Scottish History

"The announcement that SQA is at long last prepared to introduce a compulsory Scottish element to the Higher history examination is welcome, if overdue..."

Will open up a fresh set of challenges. As a one time History and English Teacher who taught Scottish History and Scottish Literature I was aware that many of my colleagues did not include these options -but will compulsion make the teaching and learning of Scottish History better ?

I hope so ..
and why was this learning not happening anyway and from early on in the system ?
The Romans and The Dinosaurs - as I remember from my primary education in the last century and maybe 1066 and the Gunpowder Plot with no mention of James the Sixth being Scottish.

We were told at one point that the Scottish People wore kilts because they were poor which is part of an answer but it was left unqualified and as an answer it never squared with the world I knew where a kilt was a very very prized possession in more ways than money.

You'd think I was a nationalist rather than an internationalist

Partners in Learning and Internet Safety

Good to see some coverage of Microsoft Schools for the Future Conference in Helsinki in today's Herald Walter's piece links well to work we have done around internet safety and great too to see that we brought Emma Griffiths and East Lothian's excellent Extreme Learning on to a global stage. I know too that there has been lots of excellent work happening with parents and learners with Ollie Bray leading the charge. Would be good to see a piece that joined all the good work up.