It’s World Book Day this week. This year’s is one that Jane Whinnett, Head Teacher at Balgreen Court Nursery School, will remember. For the first time ever, Jane has contributed to a book as an author, rather than a reader…

With four colleagues from Edinburgh, known as the Edinburgh Froebel Network, I have written a chapter in a book for early years practitioners. “Early Childhood Practice: Froebel Today” is the title and it is edited by Tina Bruce. Tina Bruce has a long association with practitioners in Edinburgh. She has inspired, supported and empowered us to work with and for young children and their families. Each of us took a different aspect of Froebel’s work and related it to our practice.

What is the relevance of a German educator who lived so long ago to practice in Scottish nursery provision today? Rather than replicating his practice, we have used Froebelian principles to develop our work. Froebel’s term kindergarten means child’s garden and encapsulates his ecological view of the child and their development and the importance of nature. Stella Brown from Tynecastle Nursery School, originally called Tynecastle ‘child garden’, wrote about the nursery garden through the seasons and how this supports children’s experiences and learning.

Beyond the nursery garden, Lynn McNair, Cowgate Under 5’s, described children’s rich holistic experiences for learning at forest school. Each chapter starts with observation of children engaged in play. Maureen Baker, who has retired, relished observing and recording her granddaughter’s development, particularly in music and literacy and related this to Froebel’s mother songs. Chris McCormick, from Cameron House Nursery School, described the contribution to a child’s development made by cooking experiences. Curriculum for Excellence is embedded throughout the book.

My own interest was in the development of children’s symbolic representations using a variety of media that Froebel developed and called Gifts and Occupations. I am amazed at the results! Our chapters are all very different. A Froebelian approach is not prescriptive but develops from reflective practice with the child as the focus, supported by family and their community.

Our chapters join the chapters by others involved in young children’s learning. Marilyne McLaren, the Convenor of Education, has been a great support to us. She has introduced the conferences we have organised and championed our course at Edinburgh University. We were delighted that she agreed to write the foreword. In turn, she was delighted to see herself quoted on Amazon!

Book launch

Cllr McLaren with the authors at the Froebel Book Launch

Yesterday saw the culmination of our work in a book launch, hosted by Marilyne and attended by the authors, children who feature in the book, their families and by the wider early years community in Edinburgh. There were also guests from Education Scotland, SSSC, the Care Inspectorate and Edinburgh University. We were welcomed by harp music, entertained by children from Newcraighall Primary School reciting Burns and dancing and piped out by Jordan Baker.

As authors, we wanted to recognise the importance of starting with children and make the occasion special for the children attending. We asked Gillian Tee if she would present the children with book tokens on our behalf. She did this with warmth and respect. She also paid tribute to the work we had done for the Children and Families department with contributions to quality provision, Edinburgh’s Early Years Strategy and Workforce development. We appreciated the recognition she gave us.

So on World Book day, if you have an unspent book token, there’s a book I could recommend…

Also read the official press release on the Council website, as well as an STV article about the book launch.

Another packed round up this week so let’s get straight to it…

Primary pupils on their marks for Games @ THE HUB

More than 1,000 Edinburgh primary school pupils will be competing in one of the largest ever school sports events in the capital.

The P6 pupils are taking part in the Games @ THE HUB event at Forrester High School Community Sports Hub next Wednesday 12 June. They will be competing in 10 sports including hockey, football, rugby, basketball, netball, gymnastics, cricket, volleyball, tennis and boccia.

(If you were wondering, boccia is a Paralympic sport related to bowls, originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other disabilities)

Read more about the event in this press release.

James Gillespie’s Open Afternoon – come and say farewell to the school from 1966

Did you attend or teach at James Gillespie’s High School? If so, the school is holding an Open Afternoon tomorrow (Saturday 8 June) to provide a last opportunity for former pupils and staff to tour the existing school buildings before work starts on site to construct the new high school. Why not take the opportunity to catch up with old friends you’ve not see for many years and meet for one last time under the Clock Tower. The Open Afternoon runs from 2pm to 5pm with tours at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm. Teas and Entertainment available throughout the afternoon.

