We are absolutely delighted to confirm that Action for Children have kindly offered to host a Roots of Empathy course in the Scottish Borders next academic session. This course will only be able to run if we have enough interest across out schools. A minimum of 6 delegates are required to run this course and the cost per school would be £1682.63 and £306.50 for annual re-accreditation.

 

The opportunity was discussed with Cluster Leads on Friday, so this might be something you would like to discuss with your Cluster Lead first.

 

Roots of Empathy is a Mental, health and wellbeing programme which has been delivered in Primary schools in Scotland for over 15 years.  Roots of Empathy is experiential learning at its best and at the heart of the programme is a local parent and baby who visit the class over the course of the school year.

 

Roots of Empathy is an evidence-based research programme, and these are the goals:

 

1. To foster the development of emotional literacy and empathy,
2.  To reduce levels of bullying and aggression and promote prosocial behaviours (e.g., helping, caring, sharing, including, etc.), promote children’s mental health,
3. To prepare pupils for responsive parenting
4.  To prepare pupils for responsible citizenship, and
5.  To promote mental health, resilience, and well-being among children

 

The children/young people are guided by a trained instructor to observe the emotions of the baby, to name these emotions and be able to identify these emotions in themselves and others which leads to perspective taking and empathy. ( emotional literacy). They learn about infant development, brain development, the attachment relationship, and important safety messages not just for babies but for themselves and this helps prepare pupils for the future.

 

Here is feedback from one of our class teachers who had the programme in her classroom this year:

 

“Over the course of the Roots of Empathy programme, I observed positive changes in many of the children’s emotional awareness and their interactions with others. Several pupils—particularly those who are more vulnerable—began to show increased empathy and sensitivity in their relationships with peers. The Family Visits were a clear highlight, with children showing high levels of engagement and curiosity about the baby’s development. The overall experience helped create meaningful conversations around feelings, caring, and understanding others, which contributed to a more supportive and connected classroom environment.

 

Thank you for everything you did to bring the programme to life in our classroom. The experience has created meaningful learning opportunities, and the memories will be carried with the children for years to come”.

 

Click here to access the documents listed below:

• The programme information leaflet for schools which explains the programme in detail and the HT school role/class teacher role.
• Mental health and wellbeing brochure (Roots of Empathy)
• Recent Annual programme evaluation report from ROE for Scotland 2025
• Girfec document and how Roots of Empathy links to each area on the Shanarri wheel.
• Link to Roots of Empathy introduction video ( see below)

 

https://youtu.be/zrqt4dPGBXo?si=q5jmA9J-xjV_7P9F

 

Costs for training a new instructor are £1682.63 and this includes –

• 3 days instructor training in September (29 Sept- 1^st Oct 2026 at Inspire Tweedbank)
• 1-day mid-year training in February or March (23^rd February 2027 at Inspire Tweedbank)
• Full family visit kit, toys, blanket, doll, infant roll
• Full literacy kit and bag
• Curriculum manuals
• Book, lanyard, leaflets, and baby t-shirts with school start up banners, leaflets, posters.
• Mentoring support and a classroom visit to school  (4 phone calls and 1 visit) and additional emails or calls as required.
• Support from KPP (key, point person)

Annual Re-certification costs are £306.50 which includes –

• Half day annual professional development workshop
• Baby t-shirts, poster, banner and start up leaflets
• Mentoring support (3 phone calls) and any additional emails or calls required for continued programme support .
• KPP support

If you have a member of staff who you would like to put forward for this training please email CLPL@scotborders.gov.uk ASAP. We would like to have a definitive number by the end of May so that we can make a decision on whether or not we can run this course.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require any further info.

Monday 15 February 2027, 9am – 3:15pm – Broomlands Primary School

Equip Early Years Practitioners with practical tools and understanding to deliver a family learning programme harnessing the benefits of their local green spaces.

