News
New early learning and childcare centre opens in Prestonpans
A new Early Learning and Childcare Centre in Prestonpans has opened its doors to its first intake of children.
Fiona Robertson, Head of Education, said: “We are delighted that the Early Learning and Childcare Centre in Prestonpans is now open for business. The new centre provides much-needed additional nursery places for a growing local population, and will also serve as a centre for excellence where those interested in a career in childcare can spend time in support of their study and learning.”
The new Early Learning and Childcare Centre – formerly known as The Red School, sited next to Prestonpans Infants and Nursery School on West Loan – opened to children in November. The building has benefited from a half a million pound refurbishment of its ground floor to provide nursery accommodation, and will initially provide nursery places for three and four year olds, before expanding to welcome two and three year olds who meet eligibility criteria. The centre will eventually be able to accommodate up to around 40 children. Children have space to enjoy different activities such as messy play or puzzles, play in the nurture corner or enjoy books in the quiet corner, while there is a safe play area to explore outdoors.
Councillor Shamin Akhtar, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education and Children’s Services, added:“It’s fantastic to see children now enjoying this new facility in Prestonpans. The opening of this new building closely follows the opening of the new extension at Law Primary School in North Berwick. Both of these projects are part of a wider council investment in new or expanded schools throughout East Lothian, and it’s great to see the real, positive impact of this investment.”
See more photos of the new centre on our Facebook page.
East Lothian Council to support BorderCare
Scottish Borders Council (SBC) has recently agreed that the alarm monitoring and remote response function of SB Cares’ BorderCare Alarm service will be delivered in partnership with East Lothian Council.
The change is planned to take place from Spring 2018 and will create a tri-authority centre of excellence encompassing East Lothian, Midlothian and SBC.
East Lothian Council has an established partnership model which has been providing Midlothian Council’s monitoring services successfully since 2009. The council is considered expert in this field with a proven track record of innovation and quality, as well as sharing a similar public service ethos to SBC.
Under the new partnership arrangement, SB Cares’ BorderCare clients will see an improvement in the quality and resilience of their alarm monitoring service as well as being in a much better position to benefit from telecare innovations.
The proposal will see no change to the technical alarm installation and support service, and SB Cares will remain responsible for the overall BorderCare service to clients in the Scottish Borders.
SB Cares Managing Director, Philip Barr, said: “Midlothian Council has given us excellent feedback on the quality of provision that their clients receive through a similar arrangement with East Lothian Council and we are committed to making sure that Borders residents have access to the same benefits.”
Ross High awarded Rights Respecting School status
Ross High School in Tranent has become the first secondary school in East Lothian to be awarded a level 2 Rights Respecting School award by UNICEF UK.
The school has been awarded the highest level of award, which recognises achievement in fully embedding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into the school’s policies, practice and ethos. The UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School award supports schools to develop positive relationships, develop a shared vision and improve behaviour and engagement in learning.
The school first registered to become Rights Respecting in May 2013 and first achieved Level 1 in June 2015. This latest award follows an assessment visit by UNICEF UK to meet with young people and staff, prior to which the school had completed a comprehensive self-assessment report and impact evaluation.
UNICEF UK’s report noted several key strengths including:
- A strong strategic direction that is fully committed to the Rights Respecting School Award
- Very positive respectful relationships throughout the school
- Pupil Voice is a strength of the school and continues to be nurtured and encouraged
Shamin Akhtar, Cabinet spokesperson for Education and Children’s Services, added: “This award is fantastic news. It takes a number of years to achieve the highest level of award, and congratulations go to everyone at Ross High for their hard work over recent years to achieve this status. When children and young people understand their rights, they know how other people should be treated. They become happier, healthier and more confident, and more engaged in their learning. All of this has a lasting positive impact on the wider community. I hope other schools are inspired and encouraged by Ross High’s success.”
Read the full story on the council website.
New extension open at North Berwick’s Law Primary
Pupils at Law Primary in North Berwick are enjoying learning in their new school extension, thanks to an ongoing schools investment programme.
