Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Shine a Light on Lockdown’ puts inspirational teachers and pupils in the spotlight

Picture of Councillor Gillian Owen and Vincent Docherty (Aberdeenshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee chair and the council’s Head of Education).
Picture of Councillor Gillian Owen and Vincent Docherty (Aberdeenshire Council’s Education and Children’s Services Committee chair and the council’s Head of Education).

Aberdeenshire pupils have had virtual trips to the zoo, taken part in sports days from home and even met for online picnics to help keep spirits high during lockdown.

Friday marked the end of term for Scottish schools.

To mark the vast array of achievements schools have made, Aberdeenshire Council launched a special website for children and young people to “Shine a Light on Lockdown” and keep a record of their memories and experiences.

Chairwoman of the council’s education and children’s services committee, Gillian Owen said: “To all of our young people across Aberdeenshire – well done.

“The last few months haven’t been easy for anyone but you have shown remarkable resilience and I’ve seen loads of examples of fantastic work you’ve done in lockdown. If you are in need of support or assistance, please reach out, keep being your wonderful selves and keep learning.”

The new website highlights a number of impressive and innovative achievements across the region.

Gartly School, near Huntly, were due to be doing Sustainable Learning with Macduff Aquarium this term so instead organised a virtual school trip to the zoo instead, using animal webcams from around the world.

They did lots of research and different activities during the week, culminating in a “bus trip”.

Meanwhile Meldrum Academy weekly on-line chats have been held to support pupils’ mental health.

Teachers also hand delivered “Harry Potter” themed packs to pupils taking part in their extended transition programme.

The packs included suggestions for making their own Butterbeer, designing potions and some magic beans for them to grow.

At Auchterless, teachers been providing bereavement support for pupils and their families affected directly by Covid 19.

They also undertook a Virtual World tour taking in 11 countries across five continents to enhance awareness of the world beyond Scotland’s lockdown – opening young minds to the amazing sight, cultural richness and diversity across the globe, using Youtube and Google Earth.

At Glass Primary, staff ran a virtual VE day with the children arranging and then having tea and toast at 3pm “just like the soldiers did.”

Shine a Light on Lockdown is available at

https://sites.google.com/as.glow.scot/shinealighton-lockdown/home

Submissions will continue to be accepted during the summer break and into the new school year, also documenting what young people are looking forward to and informing decision-making by highlighting the things that matter to young people most. Email pupilparticipation@aberdeenshire.gov.uk