A Vision for Young People 2021-31 Thriving in the Scottish Outdoors – Dave Spence

In 2020, Residential Outdoor Education experienced a near extinction event. Following a national Campaign – #saveyouroutdoorcentres – the Scottish Government agreed to support organisations to ensure Centres remained viable until June 2021. The challenge remains to ensure that young people benefit from these experiences both immediately post-pandemic and for decades to come. For that to …

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A Pupil’s perspective – Bruce McCall

Blog, Education / By Alison Payne

This year’s Higher and Advanced Higher exams were cancelled on the 8th of December. Speaking in parliament, Education Secretary John Swinney said the reason for the cancellation was not concern about the risk of spreading Covid-19, but about the impact the virus has had on the consistency of the standard of education across the country. …

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The return to home learning – Lindsay Paterson

Blog, Education / By Alison Payne

With schools now closed, pupils and parents again have to make the best of home education. The experience for most children in Scotland last year was not great. Only about one in seven pupils were spending anything like a full day on school work, and a quarter were probably doing no work at all. Sadly, that was …

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Supporting the LGBT+ community through homelessness – Caryn Nicolson

Blog, Education / By Alison Payne

It’s a chilling fact that there are far too many people in Scotland who are homeless or at risk of being so. Let me pull out a few uncomfortable numbers from the annual update on homelessness by Scotland’s chief statistician, released in August and covering 2019-20: There were 36,855 applications for homelessness assistance. There were …

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Why Universities must be at the heart of the Innovation and Technology Ecosystem – Jarmo Eskeline

Education / By Indy

Few Scottish Government publications have had as much impact as Mark Logan’s review of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem. This is perhaps because it is a well written, accurate, and Mr Logan himself carries the authority of success. However, it is also because it presents a tantalising glimpse into one vision for the future of the …

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Examining ‘Restore our schools’ – Lindsay Paterson

Education / By Indy

The Scottish Conservatives’ recent policy paper on education, Restore our Schools, is welcome as a sign that any political party is taking education seriously by concentrating on the details while also thinking about the general direction. Much debate about education in Scotland consists of vague aspirations combined with sound-bite responses to the latest crisis. Some aspects …

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Empowering young people – Dave Spence

Education / By Indy

Many educators acknowledge the need for young people to develop essential qualities. Given the challenges of climate heating, biodiversity loss, globalisation etc. we anticipate a stressful future. Young people will need to be confident, resilient, optimistic and display a growth mind-set if they are to thrive in their world. Research suggest we are falling short …

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Beware the generational backlash – Sarah Atkin

Education / By Indy

During lockdown I was listening to a radio phone-in with Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director. A seemingly minor issue was raised in a call which stopped me in my tracks. A young man asked Professor Leitch when he’d be able to see his girlfriend again. A chuckle followed – well…sorry but you’re going …

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No Future for Residential Outdoor Learning – Dave Spence

Education / By Indy

It is hard to reconcile that we are on the brink of losing most, if not all residential outdoor centres in Scotland. To accept that we are writing off an effective developmental and educational pedagogy for young people and a major contributor to the Scottish Education system seems incredible. It will diminish school life and …

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Vocational education needs general education – Lindsay Paterson

Education / By Indy

You’d be forgiven for failing to notice in the first week of August that the OECD has just produced a significant report on Scottish vocational education, Strengthening Skills in Scotland. Swamped by the controversies over the Scottish exam results, it seems to have attracted no media coverage whatsoever. You might also wonder, though, whether it would have been …

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