The Scottish Parliament is expected to appoint a new children and young people’s commissioner tomorrow.
MSPs are expected to vote on Wednesday to back Nicola Killean to succeed Bruce Adamson as commissioner.
Ms Killean, CEO of Sistema Scotland, was the first employee of the charity and worked on the delivery of the highly regarded Big Noise music project, which uses music and orchestras to equip children living in disadvantaged areas with valuable life skills.
The initiative almost lost funding in some areas this year when council budgets were squeezed, prompting the government to stump up the cash itself.
Having previously worked as a nursery teacher and for the charity Youth Music, Ms Killean was awarded an OBE in 2020’s New Year’s Honours List for services to “music, children and community cohesion”.
The commissioner post, which is focused on safeguarding and advancing the rights of children across the country, commands a £77,260 starting salary and a six-year term.
Mr Adamson’s time in the role coincided with the Covid pandemic, and he was very vocal during the 2020 grading fiasco that followed the cancellation of exams. He also also pushed hard for changes to the appeals system that allows students to challenge their exam results.
This year the Scottish Qualifications Authority has confirmed that appeals will be free and students will also be able to request a review of their marked paper directly.
‘Outstanding’ new children’s commissioner
In a statement on Monday, Mr Adamson said he was “delighted” with the choice to succeed him.
“She is an outstanding nominee who brings incredible passion and expertise to the role,” he said.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my professional life to be part of this incredible work.
“Passing the baton over after six years in the role will be hard but I’m excited to see Nicola and the team continue to champion children’s rights.”
Mr Adamson’s first formal investigation, published in 2018, was into the use of restraint and seclusion in Scotland’s schools.
The investigation concluded that the situation was so chaotic - with incidents largely going unmonitored - that all schools should stop using seclusion as a matter of urgency until national guidelines and standards were in place.
In his most recent annual report, Mr Adamson said work was progressing on national guidance and recording of restraint and seclusion in schools, but added that he was continuing to call for the guidance “to be put on a statutory footing as a matter of urgency”.
In the report he also highlighted that he had raised concerns with Aberdeenshire Council “over its failure to properly investigate and respond to abusive and degrading messages posted by school staff about pupils on WhatsApp”.
In an interview with Tes Scotland in 2021, Mr Adamson said his biggest regrets during his time as commissioner related to criminal justice issues, specifically “the age of criminal responsibility and that we still imprison children”.
He said a “huge strength” of the Scottish education system was its “really highly skilled workforce” but the biggest challenge was “resourcing”. He added that “the purpose of education needs to be about developing children to their fullest potential, not just passing exams”.
Benny Higgins, chairman of Sistema Scotland, said: “This is a wonderful recognition of Nicola’s enduring commitment to supporting and promoting the very best outcomes for children and young people throughout her career.
“Nicola’s leadership of Sistema Scotland has been exemplary and impressive: from the establishment and testing of the very first Big Noise programme in Raploch, Stirling, working then with 35 children in 2008; through the growth of the organisation to one of national significance working with 3,500 children and young people in six targeted communities across Scotland, all backed by an extensive evidence base of independent evaluation.”
