Mr Tedd from Niddrie Mill Primary School visits one of our partner schools

Claire Soper, International Unit Manager, tells us about the links our schools are building across the world, and invites schools to get in touch to make even more connections…

Did you know that Edinburgh schools have links all across the globe? These include links in India, Thailand, Germany, Italy, France, South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, China, Tanzania, and Australia…

Sometimes these are full school partnerships that have been in place for years, sometimes smaller focussed projects, some offer pupil exchange trips, others support the learning and teaching of foreign languages in school.

Various agencies offer funding to enhance these links – for example, Wester Hailes Education Centre has just successfully applied for funding from the Connecting Classrooms programme to extend its partnership with Barkly West School in South Africa.

The International Unit is building up its database of links so that they can send out details of funding programmes and other opportunities as they come along. If you’re an Edinburgh school and think you might not already be on our list, please e-mail Monika.Wantoch@edinburgh.gov.uk.

Winners Leanne and Catriona with the man himself. Photo by Bartosz Madejski

A duo from James Gillespie’s High School have been announced as the first prize winners of the John Byrne Award 2012, an annual competition open to sixth year pupils at Edinburgh schools. Steve Small, Coordinator for the Award, tells us more.

In its third year, the Award, named after the prominent Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne, seeks to inspire values by encouraging students to creatively articulate what is important to them. The stimulus this year was The Proclaimers’ song “Letter From America”.

Leanne Bell and Catriona MacDonald from James Gillespie’s won first prize for their entry of a play and painting, receiving prize money to support a project or organisation that creates positive social change and towards their own personal educational development.

Also at the awards ceremony, hosted at the University of Edinburgh last week, the trio of Kaitlin Black, Rachel Goldthorpe and Andrew Taylor from Wester Hailes Education Centre received a high commendation for their film and song while Catriona Carter from Liberton High received a commendation for her film.

Read the full story on the John Byrne Award website.

Jessica with daughter Mia.

The Young Mum’s Unit is a unique facility run by our Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service (HOTS). Justine Haddow, a teacher at the unit, tells us more about what the service offers.

The unit is based in Wester Hailes Education Centre (WHEC). HOTS works in partnership with the school to offer young parents the chance to continue their education in a supportive environment. The service is offered free of charge to any girl up to age 18 (S6) who lives in Edinburgh.

The unit offers girls the opportunity to study for SQA qualifications by attending classes within the mainstream school. The service acknowledges that young parents face many barriers to learning, so extra support is provided including taxi transport to and from school (for girls outwith the WHEC catchment area), a crèche for babies, a well-equipped classroom where girls are supported by other young mums and a full-time teacher who offers assistance with their studies as well as supporting them in their role as parents through a complementary curriculum.

The Edinburgh Evening News recently featured two pupils who have benefited from attending the Young Mums’ Unit.

Jessica and Mia. Photo courtesy of Neil Hanna/Evening News

Naomi Smith attended the Young Mums’ Unit for 2 years, after she became pregnant with her daughter, Nina, now aged 2. Naomi was able to achieve 4 Highers and has recently started a college course in Fashion and Textile Design at college.

Jessica Laird (pictured), currently in sixth year at the Young Mums’ Unit, describes how having her daughter Mia (now 11 months) helped her re-assess her priorities and realise the value of education. She is currently studying for 3 Highers and hopes to go to University next year.

See the council website for more information about the Young Mums’ Unit.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the unit should contact the Unit’s teacher, Justine Haddow by phone on 0131 442 2201 or by email Justine.Haddow@ea.edin.sch.uk.

WHEC is on the up

Congratulations to the Wester Hailes Education Centre for a hat-trick of recent good news.

Firstly, they have received positive feedback in the follow through visit from Education Scotland. Inspectors highlighted that since the last inspection in 2010 young people are now more positive about learning and continue to benefit from very strong relationships with staff. Attainment by the end of Secondary 4 has improved significantly as has the number of young people moving into employment, training or further education. Inspectors also noted that the school is very well led and staff and pupils have confidence in the senior managers. The Head Teacher has a clear vision for the school and has made significant improvements in her short time in post.  Well done to all!

View the report on the Education Scotland website.

Achievement Award

Elsewhere, Wester Hailes Student Councillors contributed to the planning and organisation of the Annual Student Council conference and their work was recently recognised by Children and Families with an award.  Kim Shields and Shelly Hunter attended the Ceremony at the Assembly Halls – hosted by Grant Stott – to pick up the award.  Thanks to Katie Maclennan for supporting – and making sure the trophy made it safely back to the school’s cabinet!

WHEC students scoop award for front page

Finally, two students from WHEC have made a splash after they won a national competition to design a newspaper front page.

Second year students Tegan Reynolds and Dorota Wojtkiewicz had researched the issue of human rights and child labour in their modern studies class and came up with a front page story.

Their entry proved a national winner in the competition, organised by the Modern Studies Educational Trust. The girls received a cheque and were presented with certificates by Gordon Macdonald, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands.

Dorota said

I enjoyed working on my presentation and finding out more about the issue of child labour. I was delighted to win  and look forward to spending the money.

Stuart Sinclair, curriculum leader of social subjects, added:

Dorota and Tegan worked extremely hard on their presentation and their finished work was of an extremely high standard.

To find out more about what WHEC is up to, visit their website at www.whec.edin.sch.uk.

(See some of the other ways in which we’re working towards our objective that our children and young people are successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens making a positive contribution to their communities – strategic objective 2)

An update on some of Gillian Tee’s recent visits to establishments across the city.

Woodlands Special School

Gillian Tee, Director of Children and Families

I was pleased to visit Woodlands Special School to meet with Aisling Boyle, the recently appointed Head Teacher.

The school was looking good and I was pleased to hear about the many areas of good progress. Aisling described the excellent progress in developing the senior phase. Pupils have a wide range of opportunities including work experience, college links and vocational education. I was hugely impressed to hear that 100% of school leavers had gone on to positive destinations last year.

I was pleased to hear that the school behaviour policy, including managing sexualised behaviour, was recently judged by Education Scotland to be of national best practice.

The partnership work with Currie High School for activities including paired reading and also with Wester Hailes Education Centre for work experience was highlighted as being greatly valued by both staff and pupils.

Tynecastle High School

I always enjoy my visits to Tynecastle High School.  It is probably one of my most visited schools because of its excellent facilities and the wide range of city events held there.

I met Head Teacher Tom Rae to hear about the excellent progress the school is making including significant investment in ICT, increasing pupil engagement in the life of the school and, not least, improving educational attainment and positive destinations.

