Education
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Fifth annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people
23rd March 2021 by John Swinney MSP
In one of the highlights of the Cabinet calendar, last week I had the pleasure of meeting once more with 14 exceptional children and young people – seven Members of the Children’s Parliament (MCPs) and seven Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) – at our fifth annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people....
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Guest Blog: Director of Education Maureen McKenna on the Scottish Attainment Challenge
22nd March 2021 by richardclarke
We welcome a guest blog from Director of Education for Glasgow Maureen McKenna, who reflects on her local authority’s journey with the Scottish Attainment Challenge and progress made in the past ten years. Glasgow has been involved in the Attainment Challenge since its inception. From the outset we wanted to use this opportunity to enhance...
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A Diverse Teaching Profession Benefits All Pupils
19th March 2021 by admin
Professor Rowena Arshad, the Diversity in the Teaching Profession Working Group The Diversity in the Teaching Profession Working Group was convened initially to investigate the under representation of minority ethnic teachers in Scotland’s schools and in November 2018, Teaching in a diverse Scotland: increasing and retaining minority ethnic teachers was published. The group was extended...
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Anti-Bullying Week
18th November 2020 by John Swinney MSP
Anti-Bullying Week 2020 provides us with the opportunity to send a clear and positive message that bullying of any kind is totally unacceptable and when it happens, we all have a responsibility to address it. Building on the success of last year’s campaign, ‘Change Starts with Us’, anti-bullying week 2020 focusses on ‘What Made It...
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Full-time schooling in a pandemic – looking back at Term 1
14th October 2020 by John Swinney MSP
No one could doubt the challenges that lay ahead when schools opened in August. We were asked – and we asked ourselves – how could pupils possibly safely return to full-time learning in the middle of a global pandemic? Well, they could and they did. Now, with most of Scotland’s children and young people on...
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Message to EU national teachers
12th October 2020 by John Swinney MSP
I want to thank EU national teachers for their significant contribution in combating Covid-19. The emergence of the virus is one of the biggest challenges that the world has faced for generations. The decision to close schools was one of the most difficult decisions we needed to make during this crisis. I do not underestimate...
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Celebrating International Teachers’ Day
5th October 2020 by John Swinney MSP
During the Covid-19 pandemic, I have hugely valued the contribution of key workers in their roles keeping essential services operating. Teachers have played a significant part in this – when school buildings closed in March, they continued to deliver learning to pupils across Scotland in new and innovative ways. And when they re-opened in August,...
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Black History in Scotland’s Curriculum
14th July 2020 by John Swinney MSP
Deputy First Minister John Swinney The Scottish Government stands in solidarity with the world-wide anti-racism movement. Education has a key role to play in building a society which actively challenges racism, eliminates racial discrimination and advances equality. I have received many items of correspondence asking that more is done to ensure social inequality, racism and...
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Contact details for all social care departments in Scotland
14th May 2020 by richardclarke
We all have a role to play in keeping Scotland’s children safe from abuse and neglect during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you have any concerns that a child may be at risk of harm please contact your local social work department. If you think a child is in immediate danger please call Police Scotland on...
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Ensuring Scotland’s universities remain at the heart of Covid-19 recovery
11th May 2020 by richardclarke
Richard Lochhead, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science Scotland’s universities and their research are considered to be among the very best in the world. Indeed for centuries, they have been acclaimed for genuinely ground-breaking discoveries across a raft of key areas, from medicine to engineering, economics to science, the environment, business and industry....