Participants will:
• Understand the benefits of the nurturing nature approach
• Consider ways of engaging with parents and carers in a natural environment
• Understand their role in modelling play and learning to families
• Explore practical examples of group management, risk benefit assessment and the resources required to lead these sessions
• Take away practical skills and resources to support delivery of the nurturing nature programme in their own setting

 

Target Audience – This course is ideally suited to Early Years Practitioners who are already taking their children off-site to explore nature. This is most commonly Forest Kindergarten type activity but could also be visits to the beach, the park or other spaces where they can explore in nature. Practitioners with Forest School training or similar would also benefit. The idea is to use their existing skills and knowledge in these areas and expand on them to develop a family learning programme to engage with families in their setting. We are happy for you to send any suitable staff members to the course, but it will be more beneficial to them and more readily applicable to practice if they already have some prior knowledge of the practicalities of getting off-site. We recommend sending someone from the Early Years improvement team or council wide CLPL team so that they can support practitioners to put what they have learned into practice.

 

Bookings can be made through Business World.

We now have Paediatric and Emergency First Aid courses confirmed for next academic session. These courses will be added to Business World (course title – Paediatric & Emergency First Aid – Education Only). Any interested staff should book via Business World. It is important that any staff interested discuss this with their line manager. As there is a cost incurred to the local authority we cannot support additional staff attending this training who are not listed as part of school risk assessments.

PLEASE NOTE – all staff who attend this training will receive two certificate confirming they can deliver emergency first to adults and children.

These courses book up very quickly so please ensure you book your space ASAP! All staff will be automatically assigned to a waiting list so that places can be prioritised based on service need.

 

Timings – 9am until 4:30pm

19 October 2026 – Training Rm, Council Headquarters

19 October 2026 – Kelso High School

15 February 2027 – Training Rm, Council Headquarters

15 February 2027 – Galashiels Academy (venue tbc)

 

SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!!

 

We are delighted to confirm that the STEM Inservice Day will run again in February 2027.

 

Date – 15 February 2027

Venue – Wilton Primary School

 

Facilitators will include:

GeoBus

Edinburgh University

Bright Green Nature

Inspire Learning Team

and more……

 

Spaces can be booked through Business World.

It is a mandatory requirement for all enhanced provision staff to complete Moving & Handling training. There will also be staff within mainstream settings who require this training for specific children within their setting.

Full Day Course – 19 October 2026, 15 February 2027 and 4 May 2027

Staff should attend this training at line managers request. This training is for new starts, those who have not completed this course before or whose certification has lapsed.

Refresher Training – 25 March 2026, 9am-12 noon

The GTCS have launched a new area on the website for registrants who are aspiring or existing middle leaders.

The resource engages with the Standard for Middle Leadership (SML) and explores the role of middle leaders through the lens of how they ‘understand and demonstrate self-awareness and inspire and motivate others’ (SML – 2.2 Professional Responsibilities).

This is a recorded professional discussion between Kathleen Kerrigan, Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow and Jacqueline Morley, Teaching Standards Education Officer at GTC Scotland.

The discussion has 4 chapters:

1. The role of the SML as an underpinning framework to ‘becoming, being and growing’ as a middle leader
2. The professional and personal credibility of a middle leader as the lead learner
3. The middle leadership role in growing leadership skills and capacities in others
4. The professional responsibilities for middle leadership as a learner and a leader for helping colleagues engage meaningfully with the suite of Professional Standard

The resource also offers a series of reflective questions drawn from the recording to help promote discussion and reflection.

www.gtcs.org.uk/knowledge-base/articles/connecting-with-the-standard-for-middle-leadership

I am delighted to confirm that on Thursday 26 March we are sharing a Leadership+ session led by Chris Munro on a highly requested subject – coaching!

Leadership+ with Chris Munro: Got a minute? Making every conversation count!

Chris is joining us from Australia, so please note the time of this session – 9.15am to 10.15am.

Click here for further information and to register

This session will not be recorded, however Chris will record a synopsis for us which will be shared on our Leadership+ webpage – click here to view previous Leadership+ synopsis videos

Places at all of our Spring sessions are in high demand, so early booking is advised.

