School meals
Do children go hungry in the school holidays? (BBC News, 03/08/2015)
Benefit cuts mean this summer holiday has been even more hungry than usual (Guardian, 05/08/2015)
PARENTS and carers of city pupils have ruled out any move to close or cut the number of breakfast clubs in schools. (Herald Scotland, 26/08/2015)
Exam results
How to Stop Stressing about Exam Results (Young Scot, 03/08/2015)
Examination body admits Higher Maths exam was ‘too hard’ (BBC Scotland, 04/08/2015)
SNP government defends new-look exams after results lead to claims they have been made easier, with the exception of maths (Guardian ,04/08/2015)
EXAM results day provided joy for tens of thousands of Scottish pupils, and none more so than a 30-year-old East Renfrewshire multimedia technician who passed his Higher English. (Herald Scotland, 05/08/2015)
Pass mark for Higher mathematics lowered but overall passes up 5.5 per cent (Holyrood Magazine, 04/08/2015)
PUPILS from a pioneering £1 million scheme to teach Advanced Higher qualifications at university rather than school have recorded record pass rates. (Herald Scotland, 06/08/2015)
Scottish Labour has called for a review of the exams system because of what it said were large discrepancies between the pass marks in different subjects. (BBC News, 10/08/2015)
Exam System
CASH-STRAPPED Scottish schools spent millions of pounds buying tests from private firms in England prompting fresh calls for the “chaotic” system of primary testing to be addressed. (Scotsman, 12/08/2014)
THE number of pupils sitting maths and core science subjects at Higher has suffered a shock decline after several years of progress. (Herald Scotland, 17/08/2015)
The system Scotland uses for the testing of pupils in the classroom will be re-examined, the country’s first minister has pledged (BBC News, 18/09/2015)
Standardised testing for primary pupils is to be introduced by the Scottish Government to measure attainment in schools, the First Minister has announced (STV, 18/08/2015)
THE current debate around the reintroduction of testing for primary pupils in Scotland has been notable for confusion over exactly what is being proposed by whom. (Herald Scotland, 19/08/2015)
THE imposition of new tests on Scottish primary school pupils will be a untenable unless teachers and parents are involved, ministers have been told. (Herald Scotland, 24/08/2015)
PARENTS and headteachers have raised serious concerns over moves by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to introduce compulsory tests for primary school pupils (Herald Scotland, 31/08/2015)
School News
PUPILS facing serious disruption after their school was closed on safety grounds just days before the new term will have to wait another month before the extent of the upheaval is known. (Herald Scotland, 10/08/2015)
Higher Education
SCOTTISH ministers have been accused of getting their sums wrong over plans to pay key university officials. (Herald Scotland, 01/08/2014)
SCOTTISH universities fear the loss of millions of pounds in fees from students from the rest of the UK following changes in Westminster higher education policy. (Herald Scotland, 03/08/2015)
Exam stress: Is ‘clearing’ fair to Scottish students? (BBC News, 03/08/2015)
Three per cent increase in Scots securing a place at university (Scottish Government, 04/08/2015)
Almost 25,000 people have been given university or college places, up by 3% compared with last year’s exam results day. (Herald Scotland, 04/08/2015)
An increase of more than 6,800 vocational and other qualifications awarded (Scottish Government, 05/08/2015)
Post-exam results figures show a seven per cent increase in over-20s successfully entering higher education (Holyrood Magazine, 05/08/2015)
The number of university students working to help fund their studies has risen sharply, a survey has found. (BBC News, 10/08/2015)
The Open University has been rated top for student satisfaction in Scotland, according to the latest list produced by the National Student Survey (NSS). (Holyrood Magazine, 12/08/2015)
Careers & Employment
Careers information, advice and guidance services across Shetland have been praised by education watchdogs. (Shetland Times, 01/08/2015)
£1.5 million for careers advice for younger pupils (Scottish Government, 26/08/2015)
Participation Measure will help target support to young people not in employment, education or training (Scottish Government, 27/08/2015)
Arts & Culture
A FESTIVAL is being held for more than 600 young carers which provides a break from caring and an opportunity for them to speak to politicians. (Herald Scotland, 03/08/2015)
Literacy & numeracy
AN overwhelming majority of Scotland’s prisoners are not functionally literate or numerate, new research has revealed (Scotsman, 01/08/2015)
A campaign encouraging parents to include reading, writing and playing in their child’s everyday life has been launched by the Scottish Government (STV, 17/08/2015)
A new campaign encouraging parents to include reading, writing and playing in their child’s everyday life has been launched by the Scottish Government (Herald Scotland, 17/08/2015)
Pilot schemes to give all children automatic library membership (BBC News, 25/08/2015)
