Scotland
The latest news, analysis, investigations and professional advice covering everything to do with the schools sector in Scotland
Wednesday
24th Nov 2021
TikTok videos a ‘kick in the teeth’ for teachers
Councils should publicly condemn the use of TikTok to target school staff, says Scottish headteachers’ organisation
Attainment is ‘wrong focus’ for schools after Covid
Schools’ hard work building relationships in lockdown is being squandered in misguided bid to ‘get children back to normal’, hear MSPs
We will achieve nothing by demonising children
Children’s distress must be the focus more than their violent behaviour – and this will also help keep school staff safe, says David Cameron
Tuesday
23rd Nov 2021
Scotland’s attainment gap programme faces overhaul
Leaked document includes plan to scrap ‘challenge schools’ scheme from next year and do away with ‘challenge authorities’
5 ways to keep snow days in the home learning ageÂ
There is still plenty of scope to enjoy the snow, regardless of how Covid has transformed online learning, says Gemma Clark
No compulsory redundancies at SQA, vows Somerville
The ‘clarity and certainty’ over jobs comes after a union ballot shows 84.4% back industrial action over SQA reform plans
Friday
19th Nov 2021
Plan for huge cut in headteachers sparks petition
Scottish council wants to introduce ‘executive headteachers’, which union warns will reduce number of heads from 84 to 14
Somerville: No timeline yet for cutting contact time
Reducing teachers’ weekly class-contact time by the promised 90 minutes will be ‘challenging’, says education secretary
Bullying: we need to listen to pupils’ school experience
We hear a lot about adults’ past experiences of education, but finding out how happy current pupils are – and about their experiences of bullying – is key to improving school culture
Schools alone can’t protect teacher mental health
A change in the public perception of teachers is needed so that they stop putting so much pressure on themselves, says Henry Hepburn