Pupils to learn about healthy living and diabetes

An interactive and fun programme of workshops and activities, designed to tackle childhood obesity and highlight the possible risks of developing Type 2 diabetes in later life,  is to be expanded. Scottish Government funding for the programme was announced on Wednesday, with Health Minister Alex Neil visiting Balgreen Primary to see the workshops first-hand.

The Live for It! programme delivered by Diabetes UK Scotland and Edinburgh International Science Festival engages with primary and secondary students to show them how leading a healthy lifestyle now can pay off in the future.

Health Secretary Alex Neil meets students from Balgreen Primary School taking part in the Live for It! Challenge with Oscar the life size ‘Operation’ game patient.

Cllr Godzik on rising school rolls

On Tuesday, Councillor Paul Godzik, Education Convener,wrote about the issue of rising primary school rolls being one of the most pressing issues facing the Council – read his piece on the Council News Blog.

Special new role for Kirsty

Welcome Kirsty!

A big welcome to Kirsty Rosie who is currently on secondment as Acting Service Manager for Special Schools and Service Provisions. Kirsty has come from Prospect Bank School where she is Head Teacher. She brings with her to this post a wealth of experience of working with and supporting children with additional support needs and their families.

Kirsty said:

I am passionate about promoting equality and inclusion and am relishing the learning opportunities and challenges this secondment is bringing me. Everyone at Waverley Court has been so welcoming and supportive and I am really enjoying being part of the fantastic SCYP Management Team.

Young Engineers Through to National Final

Trinity Academy pupils have made it to the final of a coveted renewable energy award after beating competition from the country’s brightest and best young designers.

The 2013 Junior Saltire Awards saw record entries from schools across Scotland who were asked to create, design, build and test a wave powered generator which would be suitable for Scottish waters.

The schools shortlisted will test their models in the Test Tank at the Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at Strathclyde University next Thursday 13 June, with the winners being announced the following day at the SECC Glasgow during the Celebration of Engineering and Science event at Big Bang Scotland 2013. Good luck to all involved!

New playground for Colinton Primary thanks to MoD grant

Colinton Primary School has a new playground thanks to the Community Covenant Grant Scheme run by the Ministry of Defence.

The scheme was established to support the Community Covenant and to fund local projects that bring together civilian and Armed Forces communities.

Head Teacher Susan Imrie said:

The children are thrilled with the new equipment and really enjoy the challenge of trying out the different beams and bars.

All we had before was a big empty space so to have a brand new playground is just fantastic. It will also be used by children and their families before and after school.

Tynecastle pupils tackle lunchtime litterbugs with video

Winning team: The pupils from Tynecastle High with the star of their video.- photo via STV Edinburgh

Finally, pupils at Tynecastle High School put one of the city’s big attractions – the Edinburgh Zoo pandas – centre stage in their campaign to fight lunchtime litterbugs, as STV Edinburgh recently reported.

The pupil conceived and storyboarded ideas for their anti-litter advert in an hour before receiving training to make the film in just a day. For their efforts they won £500 and a camcorder for the school. Here’s the winning video, courtesy of Screen Education Edinburgh. You can read more about the process on their website.

http://vimeo.com/63752487

Enjoy the weekend – it’s looking set to be another sunny one!

Director of Children and Families Gillian Tee

A regular update from Gillian Tee, the Director of Children and Families, on recent meetings, visits and events.

This update includes visits to Rannoch and Jack Kane Centres and a number of Primary Schools; the Career Academies graduation ceremony; an event about youth employment; and meetings with parents, Head Teachers, psychologists and our Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service.

Career Academies UK

Hollie with fellow winner Gopal Chand from Redbridge

I was invited to attend the Career Academies UK Graduation Ceremony in the Assembly Rooms to help to celebrate the achievements of graduating students. Pupils from Forrester, Tynecastle and Liberton High Schools have benefited from being involved in this programme which has involved the young people having a business mentor and  an internship with a local employer. The feedback from young people and the employees involved has been hugely positive.

I was delighted that Hollie Sword, from Tynecastle High School was the regional winner for the Sir Winfried Bischoff Award and then went on to be a winner of the national award. Well done Hollie!

You can read more about Hollie’s success in this earlier blog post.