Law Primary’s new extension, which opened to pupils after the October break, includes 16 classrooms and break out areas, a tutorial room, a new general purpose room, resource rooms and storage space, a meeting room and new staff offices, as well as a library. The contract value for the whole construction project, which also includes further phases of work providing new shared accommodation including a large three-court hall, is £7.6 million. The total project value is £8.45 million, which includes the cost of fees, IT, and furniture.
Councillor Shamin Akhtar, Cabinet Spokesperson for Education and Children’s Services, said: “It’s fantastic that this first phase of extension at Law Primary School has been completed and is occupied by the school. To see the children now enjoying this new, improved building is really wonderful.
“The council is strongly committed to ensuring that all our children have the best possible start in life, and these improvement works part of a wider investment by the council to spend almost £100 million in new or expanded schools over three years throughout the whole of East Lothian.”
View more photos on the council's Facebook page.
Yester Primary receives prestigious European awards
Teachers and students at Yester Primary have been celebrating after being awarded three highly regarded eTwinning National Quality Labels.
eTwinning, the digital community for schools has over 500,000 teachers registered in 43 countries across Europe and beyond and is funded by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ programme and managed in the UK by the British Council. The National Quality Label is issued to schools that produce outstanding work as part of their eTwinning partnership. 
To secure the Quality Labels, Yester Primary worked in partnership with schools in almost 40 countries across Europe to create three outstanding projects using digital collaborative tools. The projects “Silent Night” and “Schoolovision” entailed creating, singing and recording various songs, while the “European Chain Reaction” project is a Science based project with partners in 30 countries, who all created and filmed their own chain reactions.
Michael Purves, class teacher and project manager of all 3 projects at Yester Primary said:
“We are delighted to have been the awarded the eTwinning National Quality Labels. Everyone at Yester Primary has enjoyed working with our partners on all three projects. To secure the National Quality Labels is a real honour for the students and teachers who participated in the project. The eTwinning projects have brought much pleasure to the pupils involved.”
Cllr Shamin Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services added:
“I would like to add my congratulations to the staff and pupils at Yester Primary for these amazing achievements. The work they have carried out has taken in many elements of the Curriculum for Excellence and given the young students a tremendous insight into partnership working.”
Staff Budget Drop-in Sessions
The council recently launched a public budget consultation. 
The consultation gives people the chance to answer questions and air their views before the council sets its budget for 2018/19.
Three drop in sessions have been organised to give employees an opportunity to find out more about the challenges we face and contribute ideas and suggestions.
These drop in sessions will be held on:
- 7th Dec (12.00 – 1.30) - ground floor corridor, JMH
- 8th Dec (12.30 – 2.00) – ground floor corridor, JMH
- 13th Dec (12.00 – 1.30) – Garleton Room, Penston House
Dunbar Grammar students named national 'Mock Court' winners
A team of students from Dunbar Grammar School are heading to New York after being crowned Scotland's Mock Court champions.
The Scottish Schools Mock Court Project gives young people the chance to take part in the processes of a court trial, conducted in front of a real sheriff. The team from Dunbar Grammar School won the final, where they took on students from Prestwick Academy. The reward for winning is a week long trip to New York where the pupils will take on American teams in a further mock trial project.
Paul Raffaelli, Head Teacher at Dunbar Grammar School, said: “We are all extremely proud of our students’ success in this year’s Mock Court competition. Not only did our Pursuer’s team win first prize with a visit to New York in June, but two of our students progressed to a selection panel which will identify a UK team to take part in a World Mock Court competition at the European Court of Human Rights in the Hague in January/February. Congratulations to all of the students who participated.”
Read more on Dunbar Grammar School's Edubuzz page.
eResources from East Lothian Library Service
How often have you or someone you know struggled with a new smartphone, tablet, or software update? Do you want to learn how to use Photoshop or Microsoft Office more effectively? Perhaps you would like to learn all things Google, or are struggling with Apple products and software? Find the technology answers you need with Atomic Training - tutorial videos range from 1-3 minutes long and are perfect for absolute beginners or more experienced tech-heads. Atomic Training also includes sections on improving Career Skills, Internet Use, and Social Media techniques. 
Library members can access Atomic Training on our website. If you’re not a member of the Library, you can join online here. Joining the Library will give you full access to all of our eResources including eBooks, eAudiobooks, eComics, eNewspapers, eMagazines, eFilms and much more.
