Six projects for Gaelic learners
- Children learning Gaelic are set to benefit from six new projects, it was announced by Alasdair Allan, minister for Scotland’s languages, at a Gaelic medium education conference in Edinburgh this week. The projects, which will share funding of #163;90,000, include: summer schools in Gaelic communities for trainee teachers; new research on how best to support pupils with additional needs; and the development of prelim exam papers in Gaelic.
Primary praised for CfE work
- Northmuir Primary in Kirriemuir has become the latest school to be praised by school inspectors for its implementation of Curriculum for Excellence. The Education Scotland report gave the primary school and nursery class a total of three “excellent” and five “very good” gradings. Key strengths included high expectations of pupils, reflective teaching, and inspirational leadership.
New campus plans unveiled
- Plans for a major expansion and development of the University of Glasgow’s main Gilmorehill campus were unveiled this week. The university has already secured most of the site currently occupied by the Western Infirmary but is now in talks to secure a remaining part of the site which would provide the entire 14 acres for university use. The Western Infirmary will continue to operate until 2015.
Pregnant women avoid alcohol
- The latest report from Growing Up in Scotland, which tracks the lives of thousands of children from infancy to their teens, has found that increasing numbers of pregnant women avoided alcohol during pregnancy than six years previously. Other main findings include: high levels of satisfaction with health visitors; 85 per cent of parents said their employer had at least one family-friendly policy; and more parents read regularly to their children.
www.scotland.gov.ukgrowingupinscotland
Nursery worker killed by rally car
- A nursery assistant at a Skye primary school was killed at the weekend when she was struck by a rally car as she watched the Snowman Rally at Glenurquhart Forest, Balnain. Mrs Joy Robson, who leaves four children, had worked for five years at Mcdiarmid Primary, seven miles from her home in Portree. She was in charge of a nursery of 11 pupils. There are a further 51 pupils at the primary school, where she assisted with other school activities.
