Schools praised forCovid response
East Ayrshire pupils have been praised for their resilience during the unprecedented impact of Covid on their schooling.
In its annual Standards and Quality Report, deemed “remarkable” by one councillor, East Ayrshire Council highlighted a number of key areas in a year dominated by the pandemic.
Among highlights cited in the report were:
•The response to Covid-19
•The move to digital remote learning
•Support for families with the greatest levels of need
•Improvements to the school estate – including the opening of the Barony Campus in Cumnock
•The introduction of the school counselling service
•The opening of a new employability hub
•Almost 95 per cent of school leavers going on to positive destinations.
Conservative Councillor, Ian Grant, praised the work of the council’s education department.
He said: “This is a remarkable report in view of those circumstances.”
The report revealed that almost 95 per cent of young people found a positive destination after leaving school, whether employment, further education or training.
Over 75 per cent went on to university or college, with just under 15 per cent finding a job on leaving school.
It stated: “In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and with school closures from March 2020, this is a significantly positive outcome.”
The report continued: “The Education Service transformed overnight to provide remote delivery of education when remote learning was announced in March 2020.
“This required a huge effort from education staff and IT colleagues to mobilise devices for staff and learners and to set up new platforms for learning and for communication.
“Through the Scottish Government school digital inclusion grant we purchased 2592 devices and 120 wifi units to ensure young people across East Ayrshire have access to a device at home.
“The priority now is to ensure that schools and centres continue to develop their use of digital technology to support learning and that we are well-prepared in the event of any future event which could lead to the temporary closure of a school to provide continuity of learning through these means.”