I was interested to hear about the developments in learning and teaching. The majority of staff have been trained in co-operative learning by Chris Ward.  Learning Rounds are well embedded in the school and pupil mentoring is being well received.

St. Mary’s RC School

I enjoyed my visit to St Mary RC School to meet the new Acting Head Teacher Nicola Kehoe, and staff and pupils. I was shown around the school by two pupils who were first class advocates for their school describing the best things about their school as “the teachers” and “everything is made to be fun – even maths!” and “the pupils are involved in decisions and making the school better”. These seem to me to be great accolades from pupils who know what they are talking about!

Earlier this year pupils from St Mary’s RC Primary School were invited down to Highgrove House for the first Green Ambassadors Summit organised by the World Wildlife Fund. They were very proud to be invited and to meet Prince Charles and talk about all their Eco activities. You can read more about that in this earlier blog post.

Stenhouse Primary

I had asked to visit Stenhouse Primary School to congratulate them for reaching the finals of the Scottish Education Awards. I enjoyed seeing the excellent work going on and meeting young people who were keen to tell me and show me what they were doing.  I visited the Eco garden and heard about the work that the children were doing to develop it.  I was good to hear about the Gaelic language classes and the work of the children as Gaelic guides around Edinburgh Castle. Congratulations to the school for reaching the finals of the Scottish Education Award for Gaelic Language and Culture earlier in the year.

It was a pleasure to listen to the African choir and also to hear about the school’s excellent links with Malawi.

Finally, I enjoyed hearing about the school’s very active and successful bike club and the links with I-Bike.  Encouraging children to cycle brings so many benefits in terms of carbon reduction, children’s health and not least enjoyment.  The school is a great example of good practice in this area.

Psychological Services

I enjoyed my visit to the Psychological Service. I had a stimulating and productive discussion with the senior management team. I expressed my appreciation to the service for their role as champions for looked after children in Edinburgh and for the positive impact this is starting to have on outcomes. We talked about the key role which the service has in helping us deliver Getting it Right for Every Child and particularly in taking forward our commitment to align our different child planning processes, reduce bureaucracy and implement the role of lead professional.

The Psychological Service has moved into Headquarters and I am very much looking forward to having the service in Waverley Court and to the even closer working relationships which I believe will result from this.

Wester Hailes Education Centre

I was keen to visit Wester Hailes Education Centre to congratulate staff and pupils on their many achievements, especially in terms of exam results over the last year. I shared with Sheila Paton, Headteacher, my pleasure that the newspaper publicity about the schools achievements had been so positive over recent months. I was also delighted to hear that, just the evening before my visit, the school had won a highly commended award at the prestigious John Byrne Award for their film and song stimulated by the theme “Letter from America”.

I toured the school and was glad to see the many improvements in the fabric of the school buildings as a result of the recent Council investment.

I look forward to hearing more about the continuing success of Wester Hailes Education Centre.

Happy New Year to all our readers! We hope you had a great festive break. Here’s a quick summary of what’s been happening since our last round-up.

WHEC in the Hot 40

WHEC is on the up

Congrats to the pupils and staff of Wester Hailes Education Centre, who made it on to the Scotsman’s Hot 40 list for 2012 – a list of those who have made the biggest impact on the Capital in the last year. The entry stated:

The pupils and staff of the Wester Hailes Education Centre: The school was in the headlines when it was revealed its Standard Grade success rate had soared from one per cent to 21 per cent in the space of just three years. It is a real success story and will be used as a model for others to follow.

Achievement Awards highlights now available

One of the winning projects

We’ve posted full details of the winners of the recent Achievement Awards, along with a lovely highlights video featuring the winners, some wonderful live performances, and some of the antics of host Grant Stott.

Future of Gaelic bolstered by language plan

Gaelic Language Plan

The City of Edinburgh Council has published its Gaelic Language Plan. Since 2008 the Council has been working with the public and Bòrd na Gàidhlig (BnG) to agree the scope and contents of the plan, and the final submission was agreed by BnG this Autumn.

Read more about the plan on the Council’s News Blog.

Learning something new in 2013

If you’re looking to learn something new, brush up on your skills, meet new people or improve your job prospects then the Adult Education Programme could be for you. Day, evening and weekend classes start up again on 21 January with a range of subjects for adults aged 16 and over.

Primary pupils get a glimpse of gold

Katherine talking to the pupils

Around 120 primary school pupils had the opportunity to meet rower and Olympic gold medalist Katherine Grainger at Meggetland earlier this week. Katherine spent much time talking to them and passed her gold medal around the room – much to the pupils’ delight (and the teachers!). Thanks to staff at Edinburgh Leisure and our Active School Coordinators who helped pulled this together. A fantastic example of team work for the benefit of local children!

Read more about the visit on Edinburgh Leisure’s website.

Katherine signs some autographs

PC Jim Gillanders at Firrhill High. Photo courtesy of the Edinburgh Evening News.

A number of school link officers from Lothian and Borders Police have been placed in Edinburgh’s secondary schools. PC Jim Gillanders has been working at Firrhill High to assist and give advice on issues such as cyber bullying, knife crime and truancy.  There are twelve school link officers working at schools across the city, and Jim splits his time between Firrhill and Wester Hailes Education Centre.

Read more about the valuable work Jim undertakes in the Edinburgh Evening News.

You can also read more about the ‘campus cops’ scheme in our previous blog posts from September and November.

Votes to be cast for Scottish Youth Parliament

Voting for the new intake of members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) gets underway today, with 16 young people battling it out for the 12 Edinburgh seats – two for each of the Scottish Parliamentary areas. Read more about the elections in this post from earlier, and view a video on the Scotsman website.

Victorious in Volleyball

On Tuesday, Queensferry Community High School entered two teams in the S4-6 National School Volleyball finals in Dundee. Congrats to the boys’ team who competed against fourteen other teams from across Scotland and went on to win the event and title. Heather Darling, Active Schools co-ordinator told us:

It was great to have the squad together to deliver excellent Volleyball and complete the day without losing a set. Sad times for Matt, Jed and Connall (all S6 leavers this year) as they played their last ever school festival after taking part in them since primary school!

Heather also commended the girls’ team:

Well done also to the Queensferry girls who had an exciting morning to get through to the Gold pool where they met some tougher competition and had an opportunity to really compete. After winning last year, on this occasion, not all matches went our way, and the team from Marr College took the trophy back to Troon.

