Tag Archives: Year of Young People 2018

Guest blog from Maths Olympiad Agnijo Banerjee⤴

from @ Engage for Education

As Maths Week 2018 draws to a close, we welcome a guest blog from Maths Olympiad Agnijo Banerjee.

Agnijo won gold at this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad in Romania receiving a perfect score of 42 out of 42 in the 2-day/nine hour-long competition, he was one of only two out of 594 contestants to achieve a perfect score. This was the UK’s first perfect score in 24 years. A truly remarkable achievement.

Last week Agnijo met the Deputy First Minister for lunch at Holyrood, after which he reflected on his achievement at the Olympiad and his hopes for the future.

I knew I had a passion for mathematics from a very early age. In primary school, I was always moved up several years until eventually they contacted Grove Academy and I ended up going there for maths. I was taught one-to-one by one of the maths teachers from Grove Academy and I did my Standard Grade in Primary 7.

Grove Academy has been extremely supportive of me throughout, and has always ensured that I am adequately challenged. In the last two years of school, I went to Dundee University to try some of their modules (third year in S5, fifth year in S6).

Grove Academy has also encouraged me to take part in a number of mathematics competitions and I have been doing the British Mathematical Olympiad ever since S2. The British Mathematical Olympiad is part of the long selection process that ultimately leads to the International Mathematical Olympiad, which I did this year .

It was a wonderful experience to go to the International Mathematical Olympiad. The actual competition was over two days. On each day there were 3 questions to solve in 4 1/2 hours, with the first question on each day being “easy” (they are all extremely difficult, but these were easy relative to the others), the second being “medium”, and the third being “hard”. The two hard questions were extremely difficult but I managed to solve both of them. It was amazing to be the first UK contestant in 24 years to achieve a perfect score. ie 100%.

It was a great honour to meet the Scotland’s Education Minister Mr. John Swinney . I was invited to Holyrood to meet him during the Scottish Maths Week. I was very pleasantly surprised when he took a keen interest and asked me questions about the IMO and my other academic achievements. I felt greatly motivated by being recognised by the minister. I presented him a copy of my book Weird Maths , which hopefully he will enjoy reading.

In the future I want to reach the top of my chosen field- Mathematics and hope to able to make Scotland proud.

Reflecting on his meeting with Agnijo, Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, said:

“It was a pleasure to meet Agnijo and his father today and Maths Week Scotland 2018 is the perfect opportunity to celebrate his astonishing achievements in the Maths Olympiad.

“Agnijo is a credit to Grove Academy and a shining example of how Scotland’s state school education can nurture ability and help talent flourish.

“We need to make sure that as a country we have all of the skills that we require for the future and in schools we need to ensure that young people are equipped with the skills that will serve them well for life.”

The post Guest blog from Maths Olympiad Agnijo Banerjee appeared first on Engage for Education.

Adverse Childhood Experiences⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Today Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, John Swinney, will host an event  bringing together Government Ministers and key stakeholders with an interest in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

More than 80 experts working across Scotland in all of the main sectors affected by ACEs will take part in discussions aimed at understanding what is already working well, highlighting where further action is needed and exploring opportunities for collaboration to drive progress.

Read his blog post  below about what ACEs are, why they are important and what we are doing in Scotland to tackle them.

What happens to us as children can have a huge impact on the rest of our lives.

When young people have adverse or traumatic experiences growing up this impacts on their emotional and physical development, their capacity to learn, and thrive.

 

The experiences we have during our childhood shape who we are and how we interact with the world, especially if those experiences are harmful, and without the right support the effects can last a lifetime.

 

The first adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) study was done over 20 years ago in the US but recently this long-standing evidence base has been gaining increasing international interest. The impacts of ACEs on children, adults, services and wider society are clear to see.

 

A recent study in Wales showed that those who had experienced ACEs were more likely to develop heart disease and type 2 diabetes, have high-risk drinking, smoking or drug use and were more likely to have been in prison.

 

We are determined to make Scotland the best place for children to grow up and we need to make sure we’re doing all we can to prevent adverse childhood experiences occurring in the first place, and where they do happen, to reduce their negative impact.

 

By making sure children and adults get the right support, at the right time, we can support their resilience and prevent a cycle of adversity being passed down from generation to generation.

 

Adverse Childhood Experiences are not a new thing, but the way we tackle them in Scotland is changing.

 

Today I will be joined by half the Scottish Cabinet at an event I am hosting to hear from people working across the main sectors affected by ACEs.

 

It marks the start of the journey to create a united approach across the whole of Scotland to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent ACEs and respond to them in the most effective way when they do happen.

 

I am looking forward to honest and direct conversations with experts from across the board to find out what is already working well in preventing and responding to ACEs, but also where we can improve.

 

Some of these conversations might be difficult but one thing we can all agree on is that the end result, improving the life chances of our children and young people who have had the toughest start in life, is the most important thing we can do.

The post Adverse Childhood Experiences appeared first on Engage for Education.

One year on – what’s happened since the first annual Cabinet meeting with children & young people?⤴

from @ Engage for Education

I am delighted to publish our progress report on the actions agreed at our first annual Cabinet meeting with children and young people, which took place on 28 February 2017 at Bute House.

