One head for four primaries
- The appointment of a single headteacher for four Roman Catholic primaries has been agreed by Scottish Borders Council. An implementation board will be set up to support the new head and monitor and review the new management arrangement, which will affect St Joseph’s (Selkirk), Halyrude (Peebles), St Margaret’s (Hawick) and St Margaret’s (Galashiels) primaries. A report reviewing the first year will be brought back to the council’s education committee.
Money will build links abroad
- Some 41 schools from across Scotland have been selected to receive money for building links with schools abroad, the British Council Scotland has announced. The schools have been picked for their commitment to teaching global issues as part of the UK government and British Council initiative Connecting Classrooms. This is a twinning programme that enables exchange visits with partner schools and helps them work together on classroom- based projects.
Portree campus set to blossom
- West Highland College UHI has received a pound;590,000 grant for a new building at its Portree campus and improvements to existing facilities. The money from the European Regional Development Fund was announced by finance secretary John Swinney this week. The new centre will have room for more than 300 learners, with an additional 60 full-time places from September.
Wave director will dive in
- Violence prevention agency Wave has appointed its first Scotland director to strengthen and extend its work in the area of policy. Jonathan Sher, who worked as director of research, policy and programmes with Children in Scotland for seven years, will support organisations interested in the implementation of developments such as the Early Years Collaborative, the National Parenting Strategy and the Children and Young People Bill.
Help for poorest performers
- Stirling Council has pressed ahead with work to improve the results of the lowest 20 per cent of performers in its schools, a “key priority” for the authority. Action is being taken to improve school attendance. Some schools have an attendance and welfare officer who works with families, while there are inclusion-support staff working to bridge the gap between home and school. “The performance of our young people at school has improved across the board,” said councillor Alistair Berrill.
