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Daily Record
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Record
Ayrshire schools named joint winners in pocket garden contest
Auchlineck Early Childhood Centre and Kilmaurs Early Childhood Centre were named as joint winners following a public vote Two schools in Ayrshire were named as joint winners in a national gardening competition. Auchlineck Early Childhood Centre and Kilmaurs Early Childhood Centre were voted joint winners in the annual Pocket Garden Design Competition. Organised by Keep Scotland Beautiful in partnership with the Garden for Life Forum, the competition gives nursery and school pupils, aged three to 18, the opportunity to design a miniature pocket-sized garden. This year's designs were inspired by the 2025 'Our Heritage' theme and had to include food for people, be good for wildlife and reuse something. More than 130 entries were received from schools across Scotland and judges had a tough time whittling the numbers down. A judging panel consisting of representatives from the Garden for Life Forum, Butterfly Conservation and Historic Environment Scotland selected three overall winners based on the design themes while a public vote was also help to choose the public's favourite. Sacred Heart ELC in Falkirk, Dunscore Primary in Dumfries and Galloway and Grandtully Primary, Perth & Kinross were picked by the judges in the three design categories. More than 4,000 votes were cast in the public vote which saw Kilmaurs and Auchinleck tied for first place. Eve Keepax, senior education and learning officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: 'If you're in need of something to raise your spirits, spend a moment browsing the Pocket Gardens showcase. There are photos and stories full of creativity, resilience, humour, teamwork and care. All in addition to wonderful first-hand experience of problem-solving, sustainability, nature and thinking about our values. 'This year's heritage theme provided a focus for children across the country to show what they value about what has been passed down to them, or something about where they live that is special for them. It included industry, food, landscape, pop culture, story, and even the humble weed. 'The showcase winners did a fantastic job bringing these garden ideas to life and the sheer number of votes we received shows how much the public enjoyed them too. 'I'd like to thank everyone who took part for creating these magical designs and say a huge congratulations to all our winners. I'm already looking forward to next year's competition.' The Pocket Garden Design Competition aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four, Learning for Sustainability, and is run as part of our Climate Action Schools framework. It gives pupils and educators a creative focus for learning for sustainability, STEM skills, and the Curriculum for Excellence while learning more about the climate and nature emergencies and having fun learning outdoors.
Daily Record
25-06-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Inspectors update parents on progress of Cleland school after critical inspection earlier this year
After a visit to Cleland Primary, inspectors graded the school as 'weak' in one area and only 'satisfactory' in three other categories. Inspectors have updated parents on the progress of a primary school following a critical inspection earlier this year. After a previous visit to Cleland Primary, inspectors graded the school as 'weak' in one area and only 'satisfactory' in three other categories. These included to improve the quality and consistency of learning, teaching and assessment across the school; support the headteacher and staff to plan and implement improvements across the school and to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy. Inspectors returned in June to find out what the headteacher and other staff have taken to improve. In his report, HM inspector Simon Gallon said: 'Senior leaders and the school community have worked together well to embed successfully the school's vision, values and aims. 'As a result, children understand and can talk about what the values mean in practice. 'Senior leaders and staff have established systems and processes which enable them to measure school improvement and assess the impact on improving outcomes for children. Together, staff have developed a school improvement plan which sets out clearly the priorities across the year. 'They have identified appropriate areas for improvement. These include improving approaches to learning, teaching and assessment and raising attainment in literacy. 'Since the original inspection, all teachers now have opportunities to lead areas of change and improvement. 'These include pupil leadership groups and areas of curriculum development, such as literacy and numeracy. 'Children continue to learn in a positive ethos underpinned by the school values. They now have a greater say in school matters which are important to them. 'They like that staff listen to their views and opinions The report states there has been an improvement in the quality and consistency of learning and plans to raise attainment in literacy and numeracy. Mr Gallon's report adds: 'Across the school, children behave very well and have positive attitudes towards learning. 'Almost all engage well in varied activities which match their different needs when working on their own, with partners and in small groups. In almost all lessons, children make key decisions when learning. 