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Offering parents the support they need
brings great benefits to children. Over the course of
2003/04 the Education and Children’s Services Committee
allocated significant resources to activities encouraging
parents to become more involved in their child’s
learning process. Determining the childcare requirements
of working parents in the Western Isles and laying the
foundations for a service that will fully meet the developmental
needs of children was a priority – and a major
achievement – in 2003/04.
Key Achievements
- An audit of childcare services across the Western
Isles was completed during 2003/04. Carried out
by the Western Isles Childcare Partnership, the audit
examined current provision as well as the future
needs
of parents and children.
- Developments in Gaelic language and culture continued
to thrive, with the opening of a new Gaelic Unit
in Pairc School.
- Following on from the success of previous
years, a number of events aimed at supporting
and encouraging parents to get involved in the learning
process were
held in 2003/04. Themed activities provided an
informal
and fun way for parents to help their children
make real progress in areas such as numeracy and
literacy.
Looking Ahead
The amalgamation of Education and Children’s
Services will continue during 2004/05 and the findings
of the childcare audit will provide essential building-blocks
for planning and extending services that satisfy the
needs of children and the economic requirements of
working parents.
A successful bid has been made for Public
Private Partnership funding to build or refurbish four
schools – one in Harris and three in Lewis. All
of the projects will include community facilities.
Following the extension of the Integrated Community
Schools initiative to include all schools in the Western
Isles, there will be a Best Value Review of the initiative
in 2004. A review of S1 and S2 schools throughout the
Western Isles is also planned.
IT developments will be an important
feature in 2004/05. Broadband services are to be extended
to all schools in the Western Isles during the course
of the year. Using wireless networks capable of providing
vastly improved internet connection speeds, schools
will soon be able to access a variety of on-line e-learning
materials. In addition, a new on-line support service
for parents whose children are being educated through
the medium of Gaelic is currently being developed.
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