Teachers are ‘under threat’ in classrooms

Community bursary windfall up for grabs

Local charities, schools and good causes across West Lothian could receive a share of a £5000 cash pot.

Community organisations are being urged to apply to the CALA Homes Community Bursary, in partnership with the West Lothian Courier, which launches for the first time in the area.

The programme will see £20,000 distributed by CALA Homes across the Lothians, with a quarter set aside for community organisations working in West Lothian.

Its launch coincides with the developer’s return to West Lothian, following the start of work at its Queenswood development in Linlithgow.

Philip Hogg, sales and marketing director with CALA Homes (East), said:

“At CALA, we have always been invested in benefitting the communities we work in – whether that be through local charity donations, sponsorship deals and community partnerships.

“The bursary gives us the opportunity to work closely with the community to support their key initiatives.

“We are thrilled to be bringing the bursary to West Lothian for the first time in response to us returning to the region – and ensuring that we give back a little extra to the amazing communities at its heart.”

A selection panel consisting of CALA Homes staff with support from the West Lothian Courier, will decide the recipients of this year’s bursary funding.

Marjorie Kerr, editor of the West Lothian Courier, said:“It’s great to see CALA getting involved in the local community, seeing what it can do to support West Lothian’s good causes.

“We report on the local community daily; we know just how vital these funds can be and the impact a financial boost like this can have.

“We look forward to sharing the news with our readers, and seeing how many will benefit from the boost in the future.”

Groups operating in the West Lothian Council area can apply for a share of the community bursary by downloading an application form from the CALA website: https://www. cala.co.uk/cala-group/our-company/ sustainability/bursary/ west-lothian-bursary.

She said: “These are things we would very much like our HR to take very seriously for us.”

Julie Whitelaw, head of corporate services, who had earlier revealed high levels of stress among council staff, said there were Scottish Government policies designed to help teaching staff take themselves out of danger. These policies are being rolled out across the county.

“There is training available for all staff including teachers to take themselves out of danger,” she said.

Ms Whitelaw added that regular meetings were held with teaching staff, HR , school managers and staff representatives to discuss incidents of violence in schools and classroom safety.

Ms Hughes said this training is known as MAPA ( Management of Actual or Potential Aggression) adding: “At present only special education schools and one cluster had been trained. There is a plan on rolling this out but it is exceptionally expensive and I’m afraid at the moment our staff are absolutely not trained in removing themselves from the situation.”

We l c o m i n g some measures put in place to deal with workplace and personal stress she added: “The idea is prevention. We really need to look at the reasons behind stress. We have workload, we have violence and aggression and we have a lack of ASN resources. These are areas we should be looking at.”

Chairing the meeting, council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick said: “You can have our assurance that the wellbeing of staff is paramount among all elected members and that the matter will be looked at.”