'Senior leaders and teachers have a shared understanding of high-quality learning and teaching. They now use time for teaching better. 'They break down lessons into appropriate segments of learning to check children's knowledge and understanding. This is helping children to make better progress. 'Senior leaders and staff have taken positive steps to improve the accuracy of teacher professional judgements of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) levels. 'Teachers now have a better understanding of national guidance and national expectations. Their judgements of children's progress have improved. 'Attainment is improving across the school. Staff now have a clearer understanding of standards, expectations and progression in learning. 'The majority of children across the school are on track to achieve appropriate CfE levels in reading, writing and numeracy, with most children on track to achieve appropriate levels in listening and talking. 'Senior leaders have an understanding that it will take time to embed significant improvements in attainment over time. 'They should ensure that raising attainment, particularly in writing, remains a key priority across the school.' Inspectors stated they were confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and so we will make no more visits in connection with this inspection. *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Spectator
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
How the SNP wrecked Scottish education
A small but not insignificant morsel of data on the state of education after 18 years of the SNP running Scotland. New figures show the gap between the poorest and wealthiest school leavers has widened to a five-year high. In the least deprived areas, just 3 per cent of school leavers fail to go to a 'positive destination', the Scottish Government's term for higher or further education, training, employment or voluntary work. Yet in the most deprived areas, areas like the former Lanarkshire industrial town from which I'm writing this, more than one in ten children leave school to what is euphemistically called 'other destinations', i.e. unemployment. Scottish Labour's education spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy accuses the SNP of 'leaving Scotland's most disadvantaged pupils behind'. It's hard to disagree. Education used to be all the rage at Holyrood, the subject of speeches and pledges and reports and, most of all, photo ops. In 2015, early in her first ministership, Nicola Sturgeon – remember her? – gave a grand speech declaring that her defining priority would be closing the attainment gap between poor children and those from affluent families. These days Sturgeon tours the country chatting literature with minor celebs and touting her own forthcoming memoirs, but her legacy remains. And what a legacy it is. The attainment gap she undertook to close is widening. Children from the poorest parts of Scotland are 23 per cent less likely than those in the richest areas to leave school with at least one National 5, the Scottish equivalent of the GCSE. At Higher level (comparable to the A-Level), the gap is 38 per cent. Just 57 per cent leave school with a Higher and one in seven leave before even getting to that level. In reading, there is an 88-point performance gap between the richest and poorest children; in science, it's 92 points; in maths, 98. While the most deprived children bear the brunt of the Scottish education slump, no one escapes unharmed. Data from Pisa, an international study of school performance, shows that, almost two decades after the SNP came to power at Holyrood, test scores in science have fallen by 32 points and in maths by 35 points. Reading is the soaraway success story, with a drop of a mere six points in test performance. Children in Scottish schools are behind their English counterparts in all three disciplines. Little wonder the Institute for Fiscal Studies says 'something, somewhere is going wrong in Scottish education'. It's something, somewhere, all at once. Subject choice has narrowed under the SNP's Curriculum for Excellence. More than 40 per cent of pupils are persistently absent from Scottish high schools. A survey by teaching union NASUWT found 44 per cent of respondents north of the border suffered physical abuse or violence at the hands of their pupils last year. There were more than 40,000 violent incidents in local authority schools in 2024 and since the pandemic there has been a 76 per cent increase in offensive weapons in the classroom, with Police Scotland recording 194 cases in the past three years. Even in the most conducive education environment, learning can be very difficult for some pupils. In a culture of chaos, it can become impossible. Back in 2015, when Nicola Sturgeon gave her landmark speech on closing the educational attainment gap, she said: Let me be clear: I want to be judged on this. If you are not, as first minister, prepared to put your neck on the line on the education of our young people then what are you prepared to. It really matters. It does matter, but did it ever really matter to Sturgeon? A decade on, the balance of the evidence confirms that outcomes in Scottish education declined on her watch and that children from the poorest families shouldered the worst of it. Schools have been struggling to recover ever since Sturgeon made haste for the exit and a media career. As she offers election night punditry, tours theatres and playhouses with her novelist pals, and chips in the odd book review, it is difficult to discern where or when she put her neck on the line. Perhaps its high brass content made things difficult.
