Peebles High School Pupils impress at Glasgow SECC
Friday, March 31 2006
Six pupils from Peebles High School impressed delegates at the Fifth National 'Enterprising Careers Conference' - 'Let's Do It' - on 21 March.
The pupils were Hannah Dickson (S1), Erin Ross (S1), Anna Clinch (S3), Michael Pringle (S3), Alan Robertson (S6) and Lindsay
Walter (S6).
The conference was held at the SECC, Glasgow, by Strathclyde University, Centre for Studies in Enterprise, Career Development
and Work.
Peebles High School has been praised for good practice in Continued Professional Development (CPD) and for delivering 'Enterprise'
throughout the school. As a result, the pupils were invited by the University to present a workshop on how they are encouraging
staff to use Enterprise as part of their CPD.
Brian Mahler, Principal Teacher Enterprise at Peebles High School, explained, "Delivering enterprise in schools makes some
major positive changes to the way pupils are taught. They are able to take responsibility for their learning and given the
chance to work and make decisions which are in real contexts. It also offers staff many avenues to develop their own professional
needs without having to go on a more conventional route of taking courses to meet their CPD needs."
The school has various Enterprise projects in place for pupils to develop their skills and attitudes as a preparation for
the world of work and life after school.
Activities have included a Fashion Show, Eco-School Project and a Hospitality Challenge. The school also provides vocational
courses such as hair/beauty and construction.
Teachers of Art, Home Economics, Modern Languages, Maths, English, History, Religious, Moral and Personal Studies have been
involved in the projects, acting as facilitators or consultants to teams of pupils.
Brian Mahler said, "At the conference the audience was impressed with the pupils' confidence and motivation during what was
a question and answer session with no preparation on the pupils' part. They described their projects and gave honest opinions
about what they had learned and experiences they had gained from the projects in terms of team work, leadership skills and
the realisation you can achieve your goal if you set your mind to it."
Also presenting at the workshop was SBC Enterprise Development Officer, Lawrence Alexander, John Brown, Headteacher of Peebles
High School, Brian Mahler, PT Enterprise at Peebles High School and Ryan MacDonald from 3Roads4 (a company used by the school
to deliver an In service workshop for all the school's staff on Enterprise approaches to teaching).
Unified Solutions.