Representatives from the Children’s Parliament and Scottish Youth Parliament attended this meeting and raised issues that were important to them.

A short film, co-produced by the children, highlighted school and teachers, feeling safe in the community, bullying, and what children need as areas to be discussed.

On the young people’s agenda were “Lead the Way” (Scottish Youth Parliament  manifesto), children and young people’s rights, “Speak Your Mind” campaign (on mental health), and the future of Scotland’s relationship with Europe.

At the end of the meeting, Cabinet members and children and young people collectively agreed actions for the year ahead. These actions have been taken forward by relevant Scottish Government policy teams over the past year. The report sets out our progress on these actions. We have also developed a children and young people’s summary.

The purpose of the annual meeting of Cabinet members and children and young people is to support the development of a more coordinated, systematic and sustainable approach to engaging with children and young people, enabling them to lead discussions by raising issues that matter to them and to inform the government’s agenda over the coming year.

Agreed actions from the previous event will be reviewed at the meeting of Cabinet Ministers with children and young people the following year.  This demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that children and young people are at the heart of decisions that affect them,  as set out in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

We are committed to meaningfully and credibly engaging with children and young people at a national level and ensuring they are at the heart of decisions which affect them, with the aim of improving policy development and implementation.

Access the reports here:

The post One year on – what’s happened since the first annual Cabinet meeting with children & young people? appeared first on Engage for Education.

Year of Young People 2018: making the voices of young people heard⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Emma Hunter, aged 20, from Dundee, is a Digital Modern Apprentice working with the Year of Young People 2018 team.

On the eve of the new year, Emma writes about her hopes and ambitions for 2018.

AS a young person growing up in today’s political climate I feel that anything put in place to help young people is vitally important. That’s one of the main reasons why I wanted to be part of Year of Young People 2018.

Media is one of the focal points of modern life; it builds bridges between communities and cultures and shapes opinions on how we view the world. This resource is vitally important for young people, to make sure they have their voices heard on a wider, international platform. It’s a privilege my generation is lucky to have; I find it inspiring, if not a little overwhelming, how much the media can affect our perceptions as well as offering new ones.

I’ve always taken an interest in current affairs, especially those surrounding my own generation. I attended the Scottish Young People’s Conference in 2016 and was lucky enough to ask the Scottish Education Secretary questions about mental health care for young people. This is an issue close to my own heart and I found the opportunity eye-opening, as it was a room of like-minded people who all wanted their voices heard.

This was also one of the first times I felt like my voice was being heard by the wider public, not just by my peers. This is an opportunity I feel should be available to all young people in Scotland, as being heard can make any situation less daunting. To me this is what Year of Young People 2018 is all about: making sure the voices of all young people are heard.

I come from a background of adoption and also spent time in foster care. Unfortunately, when I was growing up I didn’t have access to a forum where I could give my thoughts and feelings about this subject. As well as this, I’ve spent time working with children in a foster family and they also felt like their voices were not being heard. A platform where people can share stories or simply read about other people is something is that Year of Young People can offer.

In my new role as Year of Young People Digital Apprentice, I will be using social media to communicate and share good news stories and I hope I can play a role in challenging negative stereotypes young people are too often faced with.

For more information visit yoyp2018.scot or follow @YOYP2018 #YOYP2018 on Twitter.

The post Year of Young People 2018: making the voices of young people heard appeared first on Engage for Education.

Children and Young People’s Cabinet Meeting⤴

from @ Engage for Education

Last week I chaired our first annual meeting of Cabinet Ministers with children and young people at Bute House.

Four Members of the Children’s Parliament (MCPs) and ten Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYPs) spoke to us about the issues that are important to children and young people in Scotland today.

The children and young people all spoke eloquently and compassionately about their views on key issues. I was extremely impressed and inspired by their enthusiasm and commitment and it gives me great confidence in the future of Scotland.

The MCPs showed an excellent film that they had co-produced, which highlighted four key issues for children – school and teachers; feeling safe in the community; bullying; and what children need.

The MSYPs then presented the key issues for young people, which were “Lead the Way” (SYP manifesto); Children and young people’s rights in Scotland; “Speak Your Mind” campaign on mental health; and the future of Scotland’s relationship with Europe.

 

Cabinet Ministers then took part in a discussion with the children and young people around the issues they had raised. We agreed to hold this event annually and also recognised the importance of involving children and young people on an ongoing basis in policy development. We also acknowledged the importance of listening to and respecting children and young people.

 

A number of specific issues were also raised and we will explore how best to take these forward.

 

This government is committed to meaningfully and credibly engaging with children and young people at a national level and ensuring they are at the heart of decisions which affect them, with the aim of improving policy development and implementation.

 

It is important that we take the time to listen to children and young people and give them the opportunity to participate in, and influence, local and national activities and decisions.

 

Events like this support the development of a more coordinated, systematic and sustainable approach to engaging with children and young people and to inform the government’s agenda over the coming year.

It builds on previous Ministerial engagement with children and young people, such as the children and young people’s regional summits in 2015, which contributed to the Year of Young People 2018 agenda and Fairer Scotland.

 

The post Children and Young People’s Cabinet Meeting appeared first on Engage for Education.