A new pilot scheme is being launched in every local authority in Scotland to give library cards to every child (Holyrood Magazine, 26/08/2015)
Health
A new vaccination programme for meningitis has been launched for teenagers in Scotland. (BBC News, 01/08/2015)
A children’s ward closed temporarily because of staff shortages is to reopen in two weeks but health chiefs said there is a still concern over staff numbers. (Herald Scotland, 04/08/2015)
At Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (Chas) we see it as our role to work alongside families, health and social care professionals and other organisations to support children with life-shortening conditions. (Scotsman, 07/08/2015)
Teachers
Councils across Tayside and Fife are casting their net far and wide in an effort to fill vacant teaching posts (Dundee Courier, 12/08/2015)
Free accommodation attracts new teacher for Moray (BBC News, 12/08/2015)
Greater financial incentives are needed to overcome difficulties in recruiting headteachers in Scottish schools, a union has claimed. (BBC News, 13/08/2015)
Claims from Liberal Democrats that Fife schools are facing a teacher recruitment crisis have been dismissed by education bosses. (Fife Today, 17/08/2015)
The number of teachers qualified to offer children additional support in schools is falling – despite more pupils needing help. (Edinburgh Evening News, 21/08/2015)
Six councils in the north east and north of Scotland have united to tackle teacher shortages in their schools (BBC News, 26/08/2015)
Council chiefs across the north and north-east have joined forces to demand showdown talks with Nicola Sturgeon over teacher shortages (Press & Journal, 27/08/2015)
Languages
Our children’s lack of foreign language skills cry out for a shake-up in education policy, and yet constant upheaval in our schools may be one of the problems, writes Dani Garavelli (Scotsman, 08/08/2015)
A LONG-TERM decline in the number of pupils studying languages at Higher appears to have been reversed. (Herald Scotland, 10/08/2015)
TEACHERS have been ordered to give the Scots language “equal” treatment in schools despite fears it could further undermine literacy standards in formal English. (Daily Express, 23/08/2015)
A PIONEERING project to teach primary pupils some of their lessons in Italian to boost language learning has had remarkable results (Herald Scotland, 31/08/2015)
Services
The Care Inspectorate has given a general thumbs up for children and young people’s services in Shetland. (Shetland Times, 01/08/2015)
Children’s Hearings Scotland is searching for new Children’s Panel members in East Dunbartonshire and they are appealing to local people to come forward. (Kirkintilloch Herald, 16/08/2015)
A FATHERS rights group has condemned adverts showing a man threatening to hit a child by Children’s Hearings Scotland, describing them as discriminatory (Herald Scotland, 28/08/2015)
Technology
Highland senior pupils could get hand-held devices (BBC News, 04/08/2015)
Social networking sites are not doing enough to protect children from online dangers such as sexual abuse and cyber bullying, the NSPCC has warned (Herald Scotland, 31/08/2015)
Politics
Scottish Labour leadership hopeful Kezia Dugdale has said educational attainment must rise beyond “just satisfactory”. (BBC News, 11/08/2015)
Scotland’s Education Secretary Angela Constance has defended how much her government was spending on schools ahead of a keynote speech by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. (BBC News, 18/08/2015)
Independent education consultant Keir Bloomer has said a relaunched Commission on School Reform will examine strategies to improve Scottish education, but it cannot be preluded by “self congratulation” by ministers. (Holyrood Magazine, 18/08/2015)
Uniforms
Councils fail to meet clothing grant recommendation of £70 per child (BBC News, 12/08/2015)
Local Authorities
CHILDREN in some parts of Scotland receive two years less state education than in other parts due to a huge variance in the number of hours of teaching time offered by local authorities. (Herald Scotland, 13/08/2015)
Some children receive the equivalent of two years less schooling than others due to a wide variation in the amount of time teachers spend teaching, a think tank has found. (STV, 13/08/2015)
Children in some parts of Scotland receive up to two years less teaching time than others, it has been revealed (Holyrood Daily, 13/08/2015)
Attainment Gap
Nicola Sturgeon has made a speech in Edinburgh defending the Scottish Government’s record on education. (Holyrood Magazine, 18/08/2015)
Nicola Sturgeon must try harder to kill off elitism in Scotland’s schools (Guardian, 23/08/2015)
Thousands more students will be eligible for grants to help them stay on in education, the First Minister has announced (Herald Scotland, 24/08/2015)
Thousands more students from poorer families in Scotland are to receive cash support to help them stay on at school, Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday. (Scotsman, 25/08/2015)
Traffic
TRAFFIC is set to be banned from the streets around six city primary schools in a bid to improve pupil safety and reduce congestion. (Edinburgh Evening News, 21/08/2015)
Childcare
Orkney and Shetland are the best two places to raise children in Britain, according to an annual survey (BBC News, 31/08/2015)