Boys Team: Matthew Agius (Captain), Connall Tennant, Jedd Hunter, Euan Gibson, Rhys Arthur, Michael Lee, Jordan Ramsay & Jonathan Black. Girls Team: Rachel Main (Captain), Siobhan Gunn, Amy Grant, Lauren Macdonald, Kara Innes, Amy Ferguson and Louise Agius

Porcelain pic is a winner for WHEC

Ursula with her winning entry

Wester Hailes student Ursula Manandhar (S5) was this year’s winner of the National Museum of Scotland’s 2012 Christmas Art Competition. Ursula was the youngest entrant in her category of the Age Group 16-20 Years and was awarded 1st prize for her drawing of the Parian Porcelain Ewer.

The winning entry has been on display since 14 January and a digitised image will be used to publicise and support National Museums Scotland and be featured on Museum social media pages. Well done Ursula!

Learning and Teaching ICT upgrades begin

Our ICT Servce Redesign project team tell us that they’re delighted to announce the first wave of bandwidth upgrades will begin in early March:

“We have been waiting a long time for this part of the Learning & Teaching ICT Service Redesign project to start. All of our schools and some Community Learning sites will have their bandwidth upgraded over the next few months, with many able to take advantage of the superfast broadband which is now available in some parts of our city. An increase in bandwith will give our learners much faster access to the internet, improving their learning experience and widening access to the rich variety of online resources now available.”

Craigmount pupils in Debating Tournament last 16

Congrats to Joseph Deans and Cameron Craig from Craigmount High, who have made it to the semi-finals of the Law Society of Scotland’s Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament. The boys won the tournament last year so we wish them good luck!

Also in the news…

Also on the Council website this week:

• Council pledges increased support for children with disabilities
• Council advises school placing requests may not be met
• Paolozzi Prize open for nominations
• Satisfication with schools at all time high
• Private Bill to be discussed at Council

SYP elections in full swing

Nicola Sturgeon launches SYP Elections 2013

The 2013 Scottish Youth Parliament Elections are in full swing, with Edinburgh schools, community centres, libraries, colleges and universities taking part and young people aged between 11 and 25 getting the opportunity to vote.

The voting opened last Friday at the last sitting of the current set of MYSPs. Nicola Sturgeon helped launch this year’s vote. By Monday night, a couple of schools had already completed their voting, with all their young people being given dedicated time to make their voice count.

Casting a vote

During the week Twitter and Facebook have seen a lot of activity both locally and at a national level – and two ‘emergency’ polling stations have been set up at centres who made last minute requests.

The Election team have also made ‘roving’ ballot boxes available to any youth group that is working with young people who might otherwise struggle to vote. There’s not long to go now, with the elections closing next Wednesday. The ballot papers will be rushed to an independent count centre overnight with the results announced at an event on Friday evening.

All of the 16 young people standing for the election have shown their commitment to being an active member of Edinburgh society. Even for those not elected, this does not mean the end of their journey, as there will be further participation events and training happening across the City over the next year. For the 12 new MSYPs next Friday night, they can look forward to a fantastic two years making real decisions about how they want life for young people in Scotland to progress, and will have the unique opportunity to be standing when Scotland makes a decision about independence.

Broughton pupils focus on nature

Doug with Maddy Bourne, depute head girl at Broughton High

Nature cameraman Doug Allan, who has contributed some of the most memorable scenes on programmes including Blue Planet, Life and Frozen Planet, visited Broughton High School recently to give a talk to pupils about his work. Doug shared stories of working in some of the world’s wildest places.

As reported on the STV website, depute head girl Maddy Bourne was responsible for bringing the celebrated cameraman to her school. Maddy told STV:

It is really great to get Doug as lots of people at the school are interested in the media. Doug is so big in that scene. The pupils are excited to see him.

Healthy pizza for visiting Minister

The Minister selecting some healthy toppings

The Minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell, visited Wester Hailes Education Centre on Wednesday as part of National Health Week.

The Minister took the opportunity to share in a lesson with students where they were making healthy pizzas. She then took part in a working lunch (healthy options of course) with a group of S3 students to hear, from the young people themselves, their ideas on how the Government can best support the wellbeing of children.

Find out more about what’s happening around Edinburgh for Wellbeing Week.

Website survey says parents are “better connected”

The Council’s website has retained a maximum 4 star ranking in a national survey of local authority websites. Better Connected 2013 identifies good practice across all 433 UK local authority websites, with only 37 receiving the maximum 4 stars.

We’re especially proud that our nursery pages were mentioned as an example of national best practice for presenting “comprehensive and straightforward” information.

Sporting successes

Congrats to Katie Barker from Tollcross Primary, who has won the Bracewell Trophy for Form and Technique in the plastic and foam fencing championships. According to the Edinbugrh Evening News, it’s the second time Katie has won – well done!

Congrats also to Canal View Primary, Edinburgh winners of the Jump2It basketball initiative in Glasgow, and to Bruntsfield Primary who were victorious at the Scottish Power school badminton championships in Motherwell. Some great sporting successes!

We are delighted to have joined forces with Stonewall, the lesbian, gay and bisexual charity, and their Education Champions Programme. Sabrina Ferguson, Principal Officer for Equalities, explains more.

We are working with Stonewall and LGBT Youth in tackling homophobia and supporting young people experiences and issues surrounding LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender). Stonewall provide high-quality resources that are extremely popular in our schools, helping to make a positive difference to eliminate homophobia. After 3 years’ of engagement with Stonewall’s Education Equality Index, we have risen from 17th place in the UK to 11th last year.

Wester Hailes Education Centre, Boroughmuir High, Royal High, Davidson’s Mains Primary and Leith Walk Primary have already joined Stonewall’s School Champions programme and there is some great practice emerging from these schools.

Stonewall Scotland’s Education Officer Laura Ferguson gives some examples:

Davidson’s Mains have been doing excellent stuff for a few years. One thing that sticks out in my head about their school is that they encourage other pupils to report incidents they witness and if a pupil sticks their neck out – they get a Giraffe Award! Davidson’s Mains also has the anti-bullying policy up in the main foyer of the school and it explicitly mentions homophobic bullying.

Boroughmuir High School have engaged their pupils in exploring ways of challenging bullying and homophobia and the pupils have raised awareness of LGBT in a presentation at assembly.

Stonewall will be offering further CPD opportunities for both Primary and Secondary Schools on how to tackle homophobia and other LGBT issues. Staff can register to attend the sessions using the CPD Directory and MyHR. The Secondary Schools’ training course “That’s so Gay”: Tackling homophobic language is on 10th May and the Primary Schools’ ‘Celebrating difference’ is on 24th May 2013.

If you would like to know more about how become a School Champion, contact the Children and Families Equalities team, email Laura.Ferguson@stonewallscotland.org.uk or see the School Champions section of Stonewall’s website.