Rannoch Community Centre Visit

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Rannoch Community Centre where I met the members of the management committee, staff and young people. The visit started really well with a brilliant performance from the East Craig’s Community Choir. I also enjoyed hearing about the forthcoming youth exchange visit to Malawi. The preparation for the trip sounded excellent and I look forward to hearing all about it. The Rannoch Centre is a busy centre offering a wide variety of groups and activities in response to community needs. I was very impressed.

Castleview Primary School Visit

P3’s fantastic Edinburgh Sunset Skylines

I wanted to visit Castleview Primary School to see how Greg Dimeck had settled in to his new role as Acting Head Teacher during Lindsey Watt’s secondment to work in Waverley Court as a support for Head Teachers. I enjoyed my tour of the school and meeting staff and pupils. Greg is enjoying Castleview and spoke highly of the caliber of staff and their focus on quality learning and teaching. This is good news as I returned to my office to find a letter from Education Scotland about Castleview’s imminent inspection! I am sure the school will do really well.

Bonaly Primary School Visit

Bonaly Primary School

Continuing on the theme of meeting new Head Teachers I visited Bonaly Primary School to meet Laurinda Ramage. I enjoyed my tour of the school guided by a group of happy, confident young people who, it seemed to me, could run the school if needed! I also thoroughly enjoyed the Primary 6 pupils performance of the Gruffalo performed entirely in French! It was très enjoyable.

Balgreen Primary School Visit

I was delighted to meet Fiona Christie, the new Head Teacher at Balgreen who has returned to us in Edinburgh after a short sojourn in Fife. I listened in on a very interesting “Number Counts” lesson which the pupils were enjoying hugely. I also met the Pupil Council and we talked about the feedback they had sent about the Council’s vision for schools during our recent consultation.

Hospital and Outreach Teaching Service Visit

I wanted to visit HOTS to see how they had settled in to their new office in Craigmillar. This is a highly valued service which works with some of our most vulnerable children. It was good to meet Diane Rainey-Cooper and her senior team and hear how the service is always evolving and developing to respond to children’s needs.

Find out more about HOTS over on the Council website.

Youth Employment Event

I stood in for Sue Bruce, Chief Executive, to make a presentation at the Capital City’s Youth Employment Event to talk about the Edinburgh Guarantee. I highlighted how pleased we are that the young people’s positive destinations are best for a decade. I also enjoyed hearing about the young people’s experiences after leaving school. Aileen Campbell Minister for Children and Young People was the main speaker and she spoke about the Scottish Government support in this area.

Consultative Committee with Parents

Moyra Wilson, Senior Education Manager Inclusion and Pupil/Parent Support, presented the work undertaken to support parental engagement using the web. A small group, including officers and parents, had explored the different types of information that would be useful for parents on a website. The need for a separate website, which linked into the Council website, was identified. The website would aim to be transparent and easy to use. Parents were encouraged to feed in their ideas to ensure the website met the needs of parents.

Karen Prophet, Senior Education Manager Quality and Curriculum, gave a presentation on improving literacy outcomes for young people. She highlighted that we have an integrated literacy strategy that must meet the needs of all learners. There are four workstreams – Early Years, 3-18 years, Additional Support for Learning and Community Learning and Development.

A wide range of support programmes are in place. The Up, Up and Away programme was established for ages 0-5 in partnership with Queen Margaret University. The Literacy Rich Edinburgh phonics reading programme was launched in September 2011 to all P1 teachers and early years support staff in all schools. P2/3 would be launched in 2013/14. In P5-7 the Fresh Start programme was in place, which looks at the reading age of the pupil and in some cases had improved the reading age of a pupil by two years within six months. Twenty schools had been targeted with a further 28 schools in 2013/14. In secondary schools the lowest attaining 20% are being targeted for intervention and support.

Currie Primary School Visit

Currie Primary School

I enjoyed meeting Head Teacher Sally Hourston and her leadership team on my recent visit to Currie Primary School. The time flew by as we talked about all the school is doing. It was good to hear the positive feedback about the WisePay pilot which is helping parents with on-line payments. We are looking forward to the roll out. It was good to hear about the positive feedback from parents in the school’s recent on-line survey.

Head Teacher’s Executive

This was the last Head Teacher’s Executive meeting of the year. David Maguire, Principal Officer Engagement and Involvement, talked about the various ways in which schools gather feedback from parents and children. We agree to work on a schedule of surveys so we collect views systematically without overloading schools. The main focus was on the budget ideas and we had really helpful feedback about possible future savings and areas that need to be protected.

