Local high school pupils who took part in the School-College Opportunities to Succeed (SCOTS) programme, were presented with certificates this week to recognise their hard work over the past year.
At a special event held at Forth Valley College’s Stirling Campus on the evening of Tuesday 30 May, the pupils were joined by their parents, College staff, school teachers and VIPs from Stirling Council – including and Kevin Kelman, Chief Education Officer at Stirling Council - who were all keen to celebrate the successful programme.
Award winners on the night were Alan Ferguson from Bannockburn High School, who won the Outstanding Personal Achievement Award, Jenna Mair from Stirling Council’s Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs (SEBN) Support Service who won the Inspire Award (but was unable to attend the event), and Rory Hunter also from SEBN, who was presented with the Learner of the Year Award.
The ground-breaking partnership between Forth Valley College and Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils, allowed mainly fourth year pupils to attend college one afternoon per week to experience eight different subjects including: Construction Crafts, Science, Healthcare, Early Education and Childcare, Business, Hospitality, Salon Services and Creative Industries and to work towards SQA employability units throughout the course.
Within the local schools, the young people involved worked with teachers to improve their skills for learning, skills for work and skills for life. They also developed employability skills such as - researching for jobs, creating a CV, preparing for interviews and also learning more about the “taster” subjects they were undertaking within Forth Valley College.
Forth Valley College Principal Dr Ken Thomson, said:
“Once again we are delighted to be here to honour pupils from the Stirling and Clackmannanshire area who have completed the full SCOTS course and are graduating today. We hope they found it to be worthwhile and of great benefit in helping them make up their minds as to which study route they might want to take in life. Many of those who took part may well apply for a further course here at Forth Valley College and we are delighted that a number of pupils will be progressing onto full-time college courses in August.
“The SCOTS programme has certainly been a great success and an excellent example of the close working partnership between Forth Valley College and our local authorities. We are already looking forward to welcoming our next cohort of learners who will be able to experience the benefits of the SCOTS programme at Forth Valley College.”
Kevin Kelman, Chief Education Officer at Stirling Council, said:
“The SCOTS programme is a fantastic opportunity for fourth year pupils in Stirling to explore a range of opportunities available to them in terms of further education and a wonderful example of partnership working between Stirling Council and Forth Valley College to expand the horizons of local youngsters.
“We are extremely proud of our young people who have worked very hard to learn new skills in preparing them for life and work and we are delighted that they are being recognised for their efforts.”