Editor’s notes

Stonewall’s School Report 2012 shows that:

More than half (52%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) young people experience homophobic bullying in Scotland’s schools and 53% don’t feel there is an adult at school they can talk to. Half (49%) of LGB pupils in Scotland don’t feel they are achieving their best, and seven in ten (71%) skip school at some point. Worryingly, 26% have tried to take their own life at some point.

Involvement in the Education Champions programme is one of the ways we are working to ensure our children’s and young people’s outcomes are not undermined by inequality - one of our strategic outcomes.

Mel Coutts, Acting Principal Officer for Sports and Outdoor Education, gives an update on the success of the Health 4 U programme.

Health 4 U is an innovative Health and Wellbeing programme funded by the NHS, which is being delivered to S3 Girls in Edinburgh High Schools, in partnership with Active Schools & Edinburgh Leisure.

The programme was created after research showed that by the age of 14, nearly two-thirds (65%) of girls in Scotland do not reach the daily recommended physical activity levels of one hour a day. It was developed with the aim of taking a holistic approach to health and wellbeing where physical, mental, emotional and social health are interlinked and are not treated in isolation. School girls, aged between 13 and 15, were consulted in the design and delivery of the project to ensure it is as relevant and informative as possible. A successful pilot was run in 2011/12 and this led to further NHS funding and the roll-out of the programme in 2012/13 academic year.

The programme is run over 8 weeks. S3 girls participate in classroom based workshops and physical activity sessions in current exercise trends which interlink physical, mental, emotional and social health. Health 4 U explores topics such as body image and body confidence, fad diets, stress management, energy balance, women in the media and personal strengths. By doing so, the programme aims to positively influence the girl’s knowledge and motivation of how to lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle, whilst developing the confidence to become more physically active more often. At the end of the 8 weeks, participants are provided with a “completer’s pack” including Get Going information, Energize card, free passes for Edinburgh Leisure gym and swim and a copy of their school’s Active Schools programme of activities & community sessions.

The aims of the Health 4 U programme are to provide S3 girls with the tools, information and support they need to make long-term positive changes to their lifestyle with the aim of achieving the following outcomes:

• Increased knowledge of healthy lifestyles
• Improved physical activity levels
• Improved mental wellbeing
• Increased confidence and motivation levels to participate in physical activity

This year 290 girls have participated in Health 4 U, with 259 completing 6 sessions or more, from August – December 2012. This involved 7 schools (Craigroyston HS, Castlebrae HS, St Augustine’s RC, Forrester HS, Trinity HS, Broughton HS, Drummond HS).

A similar number are now participating in the programme from January 2013-April 2013. This involves a further 6 schools (Trinity HS, Broughton HS, Wester Hailes Community School, Tynecastle HS, Craigmount HS and Gracemount HS).

The pupil and teacher evaluations gathered on the first roll out of the programme have been used to measure the impact of the programme on the school and that of the girls’ attitudes towards health and wellbeing. Results show that the programme does influence positive changes in the girls’ attitudes towards health, with 92% stating they ‘feel more confident and motivated to lead a healthy lifestyle’ and that all schools have valued having Health 4 U as a part of their S3 curriculum.

The programme has been a success and we have further funding to roll this out again next year to 15 schools, bringing 4 new schools on board. It is hoped that when the NHS funding ends in 2014/15 the 3 partners will have worked with the schools to develop resources which make this a sustainable programme which can be included in the ever evolving curriculum for excellence!

Spring is in the air in this week’s round up as we report on various ways in which young people are getting out and about in the sunshine. Grab yourself a lemonade and enjoy…

Citrus Saturday is back

Photo from the Citrus Saturday website

Citrus Saturday is back in Edinburgh tomorrow (Saturday 20 April). Stalls will be located at 5 venues: Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Zoo, Royal Botanic Gardens, Cameron Toll Shopping Centre and Gyle Shopping Centre.

Pupils from Forrester High, Gorgie Mills, Gracemount High, Leith Academy and Woodlands will be participating and will have their stalls open for business from 10:00 – 14:00.

It would be great if you could pop along to one of the venues to provide support and perhaps buy a lemonade or two!

Find out more on the Citrus Saturday website. Also see this press release.

Golf opportunities swing into life again!

Photo from Edinburgh Leisure

Active Schools Coordinator Shona Clark has taken a lead on developing opportunities for children and young people to participate in golf throughout Edinburgh. As part of this she has reintroduced a high school golf league, not seen for many years, which runs throughout the year. The league is a result of an effective partnership between local clubs, Active Schools, Clubgolf, Edinburgh Leisure and High Schools who have supported the idea. The initiative was recently featured in this Scotsman article and the first round teed off last week. Fore!

Game, set and match at Liberton

Photo from Edinburgh Leisure

Liberton High School have received a £49,900 cash boost from the Scottish Government as part of Legacy 2014, and will use the money to help upgrade their tennis court and install a new bike trail and skills area.

The first grants from the £10 million Legacy 2014 Active Places Fund are being distributed to 24 community projects the length and breadth of the country.

We’ll be reporting more on this next week, so look out for that.

Success on skis for Ian from Boroughmuir

Well done to Boroughmuir High pupil Iain Innes who took first place in the “Super-G” race at the recent British National Alpine Ski Championships. Ian also came 6th in the slalom and 2nd in the giant slalom – a great performance! See the full results and more photos on the event’s website.

Photo by Neil McQuoid / Racer Ready

Giant chess to keep child obesity in check

Pupils from Sciennes Primary went along to the Meadows this week for the unveiling of a new giant outdoor chess board. As the Edinburgh Evening News reports, the aim of the board is to inspire and educate children. Former Edinburgh student and chess enthusiast Jason Kouchak told the Evening News: “We’re trying to get kids off their iPhones and their computers and outside where they can interact with each other face to face”.

Jason Kouchak enjoys a game of chess with Sciennes Primary pupils Tom and Abi Hossell. Picture: Greg Macvean, via the Edinburgh Evening News

Liberton Primary through to Soccer Sevens final

Good luck to Liberton Primary’s Junior Soccer Sevens team, who have made it through to the national finals, taking place next Monday in Glasgow. As the Evening News reports, the team have won six games so far without conceding a goal. Let’s hope they can continue the winning streak on Monday.

Rave reviews for WHEC performance of an old favourite

Finally, and back indoors, senior girls from Wester Hailes Education Centre performed the popular comedy-drama play The Steamie at the Council’s Studio to Stage event on Friday 12 April. Head Teacher Sheila Paton tells us that the girls received wow reviews – all saying how good they were and how they brought the place to life. Well done on an absolutely excellent performance.