Education Children and Families Committee

This was the final Committee meeting this session. I am pleased to say that the new vision for schools was agreed by Committee. We will come back to Committee in October with an implementation plan. A wide range of issues were discussed and these are detailed in our Committee feature by John Heywood, Departmental Assistant to the Convener.

Psychological Services

I met with the South East team of the psychologists. We discussed a wide range of issues including GIRFEC, Children’s Services Inspection and the role of the psychologists in research on behalf of the Council. The time flew by. As a former educational psychologist it’s always good to go back to your roots!

Jack Kane Centre

I enjoyed every minute of my visit to the Jack Kane Centre and was hugely impressed with the wide range of highly valued services they are providing for their community. I met the Management Committee and then participated in a session on ‘Mentors in Violence Prevention’ run by the young people. I had a tour of the building and then participated in another session on Early Intervention, which is a project provided within five local primary schools. I was also delighted with my personalised Special Edition report which I was given to take away with me.

Four of our primary schools and one secondary are taking part in an exciting project to promote development education in European Union countries. Tynecastle High School and the following primary schools are all involved in Changing Habit for Good:

• Balgreen
• Craiglockhart
• Dalry
• Stenhouse

Joanne Doddie, Support for Learning Teacher, at Balgreen Primary School tells us more about the project.

The Scottish schools have three partner European countries: Poland, Bulgaria and Slovenia. All European schools have partnered with schools in Malawi to teach lessons and use video conferencing to reflect on the impact on children’s thinking and understanding of global issues.

The aim of the project is to develop the curriculum around key themes of social justice and to allow young people the opportunity to make more informed decisions about their own lifestyle choices.  It aims to help develop the competencies of teachers to address issues of global justice in the classroom and support young people in developing ways of addressing issues of global justice and sustainable lifestyles.

Each country’s group is made up of a teacher working party.  In Scotland, this consists of one representative from each School. The working party have already been busy developing curriculum programmes for Health and Wellbeing outcomes around key global issues including the tobacco industry, mobile phone production and jean production.  The working party have attended an international workshop in Krakow  in July 2013 and will attend the next international conference in Bulgaria in August this year.

There have been several CPD sessions running in our schools. The results of our research impact assessments are due to be collated this summer.

Our next steps:

• to create a blog to link partner schools and raise awareness of our project
• pupils to develop and deliver lessons and workshops to local schools
• pupils to showcase their work at a national conference

Please visit www.scotdec.org.uk to find out more about the project and to follow our progress.

Director of Children and Families Gillian Tee

A regular update from Gillian Tee, the Director of Children and Families, on recent meetings, visits and events.

In this update we hear about the parliamentary briefing and developments with the Education Children and Families Committee, Gillian reports on the Scottish Parent Teacher Council conference and the ADES and Scottish Government partnership event and tells us what she saw on her visits to schools across the city, including Balgreen Primary and the Craiglockhart Forest School.

Parliamentary briefing

Regular briefings are organised to provide the opportunity for us to update MSPs on key issues. Karen Prophet, Senior Education Manager, provided a comprehensive overview of the New Qualifications in Secondary Schools. This was followed by an informative briefing on Rising School Rolls and Strategic Management of School Places by Crawford McGhie, Asset Planning Manager and Moyra Wilson, Senior Education Manager. Both of these presentations were appreciated by those attending.

Education Children and Families Committee

Our Committee chaired by the Education, Children and Families Convener Councillor Paul Godzik on 4^th of March covered a wide range of areas. There were a number of reports, including:-

Religious Observance in Non-Denominational Schools

This report detailed the ways in which Non-Denominational Schools carry out religious observance as part of the school calendar.  This information has now been included on school websites. The Committee noted that revised Head Teacher guidelines will take account of any recommendations reached by the Scottish Parliament on Religious Observance.

Piping and Drumming Tuition

Committee approved the proposal to offer free piping tuition (at the City of Edinburgh Music School located at Broughton High School) to pupils studying the bagpipes as part of their SQA music exams. The Committee also approved free chanter lessons on a Friday afternoon and Saturday morning from September 2014. This will be offered to P5, 6 & 7 pupils in every primary school and special schools as part of the Youth Music Initiative.