 

We are organising training for the third SBC cohort of the Massage in Schools programme.

It has strong, evidence-based outcomes including reductions in negative physical touch behaviours and is widely used across Scotland and the rest of the world.

Feedback from schools in the Borders already using this in session 2024 – 25 has been very positive. 

Target Audience: Pupil Support / Support for Learning /ASN / Nurture staff iw

Training Dates: It will be delivered over two days on Fri 18 and Mon 25 of September 2025. Attendance at both days is required.

Venue: Roxburgh Suite, Council Headquarters

TO BOOK – sign up via Business World

Attendees will be expected to deliver this program in schools and will be licensed to deliver this program for life after completion of the course.

Potential attendees should be aware that the training does involve direct, positive, physical contact before they agree to attend or participate

This programme can be delivered

• for targeted groups
• as a modelled whole class offer. In this instance the class teacher will be expected to continue with delivery after the programme has been delivered to their class.

There are 20 places so we can offer two places per cluster.

The Scottish Catholic Education Service and the Archdiocese of St. Andrews & Edinburgh have been working in partnership with Scottish Borders Council to develop an integrated approach to leadership development for aspiring and present Catholic school leaders through the formation of a Catholic School Leadership programme.

 

This network will offer a framework for identifying, nurturing and developing future and present Catholic leaders within Scottish Borders Council and will feature two aspects: accompaniment and encounter.

 

1. Accompaniment Sessions (dates agreed by Facilitators locally)

 

There will be 4 on-line accompaniment sessions which will be facilitated by middle and senior leaders. At these sessions you will use materials prepared by the Scottish Catholic Education Service as part of their Good Shepherd Leadership Pathway programme to consider middle leadership in a Catholic school.  The sessions will involve the Facilitators directing you towards reading and use of video clips to encourage discussion, sharing good practice and reflection on the role of the middle leader in a Catholic school.

 

2. Diocesan Encounter Sessions

 

These in-person sessions will involve all the participants taking part in the Catholic School Leadership programme from across the Archdiocese of St. Andrews & Edinburgh and will be hosted by the RE Advisors.  These sessions will involve a presentation from a Catholic leader, spiritual activities followed by an opportunity to network with colleagues across the Archdiocese.

 

This network is intended to be supportive and encouraging.  The framework will offer colleagues opportunities to connect and reflect.

 

We know that the Council has excellent leadership programmes to support those considering all types of leadership, in both the denominational and non-denominational sector.  This programme is intended to meet the needs specifically for Catholic school leaders. It would, therefore, be important to note that this offering is intended to support those who meet the requirements to be appointed (at the appropriate time) to the post of a middle leader in a Catholic school.

 

If you’d like more information on this new programme, please get in touch with Margaret Barton, the Secondary School RE Advisor at margaret.barton@staned.org.uk or Melissa Gavan, the Primary School RE Advisor at melissa.gavan@staned.org.uk

Primary – Introduction to Meta-Skills

Available sessions (all 4-5pm):

2 March 2026

19 March 2026

28 April 2026

6 May 2026

 

An interactive workshop exploring the Skills 4.0 meta-skills framework and how these can be integrated into everyday classroom practice

• What meta-skills are and how they fit within the skills landscape
• Why meta-skills are important
• The benefit of a shared skills language
• How meta-skills can be brought into focus for learners and how these can be developed

Target audience – all Primary Staff

 

Secondary – Meta-Skills – Skills and Profiling

Available sessions (all 4-5pm):

4 March 2026

17 March 2026

30 April 2026

 

An interactive session looking at the importance of skills, ways to embed skills and how the profiling tool can be used to support learners capture their skills and achievements.

• Why are meta-skills important, what are they and how they fit within the skills landscape
• How meta-skills can be brought into focus for learners and how these can be developed
• How can the profiling tool be used to support learners build their awareness of their skills and achievements

Target Audience  – all Secondary staff

 

Please book through Business World