An “absolutely excellent performance”

Have a great weekend!

Justine (YMU teacher) and Demi (young mum) setting off for the visit

The Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service was recently invited to bring some of the young mums from the Young Mums/Pregnant Schoolgirls’ Unit (based at Wester Hailes Education Centre) to give evidence at the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee’s Inquiry into Teenage Pregnancy.

The remit of the inquiry is:

• to assess whether the action being taken in Scotland is sufficient to bring about real and sustained reductions in unplanned teenage pregnancy.
• to explore with witnesses what further action may be required to ensure that those young people at risk of pregnancy at a young age, or who have a baby when they are very young, are able to gain access to appropriate support and services.

Four girls, Jessica and Demi (who are currently in the Unit) and Louisa and Amber (who left the unit last session) attended the Committee in March. They were accompanied by Ann Burnett, Depute Head of the Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service, and Justine Haddow, teacher-in-charge at the unit. Ann reports from the visit…

The Committee will publish a report on its inquiry into Teenage Pregnancy in May

The visit took place on 5 March and the girls were invited to have a working breakfast with 4 MSPs - Gil Paterson, David Torrance, Nanette Milne and
Bob Doris (Deputy Convener). Bob had previously taught at Wester Hailes for a year.

Further information on the Health and Sport Committee and the inquiry is available on the Scottish Parliament website - you can also click on each Member’s name for background information on them.

“Keen to contribute”

The visit went well. The young mums were keen to contribute and were not shy! They emphasised how being given the opportunity to continue their education at YMU and at WHEC had made a difference to their lives. All four talked about how becoming a mum had totally changed their direction in life. They talked about how being recognised as having Additional Support Needs made this possible. They were asked how this had worked for them. They discussed the importance of not being judged by staff and how every effort should be made to ensure appropriate access to education. Jessica stressed the importance of a flexible approach as this was essential to meet their needs both as learners and as mothers.

They talked about their appreciation of the investment made by the Council in funding YMU, including the provision of transport and childcare for their children. Ann said this investment had a double dividend in that this provision directly affected not only the mothers but their babies as well. All the girls appreciated the effort and contribution made by WHEC staff to help them re-engage with education.

Louisa talked about being a “Looked After Child” (LAC) and how her educational journey took a sharp turn when she became pregnant. Louisa is now in first year at Napier University. Demi, also a LAC, talked about how her baby daughter would not follow the same path as her as she had learned the importance of being assertive.

They gave their opinions on the prevention of teenage pregnancy, sex education and Family Nurse Partners. Justine and Ann also contributed to the discussion. The members were very interested in the complementary curriculum that Justine provides in the Unit.

Members found the session really useful and hopefully the girls’ contribution will have a direct impact on the MSPs’ lines of thinking when it comes to the Committee’s recommendations to the Government on this issue. To this end, the Committee asked if they could keep in touch and requested that when they produce their draft recommendations, they could discuss them with the girls.

All girls were a credit to YMU and WHEC.

Editor’s notes

The Young Mums’ Unit is based in Wester Hailes Education Centre (WHEC). It works in partnership with the school to offer young parents the chance to continue their education in a supportive environment. The service is offered free of charge to any girl up to age 18 (S6) who lives in Edinburgh.

You can find out more about the Young Mums’ Unit on the Council website. Also see this previous blog post from last December, highlighting the work of the unit.

The Art Room is a UK charity working with children to increase their self-esteem, self-confidence and independence through art. On Wednesday 24 April it announced that Wester Hailes Education Centre will open an Art Room for Edinburgh in late 2013. The new Art Room will provide therapeutic intervention to children from local schools who will work in small group sessions with Art Room trained Senior Practitioners.

Photo courtesy of The Art Room

The Art Room believes art can help children learn and achieve success. Working with children aged 5 to 16 years old,the Wester Hailes Education Centre Art Room will offer art as therapy for those facing challenges in their lives. There are many reasons why children attend sessions with an Art Room. The aim will be to help those most in need, be it when they are becoming disengaged from mainstream education, are disruptive, withdrawn or have learning difficulties. Once the Art Room has been established at Wester Hailes, it is hoped that children from across the city will also benefit from the support of The Art Room.

Working in collaboration with Maxine Sloss and a group of dedicated Edinburgh based Art Room Angels, Sheila Patron, Principal of Wester Hailes Education Centre, will front the campaign and work with The Art Room’s main office in Oxford to follow their highly successful formula. Local Edinburgh based practitioners will attend Art Room Practitioner training later in the year.

Sheila Paton said at the announcement:

Our School motto is ‘Together we will succeed’ and working with The Art Room encapsulates our vision. We welcome the opportunity that the Art Room will bring us to support young people in our Community. Although in the first instance this will be for young people in the Wester Hailes Community, our vision is that The Art Room will develop as an outreach Centre, where young people across the City who are at risk of disengaging from Education can access nurture and support.

Princess Kate is royal patron of charity The Art Room. Picture: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

In 2012, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge became the Royal Patron of The Art Room. Speaking at the Art Room’s celebration at the National Portrait Gallery last month, the Duchess said “I’ve been overwhelmed by the transformational impact The Art Room sessions have. I am a firm believer in the power of art to make a difference.”

The Art Room has helped over 10,000 children since its foundation in 2002. Juli Beattie, Founder Director announced the new collaboration with Wester Hailes Education Centre. She said of the new Art Room in Edinburgh:

We are absolutely delighted to be able to bring our therapeutic intervention practice to Scotland and build a new Art Room. As we continue to grow into a national charity we want to be able to share what we know and provide many more children with invaluable support at a time they most need it. Our work is hugely rewarding and has proven results and we look forward to seeing the positive effects of an Art Room at Wester Hailes.

Maxine Sloss will be working with Wester Hailes Education Centre to raise the necessary funds to build and supply The Art Room. In the next year, it is hoped that £120,000 will be raised to set up the building and provide the materials needed by the children. Individual donations and fundraising initiatives have already started and been met with encouraging support.

Also read this story about the announcement on the Evening News website.

Art exhibition celebrates children’s rights

Pupils show off their artwork

On Monday, a beautiful display of artwork opened at the East Neighbourhood Office, as Carla Hay (Modern Apprentice Creative Industries) reports. Children from Moffat Early Years and Greengables opened the exhibition by singing ‘Everyboy, Everygirl’, composed by Moffat Early Years Campus, celebrating children’s rights.

