Susan Jordan, Child Protection Education Officer will be hosting a Child Protection Annual Update session for all staff who have been unable to attend a session within their setting this year. The session will take place on 2 March at 4:15pm.

 

It is mandatory for all education staff to complete the Child Protection Update on an annual basis so we would ask that any staff who have not already attended one of these sessions try to ensure they can attend this opportunity.

 

The link to join the session is below:

Join the meeting now

Rollout of the New MyGTCS Platform

 

GTCS is preparing to transfer all fully registered teachers onto the new MyGTCS platform between late February and April 2026. You will receive an email around two weeks before your group is moved, with clear instructions on next steps.

 

The rollout will take place in staged Professional Update (PU) groups, with 2025–26 PU teachers being the first to transition. To avoid duplication, PU sign‑off in MyPL will close shortly before your transfer date, and you will complete your PU on the new platform once both you and your reviewer have access.

 

A new MyGTCS help area and FAQs are now live, and GTCS will continue to add updates as rollout progresses.

Please ensure all your MyGTCS personal details are up to date to support a smooth transfer. This includes:

• Surname
• Work email address
• Local authority
• Base school

 

GTCS do not anticipate any issues transferring your information. However, if you log into the new portal and notice anything missing, please report this to GTCS as soon as possible using gtcs@gtcs.org.uk or the online contact form. Remember to include your GTCS number and full name in all correspondence.

This professional learning opportunity is open to all promoted education staff in Scottish Borders schools who are looking to further develop their leadership experience and skill set within another school, cluster or across SBC. This could include head teachers who may wish to move within or beyond the cluster. This is on a secondment basis only and current terms and conditions of employees will not change. 

 Aim 

Overall, the Leadership Exchange programme provides a structured and supportive environment for SBC education staff to grow professionally and personally as aspiring, emerging and developing leaders of the future.  

Benefits 

Participating in a Leadership Exchange programme offers many benefits for education staff. Including: 

 Professional Growth and Development 

Enhancing leadership skills by engaging in different leadership roles and opportunities across various settings/schools will help promoted staff develop and refine their leadership abilities and skills, making them more effective leaders. By exposing staff to diverse educational environments and challenges, they will broaden their experience and understanding of different leadership styles, remits and strategic thinking. Gaining additional leadership experience can enhance career prospects and open up opportunities for promotion and advancement within education by developing the leaders of the future. 

Networking and Collaboration 

Participating in the exchange allows staff to build relationships with colleagues from different schools, clusters and departments, fostering a collaborative professional network where staff can share best practices, innovative ideas, and successful strategies with their peers, contributing to the overall improvement of educational practices which they can take back into their own school/context 

Personal Development 

Taking on new leadership challenges can boost staff confidence and self-esteem, empowering them to take on more significant responsibility. Working in different settings/schools or remits will enable staff to become more adaptable and resilient, better equipped to handle change and uncertainty. 

Organisational Benefits 

The programme supports SBC succession planning by preparing staff for future leadership roles, ensuring a smooth transition and continuity in leadership. 

By developing a pool of skilled leaders at all levels, education can benefit from improved management and performance, ultimately enhancing student outcomes. 

Eligibility 

• Full-time or part-time permanent staff who have been in their current post for a minimum of 3 years. 

• This is a secondment opportunity for professional development and current terms and conditions will remain the same during the agreed exchange period 

• Approval is required from line managers or head teachers 

• Submission of an application does not commit Scottish Borders Council to a contractual change. 

• No additional travel expenses will be paid for the exchange as this is a self selected professional learning opportunity 

• Should be agreed as part of the PRD/appraisal process 

 Application Process 

Complete the Leadership Capacity Exchange MS Form, ensuring the application is linked to the Professional Review and Development (PRD) process which identifies strengths and areas to develop 

Dates 

Applications for the new academic session should be submitted by Friday 9th March for the exchange period starting Mon 20th April onwards. 

Timeframes 

Staff can exchange for minimum of one school term (approx. 10 weeks) to a maximum of 23 months within their own school cluster or SBC wide as a secondment opportunity.  

Below I have included links from Tourette Scotland about upcoming Tourette Awareness Training webinars, which may be of interest to staff and partners:

• Thursday 26 February 2026 Tourette’s Awareness Training – February | Tourette Scotland
• Wednesday 6 May 2026 Tourette’s Awareness Training – May | Tourette Scotland

These sessions support greater awareness and understanding of Tourette Syndrome and how best to support people in services and communities.

Education Scotland’s Professional Learning and Leadership team have an exciting calendar of  professional learning sessions for educators this spring. Places at these sessions are in high demand, so early booking is advised.

Tuesday 24 February, 4pm to 5pm

Leadership+ with Jennifer Abrams. Stretching your collaborative edges: Growing (up) at work

Click here for further information and to register

 

Wednesday 04 March, 4pm to 5.30pm

Coaching in Education: Introductory Session

Click here for further information and to register

 

Tuesday 10 March, 4pm to 4.45pm

Middle Leaders Leading Change: Completion Session

Click here for further information and to register

 

Tuesday 17 March, 4pm to 5.30pm

BRL+ Alistair Heather (Historic Ally) on Scotland’s Hidden Colonial History

Click here for further information and to register

 

On behalf of our colleagues in the Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities team, we’d like to share this offer which is open to all educators and may also be of interest.

Monday 09 March, 4pm

Responding to Racist Incidents: Launch of the new Whole School Approach

Click here for further information and to register

17 March – 9 June 2026

Target audience – anyone working with ELC 2s, including Managers and EYOs in settings with ELC 2s.

A series of six one hour-long collaborative sessions where we will come together to reflect on the joys and unique challenges of working with ELC 2s. Each session will include a short learning input from the Early Years Teacher Team followed by professional discussion and reflection; come prepared to share!

At the end of each session, you will be given the opportunity to develop an area of your practice based on the content of the session in a way that’s meaningful for your setting and children.

To ensure that our ELC 2s are supported to thrive through developmentally appropriate practice. We will support practitioners in this by providing key messages around early child development, schematic play, slow pedagogy, essential documentation and planning with and for ELC 2s. the CoP also provides a space for developing self-reflection, peer conversations and sharing of best practice.

These sessions will delivered on MS Teams from 5pm-6pm on the following dates:

17 March 2026 – Enhance your understanding of early child development to support your ELC 2s in practice

31 March 2026 – Explore the essential documents that all ELC2 practitioners need to know about, including UNCRC

28 April 2026 – Develop your understanding of tuning into and working with schematic play

12 May 2026 – Introducing the Froebelian concept of slow pedagogy and how this could work with ELC 2

26 May 2026 – Explore a variety of ways to plan with and for your ELC 2s

9 June 2026 – Use technology to share your practice and take time to reflect on the impact that your learning in the last five sessions has had on experiences and outcomes for your ELC2’s

Dates and timings:

Teacher training: 2.30-4.00pm Monday 23 February

Pupil workshops: 11.00-11.30am Wednesday 25 February, 4 March and 11 March.

 

Climate Ready Classrooms for Primary Schools is a series of workshops and activities, delivered on a local authority basis. By taking part, pupils will gain an understanding of the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis and take action to address these issues. It is delivered as a series of three workshops spread over three weeks with classroom activities to take part in between sessions. The final output is an Action Plan, shared with your local authority, which includes actions that pupils would like to focus on in their school.

If your class would like to take part please email CLPL@scotborders.gov.uk by Friday 6 February to confirm.

Scottish Teachers for Enhancing Practice (STEP) are holding their annual conference in Stirling Court Hotel on Saturday 14th March 2026. This conference is run by teachers for teachers. We have a very diverse programme of workshops and keynotes with a prize draw from our sponsors Collins Leckie.

We have an early bird booking price of £29.95 until 31st January 2026.  We always hold our conference in Stirling as it is ideally placed for delegates from all over Scotland.

I am attaching all the information needed but feel free to contact me with any other questions.  Further information is available on the STEP website here:

https://steachersep.org.uk/register

29 January – places still available

The Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC) for 3–18 Sciences is well underway, with significant progress already achieved through the valuable engagement of practitioners across Scotland. Last year, the Education Scotland science team hosted four webinars, providing updates on the CIC and consulting on key aspects of the process with colleagues across the wider network.

We are keen to continue hearing from as many practitioners as possible, ensuring that your expertise and perspectives directly inform and shape a forward-looking sciences curriculum.

We are pleased to share the dates of three further webinars planned for early 2026:

Wednesday 4 February, 16:00–17:30

Education Scotland Sciences Network– Curriculum Improvement Cycle Webinar 5 Tickets, Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 4:00 PM | Eventbrite

Wednesday 25 February, 16:00–17:30

Education Scotland Sciences Network– Curriculum Improvement Cycle Webinar 6 Tickets, Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 4:00 PM | Eventbrite

Thursday 19 March, 16:00–17:30

Education Scotland Sciences Network– Curriculum Improvement Cycle Webinar 7 Tickets, Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 4:00 PM | Eventbrite

Each online session will include:

• The latest updates on CIC progress
• Sharing emerging thinking from the various CIC groups
• Opportunities for discussion, questions, and reflection on aspects of the CIC

Each webinar is open to all practitioners across early years, primary, secondary, and ASN who deliver science. We warmly welcome participation from every sector and strongly encourage you to share this invitation with colleagues and wider networks — broad engagement is essential to ensuring the curriculum reflects the needs and ambitions of the whole sciences community.

Please note: This invitation is being shared across several networks and distribution groups. If you subscribe to multiple lists, you may receive this email more than once — our apologies for any duplication.

We fully appreciate that this is an especially busy time of year for all practitioners. If you are unable to attend the webinars, you can keep up to date with CIC progress through our Science Blog. The blog provides access to previous webinar recordings, presentations, our termly newsletter, and outputs from earlier Core and Collaboration group events.

Please do share the blog with colleagues within your setting, school, and wider networks to help ensure everyone can stay connected and informed.

You can access the Sciences CIC blog via the following link.

Sciences Curriculum Improvement Journey |

Thank you for your continued engagement and commitment. We look forward to working together to shape the future of science education in Scotland.