These words from the song Proud by Heather Small have been ringing in my ears this week. I am proud of many aspects of our Education in Argyll and Bute. There are many things we can improve on but this week I was able to stand still and think about what I was proud of.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I attended the launch Children and Young Peoples Collaborative in Glasgow. This new collaborative brings together the work which has been undertaken in Early Years Collaborative and Raising Attainment for All.  Nationally both programmes have been heavily influenced by the improvement model.  During the conference the presentations and workshops demonstrated how the model for improvement has influenced change and improvement across many areas of Education and health. On Tuesday evening the Quality Improvement Awards were presented at a gala dinner.  I was so proud of the two Argyll and Bute projects up for an award.  Both Kintyre Family Pathways and Early Years improvement in Tarbert Academy were runners up. An amazing achievement.

Continue reading What have you done today to make you feel proud? →

If only communication was better…..” This is a phrase we often here no matter where we are working in the service.  I have been thinking about communication a lot over the past week and not only how it can be improved but how we use communication.

Last Monday I was finishing my holiday week in Madeira.  It was a lovely week and we enjoyed the lovely scenery and finding out about the culture and heritage of the island. One of the things I was most impressed with was the skills of all staff we met and their ability to communicate so well in English. Tourism is a huge important aspect of the island economy and all young people in schools are required to be proficient in speaking English. It made me reflect on our Scottish Languages 1 +2 Programme and the aspiration for all our P1’s to access another foreign language and P5’s to access two.  I was delighted to come home to the latest newsletter on our Argyll and Bute Languages 1 +2 programme which has all the latest communication on the progress happening.  Argyll & Bute 1+2 Languages Newsletter,

Continue reading Communications →