‘Everyboy, Everygirl’ by Moffat Early Years Campus

The exhibition of over 50 pieces is inspired by Rights Respecting Schools putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights respecting school not only teaches about children’s rights but also respect in all relationships. Having the exhibition in a public space allows everyone to come together to celebrate positive outcomes and the creativity of the children in illustrating the Rights.

Margot MacAlister, Head Teacher at St. Francis Primary, asked the newly built East Neighbourhood Centre if they would like to host the exhibition and colleagues at the Centre are very excited about having the children’s work displayed. This project has given colleagues across a number of service areas the opportunity to develop good partnership working.

The artwork came from Moffat Early Years Campus, Greengables Nursery, St Francis Primary School, Niddrie Mill Primary, Newcraighall Primary, Castleview Primary and Castlebrae High School. The display will be open to the community across the summer months.

Portobello pupils speak up to win competition

Winners Cameron and Alexander with Lesley Thomson QC – photo from Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

Congratulations to Cameron Downing and Alexander Fraser and their English teacher at Portobello High School, who last night won the finals of the Procurator Fiscal’s Public Speaking Competition on the subject “Social Networking Sites and Diversity: Friends or Foes?”.

The very worthy runners up were Clara Warshow and Sofia Della of Boroughmuir High and Laura Wood and Sarah Gardner of The Royal High School. In all, nine secondary schools took part in the competition.

The presiding judge was the Solicitor General, Lesley Thomson QC. Thanks to Broughton High School for providing an excellent venue for the finals and to Jenny Suttie for organising it.

Lord Provost visits WHEC and Canal View Primary

The Rt Hon Donald Wilson, Lord Provost, meets two of WHEC’s pupils

Wester Hailes Education Centre was delighted to welcome The Rt Hon Donald Wilson, Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh when he visited on Tuesday, as Head Teacher Sheila Paton reports:

As our local Councillor this was his first visit since taking up his new role. On a tour of the Centre, the Provost welcomed the improvements to the learning environment, particularly our enhanced library, sports and ICT facilities. He congratulated the staff on our improved attainment and achievement. With a keen interest in eco-matters he was interested to learn of our self sufficient approach to re-cycling, our Fair Trade group and our journey towards a Green Eco flag.

The Lord Provost also visited staff and pupils at Canal View Primary School to hear about their Breakfast Club, reports Early Years and Childcare Officer Sam Baird. As president of the One City Trust, the Lord Provost was delighted to see that the donation given from the trust for the club was being used to replace old equipment.

The Lord Provost with staff and pupils from Canal View Primary School

Ann Moore, Head Teacher of Canal View Primary School said:

This new equipment from the One City Trust together with the generosity of Wates Scotland funding our Breakfast Club shows the commitment and support for us providing a good, healthy breakfast to our pupils which helps them to engage in their learning and improves their general health. Coming to a breakfast club promotes the social aspects of eating and playing together by encouraging social skills, good manners and citizenship and I am very pleased that we are able to offer this at Canal View Primary.

Other breakfast clubs across the city have also received a donation from the One City Trust and are now able to whizz up smoothies to their hearts content! Read more in this story on the Council news blog.

Spinney Lane Nursery pupils making a splash

“It’s been fantastic to watch them invent so many different ways to use it.”

You may remember that we reported in February about new funding for outdoor water features in a number of our establishments. Now, Sheena Lowes – Head Teacher at Spinney Lane Nursery – has written to tell us about the experiences the children have had over the last session:

The children in The Spinney Lane Nursery School enjoyed a summer of active learning following the installation of our beautiful water feature. They discovered how the pump works, followed the journey of the water along the river bed and had fun mixing “potions” in the puddles.

The same children have been intrigued by the changes that occurred over the autumn and winter. Their interest in the feature has prompted discussions about seasonal change as they observed the leaves which fell into it and how the water froze in winter.

The water feature has provided a wealth of opportunities for problem solving, conversations and questioning across all areas of the curriculum as well as hours of entertainment and fun.

Crowning glory for Victoria Primary gala

Finally, pupils from Victoria Primary School enjoyed their day in the sun at last weekend’s Newhaven Gala Day, reports the Edinburgh Evening News. Following a procession of youngsters dressed as fishermen and fishwives accompanied by a children’s choir, the crowds looked on as pupil Mhairi Thomson was crowned the Gala Queen.

Fisher King Miko Sulek and Gala Queen Mhairi Thomson arrive at the harbour. Picture: Greg Macvean via the Edinburgh Evening News

Cllr Fullerton with one of the winners

Councillor Cathy Fullerton was delighted to attend the Delancey UK Chess Challenge Edinburgh Megafinal recently and present prizes to winners and participants. The UK Chess Challenge is one of the largest chess tournaments in the world and 140 children took part in the second stage Megafinal at Wester Hailes Education Centre in April.

All the children taking part had qualified for the event, mainly through school chess clubs. The structure of the tournament is simple, allowing the most inexperienced players to compete in the early stages, yet testing the mettle of the finest at the end.

Photo courtesy of lothianschoolchess.org.uk

The tournament, which begins every spring term, continues over four stages and eight months. In the first stage children compete week by week in schools all over the UK (currently the number of schools taking part is over 2,000). Every child is able to win prizes, whether badges, fluffy mascots, trophies and even baseball caps, so every child has something to play for. The impact has been pronounced and you can see both the children’s enjoyment and the enthusiasm at a Megafinal.

Junior chess clubs are springing up all over the country, both in schools and outside; numbers in existing clubs continue to grow. All this shows that chess is one of the most enjoyable and exciting ways for children to learn how to think independently. For information on local Edinburgh school chess visit www.lothianschoolchess.org.uk.

The following pupils from City of Edinburgh schools were Supremos and Supremas (boy and girl champions for their age):

• Anjali Jayanty (Currie CHS)
• John Morrison (Bruntsfield PS)
• Aidan Davis (Sciennes PS)
• Dietah Connolly Sams (Flora Stevenson PS)
• Angus Holme (Sciennes PS)
• Matilda Ball Torokoff (Sciennes PS)
• Siddharth Berera (South Morningside PS) 1st =

The following Edinburgh pupils scored 4 or more and therefore qualify for the Northern Gigafinal in Derby in July:

• Matthew Lewis, Danny Sinclair, Robert Pirrie, Rory Moran (South Morningside PS)
• James Hartman (Nether Currie PS)
• Robert Davis, Joseph Bartlett, Sergi MacKinlay-Vich, Jingzhong Fan (Sciennes PS)
• Nick Findlay, Patrick Bellett, Joel Chambers (Bonaly PS)
• Archie Kemp (Bruntsfield PS)
• Angus Matthews (St. Peter’s PS)

Well done and many congratulations to all!

