Partnership
Seven East Lothian schools involved with new Finnish partnership
A partnership between schools in Finland and Scotland has been announced after Finnish educationalists said they were keen to learn from successes in Scottish schools.
There will be seven schools from Espoo in Finland linked with seven schools in East Lothian and the plan is for teachers and children from these areas to have the opportunity to collaborate and share best practice.
The schools involved in the visit and partnership are Cockenzie Primary; Pinkie St. Peters Primary and Nursery; Dunbar Primary; Elphinstone Primary; North Berwick High School, Musselburgh Grammar; and Dunbar Grammar.
Espoo is the second largest city in Finland and its schools have recently introduced Finland’s new national curriculum to school children in its municipal area. Educationalists have been impressed with Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland and want a partnership so they can learn more, as well as share ideas and examples of high quality teaching and learning.
Fiona Robertson, Head of Education, said:
“We are very proud of our schools in East Lothian and I’m delighted that our staff will have this fantastic opportunity to share expertise and collaborate with their counterparts from Espoo. The fact that we have the opportunity to be involved in this partnership is a reflection of the quality of our schools, our hard work and determination of all in East Lothian to secure the best outcomes from our children and young people. I look forward to hearing about the experience of rolling out Finland’s new national curriculum and exploring the parallels between our education systems.”
The visit was brokered by the General Teaching Council for Scotland whose Chief Executive, Kenneth Muir is an expert on the Finnish education system.
“We are delighted to have been able to bring together schools in Scotland to partner with schools in Espoo”, said Mr Muir.
“Espoo schools are part of the highest performing education area in Finland. Usually the world looks to Finland for educational excellence but here is an example of Finland looking to Scotland. I think this confirms the high quality that exists in many Scottish schools and proves that we need to offer more positivity about our education system and the opportunities afforded children and young people here.”
Eeva-Kaisa Ikonen, Superintendent of Education and Cultural Services from Espoo said:
“Finnish schools are currently implementing new curricula with an emphasis on the school as a learning community and sustainable, collaborative learning. We have been impressed with the Scottish school improvement and professional learning programmes as well as the practices for implementing the Curriculum of Excellence. Espoo greets our new partnership with East Lothian schools and looks forward to shared learning experiences on these and other mutually significant themes.”
Tesla wows East Lothian pupils in STEM career drive
Tesla, the electric vehicle company, wowed school pupils in East Lothian this week with a demonstration of their latest model, as part of an initiative to inspire young people to consider STEM careers.
Around 60 young people from each of the county’s secondary schools attended the event which was organised by East Lothian Works, East Lothian’s employability hub.
Tesla employees including Technician Oliver Hood, an ex-Ross High School pupil, welcomed the young people and talked about his journey into engineering since leaving school. Pupils heard about what career pathways and qualifications are needed to pursue a career in the industry and to work for Tesla in particular.
Pupils enjoyed a demonstration of the Model X electric car, which can travel up to 351miles on a single charge, but a network of Superchargers means drivers can cover zero tail pipe emission electric miles all over Europe from northern Norway to Southern Spain.
The event, which took place at Musselburgh Grammar School, follows a series of events organised by East Lothian Works that aim to inspire young people to consider Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subject areas and associated careers. Many of the young people attending had previously participated in East Lothian Works’ Girls Into STEM initiative or are involved with young engineering groups in school.
Alison Hood, Team Leader at East Lothian Works said: “Our STEM events aim to inspire young people, and girls in particular, to consider different careers and pathways. We’re really trying to quash the idea some young people have that careers in science and engineering are not for them, and it’s really important that we challenge gender stereotypes – STEM is for everyone.
“I want to say a huge thank you to Tesla for coming and speaking to our young people – it was really inspiring to hear about the vast opportunities that STEM careers offer. The young people were really engaged and enjoyed the car demonstration in particular – showing that engineering is not only incredibly relevant in the modern world, but that it can be fun too.”
The Tesla event follows the success of similar events as part of a joint initiative between East Lothian Works with Regional Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce and Skills Development Scotland.
Council partnership funding awards
East Lothian Council has agreed a package of almost £5million in funding support to community councils, area partnerships and other partner agencies for 2018/19.
From the Adult Services / Health & Social Care Partnership and the Integration Joint Board, more than £500k will go to partner agencies including: £77,830 to CAPS, a mental health service based in Musselburgh; £63,502 to Carers of East Lothian; £61,887 to the RNIB; £46,263 to Deaf Action and £50,025 to the East Lothian Community Care Forum.
From the Children’s Services/ Health & Social Care Partnership and East Lothian Council budget, more than £600,000 will go to organisations including: £249,000 to Aberlour Childcare Trust; £104,040 to East Lothian Special Needs Playscheme and £96,240 to Children First.
Community Councils across East Lothian will receive just over £130,000 for administration and their local priority scheme budgets.
Area Partnerships will receive a devolved budget of almost £2 million to carry on their work delivering local priorities identified by each community.
More than £1.5million will go to various organisations in Community Partnership funding, including more than £200k to the First Step Community Project in Musselburgh; more than £77k to the Dunbar Community Development Company (Hallhill) and £99k to the Pennypit Project in Prestonpans.
Councillor Jim Goodfellow, spokesperson for Housing and Community Wellbeing, said: “It is essential for the council to work in partnership with other agencies and groups to deliver services to residents who are often the most vulnerable in our societies.
“We have some wonderful partner agencies in East Lothian delivering tailored support to many groups including the elderly, those with dementia, our very youngest residents and those struggling with financial or mental health issues or with varied additional needs. The council is delighted to be able to announce our continuing support to these groups.