Christmas and New Year waste collections
Ideas Bank update
One of your suggestions to the Ideas Bank was to set up a community lottery within East Lothian (IB077) 
In a time of shrinking budgets and increased community need, council-run community lotteries provide a fun and effective way for local community groups to raise much-needed funds.
The lottery enables people to support the local causes they care most about, and helps good causes to connect with their supporters.
The first council-run community lottery was set up by Aylesbury Vale District Council in November 2015 and has so far raised £110,000 for local good causes.
How does it work?
Community groups and charities in East Lothian would apply to become beneficiaries.
Players buy a ticket to be entered into the draw and can choose which cause they support, or opt to pay into a general fund which will be allocated by the council to local good causes.
Once the numbers are drawn, the lucky winners receive cash prizes!
But the real winners are the good causes who receive 60% of the ticket price (to put this in perspective, when you play the National Lottery 28% goes to good causes).
Your Thoughts
A good idea for East Lothian? Let us know what you think by leaving your comments below.
Education Scotland thanks schools after Kuwaiti assessors visit
Education Scotland has thanked Campie Primary School, Dunbar Primary School, and Ross High School for their hospitality after the schools welcomed international trainees from Kuwait this month.
The Kuwait assessors visited our schools for two days during a visit to East Lothian between 20 November and 1 December. The focus of these visits was to support the new Kuwait assessors to evaluate learning and teaching in literacy in the primary schools, and the English department in the secondary.
Education Scotland's Graeme Logan said: "The Kuwait trainees were very impressed with their visit to Campie, Dunbar and Ross High schools. They found the staff very open, friendly and willing to share their practice. They learnt a lot from their classroom observations which will support them to improve their skills and knowledge in self-evaluation. They very much enjoyed engaging with the children and young people who were strong and proud ambassadors for their schools. We value our partnership with your schools in supporting our international engagement and look forward to further joint working next year."
Anna Boni, also from Education Scotland, added: "I would like to formally thank the senior teams, staff, children and young people in Campie, Dunbar and Ross High Schools for the way in which they supported the learning of our Kuwait trainees. I know that my team and I found the support provided by the schools to be of the highest quality. Their championing of the learning of the Kuwait group was far beyond expectations. The attitudes of the children in so openly accepting the influx of visitors from a very different culture was commendable. The generosity of spirit of the teachers who allowed us to observe their craft in class and also gave of their time to engage in professional dialogue was greatly valued.. I know that the Kuwait groups benefited significantly from their two days in your schools. I think the schools, while probably exhausted by their constant stream of questions, also enjoyed the visit."
Pinkie St Peter’s Primary School also welcomed international visitors this month. This November, a group of international health care professionals visited the Musselburgh school to see how they use the Scottish Government’s Improvement Methodology. Staff discussed how the school’s vision and values were developed by the children, parents and staff, explaining how the school lives these values, and how this underpins their Quality Improvement work.
Season of goodwill!
The council's Feedback team doesn't just process complaints about council services but also receives many compliments about the work we carry out. Over the past six months more than 60 compliments were received and the following are just a few to share.
- A customer contacted us to compliment an engineer who turned up in just over 1 hour for an emergency call out-he complimented him as being “efficient and very pleasant” and that he was “over the moon as the valve was changed and sorted”.
- Customer is very grateful to the workforce that came out to clear drains, “they were very polite and really concerned with what they were doing and they persevered until they fixed the problem”.
- Customer would like to thank us very much for the provision of rails on back door. She now feels secure that she won't have another fall.
- Customer would like to thank a joiner who recently attended their property – “he was excellent and so nice-fitted grip handle in shower cubical & handrail.” Customer over the moon with his service.
- “I would like to say thank you very much to the two contact assistants for arranging for our food caddy to be emptied after it was missed and Biffa for the quick response. We are so very grateful as we faithfully use the food caddy and were worried in case there was any rats and would not put this into the wheelie bin as the food caddy is great. I appreciate all your hard work to everyone who helped.”
Local businesses 'meet the council' at National Business Week coffee morning
To celebrate National Business Week 2017, a special coffee morning was arranged through Business Gateway and the Economic Development team.
