More than 1,000 Edinburgh S2s watched a hard-hitting play on the dangers of Bonfire Night, in the days leading up to tomorrow night’s festivities. TOAST, which was performed in nine schools, also deals with peer pressure, bullying and managing aggression. The plot involves an “ill-fated escapade” with stolen fireworks, leading to tragic consequences. Education convener Cammy Day said that the teachers and pupils viewed drama as “an excellent way of getting important messages across”.

More than a third of pupils think that schools provide them with enough advice about smoking, alcohol and drugs, according to a new poll. The latest Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (Salsus) also shows that almost a third of the pupils surveyed - all in S2 and S4 - had received lessons, videos or discussion in class on each of the three substances in the past year (bit.ly/Salsus2015). Substance use among this age group has remained largely stable since 2013, but has “declined considerably” in the past two decades.

A secondary headteacher who was sacked after drinking on an S6 school trip has pulled out as preferred candidate for a job at the EIS union. In 2015, Gillian Rew lost her job as head of Arbroath High after consuming eight glasses of wine and making inappropriate comments. The General Teaching Council for Scotland later gave her a conditional registration order. The EIS looked set to appoint her into a professional learning post, but a spokesman said it was now being readvertised.

An event promoting engineering careers to girls was held in Aberdeen last week, with nearly 100 pupils from across Scotland taking part. The inaugural Girls in Engineering conference took place at St Margaret’s School for Girls, with support from the University of Aberdeen. Headteacher Anna Tomlinson said pupils were “inspired to hear from strong female role models about the many opportunities available to them in this diverse industry”.

@Henry_Hepburn