“Community Councils and Area Partnerships have also been delivering key local priorities for a number of years, in close consultation with our communities and we are delighted to be able to continue this.
“Council budgets are being stretched more each year but our priority remains to work more effectively and in partnership with agencies who can help us to continue to support our residents and to deliver services that really make a difference. I’m sure this funding package will do just that.”
The full list of grant awards can be viewed in the members' library service
Council approves City Region Deal overview document
East Lothian Council has approved an outline of projects which will bring more than £1.3 billion of investment over the next 15 years to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland region.
Along with other councils; City of Edinburgh, Fife, Scottish Borders, Midlothian and West Lothian, East Lothian Council has been working on details of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region (ESESCR) Deal since 2016, which aims to build on the region’s strengths to deliver inclusive economic growth.
Once all partners have agreed the content of the Deal, it can be put forward for sign-off by the regional partners, Scottish and UK Governments.
Council Leader, Willie Innes, said: “There are significant benefits to East Lothian from the City Region Deal and we are delighted that the projects involved have now been developed in more detail so that our residents can see how this ambitious project will contribute to the local economy, including improving employment prospects and transport infrastructure, and reducing inequalities across our communities.
“The Food and Drink Innovation Campus at Queen Margaret University is important for East Lothian, Scotland’s Food & Drink County, as it will support innovation and quality in the food and drink industry. And with its business and employability focus, it will also contribute to ensuring we have a more highly skilled workforce and will help reduce barriers to employment. Complementing the deal, a Regional Employability and Skills Programme will deliver better outcomes for all the region and particularly those people facing significant disadvantages to securing and sustaining meaningful, high quality employment.
“Improvements to the Edinburgh City Bypass and Sherriffhall roundabout will also have a positive effect on East Lothian’s economy by improving our transport links to Edinburgh and beyond.
“We will also directly benefit from an expanded affordable housing programme, with a specific focus on Blindwells, which will help to address the shortage of affordable homes we are facing. This will allow more young people to continue to live and work in East Lothian and encourage more people to live and work here – building both our communities and our economy.”
Public Protection Training
East Lothian and Midlothian Public Protection have a wide range of training available in Child Protection, Adult Protection, Domestic Abuse / Violence Against Women and Girls, Drug and Alcohol Misuse and many other courses and workshops that cut across Public Protection. 
Training can be accessed either by attending courses, workshops or online
If you have any questions in relation to Public Protection training then please contact emppo@eastlothian.gov.uk
You can also check out the learning outcomes booklet for all courses.
Secondary school success in Viridor Eco Challenge
Pupils from Dunbar Grammar School and Knox Academy have won recognition for projects that have been hailed as “excellent” in a prestigious competition sponsored by Scotland’s leading recycling and renewable energy company, Viridor.
The two teams so impressed judges with their projects to improve the county’s sustainability and recycling rates that both groups have been declared winners in the East Lothian Schools Eco Challenge competition.
Viridor sponsored the competition to celebrate more than one million accident-free hours at the company’s Dunbar Energy Recovery Facility. The test challenged East Lothian secondary schools to design a project specifically related to sustainability and environmental improvement within East Lothian, and which aims to improve on any or all of the three Rs: Reducing, Reusing, or Recycling waste.
The final presentation took place on Thursday in Haddington in front of four judges. Ideas included in the proposals from both teams ranged from enhanced recycling facilities within schools to easily obtainable zero-waste recipes which cut out the need for packaging.
Provost John McMillan led the judging panel and said: “We were impressed and excited by the quality of the proposals, and motivated to consider how we can
take action and work together with schools and Viridor on these ideas and suggestions – the teams had clearly done their research, but it was their passion for the issues that really shone through.”
Katie Colquhuon from Viridor said: “This was an excellent way to celebrate more than one million accident-free hours at Viridor’s Dunbar Energy Recovery Facility. I was so impressed by the pupils’ creativity surrounding sustainability and to see the environmental opportunities they have identified for the local area.”
Tom Reid, Waste Services Manager, said: “It’s easy to see how we can implement some of their ideas into the work of our team. We have excellent rates of recycling in East Lothian, but until we get to a zero waste society and achieve a fully circular economy we need to work together to protect our shared future. I particularly liked the idea of the educational pack with online provision and allowing the schools to compare recycling rates across the county.”
Shamin Akhtar, cabinet spokesperson for Education and Children’s Services, said: “The young people who participated in this competition should be really proud of themselves. I really liked how the teams showed we can integrate environmental issues across the whole curriculum. I’ve certainly learned something today, and it’s clear that better environmental education is vital to ensuring that people take action.”
The teams from both schools will now go on to work together to develop their ideas for implementation and both have received £500 each to spend on Environmental and Educational improvements within their school.
The winning teams will also be invited to the Keep Scotland Beautiful awards ceremony in Haddington in September.
Self-Directed Support (SDS) thematic review
East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership is being inspected by the Care Inspectorate on how effectively we have implemented Self-Directed Support. They will be looking at:
- Key performance outcomes
- Getting support at the right time
- Impact on staff
- Delivery of key processes
- Policy development and plans to support improvement in services
- Management and support of staff
- Leadership & direction
We will be keeping you up to date throughout the process with special Key Messages bulletins and updates on Inform and eUpdate. A staff questionnaire will be circulated shortly to ELHSCP colleagues to find out your thoughts on how SDS is being implemented – we really hope you will take a few minutes to complete it – it will really help.