Strategic Management of School Places: P1 and S1 intakes for August 2014

This report identified schools where accommodation issues may arise as a result of P1 and S1 intake numbers in August 2014. It is based on the findings of a Children and Families Working Group that meets in January each year as part of the annual P1 and S1 intake process. The full report recommended strategies to address these issues and ensure a consistent and equitable approach is taken to accommodating catchment pupil numbers and, where possible, placing requests across the school estate.

Primary School Estate Rising Rolls

The purpose of this report was to identify the schools which, as a result of the detailed analysis undertaken, potentially face accommodation pressures in August 2015 and beyond.  The report also outlined the range of potential solutions for each school to address this pressure. A further report on this will be presented to the next Committee meeting on 20 May.

Primary School Capacity Pressure in South

There are three primary schools which are under pressure to accommodate their catchment population. These are South Morningside, James Gillespie’s and Bruntsfield.  The report updated the Committee on the further detailed analysis undertaken on this issue and identified a range of options to address the future accommodation pressures in the area, in both the short and long term. These options will be the subject of consultation with the school communities.

Implementation of New Higher Qualifications

This report outlined how the City plans to implement the new Higher qualifications.  There will be additional flexibility to implement the Higher’s over two years based on the best interests of pupils

Castlebrae

The Committee members were particularly pleased to note the progress and developments with Castlebrae Community High School.

Integrated Children’s Services

This paper will provide the platform for an extensive consultation and engagement programme across the areas of provision within scope of an Integrated Children’s Service between the Council and NHS Lothian.

To read more detail about the Committee decisions please look at the coverage written by John Heywood, Departmental Assistant to the Convener.

Staff induction

I always appreciate the opportunity to welcome new staff to Children and Families at these induction events. Meeting staff at the start of their career with us is important as I can take the opportunity to share our vision for the service, the positive difference we are making to children, young people and families and the work we still want to do.  It is also important to highlight the range of support we provide to help them to do their jobs effectively.

Corporate Management Team Meeting at Wester Hailes Education Centre

Sue Bruce, our Chief Executive was so impressed by a recent visit to Wester Hailes Education Centre and her discussions with Sheila Paton, Head Teacher, that she asked if the Corporate Management Team could hold a meeting there to see the range of developments that are taking place. This was a very successful meeting including an excellent presentation from Sheila demonstrating the excellent progress the school is making.

Children’s Partnership Chief Officers Group

These are regular meetings with

• Chief Superintendant Mark Williams, Commander Edinburgh City Division, Police Scotland
• Joan Fraser, Chair of EVOC Network of Voluntary Organisations for Children and Young People and Families,
• Councillor Paul Godzik, Convener Education, Children and Families
• Sally Egan, Associate Director and Child Health Commissioner, NHS Lothian.

They provide an opportunity for us to discuss key issues together. The main item on the recent agenda was Children’s Services Integration.

Clermiston Primary School visit

I visited the school and met the Head Teacher, Gordon McIntyre, who highlighted some of the many positive aspects of the school, including the wide range of after-school activities, the positive engagement of parents and the SEAL mathematics pilot.

Balgreen Primary School visit

Councillor Cathy Fullerton, Vice Convener of the Education, Children and Families and I visited Balgreen Primary School. The Head Teacher Fiona Christie shared with us some of the key strengths of the school, including the school’s involvement in the Better Movers and Shakers national PE programme, the freshstart literacy programme and the effective Girfec team.

Sighthill Primary School visit

I enjoyed my visit to Sighthill and the tour of the school by the Head Teacher Anne Gallagher.   I was pleased to hear the news that the school had been awarded a grant for improving their playground space.  It was also good to talk about the extensive work they are continuing to do on literacy interventions and the excellent links with Aegon for breakfast clubs and other support for the school.

Davidson’s Mains Primary School visit

Head Teacher Lesley Nock shared the positive work of the school including the challenges and benefits of being such a popular school, the excellent opportunities for outdoor learning and the staff commitment to ‘Learning Rounds’. She also spoke positively about the positive Cluster work in various areas including the John Muir Award.

