackie Reid, Head Teacher at Leith Walk Primary School, said: “Many of our pupils make excellent use of the park, which has become a hub of our community. As a school, we use the park extensively to ensure our pupils are active and healthy. We also hold our Nursery Sports Day there each year in June. Improving the facility in this way will undoubtedly enhance our school, and wider community.”

Rev. Gordy Mackay, Minister of Abbeyhill Baptist Church and local resident, said:“Montgomery Street Park is a vital and very valued space within our community. Over many years Abbeyhill Baptist Church has benefitted from our close proximity to the park. We have used the park for picnics, participated in fun days and enjoy taking groups of children and teenagers there to play games. These improvements to the park and the facilities within it will bring significant benefit to the park’s many users and will be greatly welcomed.”

Gillian French, Programme Manager at Biffa Award, said “Biffa Award is delighted to support this project, which has been led by local residents and involved local children. Outdoor spaces are incredibly important; the improved area will be a fun, stimulating and engaging place where children and their parents can meet and socialise.”

The funding from Biffa Award will go directly towards creating a safer and more usable space for park users, in what is the most densely populated area of not just Edinburgh, but Scotland (Census 2011). The upgraded sports facilities will be free to use. The improvements will promote active living and sports engagement, directly benefiting the health and wellbeing of local residents, who – having small or no private gardens – make good use of the park.

For more information about the Friends of Montgomery Street Park or to get involved in the group, visit

website montgomerystreetpark.org.uk

and Facebook page facebook.com/montgomerystreetpark

Talking Tech during National Digital Learning Week

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cmVLUU43f8