Summerhall celebration for Totally Sound music project

Totally Sound Music Project offers young people aged 12-18 the opportunity to get involved and creative through music making.  To celebrate their 10th birthday, they are having a “thank you” event today for everyone who has supported the project over the years, and then tomorrow (Saturday) night they’re heading to Summerhall for the end of term show.

This will a fantastic opportunity to showcase all the creativity that’s been going on during the year.  There will be a really varied range of performances featuring acoustic sets, rappers, rock, indie and even the occasional ukulele and lots of original material. Over 30 young people will be performing. For some of them, it will be their first time on stage. Not for special guests Mad Tango, though – the established Edinburgh band are very special to Totally Sound because that’s where they met each other!

The Summerhall fun starts at 7pm tomorrow and tickets are available on the door – Adults £5,  under 18s £2.

NT Connections at The Lyceum

Also this week, the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh is hosting ‘NT Connections’, the National Theatre’s festival of new plays for Youth Theatres and Schools. Each year the National Theatre invites ten writers to create new plays and this year they have been asked to go back to their home town and work with young people on new ideas. Stories of circuses, mistakes, spaceships, heartache and love are just a few of the stories that have come from their encounters.

Connections aims to inspire young people with high quality new playwriting and encourages them to get involved in all aspects of theatre making. Performances from Drummond Community High School and Wester Hailes Education Centre went down really well earlier this week, and tomorrow is your chance to see some fantastic performances and exciting new writing.  It is not to be missed!

Each performance is a double bill, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets: £8/£5 concessions.

Calls for one foreign language to be taught from primary through to secondary school

Christina McKelvie MSP meets with pupils at the Royal Mile Primary during their French lesson

Pupils and teachers at the Royal Mile Primary School were the first to hear about the findings of the European and External Relations Committee’s inquiry into teaching foreign languages in primary schools on Tuesday, when the Committee Convener Christina McKelvie MSP launched the report at the school alongside a P6 French class.

During the past six months, the Committee has been investigating the Scottish Government’s policy that children should start to learn a second language from Primary 1 and a third language no later than Primary 5, the so-called ‘1+2 approach’. The report is the culmination of their inquiry into this policy.

Read more about the launch on the Scottish Parliament website.

Le Gruffalo play proves a hit with our Director

A performance of Le Gruffalo

Speaking of foreign languages, P6 pupils at Bonaly Primary recently treated Children and Families Director Gillian Tee to a performance of their animated French play ‘Le Gruffalo’, based on the popular children’s book The Gruffalo.

The pupils developed the monster-themed play earlier this year, when 10 Edinburgh primary schools took part in the annual ‘Institut francais’ French play competition. Class teacher Nikki Hounsom wrote to tell us how the children had worked hard on their performance and had fun watching all the other plays on the day. Nikki says they performed fantastically at the competition and received an award for la meilleure mise en scene for their stage setting.

Gillian Tee thoroughly enjoyed the performance, saying afterwards that the children were “brilliant”

Primary 6 are already looking forward to rehearsing and performing another French play in the P7 competitions next year.

Kaimes pupils are national consumer challenge quiz champions 2013!

The winning team: Tomasz, Hamish, Robson and Daniel

Students from Kaimes School beat tough competition from 8 other schools in the grand finals of the Consumer Challenge Quiz at the Trading Standards Institute conference in Brighton this week. They took home a tablet PC, vouchers, a bag full of prizes and £1,000 for their school. They told us:

It feels brilliant; it is like we are celebrities! We weren’t nervous, we relaxed before the final by playing cards so we were able to just stay calm and carry on.

Read more in this full report, posted earlier today.

Local children hold court with tennis stars

Local pupils were yesterday showing off their new-found racquet skills to former US Open and Wimbledon finalist, Mark Philippoussis, and previous Queen’s Club champion, Wayne Ferreira.

P4 pupils from Flora Stevenson, Stockbridge, Granton and Ferryhill Primary Schools have been enjoying tennis taster sessions over the past four weeks, culminating in a ‘Festival of Tennis’ at Inverleith Park.

Read more about the day in this press release.

Moredun girls complete Race for Life

Left to Right (back row) Sascha MacLeod, Amy Reid, Caitlin Donald, Toni Mason, Kirsty Keegan,
Karmen Ness and Tiegan Noble (front row) Demi MacDonald, Tara Duffy, Holly Thomson, Jayde Mutch and Amy Donaldson

Last Sunday 16 June, these girls gathered at 9am at Moredun library to prepare for their team walk at the Race for Life event at Holyrood Park. The group, who all access provisions at Goodtrees Neighbourhood Centre and Moredun Library, had spent five weeks training for the task. They all passed the finish line in under two hours, some of them even had the energy to sprint the last one hundred yards!

Their walk has inspired younger sisters and the Flawless Friday group to follow suit and join a sponsored charity walk.  They are fabulous role models. Well done girls!

Also in the news…

Pupils and parents at Castleview Primary had a chance to meet Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill recently at their graduation from the 8-week Families and School Together (FAST) programme, aimed at strengthening the links between school and families. Kenny, who is MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, has written about the visit on his blog.

Pupils from Stockbridge, Wardie, Flora Stevenson’s and St Mary’s Primary Schools gathered at Edinburgh Academy Junior School to meet popular children’s author Lauren Childs (of Charlie and Lola fame), with the chance to ask her questions about her new book – the second in her series featuring 13 year old detective Ruby Redfort.

Good luck to basketball players from Portobello High - Sarah Brady, Rosanna Pollock and Niamh Walker - who are currently in Klagenfurt, Austria, taking part in the United World Games 2013. According to the Edinburgh Evening News, it’s the first year Scotland have participated in the games – good luck girls!

No round up last week as everyone was focused on the end of term rush! Don’t worry, though – we’ll continue to keep you updated with blog posts throughout the summer holidays. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to subscribe by adding your email address on the right and you can also follow us on Twitter via @brightedinburgh.

School improvements over the summer

Each year over the summer holidays a large number of planned fabric improvements and projects take place across the Children and Families estate.  This year also includes the completion of a number of primary school extensions to address rising rolls and the new Gaelic Primary School and Seaview Centre, all of which are due to open in mid-August.

Meanwhile, our ICT Service Redesign project has now refreshed BT desktops and laptops at over 50 of our 196 schools and learning and teaching establishments across the city, and is continuing throughout the summer holidays.

Sheila Paton, Head Teacher at WHEC, was very impressed with the new machines:

Learning and Teaching is benefiting as staff are now supported by fast access to up to date ICT tools and improved sharing and communication facilities

The remaining sites will be refreshed by the end of September 2013.