Craiglockhart Forest School

I was invited to visit the Craiglockhart Forest School to see Kendall Gates, Depute Head teacher, and the pupils in action. The programme operates for nursery to P7 and runs for four weeks at a time. This was a great way of a school combining different priorities, including global citizenship, eco-school and outdoor learning into a really captivating experience for children.

Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES) and Scottish Government partnership event

There are regular events organised with ADES and the Scottish Government to discuss priorities and look at ways in which we can work together to bring solutions. This event focused on Raising Attainment and Closing the Attainment Gap for our most vulnerable young people.

Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) conference

The 65^th annual conference was entitled ‘Parents Working Together’. It was designed to offer both parents and professionals the opportunity to hear first-hand from parents about exciting projects they have led in their schools. The audience was primarily parent council and Parent Teacher Association members from all over Scotland, plus local authority officers and teachers of primary and secondary schools.

I was invited to give a keynote speech describing the work we are doing to strengthen parental involvement in Education in Edinburgh. The other keynote speech was given by Howard Sercombe from Strathclyde University who spoke about the research on the teenage brain. This was very informative and I was delighted that it supports and directly feeds into the work of the Mental and Emotional Wellbeing team at Children and Families, who are delivering a wide range of high quality training to staff and parents related to this area.

There were 20 reports on the agenda for this Committee.  Please find below a summary of these with links to the full reports in PDF format.

The next Committee is on Tuesday 6 October 2015.

Standards and Quality report 2015 and Children and Families Service Plan 2015 – 2018 (PDF, 2.99 MB)

The Standards and Quality Report 2015 is the annual performance report on the service. It highlights the good progress made over the period April 2014 to March 2015, together with the priorities for development.

The Children and Families Service Plan 2015-18 articulates the Council’s vision for children and young people in Edinburgh “to ensure that all children enjoy their childhood and achieve their potential”.

It outlines the seven strategic outcomes which will help to achieve this vision:

• Our children have the best start in life, are able to make and sustain relationships and are ready to succeed
• Our children and young people are successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens making a positive contribution to their communities
• Our children and young people in need, or with a disability, have improved life chances
• Our children and young people are physically and emotionally healthy
• Our children and young people are safe from harm and fear of harm, and do not harm others
• Our children’s and young people’s outcomes are not undermined by poverty and inequality
• Making effective use of our resources.

Edinburgh Children’s Partnership – Integrated Plan for Children and Young People 2015-18 (PDF, 1.28 MB)

This report presented the new Integrated Children’s Services Plan. Seven strategic outcomes and priorities for improvement have been agreed by all of the partners and agencies working with children and families in Edinburgh.

Early Years Strategy Progress Report (PDF, 1.09MB)

This was a progress report on the Council’s early years strategy.

All eligible three and four year olds have access to 600 hours of free early learning and childcare provision a year in either a Council or partner-provider nursery.  Almost 500 vulnerable two year olds are also accessing this provision.

53 primary schools now provide access to a breakfast club and work is in progress to extend this.

New Early Years Provision at Fox Covert and Wardie Primary Schools: A Co-operative Approach (PDF, 64.85 KB)

This is a very positive report which highlights progress in relation to the new early years provision at Fox Covert and Wardie Primary Schools.

It notes the progress of work with officers and the current nursery providers in developing the new nursery provision in a cooperative way.  We are committed to becoming a ‘Cooperative Capital’ where communities are much more involved in planning, managing and delivering services. This approach gives local people a greater sense of choice and control over the public services they use.

The aim is to provide quality services that meet the needs of local citizens and local businesses in the face of bigger service demands and less funding.

Early Years Capital Investment (PDF, 82.88 KB)

The Scottish Government has provided £9.9m of capital funding for the enhancement of early years facilities as a result of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. Previous reports to Committee approved the delivery of priority projects to the value of £5.7m and these projects are now being progressed at the following primary schools:

• Longstone
• Granton
• Davidson’s Mains
• Corstorphine
• St John’s RC.

Approval was granted at Committee to use the remaining funding to provide improved, replacement or expanded early years facilities at

• Blackhall Nursery
• Ferryhill Primary School
• Leith Primary School
• Tynecastle Nursery.

The Committee requested a further report on voluntary sector nurseries and any further action that can be taken to support their continued operation and valued contribution to the early years sector, including input from the Cooperative Development Unit on possible asset transfer.