STV News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- STV News
Council to redeploy teachers to meet growing additional support need demand
Trade unions are alarmed at Renfrewshire Council plans to redeploy teachers in early years settings to meet growing demand in additional support needs (ASN) education. Concerns have been voiced that the change, which is due to affect nine teachers and comes into force from August, could impact the quality of provision in nurseries. They believe this step is being taken in spite of educational arguments against it and would rather see a specific injection of staff into ASN where the need is acute. A report prepared by EIS Renfrewshire Local Association, tabled at the joint negotiating committee for teaching staff on Tuesday, set out their objections. It said: 'Renfrewshire Council's decision to remodel the staffing provision within their early years settings has led to the removal of GTCS-registered teachers from Renfrewshire nurseries, a decision that will deny children access to a GTCS-qualified teacher. 'EIS funded, independent research confirms the importance of maintaining a GTCS-registered teacher workforce in all pre-school settings for all children. 'The findings support the conclusions of previous research that employing the skills and leadership of qualified teachers remains the best way to ensure a quality educational experience in all nursery settings. 'Curriculum for Excellence supports a seamless curricular model spanning the three to 18 age range. It is crucial, therefore, that there is an appropriate level of teacher involvement in every nursery setting thereby providing continuity into primary school. 'GTCS-registered teachers make a distinctive contribution to the education of all children and to delivering the early interventions that are essential in minimising the impact of poverty on all children's educational outcomes both within the early years and beyond.' When contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council defended the new model and addressed worries expressed by the unions. A spokesperson said: 'The teachers in question are being redeployed to improve the way we support children with additional support needs at the early-learning stage. They will still be working with nursery-age children, as well as some primary ones. 'The changes were agreed after listening to feedback from our school and nursery heads around how best to meet the increasing demand for ASN support, which all councils are experiencing. The staff involved have been fully consulted on the changes. 'The new model will allow children who need extra support beyond that provided in their nursery to be given additional sessions in a flexible learning resource where they will get the specialist help they need. 'It also includes outreach where the same teachers will visit children in the nursery they already attend to work with them in an environment the child is familiar with. 'It also means we can target this support to the children who need it most, meaning there will be fairness and equity of access across Renfrewshire.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Daily Record
12-06-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Trade unions alarmed at council plans to redeploy teachers in early years settings to meet ASN demand
Concerns have been voiced that the change could impact the quality of provision in nurseries. Trade unions are alarmed at Renfrewshire Council plans to redeploy teachers in early years settings to meet growing demand in additional support needs (ASN) education. Concerns have been voiced that the change, which is due to affect nine teachers and come into force from August, could impact the quality of provision in nurseries. They believe this step is being taken in spite of educational arguments against it and would rather see a specific injection of staff into ASN where the need is acute. A report prepared by EIS Renfrewshire Local Association, tabled at the joint negotiating committee for teaching staff on Tuesday, set out their objections. It said: "Renfrewshire Council's decision to remodel the staffing provision within their early years settings has led to the removal of GTCS-registered teachers from Renfrewshire nurseries, a decision that will deny children access to a GTCS-qualified teacher. "EIS funded, independent research confirms the importance of maintaining a GTCS-registered teacher workforce in all pre-school settings for all children. "The findings support the conclusions of previous research that employing the skills and leadership of qualified teachers remains the best way to ensure a quality educational experience in all nursery settings. "Curriculum for Excellence supports a seamless curricular model spanning the three to 18 age range. It is crucial, therefore, that there is an appropriate level of teacher involvement in every nursery setting thereby providing continuity into primary school. "GTCS-registered teachers make a distinctive contribution to the education of all children and to delivering the early interventions that are essential in minimising the impact of poverty on all children's educational outcomes both within the early years and beyond." When contacted by the Paisley Daily Express, the council defended the new model and addressed worries expressed by the unions. A spokesperson said: "The teachers in question are being redeployed to improve the way we support children with additional support needs at the early-learning stage. They will still be working with nursery-age children, as well as some primary ones. "The changes were agreed after listening to feedback from our school and nursery heads around how best to meet the increasing demand for ASN support, which all councils are experiencing. The staff involved have been fully consulted on the changes. "The new model will allow children who need extra support beyond that provided in their nursery to be given additional sessions in a flexible learning resource where they will get the specialist help they need. "It also includes outreach where the same teachers will visit children in the nursery they already attend to work with them in an environment the child is familiar with. "It also means we can target this support to the children who need it most, meaning there will be fairness and equity of access across Renfrewshire."
