Daily Archives: February 27, 2013

Social studies

Scotland declared a Fairtrade Nation

Leave a comment

Scotland has become one of the world’s first Fair Trade Nations, International Development Minister Humza Yousaf announced this week.

The news comes on the first day of Fairtrade Fortnight 2013 and follows a nationwide campaign led by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum that has seen the people of Scotland rally behind Fair Trade principles.

The accolade means people, government, businesses, public bodies and community organisations across Scotland have come together to meet stringent criteria designed to promote Fair Trade.

Speaking ahead of a visit to the Urban Fox project in Glasgow, where he will launch an initiative to supply Fairtrade footballs to youth and sports groups in disadvantaged areas, Mr Yousaf said:

“People in every city and across all local authority areas share a vision of Scotland as a good global citizen, committed to playing its part in addressing poverty.

“That vision includes our commitment to Malawi, to take the lead in climate change, to promote clean drinking water and explains why we have doubled our International Development Fund to £9 million since 2007/08.

“I thank every person, business and organisation who has helped Scotland towards achieving Fair Trade Nation status. In particular I commend the Scottish Fair Trade Forum, who have been instrumental in driving forward our Fair Trade Nation agenda.

“We must now build on today’s achievement and continue to work hard to encourage even greater Scottish support for Fair Trade.

To qualify for Fair Trade Nation status, the Scottish Fair Trade Forum (SFTF) was required to demonstrate how Scotland had met a series of stringent criteria, including:

  • All seven Scottish cities and at least 55 per cent of local authority areas to have Fairtrade status.
  • All 32 local authorities areas and at least 55 per cent of towns with a population of 5,000 or more to have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fairtrade status.
  • At least 60 per cent of higher education institutions to have active Fair Trade groups working towards Fairtrade status.
  • Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to use, promote and make available Fair Trade products internally, and to actively promote Fairtrade Fortnight each year.
  • Fair Trade to be promoted in schools through the curriculum, procurement and other possible means.
  • Schools, Further Education Institutions, Faith Groups, Trade Unions, business networks, voluntary and youth organisations to pledge to use and promote Fair Trade.
  • 75 per cent of people to buy a Fair Trade product every year.
  • 40 per cent of people to regularly buy Fairtrade products.
Early Years, Responsibility of All, Young people, children & families

Wise Up Wednesday: Celebrating Success at Woodside!

Leave a comment


Woodside Nursery School in Glasgow has become the latest nursery to have the quality of their provision recognised by achieving ‘excellent’ in all five of the quality indicators used by Education Scotland in inspection.

Education Scotland’s letter to the parents at Woodside highlights that:

  • children are motivated and enthusiastic, experiencing a high level of achievement and success;
  • the partnership with parents is highly effective;
  • partner agencies are involved in developing children’s learning;
  • there is exceptional teamwork among staff in working with children and their families; and
  • the leadership of the headteacher in developing the work of the nursery is outstanding.

The nursery has received many congratulations since the publication of the letter to parents earlier today:

“It is an outstanding achievement for a nursery to gain excellent ratings in all five areas of the rigorous inspection by Education Scotland. I offer my congratulations to the staff at Woodside Nursery; it is clear from the letter that they have excellent relationships with parents and inspire enthusiasm for learning among the children.

The hugely positive results from the Woodside inspection will be an example that others can follow as we work together to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.”

Aileen Campbell, Minister for Children and Young People


“I would like to congratulate all the children, staff, parents and stakeholders at Woodside Nursery on the progress they are making in implementing Curriculum for Excellence for the benefit of their young learners. Our inspection shows that this is a notably high-performing nursery which has fully embraced the opportunities which the new curriculum presents.”

Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Executive of Education Scotland


“This is a truly wonderful letter and the best yet for Glasgow. I’m delighted for Alison Forbes, her staff and the parents and carers of Woodside Nursery.

There are so many positives in this letter and it is fantastic that inspectors have highlighted the fact that the headteacher provides outstanding leadership and along with staff and parents, have a clear vision for developing the work of the nursery.

My heartfelt congratulations to all on this outstanding and excellent letter.”

Councillor Stephen Curran, Executive Member for Education and Young People


Education Scotland highlights the good practice our inspection teams find so that other education professionals can reflect on what they are doing and consider adapting some of the practice to their own circumstances.

How do you reflect on your own and other’s experiences to improve your practice?

How can Education Scotland help you with this?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

To find out more about the practice that makes Woodside Nursery School so effective in supporting young children’s learning you can read Education Scotland’s letter to parents here.