Primary School Capacity Pressure in South Edinburgh (PDF, 4.7 MB)

In December 2014 a report to Committee outlined the intention to carry out a statutory consultation to address primary school capacity pressure in South Edinburgh.

There are three primary schools under pressure:

• South Morningside
• James Gillespie’s
• Bruntsfield

They  all operate from constrained sites with no dedicated playing fields and the scope to extend capacity on their existing sites is severely limited. While these issues are being addressed in the short term through the rising primary school rolls programme there remains a requirement for a permanent long-term solution in this area.  The Committee approved the consultation to commence in August 2015 with three main options:

• a new primary school in Canaan Lane
• expanding the capacity of South Morningside through a permanent annexe in Canaan Lane
• improving existing accommodation arrangements at South Morningside through a permanent annexe in Canaan Lane

A detailed draft statutory consultation paper was included for reference. Some final elements of this paper need to be completed before August but these will not alter the consultation options in any way.

A very positive development is that the Finance and Resources Committee on 13 May 2015 approved that part of the receipt for Boroughmuir High School could be utilised for the land purchase required to deliver all of the options included in the consultation.

Find out more about the south Edinburgh primary schools consultation.

Update on Children and Families Asset Management Plan 2015 (PDF, 186.19 KB)  

On 9 December 2014, Committee approved the Children and Families Asset Management Plan 2014 including £120m of Council funding for capital projects.  The plan included new school buildings for

• Boroughmuir High School
• James Gillespie’s High School
• St Crispin’s School.

This report was an update of progress including detailed feedback about 25 asset management projects.

Primary School Rising Rolls (PDF, 125.31 KB)

This report is one of the regular series of updates to Committee on rising rolls in the primary sector.

It provides an update on the potential accommodation pressures that may arise in August 2016 and beyond at the following primary schools:

• Balgreen
• East Craigs
• Ferryhill
• Fox Covert
• Granton
• Roseburn
• St Mary’s RC (Edinburgh)
• Towerbank

The report outlines the engagement with staff and parents which has taken places with eight schools and seeks approval for the preferred solutions at seven of these schools to be progressed.

At Towerbank Primary School a statutory consultation proposing options for change to the school catchment area commenced on 8 May 2015 with the public consultation period running until 22 June 2015.

The outcomes of the consultation will be report to Council in October 2015.

Find out more about the Towerbank Primary catchment review.

Buckstone Primary School: Use of Developer Contributions (PDF, 57.38 KB)

Consultation was with the management and parent council of Buckstone Primary School to establish the way in which developer contributions receivable could be best invested to provide additional accommodation at the school.  The report informed Committee of the outcome of that consultation and gave approval to progress the proposed new hall which was identified as the priority for investment.

Free School Meals P1-P3 – Progress Report (PDF, 110.42 KB)

This report was an update on the successful implementation of the entitlement for  all children in primary 1 to 3 to have a free school meal.  There has been a 42% increase in the number of school meals delivered at primary schools.  Work is underway to deliver new halls at East Craigs and Cramond and dining hall extensions at Sciennes and Towerbank Primary Schools.

Preventing and Responding to Bullying and Prejudice in City of Edinburgh Council Schools (PDF, 261.89 KB)

Members commended this report which provides information on local and national measures to reduce bullying, prejudice and discrimination between pupils.

Research published by the Equality of Human Rights Commission in Scotland in March 2015 credits Edinburgh Council as one of three local authorities with particular good practice in  this area.  It highlights the work of the Growing Confidence programme, and the English as an Additional Language service and commends Edinburgh’s policies and procedures.

Response to Scottish Government Education Bill (72.67 KB)

This report updates elected members on the Education Bill introduced to parliament by the Scottish government on 23 March 2015. It outlines the City of Edinburgh Council’s initial response to proposals in the Bill. These proposals include duties on local authorities in relation to:

• reducing pupils’ inequalities of outcome;
• provisions about Gaelic Medium Education (GME);
• appointing Chief Education Officers.

The Bill also includes modifications to previous legislation relating to Additional Support for Learning (ASL), the provision of school meals and the duty to provide early learning and childcare to certain children.