App Attack gets staff making the most of new tech

The App Attack roadshow arrives at Blackhall Primary

Over May and June, the Digital Learning Team toured the City’s neighbourhoods, inspiring over 260 educators with their new ‘App Attack’ roadshow. Jenni Roberston and Anna Mitchell, from the team, sent us this report…

The App Attack vision was to design and deliver a fresh, exciting, engaging, adrenalin-pumping, super-charged Friday afternoon CPD session all about iPad. At each event, four experienced educators from primary and secondary sectors delivered short sessions on four different Apps, modelling how they can be used to enhance the learning experience. The event finished with a time for sharing good practice and making connections with educators from the same neighbourhood who are also embarking on the iPad journey.

Some quotes from the event:

• “Exciting, educational, enlightening!”
• “Can’t wait to try what I’ve learnt back at school. It will benefit my class hugely!”
• “Lots of great ideas shared, that will have a positive impact on teaching and learning in my class.”
• “Sincere thanks for helping me move my teaching to a new level.”

Look out for more flavours of App Attack fresh for 2013/2014 in the CPD Directory. Also see the Digital Learning Team’s website for more guides, videos and other resources.

Wardie pupil’s winning banner promotes road safety

Budding artist Alasdair McCorquodale, from Wardie Primary School, is steering Edinburgh school children towards a safer future after winning a city-wide road safety competition.

The seven year-old came up with the winning design in a contest organised by webuyanycar.com and supported by road safety charity Brake, for a new banner urging drivers to slow down to 20mph or below to protect children.

Lord Provost Donald Wilson said:

Well done to Alasdair on his fantastic winning design and on playing his part in getting the road safety message across to Edinburgh drivers.

Our goal is to make sure all users are safe from the risk of being killed or seriously injured on Edinburgh’s roads by 2020 and we will continue to work hard towards reaching this target.

Music Group report published

The Minister for Learning Dr Alasdair Allan launched a new report at Leith Academy last Thursday, making a number of recommendations to improve music learning in Scottish schools. During the launch the Minister met pupils and listened to a performance from the school’s music group. He went on to say:

Music plays a huge role in Scotland’s culture and life and every child should have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument.

Find out more about the report on the Scottish Government website and also read Dr Allan’s blog post on the subject.

Good news for school leavers and apprentices

More school leavers than ever in Edinburgh are moving into work, education, or training, thanks to the strong partnership that has developed between the public and private sectors through the Edinburgh Guarantee.

Figures published by the Scottish Government last week show that the success rate of school leavers in Edinburgh achieving and sustaining a positive destination are at the highest rate ever in Edinburgh. The figure is up 3.3% on the same time last year and is now at 89.8%.

Meanwhile, it’s been announced that one in a hundred full time equivalent workers at the City of Edinburgh Council are now apprentices, achieving an ambitious target set in September 2011.  The Council now has 116 apprentices with another 18 being employed in July.

Have you entered the Creepy House yet?

Finally, Creepy House is this year’s Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge in Scotland. There are some great books to read and smelly stickers to collect. And if you read six books to complete all three stages of your challenge, you will get a very special prize…

Last month pupils from Wester Hailes Education Centre (WHEC) celebrated receiving a Social Enterprise in Education Award. The pupils run a successful business that buys and sells fair trade and African-themed goods, with profits going towards the school’s partnership with Barkley West School in South Africa. WHEC were one of 24 schools receiving an award at the ceremony, which took place on June 21. Over 200 teachers, pupils and supported attended the ceremony, and WHEC received their award from Mr John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth. Mr Swinney said:

The creativity and innovation that has been demonstrated today by our young people is consistently impressive.  Taking part in these awards helps them develop the skills and confidence they need to take these ideas and turn them into social enterprises, enhancing their work readiness which will help build the smarter, wealthier and fairer Scotland.

WHEC is one of the many schools in which pupils have been exercising their entrepreneurial skills by running social enterprises. Since 2008 26,000 pupils across Scotland have done everything from caring for the terminally ill to running nail bars. Running a business gives them a chance to change the world for the better and engage directly with the Curriculum for Excellence values.

The Social Enterprise in Education Award was established by the Social Enterprise Academy, which has been working with schools since 2008. After the ceremony the academy received a cheque from Gordon Merrylees of the Royal Bank of Scotland to help extend their reach to pupils in the senior phase of school and those already in further education.

This funding was provided through the RBS Inspiring Youth Enterprise Grant which aims to help 100,000 young people to develop business skills.

To find out more about the Social Enterprise Academy visit www.theacademy-ssea.org or contact Jess Gildener 0131 243 2674 or at  jess@theacademy-ssea.org.

Young musicians across Edinburgh are this week working on their musical masterpieces ahead of a showcase concert at Drummond Community High School tomorrow.

Over 70 primary and secondary pupils have been working with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s education and outreach department, SCO Connect, and their new initiative, SCO VIBE – an exciting fusion orchestra influenced by group members and the musical styles that they love.

SCO VIBE opens up what a conventional orchestra looks like, providing a forum where young people can engage in collaborative music-making, and inspiring them to have a life-long relationship with music. Participation is free and targets young people who may not traditionally engage with the work of the SCO or who may not have had opportunities to take part in other musical ensembles offered in the city.

Meeting during school holidays throughout the year, young people will write and perform their own music with the help of SCO players, Instrumental Music Instructors from the City of Edinburgh Council and students from Napier University and Edinburgh College.

The current summer course is taking place 23 – 25 July and will involve pupils from schools across the city including Tynecastle, Drummond, Broughton, Trinity, Forrester, Leith, Wester Hailes Education Centre and Holy Rood clusters as well as Craigmount, Firrhill and Currie clusters.

Lucy Forde, SCO Connect Director, said:

SCO Connect is thrilled to be providing young people of all backgrounds and abilities in Edinburgh with the opportunity to experience the excitement of making and performing music together.  We welcome all instruments at SCO VIBE from clarinets to keyboards, cellos to sitars, clarsachs to bass guitars and vocals.

SCO VIBE is delivered in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council and is supported by CashBack for Creativity with an award of £30,000. Creative Scotland’s CashBack for Creativity programme re-invests the monies seized from criminals back into cultural activities for young people across Scotland. The project has also received £15,500 from the Young Start Programme run by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland.

The concert showcasing this week’s work takes place at 2.30pm on Thursday 25 July at Drummond Community High School. The concert is open to anyone and is non-ticketed but with limited seats, so best to arrive early!

Find out more about SCO VIBE on the Scottish Chamber Orchestra website, and also check out the video below: