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.

Joe from Magma Maths will be hosting a twilight session on 3.45pm on Thursday 5^th February 2026. This session aims to support teachers in P1-3 in ways that Magma Maths can be used with the shared iPads.

Please use the link below to access the session:

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37257449517500?p=2RKRzsMXoJpFfznemi

Meeting ID: 372 574 495 175 00

Passcode: gq6eD6Na

Following our letter to Directors of Education sent in August 2025 regarding Fitness to Teach scheduling issues, we are reaching out again to our key contacts in local authorities to make you aware that we are currently recruiting new Fitness to Teach panel members. We are asking for your support to share this as widely as possible across your schools and other relevant key areas, and to reassure any applicants that their release time will be facilitated.

To provide further context, we thought you may find the following information useful:

• Our panel pool is currently comprised of 41 members: 14 lay members and 27 registered teachers. There are 5 conveners.
• Each hearing requires a panel of 3, comprised of 2 registrants and 1 lay person. Each panel must have a convener.
• 16 Local Authorities currently have no member representation on our panels. Of the 16 who do, 3 are represented by 2 pool members, and the rest by 1. There are 3 of our panel members are employed in a primary school, 13 in a secondary school and 3 in other Local Authority roles outwith a school setting.
• In 2026, we currently anticipate scheduling full hearings requiring a combined total of more than 200 hearing days.

What you can do

Please support us by being proactive in encouraging your registered and lay employees to consider applying to be a panel member. We need people who have good levels of availability and we need employers to commit to allowing panel members to attend hearings. If all panel members were able to commit to attending one 5-day hearing per year, the impact on our scheduling would be immense.

You may also identify personnel holding key roles within your authority who could support us in raising awareness of the recruitment round, particularly with those registrants who have greater availability. For example, those who manage the supply teacher list or individual headteachers. We would welcome any conversations with any interested stakeholders. Please share this email with those colleagues, or ask them to contact me directly on governance@gtcs.org.uk

You can find the advert and further information about the role on our website: Vacancies

The following webinars are scheduled to take place in January and have been added to the SEEMiS website. Guidance on accessing the website can be found here.

Please note that it is occasionally necessary to change a webinar. To ensure access to the webinar, the delegate should take the link directly from the SEEMiS website at the specified date and time.

Darren McGarvey is an Orwell Prize–winning author, broadcaster and hip hop artist. One of Scotland’s most influential cultural voices, he blends social commentary, memoir and sharp analysis across books, radio and the stage.

In his work with schools, colleges and professional learning programmes, Darren examines how environment, inequality and emotional literacy shape young people’s ability to learn. Drawing on lived experience and years of community engagement, he challenges educators to think critically about behaviour, wellbeing and narrative — and how trauma-aware practice can be implemented without slipping into oversimplification. His sessions invite practitioners to reflect on the realities facing learners while empowering them with practical, culturally grounded insight.

In this session, Darren offers a grounded, practical exploration of what we really mean when we describe a young person or community as “deprived.” Drawing on research, lived experience and years of community work, he examines how different forms of poverty — not just material hardship, but a lack of opportunity, stability and recognition — shape young people’s confidence, identity and ability to learn.

Attendees will gain insight into how schools can act as holistic support ecosystems, nurturing emotional and social needs as well as academic ones, and how community partners can play a vital role in widening opportunity and building trust. We’ll explore why youth voice matters, how to ensure every child has at least one safe adult to turn to, and what leaders can do to review and strengthen school ethos, culture and values so education becomes a genuine tool for equity.

The session will encourage honest reflection on how well we understand the realities of local families, how to avoid reinforcing social class divides, and how to build more authentic relationships with young people through listening, partnership and co-creation.

Target Audience – The target audience for this event is professionals within the Education Sector in Scotland. To register, please enter either a school/establishment/setting/local authority or Glow email address. We understand not all education professionals have access to a school/establishment/setting/local authority or Glow email address, if this is the case, please email –

esevents@educationscotland.gov.scot with the name of your setting or service, to request a place. Thank you for your understanding.

To register click ⁠here.

🌱 Sowing seeds for 2026: training, funding & community support

As planning for 2026 gets underway, we’re sharing a few opportunities that may support your work.

This includes:

• Forest School and First Aid training
• £500 Lantra funding for Forest School courses
• Community grant opportunity of £1500 across Scotland

Follow the link below for further information:

🌱 Sowing seeds for 2026: training, funding & community support