Children and Families Grants to Third Parties 2015/16 (1018.72 KB)

The Committee noted the process for a redesigned grants programme for April 2016 onwards. This work will be progressed by Elected Member Working Group, in consultation with the Director of Children and Families and the Deputy Convener.  A further report will be presented in October 2015.

1:1 Digital Learning Rollout (362.7 KB)

This report provided a useful  update on the current situation in our schools on the deployment of 1:1 devices e.g. I-pads.  The report also included information on the potential strategy in relation to Bring Your Own Device, to supplement and extend 1:1 provision where appropriate.  The Committee noted that any strategy in relation to Bring Your Own Device would need to first address equalities impact concerns and be reported to Committee before progression.

Progress on the Implementation of Self Directed Support in Children and Families

The Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 came into effect on 1 April 2014.  The aim is to offer families the opportunity to exercise as much choice and control as they wish over the way in which their child’s care and support needs are met.

Children and Families who are eligible for self directed support have an outcome-focussed assessment are offered four options for self directed support and as much involvement as they wish in planning and arranging services to meet their needs.  The report provides helpful examples of where self directed support is making a real difference to children and families.

Routine reports

Community Learning and Development Annual report (PDF, 113.95 KB)

The report includes a summary of last years Community Learning and Development activities, developments and achievements over the last year including:

• advertised Adult Education Programme
• adult literacy and numeracy
• family learning and work with parents
• English for speakers of other languages and other community based adult learning provision
• youth work including senior phase
• youth participation
• developments within community centres and community engagement.

Corporate Performance Framework: Performance Framework from September 2014 to February 2015 (PDF, 492.88 KB)

This report provides an update on performance in Children and Families for the period September 2014 to February 2015.  It highlights success in relation to

• educational attainment
• attendance
• positive destinations.

There is more work to do to increase the availability of City of Edinburgh Council foster carers.

School session dates 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 and Consultation on Future Dates (PDF, 334.03 KB)

The Education, Children and Families Committee approved the Session Dates for 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 and approved the wider consultation to be carried out on dates for 2018/2019 and beyond.

Term dates can be found in appendices two and three of the report and at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/termdates

Over the next week Jude Salmon, Active Schools Manager, will be running through the nominees for the club category of the Active Schools Awards.

This post covers the nominees for the most engaged club of the year.

See all announced nominees for the Active Schools Awards on Bright Futures.

Lismore Rugby Football Club

Lismore RFC are a club that offer fantastic opportunities and pathways for pupils in south Edinburgh.

They have a dedicated team of staff and coaches that deliver curricular and extra-curricular classes throughout the year.  From these clubs they field a number of teams in citywide competitions and events and provide pathways from school participation in to club participation.

In addition, they provide senior pupils with the opportunity to become coaches and gain Scottish Rugby Union qualifications.  They have successfully mentored several ex-pupils through their early stages of coaching and assisted them to deliver sessions to younger pupils in the area.

City of Edinburgh Volleyball Club

City of Edinburgh Volleyball Club consists of a junior academy and a senior club. The club is predominantly based in South Queensferry. With strong and developing relationships with Active Schools and Edinburgh Leisure, the club are well respected in the community. With programmes which have catered for children from primary one all the way to the senior national team, pro-contracts abroad and one former player representing Great Britain at London 2012, the club has a lot to be proud of.

This excellent reputation is appealing to families for their youngsters. There is no question about the efforts the club goes to to engage with the community and develop their ever growing base of players and support team.

Another element that deserves great admiration is the team of adolescents that the club is currently mentoring, with thanks to the recently awarded Sportscotland Direct Club Investment which will develop these coaches and subsequently allow further growth in participation at younger levels.

The club takes every opportunity for its athletes to compete and it has a robust network of competition which includes Junior District League, Junior National League, District League, Senior National League and Junior/Senior National Team.

Murrayfield Wanderers

During term one we saw a very low uptake to the after school rugby clubs.  Murrayfield Wanderers worked with the schools to deliver during curriculum time, so that children were given the opportunity to learn the sport.

The club organised a rugby festival at Murrayfield where all schools in the Tynecastle cluster took part.  Term two rugby clubs are now full following such as positive experience.

The club approached one of the primary pupils who showed great promise in rugby and offered him the opportunity to work alongside his coaches in the after school clubs to develop his leadership and coaching skills.