The turnout of local businesses was great, with around 200 people in attendance, who got the chance to meet representatives from a wide range of council departments from planning to business rates and economic development to East Lothian Works and everything in between!
Three local entrepreneurs were also interviewed by Business Adviser Steve Newlin. Simon Poole from Jerba Campervans, James Barbour from Foxlake and John Jackson from Braw Beard Oils were full of tips for others, shared their inspiring plans for the future and were complimentary about the support they'd received from East Lothian Council.
Local businesses can get involved in a series of coffee mornings and networking events via @BizEastLothian or by emailing snewlin@eastlothian.gov.uk
Christmas period pay dates
The following are the payment dates for Christmas 2017, January 2018 salaries and wages.
Pay date 21st December 2017.
3 weeks normal pay. To ensure this is an accurate payment all relevant information must be with Payroll Section on or before 12th December 2017. *see further details below
Next pay date 11th January 2018.
Pay date 7th December 2017.
Normal payment, no amendment required. To ensure an accurate payment all relevant information must be with Payroll Section on or before 28th November 2017.
Next pay date 4th January 2018.
To ensure an accurate payment all relevant information must be with Payroll Section on or before 19th December 2017.
- Monthly Salaries (including Permanent Teachers)
Revised pay dates Thursday 21st December 2017 and Friday 26th January 2018.
To ensure an accurate payment all relevant information must be with Payroll Section on or before 5th December 2017 and 8th January 2018 respectively.
Pay dates Tuesday 12th December 2017 and Tuesday 9th January 2018.
To ensure time to process these payments all claim sheets must be with Payroll Section on or before 21st November 2017 and 19th December 2017 respectively.
Please consult Payroll Section if you have been unable to forward all claims by these deadlines.
*3 weeks wages will be paid on 21st December 2017, detailed below are the dates by which weekly timesheets must be submitted.
Date of Submission Timesheets Required Payment Date
12/12/17 Actual hours for week 21/12/17
ending 10/12/17
(+ 2 weeks basic hours no timesheets required)
19/12/17 Actual hours for week 11/01/18
ending 17/12/17
09/01/18 Actual hours for week 18/01/18
ending 24/12/17. Plus
amendments only for
w/e 31/12/17 & 07/01/18.
Coming soon - online payment system for school meals
Many parents face a frantic rake through wallets and purses in the morning for loose change to pay for school meals, milk and trips. But the last-minute scramble for coins will soon be a thing of the past.
Parents and carers of children at secondary schools are already familiar with cashless catering, where you can put cash on to your child’s entitlement card at a time that suits you through the council website. Soon that convenience will be available to parents of primary school pupils, but without asking them to carry entitlement cards.
We will soon be launching a new digital system that will enable parents to log into an account and order school meals for their children in advance. With the new system, parents will not only be able to make informed menu choices, but payment for meals can be taken online. Payments for milk and trips will also be possible through the online account, including the option to make payments in instalments for larger expenses. Payments can be tracked electronically meaning that you will be able to see when payments are due and how much is still outstanding, which should make managing your budget easier.
Councillor Shamin Akhtar, cabinet spokesperson for education and children's services, said: “The benefits of this new online system are clear. Not only will it be quick and easy to use, but it puts parents in control of their finances. Benefits to the council are also significant. Banks currently charge double to process cash and cheque transactions, but by undertaking more payments online, payments are processed quicker and at less cost to the council. Over time, this represents a significant cost saving to the council, meaning that we can make your money go further to deliver essential services.”
The school payments system will be launched in 2018.
Protecting your information
Protecting your information – and money – from hackers is extremely important to the council. That’s why we’re going beyond the minimum expected security measures to give you peace of mind when you use our online services to pay for things. For the new parents/ carer portal, we’re investing in new security arrangements. This will allow us to be confident we’re doing as much as we can to ensure the new portal and our existing schools administration system ‘talks’ to each other without fear of someone breaking into that link. This link allows us to keep your information up to date and help you save time when you’re logging in to use the new portal.
Local office cash payments
From 3 January 2018 cash payments at George Johnstone Centre, Tranent, Aldhammer House, Prestonpans and North Berwick council offices will only be accepted 9am-12 noon only. Service users will be advised of other payment options.