One of Scotland’s leading independent schools has appointed the first female principal in its 388-year history. Lesley Franklin will take over at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh when Cameron Wyllie retires. She is believed to be the first head of a junior school to be appointed to lead an independent secondary. The hiring of Ms Franklin - who is currently head of Heriot’s junior school - follows October’s news that Gordonstoun in Moray had appointed its first female principal, Lisa Kerr. Last year, Elaine Logan became the first woman to lead Glenalmond College in Perthshire.

Nursery staff should work in early primary to ensure learning is less formal and more play focused, delegates at a conference have heard. But attendees at the recent event, hosted by Early Years Scotland and the University of Strathclyde, agreed that the school starting age for Scottish children should not be increased to 7. There was support, however, for allowing the school start for children to be delayed until January of P1.

A new online game that aims to teach young primary children the importance of wearing a seatbelt has been launched by road safety charity Brake. The organisation has also produced a free interactive resource to encourage children of all ages to think about concentrating more while around roads. The resources have been developed with the support of the Department for Transport. Find out more at roadsafetyweek.org.uk

A Glasgow school that replaced its library with a high-tech “thinking space” has been announced as one of Scotland’s first digital schools. Kelvinside Academy Junior School has become one of the first primaries to be named under the Digital Schools Awards Scotland programme, launched in September by education secretary John Swinney.

@Emma_Seith